Reefers Cafe Forums - View Single Post - The $100 Nano-Reef Project

johnmaloney · 03-19-2008, 06:31 PM

Here is a FTS pic from the project. It has now become a Florida Macro biotope tank with a few zoas and some sponges. This mixture is now like the shallow reef I dive, mostly macro with a few corals. (Although at night the corals get much larger, or at least are more visible.)

Here is an updated list of the tank specs:

The tank:
Birthdate: March 6, 2008
10 gallon kit at Wal-Mart
No liverock, but has about 3 lbs. of base rock that might have some life by now.
Seawater from a "beach reef" (Couldn't use Instant Ocean and stay under $100)
Mangroves for filtering
After cycling, 4 mangrove sprouts and some chaeto were added. Within days, parameters are near perfect, and we are now going to dose nitrates, silicates and phosphorous, to test growth rates and so forth. (To noobies: don't do this).
2 20watt 50/50 Coralife compact fluorescents keep everything growing.
1 outside light for the mangroves,
The tank was jump started with used filter media, and some live sand seed from an established tank.

The inhabitants:

2 Rock boring Urchins (Small)
3 Seargent Major Fry
1 Pinfish Fry
1 Wrasse Blenny Fry
1 Goby
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
2 Shore Shrimp
1 Sea Hare (Small)
1 Spotted Sea Hare (Very Small)
1 Thorny Oyster
3 Feather Dusters
2 Chitons
10 Dwarf Ceriths
5 Nerites (1 tesselated, 1 antillean, 1 four tooth, 1 bleeding tooth, 1 virgin- still need an emerald nerite)
2 Florida Ceriths
2 Stocky Ceriths
3 Fly Speckled Ceriths
5 Zig Zags
5 Planaxis Snails
1 Orange Encrusting Sponge
1 Crayfish

Macros:
Halimeda Incrassata
Halimeda Monile
Bryothamnion triquetrum
Codium Isthmocladium
Codium Sp.
Penicillus Capitatus
Caulerpa prolifera (when it isn't wiped out by the sea hare)
Caulerpa mexicana (when it isn't wiped out by the sea hare)
Chaeto
Grape Caulerpa (when it isn't wiped out by the sea hare)
Sargassum
Scroll Algae
Dictyota ciliolata
Gracilaria verrucosa
Bostrychia montagnei
1 yet unidentified "red bush algae"
1 yet unidentified "red twisting kelp looking thing" algae
1 yet unidentified "light pink bushy stalk algae" it is my favorite red algae, a camera in my hands never picks up the detial of this beautiful macro.

I will be adding Udotea spinulosa and turbinaria turbinata soon.

03-19-2008, 06:31 PM	#43 (permalink)
johnmaloney Reefer's Cafe SPONSOR iTrader: (1) Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 552	Here is a FTS pic from the project. It has now become a Florida Macro biotope tank with a few zoas and some sponges. This mixture is now like the shallow reef I dive, mostly macro with a few corals. (Although at night the corals get much larger, or at least are more visible.) Here is an updated list of the tank specs: The tank: Birthdate: March 6, 2008 10 gallon kit at Wal-Mart No liverock, but has about 3 lbs. of base rock that might have some life by now. Seawater from a "beach reef" (Couldn't use Instant Ocean and stay under $100) Mangroves for filtering After cycling, 4 mangrove sprouts and some chaeto were added. Within days, parameters are near perfect, and we are now going to dose nitrates, silicates and phosphorous, to test growth rates and so forth. (To noobies: don't do this). 2 20watt 50/50 Coralife compact fluorescents keep everything growing. 1 outside light for the mangroves, The tank was jump started with used filter media, and some live sand seed from an established tank. The inhabitants: 2 Rock boring Urchins (Small) 3 Seargent Major Fry 1 Pinfish Fry 1 Wrasse Blenny Fry 1 Goby 1 Coral Banded Shrimp 2 Shore Shrimp 1 Sea Hare (Small) 1 Spotted Sea Hare (Very Small) 1 Thorny Oyster 3 Feather Dusters 2 Chitons 10 Dwarf Ceriths 5 Nerites (1 tesselated, 1 antillean, 1 four tooth, 1 bleeding tooth, 1 virgin- still need an emerald nerite) 2 Florida Ceriths 2 Stocky Ceriths 3 Fly Speckled Ceriths 5 Zig Zags 5 Planaxis Snails 1 Orange Encrusting Sponge 1 Crayfish Macros: Halimeda Incrassata Halimeda Monile Bryothamnion triquetrum Codium Isthmocladium Codium Sp. Penicillus Capitatus Caulerpa prolifera (when it isn't wiped out by the sea hare) Caulerpa mexicana (when it isn't wiped out by the sea hare) Chaeto Grape Caulerpa (when it isn't wiped out by the sea hare) Sargassum Scroll Algae Dictyota ciliolata Gracilaria verrucosa Bostrychia montagnei 1 yet unidentified "red bush algae" 1 yet unidentified "red twisting kelp looking thing" algae 1 yet unidentified "light pink bushy stalk algae" it is my favorite red algae, a camera in my hands never picks up the detial of this beautiful macro. I will be adding Udotea spinulosa and turbinaria turbinata soon.