illumnae's 2013 newbie office setup

[illumnae]

The old office set up crashed and got overrun with hair algae. I suspect it has to do with lack of skimming (the Dymax iQ skimmer stopped working after awhile) and fish dying over the weekend. The ammonia/phosphate spike probably triggered the algae, and thereafter it was really hard to get rid of.

Since the new year was approaching, I decided to just bring the tank home and bleach bomb it, and to upgrade the office tank 1 size up to the Ocean Free 34L instead (previous setup was OF 24L). I decided not to go with a budget setup this time but spend a bit more on quality equipment so that the tank can be low maintenance but still look nice (otherwise colleagues see the tank so ugly very malu!)

Here's the details of the current set up:

Tank: Ocean Free 34 litres AIO
Filtration: 4kg live rock + Bubble Magus e3 skimmer
Lighting: Beamworks 6x 3W (2 blue 4 white) Clip-on LED
Substrate: Carib-Sea Ocean Direct Aragonite sand (10lb)
Water: D-D Instant Ocean mix
Pumps: Stock 480L/hr return pump + Hydor Koralia Nano 900L/hr
Additives: Prodibio Nano Reef Kit

Current Livestock:

Swalesi basslet - 1 pair
Tectus fenestratus snail - 2
Nassarius sp snail - 3
Rose Bubble Tip Anemone - 1
Super sun coral - ~10 heads
Ricordea california - 3
Ricordea yuma - 4
Bispira sp. feather duster worm - 4

Future Livestock:

Mandarin goby (pellet trained) - 1
Helfrechi firefish - 1
Percula clownfish - 1 or 1 pair
More corals!

Here's a picture of the current haphazard and ugly setup:



Hopefully I'll be able to rescape it nicely soon!

[EvolutionZ]

Beautiful tank bro! really hope i have the chane to set up a marine nano one day.. may i know where did u get ur live rocks?

[shark]

bro, maybe you can try FOWLR, easy maintenances. no need strong light for corals and less algae problem..

you may want to try the TUNZE nano skimmer 9002, very good for nano tank. I use that for my nano tank last time with SPS. no problem.

[illumnae]

Originally Posted by EvolutionZ

Beautiful tank bro! really hope i have the chane to set up a marine nano one day.. may i know where did u get ur live rocks?

I got my live rocks from iwarna @ Pasir Ris farmway ($7/kg). My previous nano used live rocks from Marine Life ($16/kg).

Originally Posted by shark

bro, maybe you can try FOWLR, easy maintenances. no need strong light for corals and less algae problem..

you may want to try the TUNZE nano skimmer 9002, very good for nano tank. I use that for my nano tank last time with SPS. no problem.

Part of the joy in keeping marine, aside from the much more colourful fish, is in seeing the corals swaying gently in the waves To me, a nano marine should be a mixed reef tank, as the beautiful non-reefsafe fish that warrant keeping a FOWLR (e.g. triggers, angels and butterflies) are all fish for large tanks and not nanos.

I did consider using a Tunze 9002, but it takes up valuable real estate inside of the tank, which reduces water volume (less stable tank) and also reduces the amount of bioload the tank can support. That's why I chose to use the Bubble Magus e3 hang on skimmer instead. It hangs on the outside and actually increases water volume somewhat instead of decreasing it. Further, it's rated for 100-300 litres, allowing me to massively overskim the tank for peace of mind Skimmate is coming out green tea colour as bioload is low now.

[rainbatt]

Waiting for more updates, thanks.

[EvolutionZ]

Originally Posted by illumnae

I got my live rocks from iwarna @ Pasir Ris farmway ($7/kg). My previous nano used live rocks from Marine Life ($16/kg).



Part of the joy in keeping marine, aside from the much more colourful fish, is in seeing the corals swaying gently in the waves To me, a nano marine should be a mixed reef tank, as the beautiful non-reefsafe fish that warrant keeping a FOWLR (e.g. triggers, angels and butterflies) are all fish for large tanks and not nanos.

I did consider using a Tunze 9002, but it takes up valuable real estate inside of the tank, which reduces water volume (less stable tank) and also reduces the amount of bioload the tank can support. That's why I chose to use the Bubble Magus e3 hang on skimmer instead. It hangs on the outside and actually increases water volume somewhat instead of decreasing it. Further, it's rated for 100-300 litres, allowing me to massively overskim the tank for peace of mind Skimmate is coming out green tea colour as bioload is low now.

How much space does the E3 take behind? wondering if this can fit in behind my tank inside my cabinet anot.

[illumnae]

The e3 takes about an additional 10cm behind the tank

[EvolutionZ]

Did u noticed any difference in quality from the live rocks from iwarna and marineLife?

[illumnae]

Both are good quality. I find ML one has more coralline algae growth and slightly more porous. However, iwarna has a greater selection and hitchhikers better

[sgslic]

Bro I have the same tank as u!
Will the Hydor Koralia Nano 900L/hr create sand storm in the tank?
Ive been hunting high and low for a wavemaker for pico tanks....didnt manage to find any...