Going nano? ME???

[TheOldSalt]

Say it ain't so, TOS. Say it ain't so! You can't go nano. It just wouldn't be right!

Heh, heh.

Well, it's almost true, but not quite.
I've had a jbj 12-gallon cube sitting around empty for a few months in my kitchen, and I decided to make a new saltwater tank. This time I made a "plant tank" using marine macroalgaes. I had a marine plant tank several years ago which was a breathtaking beauty, so I figured I'd try it again.
I traded a buddy some local rare minnows for a nice selection of macros and a big wad of chaetomorpha, and yesterday they arrived in the mail.
Now I have a 12gallon nanocube with an inch of live sand on the bottom, filled about 1/3 up with 5 kinds of Caulerpa, so far all using a big brick of "cheeto" as an anchor. I'll add some reef rubble rock bits later this week if I can get them. The only animals are some amphipods and a bristleworm.

So far, so good. My friend sent just the right amount of algae for the best visual effect, which pretty much made this an "instant" tank, looking well established from day one. I'll be adding many more algae species as the tank matures, of course, so as to get some nice reds, blues, and browns in the mix. I'm not yet sure what kind of growth rate to expect in this setup since without fish there won't be as much food for the plants.

I'll post pics once the dust settles and things are a bit more where I want them.

The hood on this tank is the original standard hood from a few years ago, the one with no fans, no moonlights, and only a single 24 watt 10000k power compact bulb. I'll be upgrading to the reef version fairly soon, though. It's plenty bright for my current needs, but I'll probably want to add some more demanding species someday. I'll avoid fish in this one, I think, but might possibly add some small frags if things prove stable enough.
The water is running a bit too fresh at 1.021, but the evaporation rate of this tank should probably fix that within several days.
There's no skimmer, and no place to put one without some major hood modification, but I'm not going to bother with that. This plastic tank with the black plastic back panes is easily mod-able for adding a refugium, and I might add one if I think it needs it, but I don't think it will.

All in all, this tank model isn't a very good choice at all for making a reef due to it's many limitations, but it just might make a decent macroalgae garden tank. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

[CollegeReefer]

What! Let me catch my breath! I think i might have a hard attack after reading your thread title............................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .......Alright, i think i am good now. Sounds like a fun and interesting project. Can't wait to see some pics.

[harif87]

Wow looking forward to seeing pics of this.

I dont think you should be concerned with adding a fuge... i mean after all the tank sounds like just one big fuge. You wont have animals preying on pods and macro so theres no need to hide it away in the back...

(im sure you know...) Just watch out with that tank full of caulerpa and low light combo... i mean unless you want crazy growth.
Honestly ive always been a fan of diff varieties of caulerpa but never had the guts to put any in my system. Chaeto on the other hand is boring, but ive been amazed by how good of a shelter it acts as for all my different inverts. I attribute the diversity and success of my invert (aside from cnidarians) populaton to chaeto and some piled up LR rubble.

Best of luck with the project. And of course..... pics!

[TheOldSalt]

As it happens, I do want crazy growth, so it's all good. Some of the racemosa went sexual last night, in fact, giving me a tankful of spores already.

I like fuges for the purpose of zonation as much as filtration and refuge, so it's not unusual to see one of my major systems with several different tanks all hooked together, each representing a different zone. Yes, this tank is pretty much just one big 'fuge, alright.

You know how, when you open up a big box of liverocks and take out the rocks, the bottom of the box is covered with oodles of tiny assorted critters and various unidentified bits of stuff and muck? I'm trying to find a source for that stuff. Has anyone ever heard of a place where someone could order, say, a pint of "rock shakings?" My tank is still very new and the sand is barren, and I'd like to get my sandbed jumpstarted a bit. It's live sand, but the kind that comes in a bag and is just sand with nothing else but bacteria.

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt

You know how, when you open up a big box of liverocks and take out the rocks, the bottom of the box is covered with oodles of tiny assorted critters and various unidentified bits of stuff and muck? I'm trying to find a source for that stuff. Has anyone ever heard of a place where someone could order, say, a pint of "rock shakings?" My tank is still very new and the sand is barren, and I'd like to get my sandbed jumpstarted a bit. It's live sand, but the kind that comes in a bag and is just sand with nothing else but bacteria.

do a search for GARF grunge, they sell a scoop of the bottom of their sand beds, comes with all kinds of crud, sounds like just what your looking for.

[leveldrummer]

and you should throw a couple sexy shrimp, or some sea horses or something in there.

