Well I'm back and this time I'm doing a nano! w/ pics

[murph145]

Hello everyone! Well it has been a while since I have been here. I broke down my old 180G reef tank back in October and I have taken a nice break from the constant maintenance and the cash needed to run the darn thing!
I decided I would get back into the hobby and get myself a Solana high clarity glass tank 18"x18"x18" or 25 gallons... i got the stand to go with it as well... I one of my old tank lights a 250W Lumen Max 3 HQI pendant with a Phx 250W 14K bulbs powered by a bluewave ballast... Man this thing is bright on this little tank. I also kept my ATO system other than that I am going to keep it as simple and low cost as possible.. I am going to manually dose calcium and alk and I am running Probidio. I put 20lbs of live reef grade sand in the tank along with 23lbs of LR. Luckily I experienced no cycle I think setting it up with fresh ocean water along with the LR and LS and Probidio made it possible.
This tank is going to have only bright nice corals haha since its so small I have to make sure what I put in here is worth the while!
I put 3 chromis in as start up fish all survived and they are staying for now.
For corals so far I have the following:
sunset monit
aussie acan
green eye chalice
neon green polyps
duncans
frag or bright purple fungia
tubs puprle polyp birdsnest
here are a few pics tell me what you think? So far all corals opened right away and I feed the acans and duncans too.
Let me know what you think and I will keep updating thread as i move along.

and RIP my old expensive tank!

 

[soulsigma]

Looking good Murph

I even like your old tank, which I feel will be like the Phoenix Rising after the fire

you know how addictive this hobby is

 

[nano-newb1983]

very nice, i love the sunset monti

 

[spanko]

Hello Murph, welcome back.
On the Prodibio, are you using the nano pack? How often and how much are you putting in?
I am putting in ones ampule of each once a week of the nano pack, in addition I also put in one drop of Vodka and a few of amino acid into my biocube 29 gallon. Results are decent so far, good growth, limited if any glass algae, crystal clear water, no testable nitrate or phosphate.

 

[fishtaco]

Nice tank and also I really like the use of "tin" on your wall, looks great. I have set up two 15 gallon nanos and also have never had much if any of a cycle in either tank using well cured live rock and crushed coral.
F.T.

 

[zoie2]

Spanko, why do put a drop of vodka in?

 

[murph145]

thanks guys
soulsigma.. i hope he nano will be enough lol... actually it has to be enough i cant spend the type of money i spent on my old tank the 400-500 monthly electric bill was just ridiculous! Thats why this tank i am keeping it simple and i am only going to keep colorful corals not enough room for so so corals.
I am planning on adding the following still:
rose bubble anemone 3"
2 black misbar ORA clowns
small goby
some type of shrimp
small starfish
pink lemonade acro
ORA red planet acro
Oregon Tort
Cali Tort
superman monti
watermelon chalice
alien eye chalice
bright red aussie micromussa
2 small maximas
ORA roscoes blue
ORA borealis
ORA red and blue milli
green slimer
ATL pink poly cap
Leng Cy cap
Tyree blue polyp monti
I think that will be enough just gota start working down the list and finding these corals might add or switch out a few depending on what I see out there.
Nano-newbie.... thanks i always wanted a sunset never had it in my old tank and the store let it go for $40 so i took it. I have always had superman and pokerstar before
spanko... as far as the probidio goes i have only used the bio-digest and bioptim. I had these left from my old tank i also have the reefbooster but wont use that until i feel the tank is setup enough with bacteria. So far so good water is crystal clear plus i experienced no cycle and all corals are perfect and not one sign of algae. I will review other trace elements and see what I would like to add too its a small enough tank where it wont be too pricey.

 

[spanko]

Originally Posted by zoie2 http:///forum/post/3052189
Spanko, why do put a drop of vodka in?

Carbon dosing. Do google carbon dosing for more information.
Also look here;
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/353706/vodka-dosing

 

[murph145]

Originally Posted by zoie2
http:///forum/post/3052189
Spanko, why do put a drop of vodka in?

a lot of people use vodka to control nitrates some people have some really good results I still am not sure if I want to get my corals loaded lol.

