Mr. Z's 10 G Build Thread

[Mr.Z]

Clowns can love things to death, usually lps, bummer.

Thinking about getting them something nice and comfy to host them, although introducing an anemone to my 10 gallon at this point will probably just cause more problems.

 

[Mr.Z]

I moved my tank to a new apartment and set it up on the IM APS stand, which I'm very happy with. Very clean looking and I love that it is metal, rather than wood. Unfortunately, we lost our helfrichi firefish in the move. She/he hadn't been eating for a couple days and was hiding leading up to the move. Not sure why, since she wasn't being bothered by the other fish and didn't seem to exhibit any illness. During the process she seemed to have gotten startled from out under the rock she was in and ended up dying a couple hours later. Not sure if it was my fault, but fairly upset about it.

On a separate note, I upgraded my RO/DI with a pressure gauge, booster pump, and water saver kit. The upgrades weren't too cheap, but WOW -- what an improvement! I used to have ~40-45 PSI water pressure and it took 2-3 hours to fill a 5 gallon bucket. I can now increase the PSI to 80 and fill the same bucket in ~30 minutes (and waste less water).

Salinity: 33
pH: 8.2
NO3: 5
KH: 8.5
Mg: 1360
Ca: 430

 

[AJsReef]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Moving systems is definitely tough no matter the size.

Nice looking tank though, nanos really are fun!

Awesome to hear such good things about the booster pump. I’ve been considering one for quite some time as I hover around 50 PSI. Water is relatively cheap here so ROI isn’t really a thing. If it makes media last longer though it’s less hassle for sure!

 

[Mr.Z]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Moving systems is definitely tough no matter the size.

Nice looking tank though, nanos really are fun!

Awesome to hear such good things about the booster pump. I’ve been considering one for quite some time as I hover around 50 PSI. Water is relatively cheap here so ROI isn’t really a thing. If it makes media last longer though it’s less hassle for sure!

I hear ya on ROI. Wasn’t concerned about cost of water, but felt a little bad about wasting so much tap water down the drain. But mostly the time savings are great, and I can make water very efficiently. It’s particularly helpful for me because I don’t have a dedicated water making station (connect and disconnect from the shower head every time). It was time consuming managing this for a 10 gallon. Couldn’t imagine having a bigger tank without the higher PSI for the RO/DI!

 

[AJsReef]

I hear ya on ROI. Wasn’t concerned about cost of water, but felt a little bad about wasting so much tap water down the drain. But mostly the time savings are great, and I can make water very efficiently. It’s particularly helpful for me because I don’t have a dedicated water making station (connect and disconnect from the shower head every time). It was time consuming managing this for a 10 gallon. Couldn’t imagine having a bigger tank without the higher PSI for the RO/DI!

Definitely makes a ton of sense if you’re making a bucket at a time? Do you have a float on the bucket or are you forced to check on it? I wasted quite a bit of water when I lived in apartments by forgetting to check on it.

I have a 29g reservoir but have it automated to refill when it drops to ~ 6 gallons. It’s pretty hands off, would all be in membrane/resin savings for me. If I run the dishwasher/washer I can see the pressure drop. Overall my plumbing is pretty weak :/

 

[Mr.Z]

Definitely makes a ton of sense if you’re making a bucket at a time? Do you have a float on the bucket or are you forced to check on it? I wasted quite a bit of water when I lived in apartments by forgetting to check on it.

I have a 29g reservoir but have it automated to refill when it drops to ~ 6 gallons. It’s pretty hands off, would all be in membrane/resin savings for me. If I run the dishwasher/washer I can see the pressure drop. Overall my plumbing is pretty weak :/

Well I used to have 2 buckets, 1 for salt and 1 for fresh. So I was making 1 bucket of fresh water at a time, but I went to Home Depot last weekend to upgrade my system, spent 5 bucks on another bucket and now I have DOUBLED by fresh water holding capacity and have TWO BUCKETS to fill with fresh water in one session.

When making water, I put the bucket and RO/DI system in the shower and set a timer for 10 minutes. I keep snoozing the timer until it's filled. It fills fast enough and I have a short enough timer, so I waste little to no water.

Would love to automate water making in the future, but am a bit too scared to test out my plumbing skills on a rented apartment.

 

[Mr.Z]

Almost forgot -- updated aquarium expenses to date. Those "accessories" sure add up...

 

[najer]

Sorry to hear about the fish.

 

[Mr.Z]

Tank has been doing fairly well with one challenge I’ve been working on being my goniopora. It has had 0% polyp extension for the past few weeks. I moved it from high light and high flow to a more moderate light and moderate flow area. Started seeing the polyps just barely try and poke out after that.

