First tank: 20L SW -> 20L+10 SW -> 40B SW, 10 FW

[impcassette]

First 3 weeks update:
After adding macroalgae (small value pack from The Macro Lady):
This was before uglies kicked in [mainly cyano now in middle of tank].
Codium has since begun sprouting new branches, slowly. Rest isn't growing much but not dying either.
Since have added a MiniQ skimmer and updated to hygger powerhead, relegating this one to mixing.

Cheap RO/DI setup using a budget 3 stage amazon brand and manually adding a standard size DI filter after.
Geekpure filters hear aren't great, but all is standard sizes going forward. Down to 1-2 TDS. All <$65 post-tariff.
Trouble with leaking push-in connections resolved with cleaner tubing cuts.

Have added 2xClowns, 3xHermit, 3xAstrea, 3xNassarius, 3xCerith from AC & HTA over a few days.
My little sister suggested the clowns be named meep (bottom) and moop (top).

Moop kept trying to assert dominance over her reflection, so I had to remind her that actually, I am in charge.

Also added some rubble, pods, and live phyto from HTA. Grateful for all the advice Kenny gave me.
All snails/crabs seem good but concerned with some hermit aggression towards a large Nassarius
which seemed to have it hiding on the glass. I was warned of this. Despite extra shells.
Hermits now isolated in a Tupperware with holes in it. Hoping to rehome.
Clowns quickly ate up most the pods added or forced them into hiding. They seemed to be actively
hunting them nonstop for a few days.
Since I have a week off I decided to start building a sump+fuge for the pods from a 10 gallon.
Got a glass cutter and (1/4" thick) glass, more than needed to accommodate learning error.
Also bit of a learning process with silicone... still drying so wish me luck.

Meanwhile, also built a DIY PVC overflow following youtube. Still tweaking.

 

[Kensington Reefer]

@impcassette
I’m up the hill from you…

 

[impcassette]

Around 2 Mo Update: added some cheap soft corals. I like the natural looking browns for some reason. Also an algae blenny from HTA, who is chowing down on all the ulva (lactuca and intestinalis) which is all over and out competed the GHA and bryopsis. Picture is around 3 days since an ulva trim. I’m over feeding massively but kinda like it, like a little grassland and my blenny seems to like it. He keeps taking massive green dumps in the clownfish’s corner where they host my ammonia badge haha. Codium growing super fast. Hayi, saw blade, porteria, birds nest growing fast too. Dragons breath and string of pearls slower but seem well. Halimedia not too happy, but also got it mainly white. Corals all growing pretty quickly except the mushrooms and Xenia for some reason. Maybe Xenia only grows for those who hate it, I think it’s beautiful.

Cuc now includes 7 cerith 3 Nass 3 astrea 1 trochus 1 tiger conch and lots of microfauna below. The conch eats blenny turds all day. 1 stomatella was on a coral I got but found its shell empty a few weeks later Rip.

Getting a bit of an overabundance of munnid isopods and hydroids on glass. Also seeing a ton of small bristle worms, many white micro brittle stars, small black enchytraeidae worms, lots of ostracods, benthic ctenophores, and a lot of standard copepods, most are not the tiger pods I added on startup. I’ve seen a collonista and a few micro feathers. I added two chitons and some spaghettis saved from dips too but haven’t seen since. Also saw a zoa spider I yoinked.

Sump was a learning process so I have a chamber with its own weak pump that is just serving as a low flow refuge region, but it seems to be absolutely teeming with micro life and baby pods. I also feed this area. Other compartments have a ton of micro foam as budget biomedia. Auto top off Fzone serving me well. Worse than manual without the sump though. Bought a HOB overflow because my DIY was too risky. It needs to be flushed of built up air every few weeks. If I could go back in time I’d likely drill or build an internal sump in a bigger tank but oh well.

Not using the small skimmer I got. I feed 2-5 times a day and have been unable to detect any nitrates at all. Not testing much now except salinity. But as you see tons of algae. When left for work for a week with an auto feeder feeding less, I had some ugly film algae (Dino?) by the end of the week and fewer pods. Cleaning them off in a water change and overfeeding again seemed to resolve.

