First marine setup!

annndd I killed my shrimp with a water change. !
The shrimp was fine until I scrubbed the algae and swapped about 30% of the water...I obviously did something wrong. Took all of 45 minutes for it to literally keel over on the rock. The tank is next to my computer so I'm sitting here and just watch it tip over and now its twitching. Man. Time to test.
Edit:tested Everything is pretty much the same. The PH in the tank did change since I last tested. 7/25 it was 8.0 7/30 after water change it was 8.4 Aside from that I see nothing else that would have killed the shrimp. I matched temp and salinity. But I did just suck out water and dump in the new water instead of slowly adding it....but It matched the tank parameter so I don't understand why it killed the shrimp. The only other thing I can think of is something contaminated the water being added and I didnt notice. I put it in 2 buckets I strictly use for RO then dump water from those buckets into specific mixing buckets. I add salt and let it sit with a heater and pump overnight.

 

I'm so sorry to hear about Shrimpster. I cannot imagine what got him but it is often said that marine inverts are very, very sensitive critters. Here's what sticks out to me...

You mention RO several times when RODI is much preferred. Do you have a TDS meter? Do you have an RO system alone (without one or more DI stages)? If you do not have DI, you'll want to install that stage, more than one if you'd like. (When you have downtime, check out a little about oh, idk... everything on the 52 Weeks of Reefing on the BRStv YouTube channel. This is also the channel to watch to decide on how you want to **** your water filtration system.)

Inverts are particularly sensitive to heavy metals even in trace amounts. TDS stands for total dissolved solids and the source water (your RO) which you mix with marine salt should have a TDS of absolute zero. Media in RO/RODI filtration units are what strip all or most of the TDS from our tap water... my RO stages consist of a particulate filter, 2 carbon stages, then the RO membrane, and finally, the DI stage. All stages are refreshed as necessary to keep the unit in top order with DI resin needing replacement the most often (less than twice a year though.) So here are my TDS numbers from my own tap and filtration unit (which delivers RO and RODI water. By the way, I also use remineralized RO water for our drinking water as well as the nano freshwater tank.)

Tap - 350ppm
RO - 30ppm
RODI - 0ppm

From use, the media in the filtration stages will become exhausted and need replacing. When the RO TDS increases, the media in those filters are replaced, same with DI. This is why it's advised to frequently check the TDS of our water... which is easy as pie for me since I also use the TDS meter on RO/feed water for orchids a few times a week. As you can see from my numbers, the first few stages of my own system take care of the majority of the TDS but there is that little bit left. What is it? Well, idk everything that's in it but I can measure 3ppm nitrates. What's the other 27? Because idk, I cannot say my RO system makes water completely safe for the reef tank without also putting the water through the DI stage.

Here's an example I like to give when folks ask if they can use tap water, and... sometimes you CAN but it's infrequent and is solely dependant on what's in that water. There once was a reefer who had very, very low TDS straight out of his tap (somewhere south of 60ppm.) He did his research, started his reef tank, cared for it very well, and all was well for more than a year. He had fish, inverts, and corals. Everyone was happy for a good long time but somewhere in year 2, suddenly, corals were a little upset and the reefer couldn't figure out why. Before long, inverts started dying more corals were upset and some were dying. He kept plugging along, trying to figure out what in the world was going on. Finally, there was little left alive in the tank and even fish were dying. He had a major test done on his source water (tap) and the tank's water. What they found was very low-level tin in the tap, which over time, had built up to higher levels within his tank. The tank went through a slow but complete crash as what was still a very low level of tin accumulated in his reef tank.

Now, perhaps Shrimpster had a shrimpy illness from the get and it was impossible to see. Perhaps he has been stressed more than was apparent and didn't eat enough. Often, we are left wondering just what the heck caused a certain issue, (like for me, and why zoas died in year 1 but thrived in year 2) but the very first thing we look at is water quality... which you have done by running tests. However, I don't remember us talking much about source water and TDS, which is something you should also be monitoring. TDS meters are cheap online.

Now, that deal with your local guy sounds totally AWESOME!! If only for the coral deals and care alone. I think this is a very good way for a busy person (who... is maybe away from home frequently?) to get started. However, once that tank is fully established and thriving, and if you can spend a little time on the tank each week, well, you could save the fee because, in the end, reefing really isn't so hard, especially when a tank is mature.

