10 gal AGA SPS and Zoa reef

[SeeDemTails]

I posted this in the showoff forum as well, but its a nano reef and this section needs more posts so I wanted to show everyone here as well!

I started this tank because I wanted to see how well I could grow a smaller tank with PC lighting. I picked a few species of animals normally associated with higher intensity lighting types and gave them a try with this, and have had impressive results.

Equipment-

I used a simple 10 gal AGA...I like the look of glass better than acrylic. For filtration I wanted to keep it simple as well, so I used a skilter 250 modified with a limewood airstone to give me all the filtration and skimming I need. I use a poly filter pad to control PO4. I used a 96 Coralife Aqauligth Retro fit kit, I wanted less than metal halide for this, but still powerful lighting. I have been battle hair algae, but am now getting it under control totally.

Skilter 250 with Coralife Limewood airstone drilled through bottom
Rio 90 PH
Coralife 96 Watt Aqualight
Hagen surface skimmer
Visitherm Stealth 150 Watt heater
Coralife 20 Watt Mini Aqualight for sunrise/sunset
2 blue LEDs on 45* angles
Coralife digital thermometer
Mag-float cleaner
3 inch computer fan

Stock-

I wanted to make this a full blown reef with SPS and softies, mainly zoas, but still have a colorful fish. I chose a neon dottyback, who has lived happily in here for over a year now. It is his reef for sure, just stick you finger in and he will attack it.

SPS...
Orange Monti Digitata
Red Monti Cap
Green Pocillopora
Purple Tipped Acro

Zoas...
Carribean Greens
Carribean Neon Greens
Carribean Blues
Eagle Eyes
Pink Passions
Orange PEs

Polpys...
4 Green Star Polyp Colonies
Pink Star Polyps
Corky Finger Gorgonian
Pink Xenia

Anemones...
Rock Anemone

Clams...
Gigas Clam

Other Inverts....
Liknia Star
Choclate Chip(in skilter...clean up crew)
Hawiian Duster
Snails and Hermits

Water-

I use seawater for water changes(Yes, seawater, a benefit of living in Daytona Beach Florida!) and RO/DI for topoff. The tank burns and inch of water a day, so topping off daily is of course necessary. I dose Kent Nano Reef A & B and have had great results. My parameters are incredibly stable! I also have 33 1/2 times per hour turnover which helps keep things stable.

Ca - 420 ppm
Sr - 10 ppm
I - 6 ppm
Mg - 1350 ppm
Alk - 3.5 meg/L
P04 - 0 ppm
NO3 - 0 ppm
SG- 1.025 on refractometer
78.5* Steady day and night.

Pictures!

Tank Shots-

Full Tank Shot

Side View

At Night(was taken before pocillopora was moved to right side of the tank)

Hood

How the Skilter is modified

Corals-

SPS...
Purple Tip Acro

Growth of Purple Tip Acro over a 3 1/2 month span.....

Top veiw of Purple Tip Acro

Purple Tip Acro Fully Extened at night(had to switch the light on for this shot!)

Red Monti Cap

Orange Monti Digitata

Green Pocillopora

Zoas....
Green Carribeans

Neon Geen Carribeans

Pink Passions(Quickly Covering the rock!)

Carribean Blues and Eagle Eyes

Orange People Eaters and another Green Star Poly colony in the background.

Polyps...
Corky Finger Gorgonian

Green Star Polyps

Pink Star Polyps...came as a hitch hicker, single polyp!

Inverts-

Gigas Clam with entourage of Xenia and Zoa

Rock Anemone

Fish-

Neon Dottyback

 

[Fluff]

The tank looks incredible. I especially love the sps's. Well done!!

 

[Guest]

Nice setup, will have to say that is one good looking 10gal.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Very very impressive SDT!

 

[loyalrogue]

Truly Awesome!

That is a compelling inspiration for anyone wondering what can be done with a nano an pc lighting.

 

[Sadielynn]

WOW
not a big fan of sps because they are a bit more advanced but the zoas NICE !!
And the clam looks quite happy too. I must say that is a nice tank 8O
It does give hope to those who always thought that sps were out with pc lighting , I have always believed that they may do ok in pc if your perameters are what they need

 

[roka64]

Pretty sweet! Nice pics!

 

[SeeDemTails]

Thanks for the comments guys.....tank is still doing good...I am about to set up an all sps 15 gal high with no visible equipment!

Pics to come!

 

[FriscoTX]

wow - that's just awesome

 

[Tomd]

SPS can live and maybe even thrive in lower light such as PC, however color intensity will not be as good.

If you must use flourescent T5 will bring out a little more color in SPS.

I don't know why people are so intiminated by them. They need a lof of light, they have som predators, and if heavily stocked you may need a CA reactor or being a dosing regimine. Anybody can do it with enough time and money.

 

[loyalrogue]

SPS can live and maybe even thrive in lower light such as PC, however color intensity will not be as good.

If you must use flourescent T5 will bring out a little more color in SPS.

I'm beginning to wonder if that commonly held perception is true or not, now that I've seen this thread.
Maybe when I get some time, and the house addition is done, I'll set up a couple of 10gal SPS tanks with different lighting to test that theory.

 

[Tomd]

What theory, they can live under lower light. Not to mention most of these SPS are easier kinds to keep although still nice job.

