85 replies to this topic

[MrLeifBeaver]

Only a verbal update for now.

 

Negative first - I bought a Japanese Slipper Coral (below) any way that has completely wasted away and died. So I have learnt I need to do a little more research with what corals I can keep.

I think I can really only have Soft Corals, the hard corals need more care. I don't have a photo of it death, but it kind of melted away.

 

Positive - I have this Green plate coral. It became damged from my Anemones stinging it, anyway that one has now recovered and is well on its way to getting healthy again. Which awesome.

Negative - Just struggling with a bit of calcium dots on the glass, trying to keep the front viewing area clean.

Positive - I am going on a little birthday holiday to Melbourne this weekend, so when I come back I plan on big clean up of the tank, re-arrangement and getting a couple more corals to fill out the tank.

 

Just done a little water change so tank will be ok while I am away.

 

Cheers for wanting to know so much about it. I'll try to get some new photos up when I come back.

 

Regards

MLB

[Voodoo]

this is definitely one of my favorite threads on here - love the idea of starting a nano reef tank - maybe 1 day when life isn't so hectic!!

[MrLeifBeaver]

Thank you Voodoo. I really appreciate the kind words.

[Mattymak]

I agree it's amazing.
Makes me want a nano.

[MrLeifBeaver]

SEPTEMBER UPDATE - PART 1 - PICTURE HEAVY

 

Ok, so it has been a while since I did an update. Since my holiday at Coral Bay the tank has been running ok, but not as crisply as I would like.

 

One thing I have learned is that I can see when my Protein Skimmer is not working at its peak. Brown scum will appear at the top of the water indicating it is not breaking down solids.

I can also note that the Activated Carbon definitely has to be changed over regularly now.

 

So what I want to show you is my 'Overhaul' of the tank, which I am noting needs to be done about every 3-4 months (Last time was 26th May), so maybe 3 months rather than 4.

 

Let me show you behind the scenes... Yes.... Children overt your eyes...

I am going to show you my tank in need of a good clean, even with my regular 7 day WCs. Took about 1hr to do, I love Nanos!

 

As you can see, lots of algea, lots of coraline algae in the substrate, tank needs a good scrub.

 

Closeup of glass

 

I start to remove all the live rock and coral.

 

Here is Honey Bun helping me, she loves the tanks, will try to drink the water and will reaching to 'pad' the water too.

Yep, I kinda ignore the Anemones, they deflate probably don't enjoy it.

 

Here is the tank empty (Fish and Shrimp still in the tank though), I am in the middle of scrubbing the glass and clearing muck

Honey! Get out the way!

 

Once it's all scrubbed I ran my fingers through the substrate, trying to loosen it up and get a bit of debris out (next WC, I am thinking of doing a little bit of a vaccum).

Also trying to clear some of those weird clear worms ( I had quite a lot). Tank is actually now 'cleaned' I have re-placed all the corals and re-activated the filter.

 

So I went out for about 2 hours and on my way home I picked up a new clean up crew, a number of my snails had died, as well as a cool dark orange starfish.

You can see how the Plate Coral has emmitted it's defence mechanism against being touched and moved around(that will slowly clear).

 

This is how the Bubbler looks after 2 months. Need to replace it regularly. I now have 2 spare, and have kept this one as a 'backup-backup'

 

And here it is the next day, about 24hrs afterwards.

 

Hope you enjoyed that.

I took some more photos today, it's looking 100% better. I have to do that in another post.

More to come...

 

MLB

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Edited by MrLeifBeaver, 15 September 2014 - 06:04 PM.

[MrLeifBeaver]

SEPTEMBER UPDATE - PART 2 - THE NEXT DAY

 

I bought 4 snails and 2 hermit crabs. Here are a couple of photos.

 

 

Closeup of my Frogspawn Coral and a Torch Coral

 

Closeup of my Peculiar Clown

 

Here is the Protein skimmer working!

 

And FINALLLLLYYYYYY (drum Roll), Tank lookinng much much better. I think the activated carbon has really scrubbed the water to make it crystal clear.

 

I Hope you enjoyed the photos.

