Neptune Aquatics

Lyn's 12 gal. nano; 3rd of 3

Lyn

Guest
I guess it is time I post a tank thread. I do this with much apprehension because of all the beautiful tanks out there...totally intimidating. :-[

This is my newest tank, about a year old. (well, actually my newest one is sitting up-side-down in a corner waiting for my husband to build a stand) It has gone through all of the cycling problems including water so green it looked like pea soup, water so murky, I stripped the entire thing and started again, oil slick on the surface- you could scoop it off to fry egg rolls, and lastly, the infuriating cyano bacteria jungle. I got sick of it and used Chemi-clean redslime remover. It seems to have done the trick. There is some diatom on the back, but I leave it for the snails. They need something to eat.

Most of the kinks have been worked out thanks to many of you, and Phongs timely post of his tank when I was ready to strip my tank again in frustration. I removed some rock to increase flow, added rubble to the back (first slot) and removed the ceramic rings and bioballs, and added phosban and charcoal pouches to the back too. Oh, and most importantly, I put a piece of acrylic over the holes in the first section and removed the filtering sponge. I try to do 2 water changes a week because the blue Xenia doesn't like large water changes (about a gallon each time). I add a little iodine, calcium, vitamins, and baking soda weekly, and I added strontium on one occasion.

Please ignore Nemo, the one-finned Indo-Pacific Seargent Major. S/He is just a passing visitor, and waiting for the 75 gal to be set up.

My rotating Hydor is missing from the upper right because when I decided to take this picture, it popped off. It is being dried for another application of silicone.

The equipment: 12 Gal., 70 watt 10,000K MH, Aqua C remora nano ( I don't recommend this size, might as well go with the regular one), rotating Hydor, Hydor Koralia nano (I had 2, but the water was too turbulent for the Cespitularia), 50 watt heater.

Inhabitants: Chaetomorpha, Banded Coral Shrimp ( I used to say Coral Banded Shrimp, but then I realized that the shrimp was not banded with coral), hermits, snails, crocea clam, frag of Cali tort spreading on its' plug, pink birdsnest, Cespitularia/Blue Xenia, Tubipora/Pipe Organ coral, Turbinaria/purple and yellow turban coral, different Zoas, new Ricordea trying to attach to rubble, and an unknown SPS which came attached to the Turbinaria's rock which grows rapidly. If some of you look closely, you may recognize corals that were once in your tanks. :)

I apologize for the bad picture, we don't have a good camera. I'll post better pics of the inhabitants once I get them loaded in Photobucket.


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nice rockwork! I like the arch look and you have plenty of space to add frags- I bet in 6 months you'll have it filled up w/ corals. ;D
 
70 cuda and CookieJar, thanks for the nice words and encouragement. :)

[quote author=Elite link=topic=5202.msg64150#msg64150 date=1226681727]
That fish looks huge in a 12G tank :eek:..
[/quote]

Yes, this fish is much too big for this tank, not to mention the fact that it torments the shrimp. I kicked him out of the quarantine tank he was in because I needed it for some other fish. So, it was the 12 gal or the guinea pig cage, and I don't think the guinea pig would have been happy to have a fish flopping in her dish. ;D I guess it is about time to move them back though. :)
 
I finally got more picures loaded. I apologize in advance for the blurry pictures. If I stopped doing fishy/reefy things, then maybe I could afford a new camera. Haha :D

Chowder, the Crocea Clam

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Cespitularia/Blue Xenia

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Cespitularia/Blue Xenia a month later

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Trying to frag Cespitularia/Blue Xenia

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Tubularia/Pipe Organ coral

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Cali Tort and pink Birdnest

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Cali tort spreading on plug

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Unknown SPS

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Turbinaria

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Assorted Zoas

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Zoas have been moved to my med. light tank because they spent most of their time hiding or closed. I think the light might be too bright for them.
 
Thought I'd update this since I got new corals, many from the Dec. mtg. through DBTC. :D

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Front View Side View
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Top View Top View
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Side View Bandit, the Banded coral Shrimp
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Pink birdsnest with a little neon Pink birdsnest
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Bookfish's Reddish pulsing Sinularia Purple/yellow Turbinaria
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Green Millipora Unknown SPS pink/lavender with white polyps
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Blue/green Ricordea Unknown SPS perhaps a Pocillipora?
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Blue Xenia frag Blue Xenia frag
 
looking good Lyn. I like the variety. Bandit is cool too ;D Out of curiosity, do you supplement phyto at all? what do you feed your corals? im still learning, thanks!
 