 

I do have a RODI system which ive been using...I just say RO I'm lazy and those 2 extra letters really add up . I picked up a tds meter to check everything. It is important to mention this tank still has a good bit of tap water in it from the initial setup. I would just suck it all up and replace the water but I have a good feeling that would make something bad happen. Since the shrimp died I'll probably do a 50% change in a day or two and get the amount of RODI water (I said it that time) increased.
When I tested right after the shrimp died my ph was at 8.4 now it is back down to 8.0. I assume this is due to the dinural cycle of the tank but it definitely was higher when the shrimp died. It has been between 8.0-8.4. Maybe its nothing.
Either way the shrimp was either sick to start with or the water used to change wasn't similar enough and the stress from the water change killed it. As far as I could tell it wasn't eating much in the tank and wasn't particularly active throughout the week I had it. It was out and about but didn't remind me much of my Freshwater shrimp which are constantly scavenging, just kinda sat around.

I'll be placing in the a cheap fish like a blue chromis or a neon goby. I'll revisit the shrimp when I have all this figured out. I figure to avoid this problem in the future instead of dumping I'll pump in water like I do with my Freshwater shrimp tanks at a rate of about 1gal every 10 minutes or so. Its a pain but its better than losing inhabitants.

Oh it would only be a consult about the tank. Help me get started into reefing. Otherwise, unless I'm gone for an extended period, it'll just be me.\

Edit: would you guys purchase a decent looking inhabitant from a subpar tank? This one petco I went to had a large marine section and the fish and inverts were really cheap...but algae was rampant like soooo bad I didn't know it could get so thick. The Freshwater sections I wouldnt touch since Ich was apparent on many of the fish. But the marine filtration is different and it hadn't hit them yet.
The fish were just super cheap. Like a coral banded shrimp for 10 bucks or a clown for 20.
I'm looking for cheap cause I need something to tell me if the tank is safe without breaking the bank. Yea I know that's a little crappy of me...but I don't know how else to tell, cause from my perspective, my shrimp shouldnt have died.

 

TDS for my RODI water is 4ppm. So the system is doing its job. Another water change was done. Been testing daily and everything is as it should be. Soooooooo the company I'm working with sold me 2 clowns. Snowflake clowns.
Got them earlier today and they hid under a rock for a bit. then, for the next 10 hours of so they have been swimming against the highest flow current area in my tank. I attempted feeding but they seemed distracted so I'll try again tomorrow. I did have one clown eat a pellet so that's good news. Theyre tiny! Maybe an 3/4 of an inch. Considering how long theyve been swimming against maybe 400gph of flow I'd say theyre rather healthy. There is other quieter areas of the tank...but they haven't moved from this one spot.
I did an hour drip acclimation. These are my main stays of the tank so I do hope for the best.
As they grow they should show their black colors more brightly. I like the red but it isn't what I wanted.
I'm telling you guys I've been trying to tire these fish out. I want them to explore the tank and move from this one spot so I cranked my jaebo up to full power and nope....still just fighting the current in the same spot. Be mindful that's about 1000gph for a 15gal tank. I was like, okay if you guys just wanna work out then so be it and turned it back down to about 300gph.
I was advised that the reason for my shrimp death was the PH difference of my tank vs change water + and a slight difference in salinity and temp. Brought my salinity down to 1.0245 and will try to keep it there (before fish arrived) Reason being, the evap of my tank causes swings into 1.026 and that's just too high for my liking. If I am to keep corals I don't want them struggling before the ATO kicks on. As far as my tank goes I cut a piece of plexI and glued it over the bottom intake of the flex tank. I used seachem reef glue. This will allow the back portions of the tank which function as a sump to fluctuate in level while keeping the main tank stable in water level.
The clowns were shipped in separate bags but I'm glad I got 2. I feel like a single clown would just be a lonely guy. So far they seem to enjoy eachother, not leaving ones side for a second.

re

 

The tds should be 0 you should figure what's up. Maybe you need a new dI resin ? Either way congrats on the clowns !

 

The OP, out of curiosity how long are you running your lights?

 

The OP, out of curiosity how long are you running your lights?

I run the fluval flex light (10w) on the blue setting night and day. During the day I turn on the whites to a low setting. I was using the coral light with dimmed settings for a bit but it seemed unnecessary and promoting brown algae growth.

The tds should be 0 you should figure what's up. Maybe you need a new dI resin ? Either way congrats on the clowns !

I tested the water in a bucket that had been sitting for a bit. I'll check what comes out of my unit directly. Either way 4ppm is next to nothing is it really a concern? Its just a cheap aquatic buddy RODI system but its pretty new. Only made about 30 gallons with it so far.

Edit: As I thought it was likely a little residue from something in the bucket. Into a cup is 0ppm. Considering my source water is well over 260tds even if it was 4ppm out of the rodI I'd be content.

