Snake's 20g Nano Build thread

kiefers

kiefers

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/387674/snakes-20g-nano-build-thread/60#post_3421591
So, I run an algae scrubber on my 20g nano tank. I started the cycle two weeks ago with a good sized chunk of shrimp that I left in there! I also started the tank with half TAP WATER! woohoo! The first three days I got a good diatom bloom and my algae scrubber actually picked most of that up and kept it out of the tank. This week my algae scrubber turned from a brown diatom bloom to:


The other side is equally as bad. lol. I have a theory that if it wasn't growing on the screen, it would be growing in my tank. I do have some algae growing in my tank as well, but I don't have any snails or hermits or anything to eat it in the display.
When I started my tank, my water parameters were as follows: nitrate is high at start because of the tap water. (my guess)
Salinity: 1.019
Nitrates: 30ppm
Phosphate: 0.25ppm
pH: 7.8 - 8.2
Calcium: 440
Alkalinity: 10dKh
As of today, because of the growth on the screen:
Salinity: 1.025
Nitrates: 10ppm (maybe closer to 15ppm)
Phosphate: less than .25ppm
pH: 8.2-8.3 constant
Calcium:420ppm
Alkalinity: 10dKh
That's just 6 days of growth, and I haven't even cleaned it once yet. lol. I'm probably going to throw in some snails in my sump to keep the hair algae and other algaes at bay and help with some detritus build up. Also, something to watch when I can't sleep. Mise well throw in a hermit crab or two as well. lol. Oh, and yes, I did top off my tank with saltwater a few times to get the salinity up where I wanted it to be.
Saturday I am going to clean half of the screen and grow it another week and see if my water parameters improve. I'm hoping to get a pair of clownfish in the tank in the next couple of days.
>
Oh, and YES that is a protein skimmer in the background. I don't have all the parts and pieces to it, so I stuck it back there just to get it out of the way for now. I am going to try not to use a protein skimmer on this system if I can keep from it. If my algae scrubber does not work long term, I'm going to buy an ASM Mini-G protein skimmer in the future. But, I'm going to experiment with this set up for quite a while. I run this setup on a few clients tanks and have had success so far - but we'll just have to see. :D
I'm having a horrible microbubble problem in my display tank, but I have an idea of how to fix it. I just wish I didn't have to use filter floss :(. I'm also going to turn down my return pump to make it a little slower going through my sump. Maybe that will also cut down on some bubbles. Eh, a little maintenance here and there isn't going to kill me. lol
looks like someone blew their nose on that screen........ blah. Lol...
What did you use to rough up the screen. When the wife had her ATS running we had one hell of a time getting the screen (oh whats the word.... ) rough......
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
A hole saw bit, a steady hand and some patience.
It's actually really easy to rough up a screen if you soak it in a solution of vinegar and a strong saltwater mix for a day (or more). I dunno why...?? I guess it just seemed easier. lol
 
travelerjp98

travelerjp98

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/387674/snakes-20g-nano-build-thread/80#post_3421624
Hah, I woke up at 6AM this morning right as rain. :D
I joined a running club in my local area and I've been conditioning myself to getting up early.
I wake up at 7 am every day... besides weekends :).... but I just thought that it was funny that I called it a "sump pad thing" instead of an "algae scrubber"... and that's because I posted that just as I woke up!
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
You know what? I think I found a material that is way better then a plastic canvas... it's called an enkamat. It's the stuff they use to lay down between grass and sod to aireate (sp?) the soil so that the grass roots can get a better hold... something like that.
I'm going to look into it and see if it has any mirth.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Here is a pic of that Enkamat stuff. I did a little more research and it is specifically designed to prevent erosion. Roots can "easily grow" into it so that it keeps steep hills from eroding away. It's the same stuff they use to modify protein skimmer needle wheels with to make finer bubbles. So, I'm guessing that if it's used in a protein skimmer as a "mesh mod" then it should be fine to use for an algae scrubber.
The other thing is that it is 3D, and you can buy it in different thicknesses. I think I am going to try it if I can find it at my local HD.
 
travelerjp98

travelerjp98

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/387674/snakes-20g-nano-build-thread/80#post_3421746
Here is a pic of that Enkamat stuff. I did a little more research and it is specifically designed to prevent erosion. Roots can "easily grow" into it so that it keeps steep hills from eroding away. It's the same stuff they use to modify protein skimmer needle wheels with to make finer bubbles. So, I'm guessing that if it's used in a protein skimmer as a "mesh mod" then it should be fine to use for an algae scrubber.
The other thing is that it is 3D, and you can buy it in different thicknesses. I think I am going to try it if I can find it at my local HD.

That's a cool idea. I would definitely be interested in seeing the results of it.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
So, if you scroll up, you can see the other pics of the algae scrubber. Today I'm going to clean half of the screen, but first I wanted to post a pic of it this morning.