 

[trippkid]

Looking good so far Murph, glad you got back into the hobby. A nano should not be as expensive to run. I am sure your tank will be spectacular like the last one. Good luck and have a good weekend.
Matt

 

[murph145]

thanks Matt
glad to see you're still around! hows the tank doing? yea i figured i can make a sweet little nano and save some money while sticking in the hobby

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by murph145
http:///forum/post/3053034
thanks Matt
glad to see you're still around! hows the tank doing? yea i figured i can make a sweet little nano and save some money while sticking in the hobby
Save some money

I just set up a 29g thinking...ahhh how much could it cost

Although I think it will be a lot cheaper to fill than the 225g...You need a lot of corals in that one
OH...Nice tank....I really like it

 

[bullitr]

welcome back, justin

 

[trippkid]

Yeah, I am still around, drop in here from time to time, spend most of my time on a foreign forum and the other big one over here. My tank is doing OK, I have been having some high Alk issues with freshly mixed saltwater, for some reason the salt I have been using(Red Sea Coral Pro) for the last couple of years, now seems to mix up at or above 16DKH. I reduced my maintenance and my tank started to look like crap, so lately I have been trying to find a salt that I like and mixes up where I want it too. Hopefully everything will color back up when I get my Nitrate back under control. I got lazy and my tank definitely suffered from it, so now back to the basics for me. Good luck with your nano, I'm sure it will be all filled up by next year.
Matt

 

[bullitr]

hey tripp,
its been a while! how the 3 kids? and the tank ? justlike murph i am also back! consolidate my 3 tanks in one.My 3 kids are getting big ,cutting their own hair and making a lot of mess..lol

 

[fanker]

murph!!!!!! ur back!!!!! finally i been gone awhile to and came back and saw nothing from u so i looked u up and ur last thread was u selling ur tank........so.......... what the f^@% were u thinking man u had the best tank i have ever seen!!!!!! and u didnt even sell me any frags. .........anyways its good to have u back, hope the new tank is a mini old tank cause man that thing was insane i mean that huge clam?!?!?! what did u do with that thing? donate it to an aquarium? sorry for the rant. i missed u

 

[spanko]

Hope you don't mind Murph but I wanted everyone that hasn't to see your old tank, it was so nice!!!

 

[trippkid]

Originally Posted by bullitr
http:///forum/post/3053456
hey tripp,
its been a while! how the 3 kids? and the tank ? justlike murph i am also back! consolidate my 3 tanks in one.My 3 kids are getting big ,cutting their own hair and making a lot of mess..lol
Yeah it has been. My kids are doing well, we are just getting into Little League playoff time, I help coach my son's team along with my daughter's instructional softball team. My tank has been OK, not the best though, like I said my problem started with these high Alk issues, then with reducing maintenance schedule to nearly nothing, my Nitrates have sort of skyrocketed, some of my sticks have browned and I lost a couple of the more sensitive one's. So now trying to get the Nitrate lower and going back to how I used to keep the tank(weekly maintenance and waterchanges, changing filter socks every 3 days, etc.), I still am having Alk issues though, the new stuff I mix up is always way high and my tank is creeping up too now. Yeah they grow up fast, too fast, I'm sure I'm not too far away from the hair-cutting, my three do a pretty good job with the messes already. Nice to hear from you again too, I am always around somewhere on the forums. Have a good weekend.
Justin, sorry for the big long post about me in your thread, if by chance you have a hard time finding some of those corals on your list(I don't think you will, but the offer is there), I can send you some if you want, just let me know. Have a good one.
Matt

 

[murph145]

meowzer... yea i didnt think it would cost too much to set up lol but now that its a small tank i have to be more slecetive about the corals going into my tank which usually means more $$$ i should have it pretty full within the next few months hopefully then i can sit back and just watch it
bullitr... hey lawrence! thanks its been awhile! ill give u a text tomorrow we can figure out your floor... so how r u liking 1 tank now? youre tank is big thought!
what up Fanker! hey man sorry i just ditched out i got burnt out on the tank and i was tired of spending butt loads of $$$ on the electric bill and mainteance... also it got so full and i had issues with the green star polyps on every piece of rock so i figured it was time to take a break and regroup... the clam i had i sold it to vividaquariums out here for there 800g display tank which they were excited to have but then they had an issue with a clown that kept tryign to host it and irritated it enough that it died! i was so mad to hear that! my new tank will have a few clams too obviously smaller lol but im looking fwd to grabbin all the le corals i can and shoving them into my little tank now! so hows your tank doing?
ahhhh thanks spanko! i miss that tank hopefully the majority of things i sold are still out there alive and making some1 elses tank look good!
matt thats crazy you and lawrence have 3 kids i dont even have 1 yet lol my mom wonders why i dont i just havent figured it out yet im turning 31 on june 12 so shes always buggin hahaha.... thanks for the offer man what eactly do u have these days anyways? Thanks for the offer!

 

[coral keeper]

Glad to see you back murph!! This is going to be one sweet nano!!