# Nano reef



## kamal

Well I was such a mess after my reef crashed at the beginning of the year (some a hole dropped something in the tank) that I put my stuff up for sale then took it off and now it is back up again (please check it out if you are interested)

I got approval from the wife to build a new reef once funds allow but in the short term I am going to run a 10g nano to appease the salt Gods. It was only setup this week and I will post pics as things progress but this was more of a hi IM BACK  

Yes its a 10g, yes its too small and YES I am upgrading (As soon as I have the $)


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## Kooka

Welcome back Kamal, hopefully you will save up enough mullah for a bigger tank soon. 

When are the corals going in?


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## kamal

Thanks Phil, I am so glad to be back I have been itching to get back on the salty train and you guys posting awesome progress as well as frags for sale has only spurred me on. I am thinking it will take corals in 4-5 weeks time I am not in any rush and want to do this properly as everything I grow out here will go into my new tank (whenever that will arrive)


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## damsel_den

Welcome back Kamal!!!


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## kamal

Thanks  I'm super excited to have another tank again.now the waiting game I hate this bit

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## kamal

I have had the tank running for a week and I noticed these things on the rock. Was wondering what they are. This rock has been dried out for at least 3 months but was previously in my established system.

Are they Spirorbidae?


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## george

Feather duster?


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## rburns24

Looks like some kind of tunicate?


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## kamal

Well still dont know what it is but I am just surprised that after being left to dry out anything survived  The world is a mysterious place.


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## wtac

It's not a hard shelled type feather duster per se but the creature does send out a single long strand to capture food and then reels it in. If you swish a patch of substrate, you'll see the particles sticking to it.


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## Kooka

That's a vermetid snail. You should see it release a gooey web out of its shell during feeding time if it's still alive.


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## kamal

Well that wasnt there went I put the rock in so I am guessing/hoping it is


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## thmh

Welcome back kamal! 

~Tony


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## kamal

So I have a spare hob I was going to run on here. What shall I put in it in terms of media? The system is being lit by two 24w full spectrum par38s and heated via a spare 100w heater I had. 

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## kamal

Well a quick update. Everyday I looked at the size of this thing it was annoying me about how quickly I would run out of space. So I did the only logical thing and moved everything to an empty 22g tall I had lying around. I will update some pictures tonight. Also I have decided to try a bare bottom tank as this is going to be a sumpless, skimmerless setup.


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## kamal

As promised here is the current scape in the 22h

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## kamal

I found my brs reactor and will run that with Carbon in this setup and run phosguard passively in the HOB filter with filter floss I will change out every 2 days.

As for lighting I have a twin bulb 24" t5ho light with 7 x 3w cree leds attached to supplement. I will also run two par38 full spectrum bulbs.


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## sig

you better run GFO in reactor and carbon passively

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## fesso clown

I agree with greg, I would run GFO in the reactor and carbon (if at all) in the HOB.


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## kamal

Thanks guys will go with your reco

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## kamal

Well not much reporting as I await completion of the cycle....But I did get my wp25 and so far so good. Although I have never used the more expensive pumps this thing is doing its job and is very quiet


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## kamal

Got.these.guys from.canada corals 

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## kamal

The elegance is coloring up really nicely









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## kamal

Well my temp 20g is now going to become a temp 55g. Until the basement is done next year the wife won't approve space for the 75g with sump I wanted on the main floor. I got a steal on a 55g with canopy and stand. The stand and canopy were in rough shape so I spent this weekend prepping and starting the painting. I also got my remora hob skimmer working it's doing a good job on the 20g but it's not at all a reasonable notice level.























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## kamal

Almost there

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## Vinoy Thomas

Damnnnn, you did a really great job restoring that stand!!!

Looks really nice!!!!


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## Mikeylikes

I second that! Great job on the restoration ...


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## altcharacter

That is unreal how well it looks!! I was thinking "Dam that is an ugly stand" but you did a great job


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## sig

and you can use this stand later for 75G with small modernization 

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## kamal

Thanks for the comments guys. The fact I paid $50 for the tank stand and canopy makes it even sweeter 

This will be sold when the 75 comes as that's going to be a peninsula 

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## Steel_Wind

I agree, very nice job on the stand.


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## kamal

I'm a bum and still have one drawer to paint and then a couple of layers.of clear.coat on the whole thing. Until then here.is a recent shot of.the nano
















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## 50seven

kamal said:


> Thanks for the comments guys. The fact I paid $50 for the tank stand and canopy makes it even sweeter
> 
> This will be sold when the 75 comes as that's going to be a peninsula
> 
> Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk


Congrats! Here is a guy who understands the proper progression of a reef hobbyist. The 75 will be a temporary tank until the wife approves a new 120 Gal., correct? 

Nice end result on the stand. Good find, too, lucky you!

Is the new tank drilled? Or does it use an overflow box?

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## kamal

It not drilled and no overflow. I am going to keep it as is (stupid me). I am going to run this without a sump (q jokes about ugly tanks and stuff hanging off them). My previous setup had a sump so I know the value and think they are the best way to run a reef. But to keep this simple I am going to use my remora skimmer and my BRS reactor running GFO (mounted under the stand with pump in the tank). 

The 75g is going in the basement, I fear the 120 might get me a divorce


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## kamal

I am looking to expand my LPS collection to other easy to keep species. Does anyone have any recommendations? 

I have been thinking about adding some acans, in your experience are they easy to keep?