I have keot SPS under T5 than under dual 250's MH and seen the color change with my own eyes.

To conduct a study like that properly you would really need a lot of resources because then you would need to stufy different spectrums, wattages, and color bulbs.

If you are happy with how they look under PC, or T5, great!

 

[loyalrogue]

I have keot SPS under T5 than under dual 250's MH and seen the color change with my own eyes.

I'm not doubting your experience with the difference between T5 and MH, but that wasn't what I was referring to.
What I was proposing to test out was a comparison of one fluorescent to another fluorescent.
It shouldn't be that difficult or expensive to do either.
Two 10gal tanks side by side, sharing the same water and fuge in a loop, with identical frags, but each having different fluorescent types of the same wattage and spectrum.
While it wouldn't be an all-encompassing experiment worthy of a university research department, it would be enough of a real world result for me to see if PC lighting deserves the poor reputation it's been given compared to T5s.
This thread alone has made me reconsider a lot of what I mistakenly believed about PC lighting up till now.

 

[Tomd]

It is a 10 gallon tank. That is over 9 watts per gallon so yes, SPS can be kept higher. No as afr as health goes especially with the clam only time will tell.

It is not that PC's are bad, it is that T5 is more efficient and cost affective over the long run and they do produce more light intensity.

Not to sound rude also because I really want to contribute here, not argue but the only corals there that have good colr for SPS are the cap and digi which are a little lower demanding compared to some other SPS. The purple tipped acro does not have the greatest color, but I will say still looks pretty good for PC.

 

[SeeDemTails]

Thanks for the compliments.

Actually, the purp tip acro is an A. Vaghuani...a deep water acro that will be brown/orange no matter how you keep it. The guy I got the frag from has a football sized colony under 250W 14k halides and it is the exact same color.

The clam is going on 1 year 2 months no problems.

 

[Tomd]

I have one, looks a little brighter but pics are not always accurate. Actually usually much better in person but seriously I am not trying to knock it, you have done a great job.

As I have said before debate is part of the learning process. I will add to it for more fun...

Those are not orange people eaters

However, names like these have almost nothing to do with the actual scientific name and are really made up anyway.

Gigas clam?? If a gigas clam is unhealthy it will not grow as fast.

I believe T. crocea are the smallest, followed by T. maxima, then T. deresa and squamosa (not sure about the order for those two), with T. gigas of course being the largest.


You should see a layer of new shell that is still white near the mantle for a healthy growing clam. A growing clam is a healthy clam...


Here is an excerpt about a gigas clam, although I do not think that is a gigas.

"Gigas Clam, Tridacna gigas, is also known as the Giant Clam with good reason: it can reach sizes of three to four feet and weigh three to four hundred pounds. The Gigas is a spectacular, moderate-light clam with a brown/green/yellow mantle. Iridescent blue/purple spots appear all over the mantle and in greater concentration nearer to the edges. This is the only species that does not close completely. When the four to five folds come together, they leave small slits between the two shell halves. These slits do leave the Gigas somewhat vulnerable to predators such as Triggers, Large Wrasses, Puffers, Crabs, and even Bristleworms. Growing at a possible rate of three to four inches a year, it has been suggested that the Gigas may live for 100 years or more. Though the Gigas produces ample nourishment in the wild, many aquarists recommend supplementing its diet with preparations such as Marine Snow or Kent Phyto-Plan, or Kent Zoo-Plan"

 

[SeeDemTails]

If they are not OPE's, then I am not sure what they are....They are twice the size of any other zoas in my tank, and certainly are not palys. Your guess is as good as mine! Sice I took that pic, the colony has doubled in size, growing as fast as bobby browns!...This has also led me to beleive it is not a people eater due to their incredible growth...I origionaly judged them by their size and shape. Deffintaly large zoas, some are the size of a dime if not larger.

My gigas has grown about an inch.....which added 1/4 more to its body size, considering it is only 4 inches long. Im sure when they get much larger they grow much faster, probably more than several inches a year. Also, from what I know, they can live more than 250 years!.....especially the gigas with its size.

So you have an A. Vaughani too?...Do you keep it under halides?...Lets see some pics!?!?!?!

 

[Tomd]

Actually no, I have a Tricolor Acropora that "may" be. It is difficult to determine between A. Vaughani, and A. rufus

No need to get upset with all the exclamation marks. I have been keeping SPS and clams for a while and was trying to help and inform you that if it is a gigas clam it is very irresponsible to be kept in a nano.

 

[mr funktastic]

lol tom u will realise after a while that everyone on this site is very demanding when it comes to pictures. seedemtails jst simply wanted to see yours i am sure he didnt mean anything more than that. i would love to see some pictures of your tanks tom. u seem to know a little about everything so i am sure u put together an impecible tank.

 

[Tomd]

Thank you very much Mr. Funktastic. Unfortunately I can not take any pics right now because I need to get a new camera and after the holidays it is going to be a few weeks.

My digital camera was broken at Christmas but it is a great excuse to get a new one so I can get a macro lens and take some great shots!!!

I do however have some on my desktop that I will post. Give me a few. I absolutely do not think I am even close to an "expert" reefkeeper at all, just have done a ton of reading and a few years experience. I think this site is great but I feel that a few people may not like me posting so much so I think I will ease it down. I just like to help, and I love the hobby.