New nanoreefer! I just thought I'd say hello.

[reeferdawg]

I just purchased my 7g mini bowfront from Sprayin70 (thanks again, man!). I'll get some pics up very shortly so y'all can critique my progress. Thanks again for all the great info, guys.

 

[reeferdawg]

Ok - I'm bored so here's some pics and stuff.

The custom hood has 2 vent/cooling fans and two Coralife 18watt 50/50 lights. I picked up a Penguin 100 and a Stealth 50 watt heater.

I stocked the thing with a little over 8 lbs of live rock, 10 lbs of live sand, and the NutriSeawater from the Athens Aquarium Outfitters. I added RO water to bring the SG down to 1.023 and to top off the tank. I threw a cocktail shrimp in there to kickstart my cycle. Anyway, here are some pics:

Just added the sand:

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Before arranging the rock and before I bought the new filter:

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Full shot after the water cleared a bit:

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My decomposing shrimp after two days. Gross:

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Some blue stuff that started growing. What is it? Also, what is that little stick-like thing on the left side of the rock?:

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Full view of my setup:

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Cool view in the dark:

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Anyway, that's it for now. I'll update with some more pics after I get some actual living things to put in the tank. Please leave me some comments/suggestions - they will certainly help quite a bit!

 

[broreefr]

You dont need the shrimp to cycle your tank, the live rock and sand is all you need and it will start to cycle from the die off in the rock.

But otherwise, it is a very nice looking set up

 

[reeferdawg]

I had read from a few different people that the shrimp helps. As long as it doesn't hurt I guess I won't worry about it. Thanks for the advice, though!

 

[stroid]

the shrimp will speed up the cycling process...no idea what the blue stuff is

 

[vettesarebest]

Nice tank! I love nano's. I might be wrong please someone correct me if I am but I think that little stem looking thing is maybe a mangrove?

 

[reeferdawg]

Mangrove, huh? Won't having a tree in my aquarium pose some problems? There's a couple of these things on the rock.

 

[vettesarebest]

Lol a tree in my aquarium lol. It will probably die because I think they need to have some air also. Need not to worry. I doubt it is one though. Well thats the only thing I can think of that it might be.

 

[reeferdawg]

:lol2: Thanks, Maroon. Maybe someone else will know for sure what it is if it isn't a mangrove.

What about the blue stuff that has started growing in that same pic? Is that just some kind of good algae? Hopefully. . .

 

[vettesarebest]

Well I'm sure its not bad. It might be coraline algae. I can't really tell from the pic.

 

[chemically_balanced]

See if you can get a clearer picture of the "stick-like thing" and the blue stuff. I'm not sure anyone can help you identify it with out.

 

[reeferdawg]

Chemically_Balanced wrote: See if you can get a clearer picture of the "stick-like thing" and the blue stuff. I'm not sure anyone can help you identify it with out.

My camera is pretty dang old and I'm having trouble getting anything better on the automatic settings. Tomorrow I'll try some of the manual settings to see if I can get something clearer.

 

[tsciarini]

Welcome to the ARC... that tank looks familiar!

 

[showtime305]

That tank is pretty cool.