 

I feel like this jaebo might be a bit much. I know the ocean is a dangerous place and such but When I turned off both my pumps my fish finally came out from their little corner and explored a bit. The one has definitely set his hiding place to be in that corner but the other one is still swimming against the current. The one that isn't in the hole pins itself against a rock later at night and seems to use that to try to help with the flow. They seemed more active and "happier" with the pumps off. Obviously I need flow so I turned the filter pump back on and they seemed content with that. Still exploring and not just holed up in the rock. I have the jaebo on the lowest setting for flow. So I guess that would make it 132gph since that's the lowest advertised flow...and it seems like they don't like it. Am I just off here or should I shut off/re position this wave maker.

 

Hey there Asomeone Congrats on the salty tank!!!

Thank you for bringing this to my attention Thedudeiam94

Asomeone , I am unsure what your current burning questions are so I just have a bit to add at the moment, but please feel free to ask away.

I see you got a wavemaker. That's great because you absolutely want your total flow rate to be at least 20x the tank's volume. The flow rate is sometimes hard to believe when you've come from freshwater but just think about how dangerous ocean currents can be for us! Anyway, I heartily agree that low flow will only cause problems and it's a very good idea to supplement your output's flow with a powerhead. For what it's worth, you may still want to look into Jebao powerheads someday. They are relatively cheap, come with a controller allowing the user to set a flow pattern, (which really is what makes them cheap because other controlled pumps can be quite expensive) and are quite a bit smaller than the one you've got.

Idk about too much live rock crashing a tank. The issue I think is being referenced here is when the 'live' part of live rock suffers some or total death. Live rock must be kept wet or the life begins to die, and what do dead organics give us? Just like in freshwater, dead organics mean ammonia spikes. Perhaps a large, established, strongly cycled tank could handle it, but a smaller water volume, and/or a less mature tank and cycle make ammonia spikes more dangerous. In fact, the biggest reason that bigger is better with any tank is that smaller tanks are more vulnerable to instability and in much greater danger with toxins... since those big tanks have all that dilution.

However... I'm a nano reef keeper myself. So, don't let that go big or go home thing put you off of reefing someday. It's really not that hard, I swear it! As has been said, your tank will rely on regular weekly water changes of about 20% for keeping the water clean and parameters stable.

As far as a cycle goes... I do not change water during a cycle unless ammonia or nitrites hit 4ppm or higher and/or nitrates hit 100ppm or higher. Your live rock may have given you an instant cycle... though I kind of doubt that given that you had the rock for several hours before the tank was running. Live rock really does depend on staying 100% wet as well as the oxygenation provided by flow. Soooo... take care that the semi-live rock doesn't make your nitrogen levels too high and to avoid the other bad news that comes from dead organics, you should probably get yourself a phosphate kit. Nitrates and phosphates feed algae. So, where do you want your parameters to be in a cycled salty tank?

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm (yes, just like with fw, ammo and nitrite are toxic to salty critters)
Nitrate - 0 -15ppm
Phosphates - below 0.5ppm

Why the range on nitrates? Well, also like fw, nitrates are less toxic than ammo or nitrites, but marine creatures are sensitive to higher levels of nitrates. 15ppm doesn't sound so bad coming from freshwater but consider the vastness of the oceans and the dilution that takes place there. Despite pollution and all the rest, the oceans still provide very good water quality for the most part.

Errmm, we didn't wash our sand either. What's the point of buying live salty sand if you're gonna rinse it with tap water?

The coral pictured here...

is a leather coral called a Toadstool. Very cool! It's extended (the stringy things, called polyps) in the pic too and that's great! PE (polyp extension) is a sign of happiness in corals and happiness means they're comfortable and assumedly healthy. Leathers are considered the hardiest of hardy and most species do okay in very low light indeed, (by reef standards that is.)

Phew... that was more than a bit. Nice to meet ya, I'm Stella... the author of very looong posts all too often. Hope this helps! Lastly, stop beating yourself up. We all start somewhere and all will make their mistakes, (a couple of mine have been BAD.:eek You're doing great!

Hey! stella1979 will this work on a hose for my 20 gal long? Just hooking it up whenever I need to change water?

 

Hey! stella1979 will this work on a hose for my 20 gal long? Just hooking it up whenever I need to change water?

lol hijacked my thread for a response from her. She normally responds quickly in private messages. But since you posted that I went with the aquatic life RODI its the same gpd and has more reviews and ease of purchasing new cartridges.
But the unit you posted will work fine, you'll just have to let it run the day before you want to do the water changes. Mine takes about an hour and a half to fill a 5 gallon bucket.

