# Fluval Spec Reef Build



## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Hello, everyone.

I'm starting a reef tank from a 2 gallon Fluval Spec that I had lying around.

This is my first saltwater tank.

If I can pull this off in my 2 gallon, then I can upgrade to my 220 perfecto.

I'm hoping to make this full of live rock/sand and coral. I don't know if I will put any fish in. If I do, I might go for 2 mini dart fish.

First off:

The tank was covered in algae and dirt as it was a freshwater quarantine/snail tank that I had neglected. Here is a picture:










The tank started to leak, so I picked up some sealant/silicone and i went to work on it!




























After sealing, I let the tank sit for a couple days and then tested for leaks.

Everything seems okay so far.

I ordered some stuff from inTank online and also picked up some stuff here from a couple members on the forum.

I picked up the following:

inTank Media Basket with Skimmer Piece
Marineland Minijet 606 Pump
Slim Aqueon Heater preset to 78°
Chemipure
Media filters
Eggcrate (courtesy of Fragbox)
PAR38 Bulb with Gooseneck
Nanomag Glass Cleaner

Here is a picture of some of the goods:










I grabbed some live rock and some live sand from the local Big Als last night and I just started setting up the tank! Here are the pictures!




































































































VERY CLOUDY!










Looking good. This is where I left off before going to bed last night:










In the morning, the sand had settled a lot and it looked like this about 10 hours later:










And it definitely was Live Rock, as I found a snail critter this morning on the glass:










That's all for now. I will take some water tests tonight and post up the parameters.

I want to get some coral in this baby!

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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

I'm sorry if the pictures are too big.

I posted this thread using Tapatalk from pictures I took using my phone.

When I view it online using a regular computer, the pictures are huge.

I will try to fix this later.

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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

Good luck and nice start....but with such a small volume you will need to ensure you top off water very regularly or the salinity swings will destroy the tank quickly

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## des (Jul 30, 2011)

One great thing about small tank is you can afford to do water changes more frequently. 

I would suggest keeping the temperature of the water in your tank in the low range 23-24°C to reduce the water evaporation.

What corals do you plan to add?


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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

kamal said:


> Good luck and nice start....but with such a small volume you will need to ensure you top off water very regularly or the salinity swings will destroy the tank quickly
> 
> Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk


Yes, definitely. I will have to keep an eye on not just salinity but all of the parameters.

Small tanks can be a pain with fluctuation!


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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

des said:


> One great thing about small tank is you can afford to do water changes more frequently.
> 
> I would suggest keeping the temperature of the water in your tank in the low range 23-24°C to reduce the water evaporation.
> 
> What corals do you plan to add?


Water changes are definitely less expensive.

Unfortunately, the heater that I have currently is non-adjustable and is factory set to 78, so I cannot change the temperature. I have thought of maybe changing the top to make it more "air tight" to reduce that evaporation.

As for corals, I haven't thought all that far ahead yet. 

I'm just looking at making sure the parameters are all set, first.

I know some people aren't a fan of them, but to be honest, I love Xenia's, so I might put one of those in the tank if I can find a small one.

I like Dendro's, as well, but I don't think I will be putting them in this tank.


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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

So, I checked the water parameters today.

Here is what I found:

Salinity: 1.023
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm

This is leading me to believe that either the live rock, live sand and the snail that are in the tank have contributed to an already cycled tank.

However, to be sure, I am going to test the water every day going forward as I add little tidbits of shrimp to spike the ammonia.

Hopefully, the nitrates show a sign of a fully cycled tank.

I did not check for phosphates or anything else at the moment.

I will be bringing up the salinity to 1.025 over the next few days.

Oh, and everyone loves pictures:










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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

On a side note, my stomatella seems to be doing great. I'm not 100% sure what he's been eating as there's no algae in the tank, but he does seem to be fine... 

I have the light on for only about 5 hours/day, as I don't want to encourage too much algae growth during the cycle.

Also, I have managed to resize all of the pictures. I will make sure that all pictures in the future are the same size for your viewing pleasure.


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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

This morning I check out my tank as I do every morning, but this time...

I found some more life forms.

I wasn't able to find the Stomatella this morning. Maybe he's hiding.

But I found what looks to be some type of coral and some worms...

Can anyone help me identify?

Here is the soft coral creature that just appeared overnight:










In the middle of the rock. Zoomed out picture:










And here is a picture of the worm inside the crevice of the heater cord. They are white, thin, and near the head of the worm is looks like they have a little bit of red/brown lines:










This picture is not mine, but this is the other type of worm I have seen in my tank:










If anyone can help me to identify these life forms, that would be great!

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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

I think you might have got some pest in your tank :/ sorry to be bearing of bad news. Check the saltwater hitchhiker guide for more details. Im currently on my phone so ill try to post a link for you. 

