Sean's 8.5G Rimless Reef - 3/07/2013

Heading off to college in a few months, I thought I would get a head start on the nano tank for my dorm. It will be a standard 10g tank, with live rock from my 29g. The sand is about 5 lbs Carib-Sea sugar grain sand I had left over. It has been seeded with the sand from my 29 as well, and more will be added next time I make it home.

Water flow is currently just a Taam Rio+ 200 (120gph) from my old tank, but this will be switched out later for one or two Hydor Koralia 425 pumps. I took the sump offline in my 29g and the skimmer will be moved to this tank once cycled.

After the cycle is over, lighting will be two Boost par30 LED bulbs, each 60* optics, 3 royal blue / 2 cool white diodes, in "architect's lamps."

Livestock will consist mostly of LPS with some soft corals. I will have snails and hermit crabs from the last tank, and I may also get an emerald crab (possibly a maxi-mini anemone).

Here is the tank today after the sand settled.

FTS 6/02/2012


FTS 6/20/2012


FTS 7/17/2012


FTS 7/30/2012



FTS 12/22/2012




Stocking List

[STRIKE]yellow clown goby[/STRIKE] nips at SPS/LPS coral
porcelain crab
sexy shrimp (x3)
tridacna maxima clam
tridacna squamosa clam

Corals I have

red montipora cap. (6" x 3")
red monti cap frag (1" x 1.5")
button polyps
zoanthids (x7)
acan lobo
green aussie acan echhinata (5 eyes/2 eyes)
frogspawn (x5 heads)
chalice (x2)
war favia
neon green pavona (x2)
red blastomussas (x2)
blue clove polyps
green star polyp



Coral Wishlist

SPS
sunset monti
reverse sunset monti
superman monti
rainbow monti
purple haze monti
purple satin porites

montipora setosa - orange or pink
green montipora spongodes

montipora foliosa blue-green cup
strawberry fields monti cap.
flower petal monti cap.
green/ purple rim montipora cap. (Leng Sy)
highlighter green plating monti cap.
highlighter yellow plating monti
Idaho grape monti cap.

forest fire digitata

$500 efflo
$200 efflo
strawberry shortcake acropora
acropora millepora red planet

green slimer acropora
purple bonsai acropora
Reef Pets crimson tide acropora millepora
yellow aculeus acropora
ORA Hawkins acropora
WT "Lucid Dream" acropora frag
ice fire acro echinata

green birdsnest
pink birdsnest
purple birdsnest
birds of paradise

LPS
purple torch
aussie elegance

watermelon chalice
baby’s breath chalice
toxic waste chalice
Miami hurricane chalice
Hollywood stunner chalice
ORA Sprung's stunner chalice

radioactive aussie acan lord
aussie rainbow acan lord
Miami hurricane acan echinata

Mayan sun favia
ASD blue blazer favia

short tentacle fungia

wellsophyllia
bleeding apple scolymia

Sofites
ASD metallic pink ranger palys
Sunny D zoas
rasta zoas
candy apple red zoas
King midas zoas
ASD the shiznit zoas

Other
maxi-mini anemone (multiple)

purple brush gorgonian
yellow sun coral

feather duster

 

Looking good!!

Cant wait to see what it develops into.

 

Can't wait to see how this turns out! Good luck!

 

Im excited for this build because i will do the same thing when i go to collage now sean, we need a fish in there! How bout a clown goby at least?

 

Just don't turn into this guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ileWFchh0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

Thanks everyone.

I am not sure about fish but if I do gt one it will just be a clown goby or something similar.

Apparently you can have as large as a 20g tank. Lol...But I don't plan on upgrading this until I am out of the dorms.

 

Should I run a skimmer on this tank? I already have a hydor nano skim. The plan was to transfer it from the 29 once when I move the corals. But I am unsure if it would over skim this tank.

I plan for a low bio-load and weekly water changes (but won't have easy access to Rodina/distilled water while in the dorm).

 

Seano mattias got a really nice nano skimmer for his biocube, you should figure out how to ask him about it. It was pretty cheap i think... Maybe 40 or 30 bucks? He loves that darn thing

 

I think Mattias has a Tunze nano skimmer (not the new one that just came out) or an Aquaticlife. But I'm pretty sure they're both comparable to the nano skim I have. It's rated for 10 - 35 gallons.

 

Make this a Zoanthid only tank, with a shrimp or two. get a few heads of all different kind. It be easy to maintain with water changes, no skimmer needed. And you wouldnt have to feed much!

Congrats on this new tank too, and going to college!