Tank parameters 24g nano

[Caspertheghost]

Hi everyone.

So I'm currently on my first nano reef tank. It has been up and running for a few months. Just finished getting all my test kits. Was hoping someone could offer any advice on controlling my parameters or raising / lowering any of these that seem off.

Gravity: 1.025
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0.25 ppm
dKH: 12
Phosphate: 0.25 ppm
Calcium: 440 ppm
Copper: 0

26 lbs live rock
20 lbs live sand
A few sps and lps
Chaetomorpho in main display (no light in rear filtration area)
CPR BakPack skimmer (dry skim)

Very small amount of hair algae
No visible diatom blooms
Current marine orbit LED

Any insight, ideas, info would be massively appreciated! Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[rjl45]

I have almost the exact setup, 24gal, amount of rock, sand, etc... my tank is now 10 months old. I do 5 gal water changes every 2 weeks. IME consistent water changes is critical to the stability of my tank. I do not claim to be an expert (far from it), but I read a lot and want to understand as much as I can about my system.

It was very stable until 7-8 month mark, then nitrates and phosphates started to climb. I tried larger WC's and that helped, but did not cure the problem. I suspect that I was starting to get a build up of waste and also my rock is starting to mature (started with dead rock). After researching solutions, I concluded I needed and an additional nutrient export method, other than WC. I recently decided to experiment with an upflow algae scrubber and have started to see good results. After 2 weeks, my nitrates and phosphates were cut in half. I'll be reporting week 3 results on friday/saturday.

My nano has very limited space in the back compartments, and I don't have a sump, so my options were limited. Many people run a refugium and/or GFO or Carbon (or some combination) to help manage nutrients. Just some thoughts for you to consider. Cheers!

 

[Caspertheghost]

Thank you for giving me your experience! Definitely want to learn how people handled or avoided certain issues like yours.

How did you do the up flow algae scrubber? Would love to see some pics.

 

[Caspertheghost]

Ok, I never heard of that but just looked it up. This seems pretty awesome! How do you stop the filter algae from spreading to your DT? And how did you mount it with the nano?

 

[rjl45]

How did you do the up flow algae scrubber? Would love to see some pics.

Happy to help! So many have helped me, want to give back where I can. Here is my thread on the UAS and a bunch of photos. I'll be happy to answer anything I can. I am still in the "testing" phase of my scrubber build.
http://www.marinecolorado.org/showthread.php?t=637061

How do you stop the filter algae from spreading to your DT? And how did you mount it with the nano?

The idea is that the algae in the scrubber will out-compete the algae in the DT by creating an optimum place for algae to grow and pull the nutrients from the water column, leaving it more difficult for algae to grow in the DT. To mount the scrubber, I basically squeezed the scrubber tray with a piece of foam into the back compartment. Many of the designs online, or more specifically Santa Monica's design use magnets. I didn't have space for magnets, and the foam works great. It's very easy to remove for the weekly cleaning.

 

[Caspertheghost]

So I checked the Thread! have a couple questions if you don't mind? What did you use for the light source? I didn't see any pictures of that, but your tank did look quite a bit better at the 7 week mark! Did you have any Diatom issues because the housing is Plastic? Seems like the Silica from the plastic would encourage a bloom of Diatoms.

 

[rjl45]

No problem. I bought my LED light of another member, Walter White, and linked to his thread for the build. http://www.marinecolorado.org/showthread.php?t=17748
It's a nice compact 5x 3w LED.

And actually, the photo comparison is only 2 weeks in... So I am optimistic for the long term outlook
Regarding the plastic, from all my research, most the upflow scrubbers use a plastic container and don't have any issues. I have not seen an issue with diatoms to date, but will be on the look out.

 

[Balz3352]

Haha this algae turf scrubber is what I briefly mentioned!! Bet it would work

 

[Caspertheghost]

Yeah, this is a great idea. I do wonder though if you can just use chaeto inside of it?

 

[rjl45]

Interesting thought. I don't know. Maybe someone else would have an opinion. I wasn't worried about growing a specific strain of algae, just wanted to control it.