All (most all) the gaps are filled in and the whole screen is growing algae now. I'de hate to have all that algae growing in my tank!
I also added a false perc clownfish yesterday. He seems really happy.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Here's an embedded video of the algae scrubber in action...
This was a video from yesterday, The growth has completely covered the screen today. I should probably clean it today, but I haven't found any of my zip ties laying around, and I hate to have to take the whole top half out of my sump which I think I'm gona have to do anyways.
I'm going to do water tests sometime today. I've just been really lazy lately. lol!
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I'll post a pic of that clownfish sometime when the lights come on... or a video. Who knows. lol
Man, am I enjoying my iPhone. lol!
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
So, as promised...
It's the second video I've ever taken with my iPhone, so I hope it turned out right.
The hair algae is going away in the tank, and more of it is growing on the algae scrubber. So, I'm guessing that it is really working!
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Whenever you start shipping them to me! HAHAHA
I'm poor. I've been out of work for a month now, and barely got my bills paid and rent paid for this month. I was lucky to get a fish. I'll start adding corals as the tank comes along, and as money permits. lol.
I want to get my fish in first and the tank established before I start adding any corals. It's going to be about next month or December until that happens.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
So, not much going on with my tank at the moment. I do have a few updates.
I bought a clownfish and it got ich, so I bought everything to quarantine it and treat it with copper, and the day that I was going to start the copper treatments, the clownfish decided that it wanted to go carpet surfing. I'm sure I could have treated the ich without any problems at all, but there's nothing I can do to save a crispy critter.
The second thing that happened - since my clownfish had ich, I am leaving my tank fallow for the next eight weeks to make sure there is no ich in my tank. I'm going to start ordering from online vendors now, instead of my local fish store. I bought a cleaner shrimp for something to watch. I got home after a 15 minute ride home from the store, and started floating him in my tank with the lights off, just temp acclimating, and then 15 minutes later, I look at him, before the bag is even opened, he's dead. Belly up - gone. $27.50 for a cleaner shrimp that died 30 minutes after I bought him. I called the LFS and left a message, they never called me back. That's why I'm only doing online orders for my tank from now on.
The third thing that happened a few days ago is the GFCI unit started clicking off and I turned it back on twice, really quickly. Then, when the algae scrubber lights "officially" clicked on, I looked at my tank and there was a blue flash and the electricity cut off, and what looked like candle light under my tank. I rushed over and patted the small flame out (it's not as bad as I am describing) and was checking everything out, and then all the sudden my sump started overflowing. I couldn't get the electricity to cut back on, and I couldn't figure it out, until I pulled up the return pipe and saw that BOTH of the 1/8" holes I had drilled in it were clogged. AHH!! I only lost maybe a half gallon of saltwater, but still, it all freaked me out. So, I replaced the socket in one of the algae scrubbers lights that had burnt out, and I filled the cavity of it with silicone, and I also filled the socket with silicone before I screwed in the light bulb. Perhaps this will keep that from happening again. I should have done that to begin with.
I had a hair algae problem because I started the tank with half tap water. That's nothing new. I turned the lights down to 3 hours a day for about two weeks and let my algae scrubber go crazy. I also used a tooth brush and wiped off a lot of the algae in the display tank on a daily basis. It's almost completely gone. The algae in the tank has started to turn gray and white and dying away. The sump's algae scrubber is starting to go dormant because there's nothing to scrub in the water column anymore. I've been ghost feeding for two to three small fish for the last three weeks since my clownfish died.
I'm going to add a second powerhead to the tank. I don't believe the Koralia 240 is doing anything for the tank at all. I should have ordered two 400s when I had the money. In fact, I guess while my tank is fallow, I'll go ahead and get one or two. :D The water parameters are staying really constant. The sump used to be filled with hair algae because of the lights from the algae scrubber, but now that algae is almost gone, and the only algae growing is on the scrubber itself now.
I think I might go with a variety of smaller fish for my tank instead of one large maroon clownfish. I might get one or two tomato clowns. They look really similar to cinnamon clowns. I am also going to order a lot more of a clean up crew as well. I need some more snails. I am thinking about taking the hermits out of my display tank and putting them in my sump. They don't really do more than snails. I'de rather snails.
Anyways, that's all I can think of for now as an update. It's going to be awhile until I can make any new additions to my tank. I might get a 10g tank set up and going as a quarantine tank, and get a couple of fish to watch to make sure they do well and are ich free before I put them in my display tank. That will give me something to watch.
So, as of today, the tank is doing well, sitting fallow with nothing to watch. :(. Another 5 weeks to go, and I'll put in an order from saltwaterfish.com. Coralline algae is starting to grow here and there because of the low nutrients, and because I've been dosing with kalkwasser. :D I've also noticed some halimeda algae that has just recently popped up out of no where. It looks pretty cool in the display tank and I think I'm going to keep it.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
PICS!!


lol, told yah nothing much changed.
I'm planning on making some pretty sweet additions in the coming weeks once my paychecks start to roll in again. :D
 
morgan175

morgan175

Member
The only differnce between you and me with the problems you are having would be me asking your advice on how to solve them. Good luck with the tank. Each day brings another problem with my tank. Wish this was easier.
 
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