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Thread: my little ocean - nano reef

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  1. #1
    Real Name
    Fren
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    Default my little ocean - nano reef

    I started a 10 gallon reef oct 2007 and its been running quite smoothly so far. I've spent quite some time reading up about them last year since I always wanted one. I took some photos today. Some snails decided to lay eggs and I have tons of babies on the glass now. Sorry I've loaded many photos

    my clown goes into its torch coral host as soon as I get close for a picture. He's very attached to it now. I used the torch coral to substitute for an anemone, since anemones require larger systems

    This is my fav. zooanthid colony. I love its colour

    One of my two blue legged hermit crabs decided to get up close for a photo too.

    My skunk cleaner shrimp gets really hyper when it comes to feeding. It even tries to clean my hands when I need to put them in there. Its quite sensory system is quite developed. I also have a Echinaster starfish that is hidden in a corner. Luckly it takes flakefood or it would starve slowly in such a small system.

    I recently bought this Acanthastrea (a fragment from the great barrier reef). They are closing collection from the reef again in Australia according to the coral vendor and I noticed all vendors have imported from Australia currently. Hopefully it will colour up in the weeks to come b/c some are quite beautiful and become valuable

    I also set up a 2.5 gallon pico reef for my desk recently. Sorry about the glare, it got sunny in my room and of course I keep orchids there too. My firefish goby is quite shy but I managed to get a photo of him. Its a newer tank so its not filled in yet.

    ...now time for my weekly water change

  2. #2
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    Bruce Brown
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    So cool, Fren! How in the world do you have time to care for your orchids and reef tanks? You must stay very busy!!

    Cheers,
    BD

  3. #3
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    Lynda
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    Smartie, your efforts have really paid off; your tanks are so beautiful! I know from a relative, who also has one of these, that it is an expensive, time-consuming hobby--but oh so amazing. Left alone with her tank for awhile, and at different times of day, I was surprised how much things moved and changed as the day went on. Tentacles waved and floated, and next time, it would just be a hunk of rock! Quite fascinating. You have done a wonderful job!

  4. #4
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    Clint M. Dawley
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    Such a beautiful mini-ecosystem!

  5. #5
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    Fren
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    thanks it is all really fascinating to me
    my corals, all expanded more later in the day when it was all sunny. I think they really like the sun even though they say sunlight promotes nuisance algae growth

  6. #6
    My Grow Area
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    very very cool!

  7. #7
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    Richard
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    That's a really pretty aquarium you got there. It's one of my father's life long hobbies and I should definately congratulate you and producing such a stunning mini-ocean.

  8. #8
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    Giovanna Diliquay
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    I've always wanted a reef aquarium...it's like you're staring at the actual ocean bottom! Have you named your clown fish Nemo or Marlin?

  9. #9
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    Wow Fren. That is absolutely spectacular. I can't believe that you did that in 5 months. I know introducing anything into an aquaurium takes forever.

    Just looking at the screen, I can imagine the whole system throbbing and swaying. That goby's tail against that purple/blue ?coral?? is gorgeous.

    Is it possible to take a photo of the inner workings of the tank, seeing as you have a nano and pico. With all the junk on other forums, I just can't visualize it, especially for nanos and picos. I would really love to start reef keeping but lack of $$ (or should I say RR), and off course knowledge prevents me.

  10. #10
    Real Name
    Fren
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    Quote Originally Posted by scopinox View Post
    Wow Fren. That is absolutely spectacular. I can't believe that you did that in 5 months. I know introducing anything into an aquaurium takes forever.

    Just looking at the screen, I can imagine the whole system throbbing and swaying. That goby's tail against that purple/blue ?coral?? is gorgeous.

    Is it possible to take a photo of the inner workings of the tank, seeing as you have a nano and pico. With all the junk on other forums, I just can't visualize it, especially for nanos and picos. I would really love to start reef keeping but lack of $$ (or should I say RR), and off course knowledge prevents me.
    I know it was put together faster than the normal (not good usually). My nightmare is if it self destructs... The coraline algae is growing well including the more sensitive red ones (a good sign), and the Euphyllia (the corals that have long tenticles) are water quality indicators. I won't be putting another fish in there just in case the system goes off balance. I do have to take off some of the green algaes from aesthetic reasons, but these algaes go away as the tank ages. During initial set up nasty algae (like cyanobacteria) of all sorts took over.

    It's hard to take photos of the back because the tank is inside a cabinet. Also feather duster worms decided to make babies and have encrusted the back of the tank. Basically I have a pump with a swaying head for water circulation (on the left corner) and a hang on Rio protein skimmer (on the right side)(It's somewhat noisy b/c it blows air into the water to collect particles but it is really helpful), two heaters (in case one fails and I had a extra one anyway) behind all the rock. I've kept the tank simple though the are all sorts of expensive tools I could get.

    The goby is on a blue mushroom. The blue mushrooms far too over priced locally so I had this one imported from USA with zooanthids (impossible to kill) before the weather got cold as divisions of another reefers collection. They are not quite a coral and not quite an anemone. It is one of the first things I put in as they are hardy and clones themself fast. I think the 2.5 will have mostly mushrooms because they like nutrient rich waters too and low lighting. My 2.5 is even simplier in design, just a protein skimmer and heater and a 9W reef bulb. And cheap reef rubble (broken chunks of live rock that is left over in the live rock tank) as the base

    I agree I had to read through a lot of crap on the reef forums. I barely visit them now

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