That's a very nice looking tank Lyn! :D

Do not be shy about showing the tank off. It takes as much effort if not more to maintain a smaller tank vs. a larger one (been there and done that - not easy).

Btw, the clam looks fine
 
link=topic=5202.msg73369#msg73369 date=1231441118]
looking good Lyn. I like the variety. Bandit is cool too ;D Out of curiosity, do you supplement phyto at all? what do you feed your corals? im still learning, thanks!
[/quote][quote author=Whisk

Hi Whisk,

How have you been? It was nice meeting you at the Dec. mtg. :)

I have just started supplementing the clam with Phyto Feast. However, I have noticed the polyps on the Turbinaria come out when I do. Also, the Pulsing Sinularia seem to pulse more frequently. (Not sure if that is because I have stopped the circulation though, could be a combination of both). :)

Initially, I was having major algae issues, so I tried not to put anything in it at all. I would just feed the fish which were on and off inhabitants. There is no fish currently, so the nutrient levels are down. Algae seems to be under control so far. I also have a pretty substantial skimmer on this little tank. Not sure if I'll keep it on because it is noisy and pulling out minimal skimmate.

How is your tank doing? Got anything in it yet? PM me when you are ready for some "easy" corals. They should be available in Feb. :D

[quote author=Raddogz link=topic=5202.msg73379#msg73379 date=1231445501]
That's a very nice looking tank Lyn! :D

Do not be shy about showing the tank off. It takes as much effort if not more to maintain a smaller tank vs. a larger one (been there and done that - not easy).

Btw, the clam looks fine


[/quote]

Thanks Eileen. Coming from you, that is quite a compliment. :D It is coming along thanks to all the generous people in BAR and the DBTC program. :D

You gotta admit though, some of the posted tanks out there are so incredibly fabulous, any major aquarium would love to have them to show off to their visitors and charge money for gauking priviledges. ;D Best part is, we get to see them for free...Tank tour, tank tour. Entry fee- a creative plate of Hors d'oeuvres. :D
 
[quote author=Elite link=topic=5202.msg73385#msg73385 date=1231446840]
Your tank looks great Lyn.. Much better than mine and I'm not afraid showing mine off ;D :D ..
[/quote]

It was because you posted your tank (with its problems), that I didn't give up on this one! :D

You could say that you are directly/indirectly responsible for its' outcome. Like being "Grandpa" to my tank ;D Thanks Phong!
 
Thanks Lyn. Are you going to the meeting this Sunday? i'll be there again, i figure it will be another opportunity to meet some people. Hopefully there will be nametags or something this time, haha.

My tank is well, I havent updated my thread on here in awhile but i will get around to it possibly this weekend. Its been up and running a little over 2 months now and everything seems to be well. I picked up a couple of firefish last week, one of them bullies the other so i may return one this weekend. I have some corals in there, easy ones as you would say, shrooms, kenya tree, frogspawn, and I picked up some GSP from Doug last week, which was nice of him.

well, ill see you this weekend at the meeting if you go. take care

-ryan
 
Thanks Jeff. :)

Ryan,

Unfortunately, I won't be at this meeting. It will be a good time to meet people though. The meetings are smaller, and hopefully less chaotic. ;)
 
[quote author=mckevinfang link=topic=5202.msg73576#msg73576 date=1231510064]
hi lyn love your tank and your SPS's that fish looks pretty cool too.

It was super cool getting to meet you at the past Dec. meeting ;D
[/quote]

Nice to meet you too...sorry we couldn't talk longer, it was a pretty busy day... Next time...oh, next time will be the swap...even busier. :- ...next regular member's meeting. :D
 
Time for an update :)

The Cespitularia had to be moved because it grew right to the surface and started getting burned. Things are definitely getting crowded in this little tank. :D I apologize for my junk camera. None of these pictures were taken with a flash unless noted. Autofix might have been used for blurryness or lighting correction. The lighting on this tank is Current 70 watt 10,000K MH, no actinics. Enjoy! :D

Front view, Top down view, side view

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Front view through glass, topview of Cespitularia

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Green Millipora starting to branch, Pink birdsnest through glass and from the top.

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C-quarium Unknown covering plug and branching out, Purple digitata, browned out Idaho grape Monti from Feb BAR swap. (I hope it colors up.)

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Cali tort growing-I am most proud of this, it was my first SPS; Red monti and Tubularia (Pipe organ)

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Pink/apricot Monti, Green Pocillipora, purple/yellow Turbinaria

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Chowder the Crocea clam, Bookfish's reddish pulsing sinularia, Blue Ricordea,

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Orange Ric taken w/flash
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