Just got the Hanna ULR phosphate checker because phosphates was the last primary parameter I haven’t been testing. It tested at .22. I was surprised it’s that high given my nitrates have been testing in the 4-6 range. Ran GFO for 2 days and did a water change. It’s now sitting at .07 and will see if I can maintain it there. Don’t want to go any lower since I’m battling dinos at the moment. The goni is now showing just a bit more polyp extension.

One head of my hammer was being shaded as the head above it grew. The shaded hammer atrophied in one area and dropped off a small frag. The frag has polyps, tissue, and skeleton, so I’ll see if I can get that piece to grow.

Hammer just before frag fell off:

New frag of hammer this morning:

Current FTS:

 

[Nico_853853]

That's one of the nicest tanks i've seen. How did you get your corals colors to pop so much? I wish my tank looked like that!

 

[Mr.Z]

That's one of the nicest tanks i've seen. How did you get your corals colors to pop so much? I wish my tank looked like that!

Thanks! Looks like you’ve copy and pasted that message to multiple people, but appreciate it anyway.

 

[Mr.Z]

Was unsuccessfully fighting dinos for a few weeks. Manually siphoning every day and increasing nutrient input, but no progress.
Was debating whether I wanted to try the Dr. Tim’s Waste Away method or UV to fix it.

Decided to go with UV since it’s a very affordable solution for a nano tank and I didn’t want to have to do the multi day blackout with Waste Away. Got the Auqa Shield UV Sterilizer Desktop. Took a couple minutes to “install” and it got rid of 95% of dinos overnight. It was probably 48 hours until I couldn’t see any leftover dinos. Let the UV run for 4 days just to be sure and now have had the UV offline for 3 days. Maybe too early to tell, but I think the tank is “cured”. $50 well spent.

Next problem — solve this algae issue.

Before:

After UV:

 

[Tahoe61]

It is amazing how well those Aquashield UV work. I don't run one all the time on my IM, but glad I have it.

Things looking much improved.

 

[Mr.Z]

It is amazing how well those Aquashield UV work. I don't run one all the time on my IM, but glad I have it.

Things looking much improved.

Like magic!

 

[TEX]

Tank is looking great so far! I recently just placed my initial order on an IM Fusion 10 and let me just say, your totals are HILARIOUSLY relatable... mostly because I thought I'd be in for a much larger tank with our budget ;Woot

Can't wait to see more!

 

[Robert Binz]

Was unsuccessfully fighting dinos for a few weeks. Manually siphoning every day and increasing nutrient input, but no progress.
Was debating whether I wanted to try the Dr. Tim’s Waste Away method or UV to fix it.

Decided to go with UV since it’s a very affordable solution for a nano tank and I didn’t want to have to do the multi day blackout with Waste Away. Got the Auqa Shield UV Sterilizer Desktop. Took a couple minutes to “install” and it got rid of 95% of dinos overnight. It was probably 48 hours until I couldn’t see any leftover dinos. Let the UV run for 4 days just to be sure and now have had the UV offline for 3 days. Maybe too early to tell, but I think the tank is “cured”. $50 well spent.

Next problem — solve this algae issue.

Before:

After UV:

That is not Dino’s

 

[Mr.Z]

That is not Dino’s

Looked like dinos to me and behaved like dinos. Went away completely at night then returned each morning as lights came on. Also solved by UV.

What do you think it was?

 

[Robert Binz]

Was unsuccessfully fighting dinos for a few weeks. Manually siphoning every day and increasing nutrient input, but no progress.
Was debating whether I wanted to try the Dr. Tim’s Waste Away method or UV to fix it.

Decided to go with UV since it’s a very affordable solution for a nano tank and I didn’t want to have to do the multi day blackout with Waste Away. Got the Auqa Shield UV Sterilizer Desktop. Took a couple minutes to “install” and it got rid of 95% of dinos overnight. It was probably 48 hours until I couldn’t see any leftover dinos. Let the UV run for 4 days just to be sure and now have had the UV offline for 3 days. Maybe too early to tell, but I think the tank is “cured”. $50 well spent.

Next problem — solve this algae issue.

Before:

After UV:

 

[Robert Binz]

Looked like dinos to me and behaved like dinos. Went away completely at night then returned each morning as lights came on. Also solved by UV.

What do you think it was?

Yeah I mean I'm no biologist so I could be wrong and the efficacy of the UV is interesting. It just looks *nothing* like Dinos pictures that I've seen in this hobby

 

[nex64]

great read, just got the IM 14 peninsula a few months back and loving it.

Added the UV sterilizer a few weeks ago and haven't had any algae issues and hopefully won't get any with its help.

Keep reefing on.