Mixed reef 18 gallon
Aylmer, Quebec
Introduction
This is my second reef tank. My first tank was a nano of 20 gallons that I kept for 4 years and eventually neglected. I hope this won't be the case with this one and I've gotten into AquaticLog to keep me on track for my new 18 gallon tank. This is my first time keeping SPS corals and therefore I hope to learn more about properly dosing my aquarium.
- 5
- 0
- Hammer / Anchor Coral, Branching
- snowgrrl83
Background
This aquarium is an all-in-one and has beautiful starfire rimless design. I have setup a fuge in the back chamber with a submersible light, liverock and chaeto and later added caleupra (sp?) macroalgae. I also keep a media bag with a tbsp of gfo and carbon in hopes of preventing any algae outbreaks. This tank has 15 lbs of aragonite sand and 18 lbs of various liverock about 6 lbs of which i purchased from an LFS and the rest that was cooked in my basement for a month from my previous tank. Some of the inhabitants of the tank came from my previous tank such as the yellow watchmen goby, royal gramma, pistol shrimp, blue mushrooms, candy canes and branching hammer coral. Otherwise, they are all new additions.
- 6
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- Lordhowensis Coral
- snowgrrl83
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Lighting
I have a Maxspect Rasor nano lighting the tank. I love the LED lighting and the fact that i don't have to change bulbs(which annoyed me with my previous tank) my lights start phasing in at 7 AM, peak at 80-80% at noon and start phasing out again at 8pm. I leave a 1% moonlight from 10pm to 7 AM. My fuge light (submersible halogen light) is on from 8pm to noon the next day, everyday, in a reverse cycle from the display light
- 7
- 0
- Feather Duster
- snowgrrl83
Magnesium
Calcium
Salinity
Nitrate
Phosphate
pH
Temperature
Alkalinity
Nitrite
Ammonia
3 Fish
43 Corals
24 Invertebrate
6
Trochus snails
1 Plant
Equipment
Additive
Tropic Marin Bio Calcium
Aquarium
AutoTopOff
DIY Arduino-controlled ATO
Cleaning
Heater
Walmart heater
Lighting
Medication
Powerhead
Refugium
Submersible halogen 10W light
Salt
Skimmer
Stand
Nano cube 14 cabinet
I tend to feed granules every day and cyclop-eeze once per week and mysis once per week. I used to only feed granules once every 2 days but was scolded for starving my fish, so now i feed every day. I target feed some of my corals and anemone with mysis or cyclopeeze using a turkey baster.
On average you perform a 10.9% water change every 40 days.
0% total water change in January.
Inspiration & Goals
I've been inspired by many nano reefs that I've seen online. Ricordea mushrooms have seemed to have captured my attention, therefore, I would like to elaborate my collection of rics. I have also been inspired by some aylmer salty's aquariums that I've visited. This has brought me to venture into the SPS type of corals and learning how to dose and keep my water pristine in order to have these harder to keep specimens.
