Custom 9 gal aio ideas???????

[m.miller1547]

I ordered a 9 gal aio from a guy on ebay. This is a nice lil tank. My biocube has ran its course and i wanna go pico, but more challenging i guess. The footprint it 16 by 13 by 10. The false wall is 3.5in from back. I plan to purchase an aqualife 115 skimmer and setup a refugium in back. This tank will be controlled by a rkl with sl1 and alc. My current biocube light will be used as well. 21 cree leds @ 700ma. 10rb 7cw 1nw 1red 1green 1turquoise. My mp10 will provide most of the flow. It has a built in probe holder for ph and temp.

I am still deciding between bb or some sand... I really love the look of sand, but im looking at the big picture. After all, i will only have 6 gal of display. i will be using cured lr from my bc and will start it with the same water. My waterchange regimine will likely be 2 -3 gal a week. I will build a media rack and have either carbon, chemipure or purigen with filter floss on top.

Thank you if your still reading this! Im posting because this tank will be sps dominant. i understand the relationship between alk, cal, and mag, but im still a bit stumped on how to go about creating the badest sps pico around. Do you think kalk in ato with weekly waterchanges will help keep this tank stable. i seem to have every component except extensive sps experience. I have many and its easy to keep my bc stable. I want to cover all bases before diving in.

Livestock
Clown gobies
Clams
Sexy shrimp
SPS- digis, acros, bn, setosa, psammacora, and a few others
LPS- euphyllia, dunkins
Ricordia and a few other softies may make it in. No leathers or zs and ps. Trying to reduce chemical warfare.

Im just looking for some pointers..

Kalk or 2 part?
sand or bb?
Carbon, chemipure, purigen?
Skimmer?
Multiple gobies?
Additives?

 

[rosko23]

don't over do it on livestock.. and if u can run skimmer... I'm gonna sell that skimmer i had for the elos mini... its that sc something or other.. send me a text

 

[Shovelman]

Have a link to the tank? I assume he continuously makes these? Otherwise id say just do a ric only garden with 7 sexy shrimp lol

 

[Jep21]

I thnk since ur going small and doing mainly sps I would go do walts way and go BB.. Dnt over stock the tank and u should be good

 

[Funlad3]

If you want acros in a tank that small, I'd be a fan or near daily water changes. Sure, consumption of carbonates might be high, but in such a small tank, water changes should have no problems keeping everything stable.

I can't wait to see this thing happen, as it sounds awesome (especially once things grow out)!

 

[richiet]

BB for sure. The birds nests might grow to fast for that depth of a tank. I'm continually cutting mine back. I'm going to do a similar tank after the move. I'm thinking nice encrusting montis and a few unique caps. Great for top down viewing.

 

[Jep21]

Yeah I probably think u should go with a skimmer and the Kali with ato sounds like a good idea

 

[m.miller1547]

So. BB with skimmer, kalk in ato and watch alk to maybe bring up wc. Any other ideas? Im open. I want thisbtank to be successful.

 

[m.miller1547]

What you guys think about fish? I want two or three small guys. A clown goby and ? No clowns in this one. As far as inverts go im looking for something really cool that will catch the eye. I like sexy shrimp, but they can be pricy. Any suggestions for inverts. Btw. The bb will have a few sexy rock nems. The clown goby might get eaten. Mini six line? Im all over the place.

 

[Hyperlitexr50]

Sexy shrimp are 8-10$. I think you can run a very successful pico with out a skimmer as long as you keep up on your water changes. Nanoreef has tons of great pico's with out skimmers. 30 gallons or less skimmer is optional.

 

[m.miller1547]

Ive been researching nano reefs, r2r and reef central. Not many nanos less than 10 sps dom. Skimmer might be overkill, but i will be spot feeding lps and inverts. Anybody use tiles instead of sandbed?

 

[m.miller1547]

Im used to seeing sexy shrimp @ aquatica for $20 each

 

[Shovelman]

Barnacle blenny?

 

[m.miller1547]

Cool little fish but is a natural hider. With only a few im looking for a bit of personality. I wish i could have a jaw fish ):

 

[richiet]

I've had my 10 gal nano up for a year with Sps and ran without a skimmer. You just have to stay on top of the water changes and monitor alk constantly.

 

[m.miller1547]

http://www.fishchannel.com/saltwater-aquariums/aquarium-care/ph-and-alkalinity.aspx

After reading this and many other write-ups I'm confident waterchanges and kalk in ato will be sufficient depending on bioload. Worst case scenario is I add a sw reservoir or sump. I may use a simple 5 gal bucket.

??? A refugium will be implemented. If ph is monitored and ato is off at let's say 8.0. How do I continue to add fresh water. Also if ph is stable because of fuge then no kalk. No bump in alk.. no bump in cal.

My head is spinning. And mag is thrown in. Oh my. I want to work on keeping mag high as well.

Looks like a fun time! I'm hoping waterchanges do it for me. Maybe a gallon every day. Automated.

 

[EricTheRed]

If ph is monitored and ato is off at let's say 8.0. How do I continue to add fresh water. Also if ph is stable because of fuge then no kalk. No bump in alk.. no bump in cal.

My head is spinning. And mag is thrown in. Oh my. I want to work on keeping mag high as well.

Looks like a fun time! I'm hoping waterchanges do it for me. Maybe a gallon every day. Automated.

Don't worry about chasing pH so much. Many kalk tanks run successfully at 8.4 to 8.5 pH. Also, are you planning on programming the rkl to shutoff ato at 8.0? I would program an alarm to shut off the ato at 8.45 pH. But realistically you probably won't go that high for a couple reasons. 1) Without a skimmer your tank will likely not have an equilibrium between the room O2 and the tank O2, meaning you'll be slightly higher in CO2, which will keep your pH slightly lower than the typical 8.4 seen with kalk. 2) With LEDs, you won't have a lot of evaporation so you will not topping off limewater to the degree that a pH spike will occur.

As far as mag goes, it depletes at such a slow rate that you can manually dose it once a week, or less, to keep the levels where they need to be.

 

[m.miller1547]

I'm gonna be running a skimmer eventually. I agree with everything you said Eric. I'll program the rkl to shut off @ 8.45. I understand a refugium will not increase ph, but rather stabilize it. Chaeto and other macro will help increase oxygen. Almost quoted TLC in ur first sentence.

 

[SniperZ]

tiles would be cool for the bottom. i believe they reflect the light more as well.

 

[m.miller1547]

Tiles would be cool except all I'm having a hard time finding which are reef safe. Looks like 100% calcium carbonate is good, but its hard to find tiles made of it. Others have used ceramic, travertine and a few other, but they leach phosphates and often other heavy metals. If someone can chime in with a bit more knowledge I'd feel allot better.