10/17/2015
My Nirates have been testing a little high lately so I've been doing small water changes here and there to help reduce them. The tank seems to be doing ok and the Coral are opening up well but I want to bring those Nitrates down. I did a bunch of research as to what could be causing the Nitrates as I only have the snails and the coral so I shouldn't be having much of a bioload that my filter can't handle. I've only been feeding the coral twice a week.
The recommendations were to cut back on the coral feedings for now. I also decided to remove the sponge filter and the ceramic filter stones from the filter itself and get better media. Apparently, Sponge Filters are Nitrate factories in marine aquariums and the ceramic stones aren't the best. I'm going to be replacing the sponge with some Seachem Matrix and the ceramic stones with some Seachem Purigen filter media. I also picked up some Algone Water Clarifier & Nitrate Remover to help drive the Nitrate levels down. I've also ordered some more Pukami Live rock as the Lvie rock aids in natural filtration.
I'll be replacing the media over the course of a week to reduce the impact on the systems.
10/15/2015
Picked up a nice lil Hammer Coral from my LFS today. It was the best looking one they had and am looking forward to seeing him in the tank. I'll have to keep him away from any other coral I'll be placing in the tank because his tentacles produce a powerful sting that can hurt anything nearby!
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| Hammer Coral |
10/07/2015
My tank is continually testing with 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrates and 0 Nitrates. I believe the Aquarium Additive, Nano Reef Buffer and Purple Tech really stepped up the cycle time.
I ordered some Coral Food (Reef Roids and Reef Chili) as well as a tool to help target feed the coral and man does the Duncan love it; it has already shown significant growth! I also picked up a Reef Master Test Kit so I can test for Phosphates, Calcium and Carbonate Hardness to make sure the coral stays happy.
I also ordered some live stock from LiveAquaria.
Live Stock:
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| Livestock added. |
10/02/2015
I decided to get some Instant Ocean Bio-Spira Start Up Nitrifying Bacteria Aquarium Additive to give my tank cycle a little jump start. I'm not quite sure how beneficial it will be but we'll see. I've also picked up some Kent Marine Nano Reef Buffer and Kent Marine Purple Tech to begin dousing my tank with. I've also grabbed the Saltwater Master Test kit to begin testing my water parameters so I can monitor my tanks cycle stage. I've developed a Google Spreadsheet with an attached form so I can easily input my readings and track them over time. Complete with nerd graphs XD.
I've also received the custom lighting unit in the mail and I'm quite happy. This is with the default setting the controller provides. It's really cool that it can emulate a day and night cycle by fading the lights in an out.
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| New Marine LEDs installed. |
9/26/2015
One can spend days researching the pros and cons of every little detail about building a saltwater tank and it can get overwhelming very quick. I've decided to cycle my tank with the live rock in the aquarium at the beginning of the process. Here is my tank at it's initial setup:
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| Starting up a cycle! |
9/25/2015
I've always had a desire to do a saltwater tank but have always talked myself out of it due to it being an intimidating endeavor. I've decided to take a plunge (and hope for the best!) in creating a nano reef in my office at work.
Materials
- Tank: Fluval Edge 6g.
- Filter: Stock Filter.
- Lights: Custom Marine Light for Fluval Edge. These guys were great and built me a custom lighting unit that replaces the stock hood of the Fluval edge. It is seamless and keeps to the clean, sleek look of the tank. They would be happy to assit you with any further questions or custom setups. Contact Info.
- 36W CREE LED system
- System automation with Dimmer
- Water Circulation: Hydor Koralia Nano Circulation Pump - 240gph
- Heater: Aqueon Submersible Heater - 50W
- Mini Algae Cleaning Aquarium Magnet
- Aquarium Thermometer
- Refractometer
Stock
- 10lbs of Live Sand
- ~3lbs of Pukami Live Rock from BulkReefSupply
- 50g of InstantOcean ocean salt
- 6g of RO/DI water
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