The 3gal Nano of Death!

DRC Archive Member Tanks
1

This is the poor nano of which so much has been agonizied and written on(not to :-Q mention spent). Lately, i apparently shifted the balance a bit too far and had a major crash (unknown death of an animal under a rock). While utterly depressing and defeating, it has in one respect humbled me. And on the bright side, as such, I have learned more than any book or discussion could ever have taught. It also gives me a chance to start over.

SO, I present to you, a thoroughly cleaned and hopefully, re-cycled tank.

This is the last inhabitant besides the snails (2 narcassarius (sp) and 3 cerith, and the hermit (singular :-(")

I am sure he is now going to die, since I am so excited he has survived.

I have been watching the parameters every other day since the crash middle of last week (not this past one, the one before).
As of yesterday they were:

pH-8.4
nitrite-0
ammonia-0
nitrate-20

i have been having to top off the tank every other day as well, with RO salt water (hence the auto top off idea)

When the tank did the big crash, I had a major scrub of the sides, sand, filter and even pulled out one of the rocks (with nothing living in it) and scrubbed off as much as the algae as i could. I also added some “nitrate sponge” to the filter.

I have been keeping the temp steady with a heater and a fan, both running 24/7. The temp has remained between 79-81 for the past week, even with the light on.

I am going to continue to let the tank sit, do testing and water topoffs until the weekend of the 31st. At that point in time, I am hoping, the tank will have stabilized itself and will be capable of additions again (only corals, no animals!) That is the weekend of the sale at ECP, so I am hoping to pick up some equipment for my tank that is to be set up in my new place and maybe a couple of corals for the nano.

The only corals in there now are 2 polyps and a star polyp, all of which are closed and have been for a while. (EDIT-and a zenia, which is doing great and spreading. Remind me to get more of those!) They are kind of overgrown with algae, and I think that might be irritating them. I tried to clean them off as best as i could, but I do not want to accidentally hurt them. Although the algae might be worse. I am hoping hte last of the algae will either die out from lack of food source and/or be eaten by the snails.

The tank is also haveing a bit of a cyano bloom, but very mild considering previous ones. I feed a few pellets of food at night for the snails and the fish.

2

Ahh pictures much better. Hey your braver then I. I am too big of a wimp to ever try a 3.5 gallon tank. It is the hardest tank setup to do well. Don’t add too much till you get very stable. Also to help with temp control besides the fan, try to freeze some ro water. It will melt over time and add top off water as it melts.

3

You say “top off with Ro salt water”

You’re not using saltwater to top ff the tank are you? You should be using fresh water as the salt stays in the remaining water that doesn’t evaporate.

4

Wow I missed that. Craig is more awake as he is doing the dog paddle in his basement. RO water used for top off should be plain water. Adding salt will increase the salinity of the water.

5

Nice to see I am not the only night owl!

Yeah, I figured that out the second addition in.

Actual conversation-

First TO-

Me-hmmm, the water is really evaoporating!
self-well we have the extra salt water we made-add some!
me-good idea- glad we kept it!
self-hmmm, the salinity is really high!!! hmmmmm…

2nd TO-

me-wow, needs more water.
self- I should make an auto top off
me-good idea (adds water)
gosh, the salinity is still really high. I should get one of the refracto-thingys too.
self-yeah, specially with the bigger tank.
me-wait a minute-damn! the salinty is high cause of the evaporation of water-not salt!!!
self-we need more plain RO water…

6

Probably just about everyone in the hobby has added salt water as top of at one point or another.

"Nice to see I am not the only night owl! " Where are you it’s 3am and I don’t think you’ve posted for hours. :stuck_out_tongue:

7

that must have been the time I was finishing up the last of the 2-5 page papers i have written since I left work at 6! I think I was in bed by 3:15.

Of course, I have a 4-legged brown hairy alarm clock with no snooze-also known as a dog. I have been up since 6:30.

8

[quote=“tamuchick02, post:5, topic:616”]
Nice to see I am not the only night owl!

Yeah, I figured that out the second addition in.

Actual conversation-

First TO-

Me-hmmm, the water is really evaoporating!
self-well we have the extra salt water we made-add some!
me-good idea- glad we kept it!
self-hmmm, the salinity is really high!!! hmmmmm…

2nd TO-

me-wow, needs more water.
self- I should make an auto top off
me-good idea (adds water)
gosh, the salinity is still really high. I should get one of the refracto-thingys too.
self-yeah, specially with the bigger tank.
me-wait a minute-damn! the salinty is high cause of the evaporation of water-not salt!!!
self-we need more plain RO water…[/quote]

I was thinking
me - I wonder if I am the only one drinking
self - I am a social drinker but one by my self every now-and-then is ok
me - No I am not the only one drinking, look at that drunk statement.
self - when you’re right your right.

