Evolution Of A Nano Reef Aquarium

By RC Moore

Building a nano reef aquarium seemed to go against everything that I had learned many years ago when I had a 180 gallon reef tank. How could I possibly keep water parameters stable enough to house live corals with a small tank? I had read articles on this subject and decided to give it a try. I also decided to keep SPS corals, which seemed even more to be a doomed attempt. I purchased the a Current Aquapod 24 gallon aquarium with the 150 watt 14,000k HQI metal halide and 6 each of the blue and white lunar lights. A separate small power head was installed and comes on twice a day to change the water flow.

I started by setting up the aquarium and mixing the saltwater. Then I added a two inch layer of live sand and allowed to settle before restarting the pumps. After running for three days the water cleared and it was time to add the live rock. The nice thing about a nano reef aquarium is, it doesn't take very much live rock to fill the tank. After running the tank for about a week, I checked the water quality for nitrites and ph level. It was now time for the fun part of adding corals, fish and invertebrates. Over the next month I slowly started adding AragaMilk to eventually raise the calcium level to 450 ppm.

I have been running the tank for 2 1/2 months now and the SPS corals are already showing signs of growth. The coralline algae has colored up nicely and is also showing signs of growth. I had to remove one of the live rocks to make room for some of the corals at the top. It is easy to keep up with the weekly water changes and doesn't cost much since I only change 2 1/2 gallons per week. I buy distilled water for water changes and topping off evaporated water. At $.64 per gallon, it doesn't make since to buy a reverse osmosis water purifier for water changes.

Nano reef aquariums are great for SPS coral frags. The pictures to the right show the growth of a montipora. The montipora was added 1-8-7007 as shown in the first photo. Note the lower part of the coral where it was broken of the main coral. You can also see damaged areas on the edges and center of the coral.

This photo was taken on 1-24-2007. The coral's color has brightened up a little and you can see the tiny polyps emerging. You can also see the edges are starting to heal.

 

This photo was taken on 2-9-2007. The lower edge is now completely healed and you can see the growth form the original break line on the bottom edge of about 1/8 inch. The color gets brighter every day and the polyps are much more pronounced.

This Photo was taken on 2-21-2007. You can see that the coral is taking on a new shape as it continues to grow.

 

 

This photo was taken on 4-22-2007. This Montipora coral has almost doubled in size since I first put it in.

 

 

 

This Acropora frag was glued onto a live rock using a Marineland's Hold Fast which is a two part epoxy similar to plumbers epoxy. It is safe for all fish and invertebrates and easy to use. Many SPS corals are now aquacultered leaving the ocean's natural reefs preserved. The glue will quickly be overgrown by coralline algae or the coral itself.

 

 

 

This is the same coral 3 months later. You can see that the coral has completely overgrown the glue used to secure it to the rock. It has more than doubled in size.

 

 

 

This is a photo of my nano reef aquarium taken on 4-22-2007, 5 months after I first set it up. I added a strip light with a blue actinic bulb which seems to have helped the coral growth. The Pumping Xenia has been divided 3 times and given to a friend. The green stripe mushroom had several new polyps growing around the tank so I took it out and also gave to a friend. No protein skimmer or refugium is used on this nano reef tank. A separate small power head comes on twice a day for an hour each times to alter the water flow. I perform weekly water changes of 2 - 3 gallons using distilled water, which I started 1 week after adding the live rock. I keep the calcium levels at 400 - 450 ppm and carbonate hardness at 8.6. The two fish I have include a yellow watchman goby and a blue green chromis. I also have a fire shrimp, about 10 red tip hermit crabs, two red legged hermit crabs, and several cowries for a clean up crew. I feed the fish and corals once a week.