Btw I see you have the heater inside the tank and under the live rock? Be sure you can access it when you need to fine tweak your temps .but seems everything is coming along nicely! Keep us posted!


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

I believe that "coral" with the tentacles is a Majano Anemone. Someone correct me if im wrong.


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## 4pokguy (Apr 27, 2011)

The thing in the first 2 pics above is Majano. KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!!!!!
I don't know what kind of worms those are though.... hopefully not a Bobbit worm.

I use the same heater, one in my nano, and another to mix salt with. Does it fit into the return chamber? It would clean up the look of your tank a bit if you could put it in there.


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## liz (Jan 16, 2008)

How are you going to clean the glass with the rock touching it? That is a big rock for such a little tank. I would take it out and break off some of it to make it smaller?
It is mojano anenome - a very bad pest and will spread - try killing it with a shot of vinegar in the center of its mouth.
As far as the white worms are concerned I don't know what they are?
The second worm is a bristle and totally reef safe.


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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Thank you everyone for the quick replies.

You are all right, it is indeed majano! I will take care of it today. From what I can see, there is only one of them (hopefully).

4pok, I tried to put the heater in the back of the tank, but it doesn't quite fit. I was worried about it possibly melting the pump tubing. As I have the upgraded pump, there is less room for the heater.

Do you think it's a possibility that the heater could melt the tube? That would be a bad situation. I feel safer having the heater away from the tubing.

Liz, thank you for the confirmation on the second worm being a bristle. 

I appreciate the help, everyone.

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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Liz, I forgot to address your comment regarding the rock.

I had not given much thought about cleaning the glass.

You do make a good point. 

I have some other smaller pieces of live rock I may put into the tank instead. We will have to see.

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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Since there is only one Majano that I can see, would it not be possible to just use tweezers to pull it/rip it off the rock?

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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

im not to sure about ripping it out of the rock since it will hide right away LOL. but the heater in the back chamber is fine. i have mine in the back with a pump also for about a year now so its pretty safe  

i second the comment about breaking the large LR into something more workable. just take it out and hit it with a hammer


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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

I will grab some Kalkwasser in a few hours and try out that method with a syringe.

Aln, you've convinced me to try putting the heater in the back.

Will try to do this now.

I will also remove the smaller piece of rock in the tank to make more room.

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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Okay.

I managed to get the heater into the back portion of the tank sitting above the pump. I had to cut the tubing a little bit and play around for a few minutes to get it to fit, but it works. Thanks for the push, aln!

As for the Majano, I decided since I could only see one of them and the tank is just starting up, I would not use kalkwasser.

I figured it was more efficient, quicker, and cost effective to simply remove the live rock and burn the Majano away. Once I had the live rock out and burned the Majano, I added some more live sand to the base of the tank.

I also removed the other small live rock that was in there to make more room.

I did not break or reduce the size of the current rock. I may still break a small portion off the right side.

I also managed to get a small frag of zoas. Currently, since the tank does not appear to be fully cycled as I found some ammonia in the tank today, I have the zoas in a SOLO Cup with LFS water and not the water from my tank.

I purchased some ammonia to cycle the tank and hurry it along faster. Hopefully the zoas should be fine in the SOLO Cup for a little while. They seem to be doing fine.

Here are some pictures of the tank as it stands now without the clutter of the heater and other rock, also with a greater sand bed. The pictures might still be a little cloudy due to the addition of more sand:





































ZOA's. Difficult to see through the frosted side of the SOLO Cup:










That's all for now.

I will retest parameters tomorrow.

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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that the tank is fully cycled!

The bad news? Well...

It would appear that my silicone job did not last too long. After 5 days the tank started leaking again and I got fed up.

The girlfriend and I decided that in order to make things easier, we would purchase a Fluval Spec V, 5 Gallon aquarium. This way, we don't have to play with silicone, everything is brand new and of course, we get more space!

We set up the tank essentially the same way as the previous one but we did add some more live rock and sand. I also acclimated the zoas that I had sitting in the solo cup. The zoas were definitely not too happy about the whole tank overhaul.

Here are some pictures:

FTS:










Unhappy Zoa first thing in the morning:










Stomatella:










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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

great stuff! join the Spec V club!


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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Well, the tank has been doing quite well.

I have gotten around to adding some more corals, courtesy of Kooka and T.O. Fishguy. (Thanks, guys)

I will probably pick up a fish today, as I do need something to keep the biological cycle going and also to make the tank more appealing. Not sure what I will get, but the girlfriend likes the Royal Gramma Basslet. And as standard and boring as people may suggest, I wouldn't mind a blue damsel. So, we will see what happens..

Here is some of the new coral that I picked up.