9

[quote=“tamuchick02, post:1, topic:616”]
The only corals in there now are 2 polyps and a star polyp, all of which are closed and have been for a while. (EDIT-and a zenia, which is doing great and spreading. Remind me to get more of those!) They are kind of overgrown with algae, and I think that might be irritating them. I tried to clean them off as best as i could, but I do not want to accidentally hurt them. Although the algae might be worse.[/quote]

If you take a soft bristled brush (I have a baby toothbrush) you can lightly scrub your GSP’s of the algae. Give them about a week after that, and they’ll be good as new.

10

Sadly-I had not been drinking. I think i was reaching a point of exhaustion! Plus, I am always a little strange.

I do use a soft brush, and gave them as vigrous a rub as I thought they could take. I might try again. The algae is really tough!!!

11

Hey there. I was just wondering what you had for circulation in the tank? Also when your ready for corals let me know im sure I can find a frag of something.

12

I use the filter set to high flow. Since the tank is so small, 85% gets at least moderate flow, with 1% getting high flow and about 3% getting low flow. The high flow is directly under the filter and by the intake, and the low is on the backside of the rock (to the right in the picture) of the heater.

I might try getting some new corals next weekend at ECA at their big sale. Then it will be a month or more before i do much else. I will set up a bigger tank in the new place after the move, which will be a few weeks, then a while to cycle. At least I will have seed rock and water to start it out! Then all the corals i will have jammed into the 3 gal between now and then will get spaced out between the two, with the 3 gal acting as a type of quarantine tank.

13

[quote=“tamuchick02, post:12, topic:616”]
I use the filter set to high flow. Since the tank is so small, 85% gets at least moderate flow, with 1% getting high flow and about 3% getting low flow. The high flow is directly under the filter and by the intake, and the low is on the backside of the rock (to the right in the picture) of the heater.[/quote]

Ok, I am no math major but 85% + 1% + 3% = 89% Whats the other 11% getting for flow? is that the non flow area >B ;D

14

obviously I am not a math major either!!! :stuck_out_tongue:

I do know that everywhere gets at least some flow. by the filter intake and outake gets high, behind the rock gets low.

and the fish still lives…

pH-8.8
Nitrate-20
Nitrite-0
ammonia-0

15

Updated pic-

It now contains:

The fish
2 cerith
2 narssis
1 turban

2 green polyps
1 red zoa
1 red clove polyp
2 star polyps (1 short 1 long tentacle-ed)
1 finger/tree coral
1 feather polyp (in back)
1 pulsing zenia

Everything has remained stable. The finger looked a little limp for a few days, but then I moved it up higher on the rock and it seems much happier now.

PBJ!

16

Ok, the tank is finally done. It has an overflow on the left side with a strainer and a penductor on the right side for return. I have a 20L sump underneath that has eggcrate compartments for filter floss and i will be getting a 2LF phos reactore and using it for carbon. the sump will also house the heater and thermometer. The return T’s off and feeds a manifold that waters the plants. The plants look a little rough now becuase i didnt anticipate that this tank would take me so long and i didnt water them religiously. Im going to let the system run for another day or two, then put Tuck the turtle in. I also have a map turtle on hold at PA that im going to get this week.

I had to take the bottom piece of trim off for a leak. Im going to try to get it back up this week and do some touch up.

Once everthing is cleaned up and the turtles are in ill take some more pictures. The island on the left is the “turtle dock” so that the turtles can bask.

Here is a link to the tank http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10011055. you cant beat the price!!

It took a little trial and error to get everything the way i wanted it, but it was worth it. These tanks will make great terraiums for reptiles. Its also a great size for a shallow reef or frag tank.
If i were to use it for an aquarium, the only thing i would do different is add a top brace.

17

The link takes you to ikea?

Nice background any pics of the process to do that?

18

If you look directly at the center of the tank there is an eye ball looking back at you? Except for some hair algae it looks well stocked and nice. Maybe you can get in with someone to get a sea hare to eat it down and when he is finished with your tank you can switch him over to another. If it comes back you can borrow him back. The grazing and then regrowth of the algae will remove nitrates from the water. If they are still a problem after he is done the growth will remove more.

19

Sweeet.

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[quote=“a1amap, post:18, topic:616”]
If you look directly at the center of the tank there is an eye ball looking back at you? Except for some hair algae it looks well stocked and nice. Maybe you can get in with someone to get a sea hare to eat it down and when he is finished with your tank you can switch him over to another. If it comes back you can borrow him back. The grazing and then regrowth of the algae will remove nitrates from the water. If they are still a problem after he is done the growth will remove more.[/quote]

A sea hare would probably clean a tank that size in a couple hours. I’m not sure how strong the intake for the pump is but maybe try a lettuce sea slug? They stay fairly small and still do a decent job of cleaning the tank, just not nearly as quick as a sea hare. The only down side with them is they can get sucked up realllly easily.