 

lol hijacked my thread for a response from her. She normally responds quickly in private messages. But since you posted that I went with the aquatic life RODI its the same gpd and has more reviews and ease of purchasing new cartridges.
But the unit you posted will work fine, you'll just have to let it run the day before you want to do the water changes. Mine takes about an hour and a half to fill a 5 gallon bucket.

Someone in another thread said that it would take around 80 mins to fill a five gallon bucket and I was shocked! But I appreciate you being cool with me asking here! I get lazy! And maybe someone else (such as yourself) can chime in and give me your opinion also! The more feedback the better! So it works out wonderfully for me! Thanks! Also I was going to ask about replacement cartridges also. Do you order hose from amazon also? And how do you know when to change the cartridges? I would be using this on a 20 long so how often would I need to change water and how much would I need to change?

 

Hey there Asomeone,

Any new updates on your tank? Post more pics! Also how are the clowns were you able to get them to eat finally?

 

Someone in another thread said that it would take around 80 mins to fill a five gallon bucket and I was shocked! But I appreciate you being cool with me asking here! I get lazy! And maybe someone else (such as yourself) can chime in and give me your opinion also! The more feedback the better! So it works out wonderfully for me! Thanks! Also I was going to ask about replacement cartridges also. Do you order hose from amazon also? And how do you know when to change the cartridges? I would be using this on a 20 long so how often would I need to change water and how much would I need to change?

My dude you have 600 ratings I should be asking you these things. From what I understand as your total dissolved solids in the filtered water increases that signals its time to change your cartridges. I picked up a TDS meter for about 15 dollars on amazon. Make sure you get one that automatically corrects for temperature. For my DI unit it uses color changing material so I have any easy reference for when it needs changed. Every filter has different recommendations but the one I suggested has a charcoal filter that is advertised for 1500gallons. Important note: The reference for changing includes the waste water. That means if you make 5 gallons and 15 gallons goes down the drain...since theyre normally about 1:4 ratio of clean to waste water....it'll still be 20 gallons of water chewed up from your filters life.
I order just about everything I can from amazon but check around you might find a better priced item elsewhere. If I can prime ship it I'll probably pay the extra however much cause I'm impatient.

Hey there Asomeone,

Any new updates on your tank? Post more pics! Also how are the clowns were you able to get them to eat finally?

Here we are. Clowns have accepted frozen food so far. Blood worms target fed through tubing is the way I've had success. I change it up every feeding and alternate between mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, and the bloodworms. I've left the jaebo running in a wave mode and they seem to have acclimated to it and have changed their hiding spots. I sometimes turn off the jaebo for an hour or so and they go explore other areas of the tank.
I'm in the process of adding a HOB fuge by repurposing an aquaclear 50. Then goes in the copepods. then goes the corals.
Theres a nice bright green algae that's slowly growing over some of the rock. I like it. The green algae that came on my 2 original pieces of live rock really dulled in color and this new stuff looks like what that rock did when it first entered the tank.
I think I'm past the brown algae bloom. Skimmer kicks out a good bit of yellow stuff. Theres always more questions but I'm trying to not stress and just let what happens happen. Tomorrow will likely be a 30% water change.
I am struggling with placement of my ATO. Its a hydor ato and the water doesn't fluctuate enough in the rear chambers to trigger it. Should have just got float switches. Despite sealing the lower intake ports of the tank water still drains out of the main display rather than the rear. I think I need to block off half of the upper intakes to make the levels more stable in the main tank.
W

 

Went to a pet store since I was in the city of Pittsburgh today and that doesn't happen often. Big ol pet store on the northside had bottles of tigger pods for 10 bucks and a good clump of chaeto for 6 so I got both along with a salifert ammonia kit. So I plopped the chaeto into a 30 micron bag and am floating it in the main tank until my HOB fuge is set up. Absolutely had some stragglers on the chaeto in the the form of snails.

I want some advice on that since I did not at all treat the chaeto everything from the store is still in it. I figure since a 30 micron mesh is rather small nothing big is getting out. Should I dip the chaeto before taking out of the bag and adding to the fuge (when it comes in) or happily except the addition of the snails...they looked like pond snails but I guess theyre a salty variety.

I dumped in the bottle of tiggers which was in a re purposed pepsI bottle. I sniffed the cap and it still kinda smelled like pepsI but the pods were extremely active in the bottle so I just poured it in. I really feel awkward about saying that tiggers name cause if I spell one letter wrong I'm banned and I don't like that at all they need renamed to lil shrimp dudes.

