Another nano is back! (now with pics)

[MonKei]

I too, like marillion, had a nano crash a few weeks ago.. mine was partially a result of many things though, I figured out what the likely canditates of the crash were: over nourishment of fish, not enough coral nourishment, unsufficient filtration, lack of waterflow, but most likely of all was the move the small tank had from school to home (26 hours down, and 650 miles later) and then the spike the tank experienced after the move..
since the crash, I've done regular water changes, changed to a bio wheel filter, added a powerhead, added cured rock, constructed a new hood, added lighting and things seem to be looking good.
water tests normal, and I've added some new livestock. Roger (a black tomato clown), next a sebae anenome a few days later (Roger likes it) and today (about 4 days since the anenome) I got some small SPS frags from the LFS, and less than 3 hours after beeing introduced to the tank they opened up, so I'll take it that things in there are going well.. had a hitchhiker in with the sps's, a snail of types, pretty intreguing.. anyway.. I'll post some pics when I get the brown algae off the walls of my tank shouldnt be too long before that happens..

 

[Anonymous]

HF sweet. let's see some pix!

 

[brandon4291]

Yes those sound like ideal candidates for a crash. The 'crash set-point' can vary from system to system, but anytime one is dealing with heatspikes and nutrient accumulation I'd say it speeds up the process threefold at least. Glad to hear of the recovery, I've had to do it as well. At least your design characters grow with each new build...

How do you plan to dose the tank with calcium and alk? A steady regimen of calcium and alkalinity maintenance will keep your system stable and thriving provided a few other prime factors are addressed, namely temperature/circulation & water quality in terms of minimal suspended waste. Cutting back on fish bioload is a prime tradeoff for adding filters, to the point some systems can still stock fish without any filters or skimmers if the owner is willing to hedge on stocking densities just a little...

 

[Shinken]

I agree, keep the alkalinity stable and keep the stocking low in a nano!

Just my opinion!

Plenty of light, plenty of water movement, and good water quality! Simple huh! 8O

 

[MonKei]

I finally got some pics of my new setup, the 13w 50/50 isnt in there right now cause I am in the process of finishing the top part of the hood where it sits, but you get the idea, I'll put pics of my hood up when its completed, right now I am using foil as a reflector.. ghetto I know 8O..
but now, pics!
Full Tank

Close but Blurry shot of my aquascape

Three SPS Frags

Roger bein' Happy

Sebae Anenome

thats what its lookin like right now.. I really cant tell how the anenome is doing, it seems to be only half attached, and ranges from all the way open to the lookin like how it does in the picture.. any ideas? I'll post more pics here in a day or two, I'm up for any suggestions..
In reply to the question about calcium and alk, I am dosing with Kent Liquid Calcium and Pro Buffer dKH, a few drops a day in the morning to keep those levels alright... I am also dosing with an all in one complex I picked up at the LFS every few days, along with live prytoplankton.. 1.5ml of each, as per directions on bottles..
I am also going to do gallon water changes every week, thats roughly 20% of my water, so that should keep a pretty clean supply of water, I also may get another small powerhead to encourage more water movement.. we'll see..
-thayer