 

[Darkxerox]

Just don't feed the fish much so the blenny keeps working! Mine has decided to be a fat mysis hog and lives in his barnacle all day.

 

[Alexander1312]

I very much like how different this is, how it looks, and your approach to many others.

Only question - what is the ammonia badge for? This tank has gone through the cycle by now.

 

[PjFish]

Looking nice ! Shrooms may be a nice addition!
What happens when you kill the power to the pump? Can the sump take all the extra water or do u have a small hole drilled just below the water line to break the syphon in both your diy tube and your return water flare ?. If syphon tube gets blocked or air lock can tank above take all the water thats in the sump return section without overflowing? Just tossing that out there!

 

[impcassette]

I very much like how different this is, how it looks, and your approach to many others.

Only question - what is the ammonia badge for? This tank has gone through the cycle by now.

Thanks! Yeah I'm not expecting spikes now. It's still in mainly because the clowns sleep wedged up against the glass under it and seem to treat it like their host, so I haven't wanted to remove it until giving them a better alternative. I've been reading some have had success ammonia dosing (over nitrate dosing apparently) for macros/coralsif I decide against massively overfeeding at some point too, so I'd want to make sure free ammonia stays low if I try that.

 

[impcassette]

Looking nice ! Shrooms may be a nice addition!
What happens when you kill the power to the pump? Can the sump take all the extra water or do u have a small hole drilled just below the water line to break the syphon in both your diy tube and your return water flare ?. If syphon tube gets blocked or air lock can tank above take all the water thats in the sump return section without overflowing? Just tossing that out there!

The sump can take overflow volume, and my powerstrip will give my pumps/heat around 8 hours back up power. Ty for the heads up.
Agreed about shrooms I quite like them, I have some blueish discosomas and one brownish ricordea in the top and bottom left but may be on the lookout for more.

 

[MolaMola]

I enjoy following your journal (and your enjoyment of your tank). Keep it up! Also in East Bay, east of tunnel.

 

[impcassette]

Lot has happened: turned 10G sump into a blackwater tank (with mainly tropical houseplants and Pygmy Corys) and first replaced it with a hacky one made from some cheap plastic tubs, had a leak scare while I was on a work trip from air buildup in my overflow, stripped it down to a sump-less setup running just a nano skimmer, had a pretty bad dino outbreak and couldn’t get my nutrients up once the (dimly lit) sump and its sludge/microfauna were removed despite feeding stupid amounts, got fed up, and then finally built myself an all-in one out of a 40 breeder with a refugium. Not sure how much was needed but liking how the upgrade went. Poor little ruby dragonet died when the dinos (osteo) had been out of control, I’m guessing she was the most susceptible after eating Dino-rich pods all day but that’s just a theory. I just like having a refuge region so I can stare at the baby microfauna anyway.

Here’s the new tank. Hoping I can get some encrusting soft coral or carpeting macros to cover the walls but for now like being able to see what grows in the fuge/filter areas. Built the large low flow fuge to the left filled with river stones since I liked how it was working with my old setup. Had kept the foam and sand from my older setups in jars in my cupboard and what survived what mainly amphipods and copepods, the bristle worms, ctenophores, hydroids, and flatworms seemed to die back a little. The ostracods and munnid isopod population was also similar? Didn’t have enough die off for too big of an ammonia spike when I put it all back but it did smell a little sulfury so I’m guessing there was a decent amount of anoxic bacteria etc. kinda surprised at how hardy pods are tbh I didn’t expect so many to be ok, they were just in a sealed dark jar for around a month. But anyway I let the tank run overnight and made sure free ammonia dropped before adding my fish into their upgraded tank. After around a week of things seeming ok I added a jawfish.

Jawfish I added took to the front corner which is nice! Duncan and GSP still kinda upset at the moment since salinity got a little low from miscalibration (1.019ish) and still slowing bringing it back up, but the other corals and inverts oddly didn’t care.

Looking to maybe add a chalk bass then cut myself off .