[TheOldSalt]

Ah, yes, good ideas. I'll avoid seahorses, but a single pair of small gobies might work. Otherwise I'm not putting any fish in this tiny thing.
Garf grunge? Well, it does sound like a good option, but I'll look for a better one. A pound of grunge shipped across the continent would likely make a big mess in this tank, and it has no skimmer.

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt

Ah, yes, good ideas. I'll avoid seahorses, but a single pair of small gobies might work. Otherwise I'm not putting any fish in this tiny thing.
Garf grunge? Well, it does sound like a good option, but I'll look for a better one. A pound of grunge shipped across the continent would likely make a big mess in this tank, and it has no skimmer.

thats a good point, not sure how good the stuff is either, just read about it alot, i actually just picked up a 24 gallon nanocube today too! have it half full of water already, a little rock in it, going to transfer a few things out of my 120, and selling everything else.

[TheOldSalt]

Heh heh..yep, once you start it's hard to stop.

[Scuba Kid]

Originally Posted by leveldrummer

thats a good point, not sure how good the stuff is either, just read about it alot, i actually just picked up a 24 gallon nanocube today too! have it half full of water already, a little rock in it, going to transfer a few things out of my 120, and selling everything else.

Why are you getting rid of the big tank?

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by Scuba Kid

Why are you getting rid of the big tank?

they way my house is setup, i dont really have the room to make the big tank automated, (auto top off, kalk/calc reactors) and because of that, im just really tired of all the up keep, topping off a 120 every day really eats up some time and water. the tank pretty much runs my life, and im just really tired of it, id like to set up another big tank one day, but for now, a nice little ric/zoa tank is really looking nice to me.

[s13]

TOS- let me know when you want me to get you some, I can ship it or you can come pick it up since you are close. Always glad to help a fellow nano-er out =]

[TheOldSalt]

Will do.
Are you in the Panhandle Reef Club? I'm planning to attend the Feb 3 meeting/fragswap at the Gulfarium, but I hope I can get down there sometime before that.

[s13]

I had no clue we even had a reef club in this area! I was actually talking to a friend the other day wondering if there was one here. Do they have a website? That's not that far of a drive for me so I might have to attend!

[TheOldSalt]

No website of their own, but they have a very active subforum in the clubs section of ReefCentral. Next meeting is Jan 6th in Navarre for members, but I'll skip that one.

[TheOldSalt]

Well, here it is, such as it is. This pic was taken soon after the algae was dumped into it. As you can see, it still has a very very long way to go before it looks like anything. I guess we can call this the "before" picture.



It's been about a week now, and already the C.prolifera is proliferating like mad. It's grown about two inches in a week, with no signs of slowing. The others aren't growing anywhere nearly as quickly, but they are growing.
Hmmm... I wonder how much trouble with alleleopathy I'm gonna have in such a small tank with no skimmer? That could be why one is outgrowing the others so much. My last algae tank was skimmed and I had no problems of that sort.

[TheOldSalt]

OH, Calamity!

While the new growth side of the prolifera was growing about 3/4 inch per day, the old side wasn't. Last night it melted on me, turning the tank into a hazy green soup. Spores EVERYWHERE, lemme tellya. What a mess.

At least my remaining plants will very very soon have a very good supply of ammonia, eh? With any luck this situation will self-correct in a few days. I guess I really gotta get some rock in there soon, though, and maybe go ahead and mod it so I can add a skimmer.

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt

OH, Calamity!

While the new growth side of the prolifera was growing about 3/4 inch per day, the old side wasn't. Last night it melted on me, turning the tank into a hazy green soup. Spores EVERYWHERE, lemme tellya. What a mess.

At least my remaining plants will very very soon have a very good supply of ammonia, eh? With any luck this situation will self-correct in a few days. I guess I really gotta get some rock in there soon, though, and maybe go ahead and mod it so I can add a skimmer.

that sucks that it went to junk on you, hope it clears up soon, i dropped a bag of carbon in the back of mine and it really helped clean up all the crud from the new setup, i also picked up the surface skimmer attachment, it works really well (i was suprised) turns into a mini overflow box and keeps the surface nice a clean, might want to think about it.

[TheOldSalt]

I'll look into that fer shure.

Well today the water is clear again, but the algae is a mess. The cheeto is fine, and about half the prolifera is okay, but the others look terrible. About 3/4 of the total mass is gone. That's the way it happens with this stuff, of course. Whatever makes it will probably thrive like crazy.