Location
Staten Island
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Finally started my first reef tank after years of thinking about it.

Don't have much budget right now so I used a friends old 10Gal tank and went the minimal route without skimmer or RO/DI. Just using a modded Aquaclear 20 HOB with Polyfilter, carbon and PhosGuard.

Koralia 420 and 240 (420 constant, 240 randomized during day and off at night) and a RapidLED Par38 Mixed/UV 80deg bulb on for about 12 hrs.

Started off with 1 bag of LS and about 8lbs LR from LFS. Cycle was done in about 3 weeks with CUC put in at end purchased from Manhattan Aquariums (5 bumblebee snails, 2 nassarius snails, 1 yellow tipped hermit, 3 zebra nerites who seem to be laying eggs like crazy with one or two actually producing tiny snails). Put first coral in on 4th week and aquired from the Spring Frag Swap: 1 frag zoa, 1 frag acropora (free from the fragging demo), 1 hairy mushroom frag and two montipora frags (green and orange?).

I am using NYC tap water treated with tap water conditioner and Instant Ocean salt which aerates in a bucket for at least 12 hrs before putting into tank. Despite the tap water reading a constant 2ppm nitrates on API test kits and a constant phosphate reading of 2ppm, everything seems to be doing well. Just had my first diatom bloom which the CUC is making quick work of. After almost 2 weeks the acropora frag appears to be one of the happiest as it is encrusting over the superglue onto the LR I mounted it to. Montipora also seems to be doing ok slowly encrusting onto the plugs. The zoas seem to be happy fully extending with darker colors.. just haven't started splitting off new heads yet. The hairy mushroom is doing the best, really extending and enlarging from it's size at the frag swap!

Other than that, some beneficial hitchhikers include plenty of bristle worms that are getting large, spaghetti worms, peanut worms, a few tiny amphipods and copepods on rock/sand. Even have a stomatella snail that came on first day as a tiny speck and is now about quarter of an inch growing so fast. Unfortunately I did get aptasia off LR or some chaeto (which I initially put into the HOB but lighting was burning/killing it so I got rid of it). Been attacking the aptasia with aptasia-x, but every time I hit a few tiny ones I see, a few days later I seem to see a new one elsewhere.

Looking for low cost suggestions on maintaining consistency while still using NYC Tap? Should I stick with the combination of poly/carbon/phosguard or is there anything else I should use? Since putting phosguard in, my phosphates have come down to around .1-.25ppm (can't tell exactly as the API kits suck to judge small variations).

Also any livestock suggestions? Was thinking of getting a blood red fire shrimp, but not sure if I want any fish. Any coral suggestions?

Measurements:
Temp: 79.2 (consistent)
Salinity: 1.024-1.026 (mostly consistent)
Ph: 8 (doesn't seem to go above that at all except one reading of 8.2.. not sure how to get that into a consistent 8.2)
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate:1ppm
Ca:380-420 (with water changes)
KH: 10
Pho: was 2ppm before phosguard.. now seems to be .1-.25ppm

Tank is now 1 1/2 mos. old.
 

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Last edited:
Location
New York
Rating - 100%
87   0   0
I always run nanos and dont run an RODI, i always buy water from the supermarket - Distilled. its cheap and 100x better then running tap - the conditioner will only remove chlor.

either way i think your off to a nice start , trust me and go the distilled or RODI route. you will have problems in the end using tap...

I also am more then happy to frag you some zoas [im on the island also] free of charge once the tank ages a little.
 
Last edited:
Location
Staten Island
Rating - 0%
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I also am more then happy to frag you some zoas [im on the island also] free of charge once the tank ages a little.

That would be great! I'm also in need of a few minor hitchhikers; corraline algae seeder rock, some mini brittle stars as I've got a decent LR CUC but the only stuff digging in the sand are the Nassarius which don't give much attention to the detritus, and some amphipods as I don't see many yet in my tank. I'd be happy to give a few bucks for those things.
 
Location
Staten Island
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Red Smooth Leak Kelp?

This plant was attached to LR and I thought it was dead during cycle as it was just bare stalks sticking out of rock throughout the cycle. Now that my tank has been stable for a month, it appears to be growing slowly. Can anyone confirm if this is Red Smooth Leaf Kelp or another good plant.
 

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Pax-Bellum LLC

Experienced Reefer
Vendor
Location
New Milford, CT
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leo_nano.jpg


Here is my first attempt at a Nano and it was a 10G AGA. This many many moons ago after I had finished with my FO systems. I kept it easy, because you are not dealing with a large water volume any small change in water chemistry, light, or temp can be a disaster, so keeping it easy IMO is the way to go.

I eventually did go SPS with this tank after a Metal Halide upgrade and TEC (Thermo Electric Chiller), but even then, it was no joke.

Like I have read so far, start with some nice and easy Zoas, Leathers, Muschrooms until the tank is super stable (at least a yr, IMO) and you have your dosing and water change schedule down pat. Don't forget there are other animals out there to keep things interesting and fun such as feather dusters, various crab and shrimp species, and many fish that will thrive in a small(er) environment (Please, no mandarins unless you have access to fresh pods often)

I was living in Brooklyn at the time and of course the tap water had the typical NYC funk, so the first purchase before I even bought the tank was a 65GPD RODI unit and a handheld TDS meter (Calibrated every couple weeks), I believe I was using Instant Ocean salt, switched to Seachem for a while, but if I remember correctly they ran into batch issues and was having problems with the consistency, so I eventually went back to Instant Ocean. The secret to this particular nano and many nanos is good husbandry skills. Every 2 weeks, 10% water change, even if my roommate at the time did it, it was done on schedule and I only fed my animals exactly what they needed, no more no less, I did not starve them, that is cruel and if I remember correctly I was using only rinsed frozen mysis shrimp.

Testing was done using a refractometer that was always calibrated (trust me on this, it was a cheapo and lost its accuracy often) and salifert test kits. I cannot praise their kits enough.

Lastly as you can see, the tank is not over populated.

Keep it simple and stay consistent, that is the name of the game in nano land (IMO!)


-Leo
 
Last edited:
Location
Staten Island
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
this tank failed horribly not shortly after my last post as I was in a way too tiny apartment with very little resources to manage. Went away for a week and when I came back it crashed. Decided to put a hold on this hobby until I had an apartment with more space and resources to get a decent baseline equipment list for best success. I had just started my job at the same time as this tank and it has been 6 years, 3 apartments and still at that stable job with much greater financial stabilty. I am finally ready to start again. All this sitting around in my new apartment while working from home got me researching this hobby again and I just ordered a Red Sea Reefer 170. I'll start a new thread for that when I get it set up.
 
Last edited:

seldin

Advanced Reefer
Location
New York
Rating - 100%
94   0   0
I previously did reef well for years. Even my 34 gallon solana did well. But when i went to a 10 gallon nano, had a tough time in NYC.

For me, definitely went with adding $$$. I had outbreaks of hair and bubble algae. Nothing kept it at bay. Vibrant worked and then stopped. Finally, my hero is my yellow tang... lol

I would suggest RODI water as a must. Also, clean up crew appropriate for your size tank.

In addition, lighting very difficult to understand what is good. Par meter was shocking to realize I was at 700!!!

Anyway, my tanks $$$ in my nano is much.... heaters, fan, chiller, backup electricity with power outage.

My point is that when I had larger tanks, keeping a reef was much easier. Every time you make an improvement it helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

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