I've now gone 8 days without a water change and according to the salifert test kit I'm still sitting pretty at 0ppm ammonia. I woulda thought itd be higher due to the food waste from feeding times. Is my system more stable than it should be? Or am I missing something.
I assumed at this point ammonia would be visible and the tank would require immediate help...but it doesn't. I'm trying to see at what point in the water change process I'd need to worry. That is why I haven't done a water change yet. Corals are on the horizon as the company I'm working with as well as my own personal shopping is gonna land me with some non photosynthetic corals. At the same time I will be purchasing a dosing pump to feed them. I figure start out with a coral that doesn't need much light and migrate to one that needs more.
I really don't like a lot of the hard corals...just me...I think they look creepy. And I want my tank to have a majority of flowy corals. I'm thinking the finger leather and colt coral, green star polyps, toadstool leathers, and after all that I have to research some corals the clowns will like. I have come to understand anemones they prefer are much pickier and harder to care for. I'll get there for them but until then I want strictly flowy looking corals with longer arms that don't look like theyre gonna eat me.

Salinity spiked with the addition all the way up from 2.024 to 2.027 but I quickly brought it back to 2.0245 with a good dose of RODI water. By quickly I mean within 2 hours of addition. From my research I was told it was safe to just dump the bottle in and my fish are not yet acting oddly so I'm hoping for the best.

Edit: So glad I put the chaeto it in this bag where none but the smallest of creatures can escape. The bag was designed to hold purigen so its tiny pores. I see soooo many worms and various creepy crawlys...i've also been reading that ich can be introduced through the stragglers on the chaeto...didnt realize that. So I'm really hoping I didnt mess things up. I assume I should Freshwater dip this before I move it into the fuge? Since I added those pods already I'll probably kill a lot of em but better than having all the stuff on the chaeto.

 

So here we are. 1 month and 13 days in. Xenia coral and some turbo snails arrive on thursday. Moved the chaeto from the main tank to a repurposed breeder box that will serve as my fuge. Changed my skimmer to an aquatic life 115 mini. Some problems with that as I forgot my fluvals first chamber has baffles about 3/4 of the way down and they block the skimmer from being placed low enough. I need an extra 1/2 inch of water to get it running properly....so tweaking will occur and I'm gonna try to raise up that chambers water level.
I observed the moss and picked my way through it in a bowl. Picked off some worms. Moved 2 of the smaller snails into the main tank.
Put in my foam so I removed the filter floss and am just running foam blocks now. I don't think many of my pods from the last addition made it. Hopefully now that I have some BIG amphiopods in the fuge young ones will find their way to the tank.
Reef roids and reef dip are ready to be used.
Clowns are eating and healthy (as far as I can tell)
Green algae is growing on the purple rock. I don't mind it though, Think it looks interesting in contrast to the purple rock.

I Frankensteind this tank together. I'm proud of the results thus far.

Also I hung the light from the ceiling because it was too far a bend when attached the rear and considering how much I take the lid of the tank off I didnt want to continually stress one area of the glass. And it was too much work to remove the whole neck of the light. This has been working so watevs.

 

Those breeder boxes are great! I have to trim mine now a 1/4 of the size almost every week it grows so fast. Tanks looking good. Let us know how that skimmer works out. I was tinking of using it for my 29 biocube when I set it up

 

So here we are. 1 month and 13 days in. Xenia coral and some turbo snails arrive on thursday. Moved the chaeto from the main tank to a repurposed breeder box that will serve as my fuge. Changed my skimmer to an aquatic life 115 mini. Some problems with that as I forgot my fluvals first chamber has baffles about 3/4 of the way down and they block the skimmer from being placed low enough. I need an extra 1/2 inch of water to get it running properly....so tweaking will occur and I'm gonna try to raise up that chambers water level.
I observed the moss and picked my way through it in a bowl. Picked off some worms. Moved 2 of the smaller snails into the main tank.
Put in my foam so I removed the filter floss and am just running foam blocks now. I don't think many of my pods from the last addition made it. Hopefully now that I have some BIG amphiopods in the fuge young ones will find their way to the tank.
Reef roids and reef dip are ready to be used.
Clowns are eating and healthy (as far as I can tell)
Green algae is growing on the purple rock. I don't mind it though, Think it looks interesting in contrast to the purple rock.

I Frankensteind this tank together. I'm proud of the results thus far.

