My little reef has been going for 6 months now so I thought I would post an update. It also gives me a chance to bounce some of the thoughts/ideas I have had recently. On the whole the reef has gone really well. The inhabitants are healthy, at the moment anyway, and seem happy enough. However the tank is not without problems:
- While the water quality is mostly stable I get the occasional nitrite/nitrate spikes. These seem to coincide with the feeding of the sun coral, or a day or so after.
- I am having a problem with red slime algea spreading through the tank (probably linked to above). I have tried various things - increasing flow, decreasing lighting and feeding the sun coral less - nothing has worked so far.
- The V2Skim Protien skimmer is rubbish! All it can produce is a pale watery skim, and given the problems I am sure there is more to skim than that!
So where now? I need to solve the cyno problem but am not sure how. The coral started to suffer with the fewer feedings so I am not sure that will help. Perhaps it was the wrong choice of coral for the size of the tank given that it needs regular feeding.
I think ultimately I need a bigger volume of water to help cope with the feeding/bio load and/or a much better skimmer!
I wonder if it is also worth cleaning the tank down completely and rebuilding it?
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Wayne
Tank1: 125L Tropical. 1 male betta, 4 scissortail rasboras, 3 neon tetras, 4 glowlight danios, 1 candy stripe loach, 1 female bristlenose, 6 amano shrimp.Tank 2: 65L Nano reef. 6kg live rock, 96w T5 lighting, 3 x turbo snails, 5 x red-legged hermits, 1 x peppermint shrimp, 1 small pistol shrimp (hitch-hiker), two percula clowns, 1 neon goby, 1 sun coral, 1 clove coral & 1 tree coral
I'm not sure rebuilding again is a good idea, the more mature the tank gets the better it will be, starting the whole process again could prove just as bad or worse.
Do you use RO Water all the time?
With Nano tanks you always have to be ready for things like this due to the small water volume that is being maintained compared to bigger set-ups. In terms of the Nitrities, do you think your over-polluting the tank when feeding the sun coral?
My V2 skimmers that I've used previously have been fine tbh, although can't mind if you have a Nano version or somethng like that, so I couldn't say how that performs.
FD
If your getting nitrite spikes then your biological filter is being stretched - if your using live rock as the biological filter would a bit more help?
Would a slightly larger skimmer help?
Would more frequent water changes help - if you know your getting a nitrite spike a day ot two after could you do a small water change then?
Just some questions for people to cogitate over as i've never kept marine i'm not in a position to advise really!
1xTrigon 1903 Clown Loaches,14 Cardinal Tetras,8 Rummynose Tetras,6 Cory Trileneatus,6 Hatchetfish,4 otocinclus,1 SAE,1 Bristlenose,, 10 amano Shrimp
Anubius Barteri,Crinum thianum,Limnophilia sessiflora, Echinodorus Blehri, nymphaea lotus, Ammania Senegelis, Crinum calimustratum, java moss, 1xRekord 60Empty at Present
12 litre tank - 4 japonica shrimp, 4 Red crystal shrimp, 5 High Spot Rasbora
Anubias Barteri, Glossostigma Elatanoides, Ammania Senegalisis, Limnophilia Sessiflora, Bacopa amplexicaulis
Thanks for the replies! The water used has always been RO.
A larger skimmer would help I think but I would have difficulty installing the skimmer in such a small tank. I think the larger V2 skimmers are good, but the nano is a different design to the main range.
Hi Wayne good to hear all going reasonably ok
As a matter of interest how deep is your substrate? As tanks with deeper substrates sometimes aleviate the need for a skimmer?{this is only from what i have read and not persoanl experience},have you tried syphoning the substrate to see if its 'mucky'?
As Bludave has said would a little more living rock help?
Hi James,
My substrate is quite deep for the size of the tank - about 2 inches comprised of a mix of coarse coral sand and fine live sand. I will try siphoning the cyno and see how I get on.
More live rock my help, but am worried about the risks of adding new rock - i.e. that the die-off may crash the tank.
If you want more LR then it should be ok to put in aslong as it's properly cured and in your tank a.s.a.p. Get it from a good lfs not online
In the last 10 days my cyno problem has cleared!! Gave the tank a good clean with a siphon and it has not come back. It has also cleared itself from around the skimmer. Still a little on the surface but it is much better.
Strange.
But good!!
good news wayne.
cyano can be one of those which will last for ages or burn itself out...............nice to hear you are back on track.
Good news.
Good news is always welcome
Well done wayne