Tank is 3months old after one month and a half of cycling (so 4.5months old)
Setup:-
20x20x20cm rimless cube
Resun sp500 (taking this off soon, i got it before the bigger HOB to help with flow and i dont need it anymore)
Fuge mod- Jeneca HOB filter (500L/hr) houses caulerpa and LR rubble
Fuge mod- Larger HOB filter, forgot the brand (600L/hr) modded the intake pipe by cutting it shorter. Houses chaeto and LR rubble
Seaquest LED lighting 16white 8blue
Cooling fan
Reef crystals reef salt (changing to red sea coral pro once i finish my current stock)
3watts clip on light for bigger HOB sump.
Livestock:-
Pink skunk clownfish
Green bubbletip anemone
Xenia (2 types)
Acan
Trachyphillia
Zoanthids
Mushrooms
CUC:- <OVERKILL> and open to trade for any tiny corals a few if anyone is interested
2 astreasnails
3 hermits
1 skunk shrimp
2 nassarius snails
3 bumblebee snails
Lots of pods thanks to sir Dede. I bought some copepods and amphipods recently to seed the tank.
Problems:-
-Ich. Yes. Ich, i hate ich, i tried everything, but i think its difficult to house any free swimming fish in a small tank, ive already lost a false percula clown to ich and recently got my pink skunk. But hes showing signs of ich as well.
Possibly stress from the small space.
Lately ive fed some food with ginger powder and the ich dropped in a few hours but after a recent water change i noticed some spots again.
-water evaporation: this is due to the cooling fan, but in such a small tank it takes a huge amount of freshwater topoff everyday to keep it at the right temp. Im thinking of a Diy ATO but i still havent gotten around to making anything.
Experiences and studies:-
-Talo chaeto ko sa caulerpa. Either naubusan ng nutrients ung tank or talo tlga chaeto. It stopped growing and i had to keep trimming dead clumps away while the caulerpa just keeps growing. (Question sa mga masters, will the pods be ok without chaeto?)
-Small tank = big problems. After cycling and my first fish, it was difficult creating a good feeding regimen to avoid any parameter spikes. And now with all my CUC i have to do a 10-15% water change every 2 days and one larger 30% waterchange every week. Its easier because it only takes a bottle and a half of water but it does take discipline. So far so good, but i dont think id be taking any week away from the tank until i have a proper ATO setup.
-with a small tank, i though smaller coral frags would be cheap -_- but i still get offered the same prices as the medium sizes. But on the plus side, alot of freebies of unhealthy little frags that i enjoy bringing back to life.
Sick freebies:-
-Both xenias ( one with 2 broken branches currently being attached to a rock via toothpick method and the other was a small 25cent size frag in the store that was thought to be dead. Tawa pa sila nung hiningi ko)
-green ricordea mushroom (cut in half and free swimming in the tank)
-bleached green zoanthids (still bleached but some are showing some green and pinks)
Picture taken on jan22
Heres a quick FTS and some side shots of the HOB mods
Side shot of larger HOB with chaeto rolling about. The screen behind it works kind of like an algae scrubber i guess
And the smaller HOB with chaeto and a little unattached red disco mushroom
Sorry for the quality. Il probably invest in a good camera and a macro lens soon.
Im open to any if not ALL advice and opinions. And just the same i have many questions to the masters here as well as inquiries to our sponsors for equipment.
Will post livestock pics sometime.
Till then, may the parameters be with you and happy reefing.