Also I hung the light from the ceiling because it was too far a bend when attached the rear and considering how much I take the lid of the tank off I didnt want to continually stress one area of the glass. And it was too much work to remove the whole neck of the light. This has been working so watevs.

What is the pink light in the back for? I can’t seem to find where that was explained, If you can explain once more what’s going on there I would appreciate it! Lol

 

Those breeder boxes are great! I have to trim mine now a 1/4 of the size almost every week it grows so fast. Tanks looking good. Let us know how that skimmer works out. I was tinking of using it for my 29 biocube when I set it up

Will do!

What is the pink light in the back for? I can’t seem to find where that was explained, If you can explain once more what’s going on there I would appreciate it! Lol

Its the grow light for my fuge. There chaeto sitting in the box under the light. I found the box a bit small for my liking so I got a bigger breeder box that I'll install later tonight.

 

Will do!

Its the grow light for my fuge. There chaeto sitting in the box under the light. I found the box a bit small for my liking so I got a bigger breeder box that I'll install later tonight.

Would you post photos once you change it?

 

It was too much effort to repaint the box with krylon. A lot more space for chaeto to grow. Takes up the rear of 2/3 of the back of the tank and expanses 2 entire chambers. Adds .5 gallon to my water volume so that's a win.

Those breeder boxes are great! I have to trim mine now a 1/4 of the size almost every week it grows so fast. Tanks looking good. Let us know how that skimmer works out. I was tinking of using it for my 29 biocube when I set it up

Tweaked the water level with plastic so I was able to raise the rear chamber water levels easier. Its kicking out a very wet skimmate and is a bit noisy. Key noise is from vibration and I think my water is slightly too high at the moment so I hear a gurgling from the air intake. But hey I definitely already outperforms the air driven skimmer I had. With tweaking I think it'll be a great add.

First piece of xenia is in but I have very little hope for it. Not including pics cause its pretty pathetic. The seller on ebay I purchased from sent me turbo snails and xenia. I have a feeling nothing added today will survive. Its fine. my Local reef supply has some I'll purchase after payday. Should have just gone to the LFS to begin with. The company I was working with had none so this is what I did. Bad choice.

 

Went to the lfs and bought a proper piece of Xenia. Much much happier with it.
If the vid is super low quality go on YouTube via the link.

 

Just remember xenia is highly invasive I say you find a isolate it like an island before it becomes established.

 

Just remember xenia is highly invasive I say you find a isolate it like an island before it becomes established.

Its on its own rock currently....like from the lfs it had attached to a rock and I got that rock . I was moving it around the tank and since I have a rather high flow tank I Didnt wanna leave it just getting blasted by the wavemaker. This was a spot with decent light and lighter flow. Since its on its own rock I'll move it around if it becomes a problem. Also, can't I just tear/cut parts of the xenia that were spreading to other things? Like Trimming my Freshwater plants?

 

Yes you can frag corals but there is a good reason why many hate Xenia with a passion.

 

Yes you can frag corals but there is a good reason why many hate Xenia with a passion.

I really like the look of it so if it takes over a lot of my tank I won't complain. I wanted very hardy coral to begin with.

For this skimmer it is noisy without a doubt. I'm going to be custom making a HOB box with a 100gph pump to feed it water. It needs an extremely constant water level. A change of even 1/4 of an inch completely messes up skimming ability. I have found that it only produces skimmate when the water level covers all the return ports of the skimmer. Even then, I only get a really wet skimmate since the water level fluctuates so quickly in such a small tank this is not optimal. So I figure A custom box will prevent the water fluctuating. I'll update once its made.

2 turbo snails I added were initially moving and now theyre just sitting. I tried to move one of the 2 and it is firmly stuck to the rock. How do I get them moving? They were absolutely alive before addition. I acclimated via float and drip for about 45 minutes.

 

Hey there! Congrats on the coral!! I got xenia as one of three that were my first corals in the current tank too. I didn't and don't hate the coral... but it stopped pulsing, more corals came along which I liked better, and there just wasn't room to keep it's rock far enough away from the main scape. It grew, covered its rock, reached onto the scape and tried to spread further. I didn't want that and yep, it's quite a bit messier and definitely slimier than trimming plants but we can 'frag' xenia in the tank. For me, that meant gripping polyps by the stem, very near where it attached to rock, using plant tweezers, and yanking it out. Not fun, but not too bad, lol. In the end, xenia kept making its way off of the little rock I wanted to keep it on so after 4 or 5 times yanking it off of the main scape, and by then, with lots of other little corals that I wanted to protect from getting smothered... xenia lost the battle and I got rid of it all. So... that's my long way of saying, congrats, xenia can be a bit of a pain, but it wasn't so bad for me and it'll only get as bad as we let it.