 

MLB

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Edited by MrLeifBeaver, 15 September 2014 - 06:56 PM.

[Blakey]

You know what I am loving about marine you can pack so much lunch in to such a little space!
Awesome setup, awesome post!!

[Mattymak]

Yeah I agree Blakey, for 34L you won't find much as interesting as this. Nice work MLB!

[MrLeifBeaver]

Thank you very much. I love having people read it and following the topic, just makes me want to produce more photos.

Edited by MrLeifBeaver, 16 September 2014 - 12:57 AM.

[MrLeifBeaver]

February Report: This hot weather is no fun for my Nano!

 

Last night I noticed all my corals have retracted and my anemones shrunken, anyway I looked at my tank temp... 35c! Oh no. So I quickly got some ice blocks and did a quick-fix and slowly brought the temp down to 28c over 1 hr.

I really hope the corals, live rock, anemones and stuff are ok and not been cooked. Fish and Shrimp appear to still be alive.

 

Anyway, I am going to do a WC tonight when I get home and continue to monitor.

Also, I have permanently turned off my water heater just incase it is broken and I will check that filters and all that are running ok and not over heating.

 

Hopefully the tank hasn't crashed. I think I need to look into getting a refridgerium asap.

[MrLeifBeaver]

Tank seems ok today. I get surface skimmer recently and it looks like it was 'full' too. Temp is ok now.

[malawiman85]

Lucky Leif!
Hey, umm... where are all the cool pics that normally accompany your updates?
Septembers photos look sensational. I wish I could be bothered with another marine tank. This and a couple of other marine threads keep me thinking about it though.

[MrLeifBeaver]

Lucky Leif!
Hey, umm... where are all the cool pics that normally accompany your updates?
Septembers photos look sensational. I wish I could be bothered with another marine tank. This and a couple of other marine threads keep me thinking about it though.

 

Due to the heat the tank is struggling quite a bit so it is not looking brilliant. I will see what photos I can do as I have a new camera.

[Dazzab]

hey leif that green plate coral is a chalice coral I think. hopefully everything has survived after the heat swing normally anything over 29 you will start to lose corals so im amazed that your corals are doing fine especially the nems. you will have to come get some zoas off me one day im upgrading my tank soon to a 500 liter system

[MrLeifBeaver]

hey leif that green plate coral is a chalice coral I think. hopefully everything has survived after the heat swing normally anything over 29 you will start to lose corals so im amazed that your corals are doing fine especially the nems. you will have to come get some zoas off me one day im upgrading my tank soon to a 500 liter system

 

Ah, I wasn't sure what it was, nope the Chalice Coral didn't make it. Nems not doing well either, they are surviving but not all 'blown' up they have all retracted.

Tanks not looking the greatest. I really need to post a photo to show the swing in the tank. It's a great example of why a Nanos are difficult.

[shayne]

bugger!! hope it comes good for you

[MrLeifBeaver]

March Update - The Heat Wave

 

I have been a little embarrassed by my Nano. The summer has not been kind to my tank.

I have lost corals, the nems are not looking great and I can't seem to get it to drop below 30c.

 

Anyway, I thought, as I am documenting my tank, I should also show it when it's not at its best.

So I just 'bit the bullet' and here are some new photos of what a summer can do to a non-chilled tank.

Have a look at my old photos to compare if you like.

 

Slightly blurred, I am waiting for it to cool before I add some new corals. I also need to get a chiller but I don't need one for a 300L tank.

The white speckles are micro bubbles from my skimmer. I think I will take another pic.

 

 

Shrimp is very happy

 

 

Hammerhead coral is surviving.

 

My nem is alive, but retracted a lot. I imagine it will come back when it cools.

 

I love the shrimp!

 

Anyway, there you go. A few photos.

Thanks for reading.

 

Regards,

MLB

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Edited by MrLeifBeaver, 16 March 2015 - 08:29 PM.

[Dazzab]

It will come back I just upgraded my tank to 470 litres plus the sump


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[Redevilz]

How's it going Leif?

[malawiman85]

Hey look, Red's alive!