Red Milli from Kooka, introduced on Friday:










Two types of Xenia from Kooka, introduced on Friday: (I love these)



















Zoas from T.O. Fishguy, introduced yesterday. These guys are still getting used to their new home:










Metallic Green Star Polyp from T.O. Fishguy, introduced yesterday. This coral didn't have enough time to show off, but hopefully today being the first full day in the tank, I will see it all open up:










And last but not least, I picked up a beautiful Purple Tip Green Hammer from T.O. Fishguy that was also introduced yesterday. It filled out quite nicely given that I took the pictures only a few hours after being introduced:










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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Also, can anyone confirm for me if this is a Feather Duster?










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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

Yah thats a duster


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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Thanks for the confirmation, aln.

I did some work to the tank before I go to the store to pick up a fish.

I tested the parameters:

pH: 8.1
Specific Gravity: 1.025
Nitrate: 10ppm
Calcium: 380ppm
Phosphate: 0.25ppm
Alkalinity: 10 dkh

I wanted to drop the phosphates and nitrates a little bit so I did a 10% water change. I did not check the parameters after the water change, but I will do so probably tomorrow.

I also added a thermometer to the outside of the tank so I can view temperature. I placed the probe under the media basket in the back to keep it out of sight:










I also did a little bit of aquascaping to make a bigger cove. I may make this cove even bigger by gluing more rocks together or picking up different pieces from the LFS:










Here's a nice shot I took, as well. You can see the Star Polyp show it's colours:










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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

A few additions and more parameters.

Parameters today are as follows:

S.G.: 1.025
pH: 8.1
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphate: 0.1ppm
Calcium: 440ppm
Dkh: 10

I finally got some chaeto and set up a small refugium in the back of the tank with a 10watt bulb, as I can start to see signs of diatoms and what looks to be coralline on the live rock. I'm totally fine with the coralline but don't like the diatoms. I also reduced my light cycle from 12 hours to 10 hours by shaving off 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour at night.

Here's a picture of the refugium (from the outside):










I also decided to get an Ocellaris Clown. He's a little bit lonely at the moment, but he seems to be doing well. He's just a baby:



















And lastly, I picked up two Scarlet Red Legged Hermits:










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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Quite a few changes since last time and some new additions to the tank! (Well, it was new a couple weeks ago, I just didn't have the time to update!)

First, some pictures of the corals:

Shrooms:





































Yuma:










Favia (not sure which kind, can anyone ID?):










Kenya Tree (courtesy of altcharacter):










Now, he's been in a few pictures already, but I picked up a cleaner shrimp also. Love this guy!










I also picked up a couple Astraea and Nassarius snails:



















Also, I just found tonight that the Nassarius were nice enough to leave some eggs scattered all over the place!!



















That's all for now!!

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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Got a nice close up shot of my one and only Stomatella coming out during the day.

I wish I had a few more of these so they would reproduce!










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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

If you're ever in my neighborhood again you can pick up a few more snails. I have quite a few in my sump


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## Jiinx (Apr 5, 2012)

Be careful what you wish for - lol! I thought it would be so cool to have baby snails - and I thought I did - until I realized they were baby slugs! I got an explosion seemingly overnight. 

if you want slugs, I can share with you!


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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

For those that have been following along, originally I started this thread with the Fluval Spec 2 gallon tank. The tank was leaking and was previously a freshwater snailzone. I had siliconed the tank and started up the saltwater venture but shortly after, my silicone work failed and the tank started to leak, so I purchased the Fluval Spec V 5 gallon.

Long story short, I used a whole tube of silicone on the Fluval Spec 2 gallon tank.

I let the silicone cure for one week, followed by a leak test done for 10 days. The result? NO LEAKS!! (And I would hope not after using a whole tube of silicone...)

With that being said, I am going to make the 2 gallon Fluval Spec into a frag tank/invertebrate tank.

Effectively, this thread is now going to consist of a log between my frag/invertebrate tank and my 5 gallon nano reef.

This is what I did today to get the 2 gallon started:

Front Shot:










Left Side:










Right Side:










Polyps, Margarita Snail:










That's all for now.

I think I might do some GSP fragging this weekend and get some GSP growing in the frag tank! Maybe even some zoas... who knows!

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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Been a while since I updated.

Here is a picture I took this afternoon:










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## lloydj (Apr 10, 2009)

Your tank looks like it is doing well. Congrats!


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## KJSMSW (Mar 24, 2014)

Thanks!

I'd like it to fill out a little more. 

It would also be nice if I posted a FTS, instead of a center of the tank shot. LOL

I'll throw up some more pictures later.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

The anem looks really healthy and those acans are nice and fat!!


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

the tank came a long way! looks great!! love that nem


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