How's it doing for you now? Is it pulsing for you?

 

Hey there! Congrats on the coral!! I got xenia as one of three that were my first corals in the current tank too. I didn't and don't hate the coral... but it stopped pulsing, more corals came along which I liked better, and there just wasn't room to keep it's rock far enough away from the main scape. It grew, covered its rock, reached onto the scape and tried to spread further. I didn't want that and yep, it's quite a bit messier and definitely slimier than trimming plants but we can 'frag' xenia in the tank. For me, that meant gripping polyps by the stem, very near where it attached to rock, using plant tweezers, and yanking it out. Not fun, but not too bad, lol. In the end, xenia kept making its way off of the little rock I wanted to keep it on so after 4 or 5 times yanking it off of the main scape, and by then, with lots of other little corals that I wanted to protect from getting smothered... xenia lost the battle and I got rid of it all. So... that's my long way of saying, congrats, xenia can be a bit of a pain, but it wasn't so bad for me and it'll only get as bad as we let it.

How's it doing for you now? Is it pulsing for you?

Oh yes. under the flow I have it you can't really see it pulse much since it just gets blown right around but with the pumps off during feeding time you can see it happily pulsing away. I really enjoy watching it. I know its invasive. But its one of those corals that I wouldnt mind if it just infested my whole tank. The Zoas I introduced in the higher rock have quite some space to grow before the xenia can overtake it. But just like I battle the over growth in Freshwater I can battle xenia.



Update on the skimmer if the water line covers all the outlet ports it performs fantastic. Produces a very stinky gross skimmate. I haven't been able to adjust it since I didn't make the box for it yet. Once I have it in the HOB box it'll be much easier to tweak it.

 

So you say until the Xenia invasion takes over your tank Just teasing haha, but Xenia’s do sound like aggressive growers. I may have to give second thought to adding them in my tank.

(Fixed my typos)

 

So you say until the Xenia invasion takes over your tank Just teasing haha, but Xenia’s do sound loke aggressive grovers. I may have to give second thought to adding them in my tank.

Oh yea theyre super aggressive to other corals from my research. But I feel like Its just like trimming Fw plants that like to grow rapidly. Cut it with a razor and pull up what you don't want. Simple.

 

So heres a little update. Levels are still holding strong. Clowns are growing. I finally have had success with snails. I bought a looooot cause I was tired of them dying and....unfortunately? all but 3 have lived so now I have like 30 snails in a 15 gallon. I also got an emerald crab which has been happily feasting on my bubble algae. I think the Zoas are happy the xenia appears to be getting larger by comparing photos. I've upped the salinity to 1.0255. I plan to just leave the lights where they are since where it is now grows a good bit of algae and I have enough snails to mow a football field. Never did make that HOB box for my skimmer but after it built up the biofilm it operates reasonably well regardless of water level.

 

Finally got a "sump" installed on this tank. Its nothing more than a Tupperware container with eggcrate to create sections. For the return pump section, I wrapped the eggcrate in fine screen mesh to keep the chaeto out. Got a filter sock sitting in a little eggcrate holder. In total it adds roughly 3 gallons to my capacity.
I like it a lot more than all the clutter in the rear of the tank. I still have the foam blocks and chemical filtration up in the main tank but this lets all this other junk stay down. Overflow is a simple DIY that I use on 2 other of my tanks. 1/2" pvc cemented together.
The return pump is a variable 180-280gph pump. With head height, I'd say it probably does about 100gph, perfect for my application.

Added GSP's a couple of days back and within an hour my emerald crab was eating them. So I had to move them around and found a spot in the tank I never see the crab venture. Polyps have been opening and the coral seems happy. Xenia has spread from its original source rock to finally touch the tank rock it was placed on. It is now glued to its spot. Zoa's have almost outgrown their frag and should begin encrusting the rock.

I do have rather an irriating bubble and green algae issues, but with the help of forum members, I've been combating it. Hopefully, the makeshift sump helps even more.

I gotta say I'm pretty happy about spending a total of 25 bucks to make the sump. Considering similarly sized proper sumps run over $150 I'd say this is a very easy alternative choice.

Still got some kinks to work out with the sump in regards to my ATO system. Gotta add a siphon break since my supply tank is now higher than my sump. I also want to cut the lid for the tupperware so It lets me run the wires through it but gives the tub a bit more rigidity. Also so dog hairs don't get in the water.