There is lots of reading out there but I was interested in gtaa members experiences (understand every tank is unique)


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## altcharacter

I love my acans and want to get more but they can be finicky sometimes. The usually need moderate lighting and low to moderate flow but the most important rule is to feed them. I feed mine 3-4 times a week and the growth is great. I get a new head about every 2-3 weeks and the colony is very happy. Look into micromusa as well. They are the mini version of acanthasria.


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## kamal

Have you positioned yours on the rock work or on the bottom? What do you feed them?


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## kamal

New.additions excuse.the crap phone pics























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## kamal

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## kamal

my new tank just moved the corals but they are still retracted.

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## lloydj

Following along... great work on the stand !! Tank looks great so far.


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## kamal

Thanks for the kind words. The 55 tank stand and canopy is for sale $150 for it all. This tank is Sigs 25g starfire. Its lit by 3x 24w full spectrum par38 bulbs.



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## kamal

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## sig

very nice? try to put heater inside the box. I already miss small tank, since should deal now with the new one. 

good luck. you will have a beauty 

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## george

Kamal, would you be able to let me know where you got the 24w full spectrum par38 bulbs?


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## Kooka

I like it, looks very sleek. Needs more coral though


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## kamal

The corals are finally starting to extend after the move

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## kamal

The corals are really doing well. I have added the remora hob skimmer and moved the heater to the overflow.

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## kamal

Frogspawn from R2O

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## kamal

Latest fts

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## kamal

My elegance has been really pissed for a long time but it has started to open up for the first time in more than a month


















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## KJSMSW

Beautiful. Love it!


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## lloydj

kamal said:


> Latest fts
> 
> Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk


That looks great! love the rock work and lots of room still !


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## sig

Finally.  Looks good

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## kamal

Thanks for the kind words. I need a magnetic frag plug to put a large monti on the back wall.....and considering putting the lps on the right so the left taller island can be sps to take advantage of the height 

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## kamal

Moved some things around and a couple of frag added 
























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## kamal

Anyone using a Kessil a150? I'm thinking of trying one

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## kamal

I finally started running hc GFO ordered from http://www.reefsupplies.ca and it arrived the day after I ordered! Now that is service.


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## lloydj

I deal with Ray all the time. Amazing service and fastest shipping I have ever dealt with.

Tank looks great BTW


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## kamal

Well with 3 large-ish LPS pieces and a medium-ish sized monti in the tank along with a couple of milli frags I thought it a good idea to start testing for Ca and KH. So after a 5g water change yesterday (IO reef crystals) by Calcium is at 380 and my alkalinity is 5.9. I bought a two part dosing kit which will be ready tomorrow. I was wondering as I have never dosed before how should I approach this as neither measurement was in the perfect range but the alkalinity is worrying low. My chemistry isnt great but I understand raising either of these elements will decrease the other right? Please bare with me as this is a whole new side to reefing for me


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## kamal

Please note I tested both elements twice using brand new salifert test kits (not expired)


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## kamal

Well I started dosing this weekend and calcium was raised to 400 and alk up for 5.9 to 6.5 

Still some work to do on bringing up the Alkalinity but wow everything in the tank looked happier. SPS extensions I haven't seen before and the LPS are once again opening up to super large. Do you all dose daily? To figure out the daily dosing regime should I be testing daily? 

Thanks for the advice 

Kamal


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## KJSMSW

kamal said:


> My chemistry isnt great but I understand raising either of these elements will decrease the other right? Please bare with me as this is a whole new side to reefing for me


Correct.

They essentially offset each other. As Calcium is introduced to the tank, Alkalinity will slowly decrease as the Calcium becomes a useable part of your water column.


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## kamal

Thanks for the response. So how do I raise KH whilst maintaining Ca?

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## KJSMSW

kamal said:


> Do you all dose daily? To figure out the daily dosing regime should I be testing daily?


I know you'll hate this answer, but.....

All tanks are different. 

Everyone has a different bioload, different corals, parameters, etc.

The only way to figure out how much you should be dosing is to dose and test and dose and test and dose and test until you see a pattern you can recognize and fine tune.

Should take you about a week or so to get it right, once you've got your ALK where you want it to be.


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## kamal

Ok well I will dose and test daily and see where that gets me. I am super excited for this to see some major growth now (fingers crossed)


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## kamal

The dosing is going well KH up to 7.6 and Ca around 330. Its going in the right direction for sure. Below are some pics 


















































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## kamal

Just got my ocean revive t247 and omg do I love this light. I tried hard to take some pics with my crappy galaxy s3 and nothing would replicate the color as I wanted. I will tried and borrow and dslr to take some fts and show what this thing really looks like.

Best $200 I ever spent (so far so good and I hope i didnt jynx this)


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## kamal

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## kamal

New addition

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## kamal

Well I had a baby and that meant the tank got completely neglected. I lost everything but the two clowns and little rock of zoas and some gsp. I have just removed the substrate and started again. Fingers crossed the distractions of two little children doesn't stop the reef developing and thriving. The rock work is not final I don't like the positioning at all right now but that will develop in the next few weeks I'm sure


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## Crayon

Yup! You gotta work on that rock pile. The pieces you have are nice and porous, just a little too round. Try doing a little shaping to them, if you can. Maybe take a Drexel to them and cut some of them a bit, so they don't quite look like bowling balls 😊
Not in the tank of course.......


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## kamal

It's all a work on progress but my phone takes really scrappy pics


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## kamal




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## kamal

The tank is developing nicely but I had an outbreak of hair algae on one rock eurgh!


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