My first nano…after decades of reefing

[rishma]

I’d like to be more active on this site so maybe a tank thread? My current tank is 3 years old so it’s not a build thread, but since I tinker constantly there is always something to share if people are interested.

25 gallon waterbox peninsula. Here’s a FTS from today. Sorry, just an iPhone camera

 

[Jimbo327]

The nano is looking great! Looks very well maintained.

 

[rishma]

Thanks! I did a water change yesterday

Actually, the tank is really on autopilot these days. I am away for work a lot so stability and automation are a necessity. It took me a long time to dial it in. I think the only thing easier about a nano is the water changes.

 

[dansyr]

That pink goni is really nice!

 

[rishma]

That pink goni is really nice!

Thank you! Definitely a favorite. I picked it up a couple months ago at the coral show.

 

[Tangwich]

Nice tank. Beautiful sunburst anthias.

 

[rishma]

Nice tank. Beautiful sunburst anthias.

Thank you. That is my all time favorite fish. I had one for 7 years and so happy to have another one.

 

[dontavo27]

what wave maker are you using for the tank?
beautiful set up by the way.

 

[rishma]

what wave maker are you using for the tank?
beautiful set up by the way.

I have had a Nero 3 on it from day 1. Works great in this tank, mounted in back wall. Nice wide flow.

I recently added a tunze nano 6040 with the new hub controller to the opposite end. It was an unnecessary upgrade but I wanted to try it. Great pump and the wifi connected cloud controller is excellent. This allows me to have alternating currents in the tank, corals seem to like it.

 

[JojosReef]

Beautiful LPS tank! That a rainbow trachy in the bottom left?

 

[rishma]

Beautiful LPS tank! That a rainbow trachy in the bottom left?

Yes, thank you. it’s gotten quite large though hard to tell from the pic. I’m proud of that particular coral.

 

[rishma]

You know what the worst part of keeping a nano is (for me)?

It’s not the unforgiving small water volume..
Or the lack of space for fish and coral…

It’s cord and dosing tube management. Such a pain!

Sure, I could have less equipment and keep it simpler but that is just not how I do it.

 

[AcSd]

Your setup is really clean.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bakbay]

Beautiful setup man! Love the cable management and attention to details.

 

[rishma]

Thanks. I decided when I set this tank up I was really going to keep it tidy…turned out to be much more challenging than I expected to cram everything in the tiny space. I need at least 30 days of top off and 30 days of kalkwasser, plus a never ending list of equipment I like to use.

 

[bakbay]

Thanks. I decided when I set this tank up I was really going to keep it tidy…turned out to be much more challenging than I expected to cram everything in the tiny space. I need at least 30 days of top off and 30 days of kalkwasser, plus a never ending list of equipment I like to use.

Heck — I only have 10d of top off since I’m bleeding 3gal a day! lol

 

[rishma]

I’ve been somewhat fixated on phosphate and feeding for a while. I ran a lot of tests! I very tightly control the food inputs to the tank and tweak my amounts to keep things where I want them. Totally unnecessary I think!

 

[Jimbo327]

What are you using to test phosphates? It looks like you test a few times a week.

What is the lesson learned from all of this extensive testing and dosing?

 

[rishma]

What are you using to test phosphates? It looks like you test a few times a week.

What is the lesson learned from all of this extensive testing and dosing?

thanks for the questions

I am using Hanna phosphorus ULR.

Key learnings:
- I figured out the impact of food on phosphate based on type and amount fed. I was weighing food very precisely too.
- I learned that dosing ammonium bicarbonate (ammonia) would drive phosphate down

The main goal was to consider food input as precisely as dosing chemicals, and set up the system to remain stable when my daughter feeds the tank daily for a month at a time when I am gone. She tests phosphate weekly and it stays right where I want it.