I did get around to building that HOB box for the skimmer and then the day after I was like....tupperware sump. So kinda a waste of an afternoon but its all good now I got a random HOB box for something else.

Lastly. While my wires may look like a horrible mess they are "organized" theyre just all crammed into a tight area so they look pretty tangled up.

 

So here we are...November 4th. The Zoa's have since closed up and have stayed closed. Attempts to reopen via dips have been unsuccessful. I am hoping the movement to a lower flow area with less direct light will encourage them to reopen and recover from whatever originally caused them to close. Reading up on this subject I feel like this just sometimes happens. Stuff harasses the coral and they close. Or you dip them one too many times and they can't come back.
I do have a bristleworm infestation. Which will be the next thing I target. I removed three which were bright red and spiny....so I assume theyre fireworms. Which could have been harassing the coral. idk there's so many aspects I'll just wait and see. I just know my levels are more than adequate.

My levels are negligible after adding a reactor and a proper marine depot overflow to the tank. I have experienced no further overflows.
Due to the very low levels, I have begun feeding the corals with reef roids again. I know my corals prefer a dirtier tank so this is my solution cause I'm not dealing with algae again.
Bubble algae and green algae has all disappeared and I'm not too sure how I'll keep my snails happy now. Guess I'll get some algae wafers. Brown algae has attempted its start in the tank but I'm confident it will fail as the other algaes have. Come get some Mr. algae. I beat you.
Gotta give a little shoutout to aquatic life for sending me a new pump for the skimmer when one failed with only one email exchanged. Didn't ask any questions just sent me a new pump and within 2 days it was back operational. Convenient cause I actually burned up the motor when the sump ran dry on an overflow before I installed the marindepot hob overflow.
I don't really know what else to update on. Everything is alive. Everything but the zoas are happy and growing...xenia's have another new branch on the rock. Clowns are slowly growing and fully black and white.
Considering adding a panda goby to the mix. Maybe some shrimp but if I add shrimp I'll have to move the emerald down to the sump. maybe he'll be happier down there since that's the only place that has any algae growth. The emerald runs out so fast when I feed the clowns. I feel bad so I squirt some frozen food his way.
Thanks for all the help getting this going.

 

So you say until the Xenia invasion takes over your tank 1787] Just teasing haha, but Xenia’s do sound like aggressive growers. I may have to give second thought to adding them in my tank.

(Fixed my typos)

Xenia are great if you are content with one coral and want a cheap way to cover your tank in coral. Other than that I wouldn't recommend them due to all the aforementioned issues.

 

I wish I could see pics not letting me see them. But from the sound of it I bet it’s awesome. Cool to hear your taking it upon yourself to make the things you need! Hats off to you!

 

Thedudeiam94 here ya go

 

Thanks! Everything looks great!! Well done!

 

Just for reference on what I spent with a 15 gallon nano reef. This is not an all-inclusive list. Some things like sand, wasted products (air driven skimmer, HOB boxes). Didn't include salt prices since that's more a continuous cost. Probably forgot other items like the shrimp I killed...live rock isn't needed to start the tank...I built my own stand...Iodine dips...tank doses...filter socks...ato tank/pumps/tubing...I can go on.
For the basics for an up and running reef tank...this kinda seems like a decent baseline.
I also meant "marinedepot" vs marineland HOB.

Last edit after my previous 20 lol...I am decent with my hands...It is not for everyone. Despite having spent so much money, I probably saved anywhere from 100-500 dollars building the stand myself. Saved more doing the plumbing myself. DIying the sump easily saved me 200+. Making the flex tank work with the components I purchased saved even further since I didn't have to find products that integrated with the flex system itself. Bottom line....if you really wanna save a pretty penny do everything possible yourself.

 

Just a little update. I have added a very small (1 inch) 6 line wrasse to the aquarium. Only been a couple of days, but seems to be settling in well. I am also battling a dino outbreak that I can't seem to get a hold on. I'm gonna try vibrant and see if it works it out.

 

Just a little update. I have added a very small (1 inch) 6 line wrasse to the aquarium. Only been a couple of days, but seems to be settling in well. I am also battling a dino outbreak that I can't seem to get a hold on. I'm gonna try vibrant and see if it works it out.

You planning on other fish in the tank? 6 line is not a good community fish, especially in a small tank.

 

You planning on other fish in the tank? 6 line is not a good community fish, especially in a small tank.

I have the 2 snowflake clowns that have been in for...like 5 months? I am not planning on any other additions. If you recall I have a lot of rock and hiding spots. By the time the wrasse and clowns reach full size I'll likely have a larger tank set up....in case of fighting.