The Stability

For such a young system, the aquarium is still exceptionally stable. Even after several frags and colonies of coral were added, Nitrates have remained at zero for the week with no sign of any parameter swings. There is virtually no algae growth and the water is crystal clear. If the system maintains its stability for a few more days a pair of clowns will be added which again will increase the bioload.

The Transfer

The seamless transfer of corals took place over the weekend was seamless and quick. Combined with a strict acclimitization process all fourteen species of coral were added and arranged in the Nano system in under two hours. By waiting through such an extensive cycle and adding an elaborate nutrient export system, the system was finally ready to recieve livestock.


The bioload is fairly heavy with several corals dispersed throughout the rockwork, but with cheato and heavy skimming nitrates will likely not even register. Acro and Monti dominate the upper region of the liverock, while assorted Zoas, Green Star Polyps, a Brain, and a Clam populate the lower regions of the tank. There are also ten to fifteen heads of Candy Cane Coral, a colony of Christmas Favia, a small Devils Hand Leather, a Kenya Tree, and some typical blueish purple Mushrooms. 250 Watts of Metal Halide light douses the aquarium in a bright glow that shimmers off the waters surface.


As a starting point the system currently appears natural. As coral is added, the placement will be in a realist fashion in an attempt to replicate and maintain the natural aesthetic. The coral opened-up quickly in healthy fashion almost immediately after being dripped in, and is already growing after only four days.


More waiting must now take place to ensure the system stabalizes after the sudden addition of life. With such a dependance of Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and Iodine, these supplements must now be dosed regularily to create a constant. As long as things remain intact, in a week or two a pair of clowns will be added.

The Aquascape

The aqua-scaping is almost complete in the cube. The decided scape has several shelves for coral, a few caves, and a upper plateau for acro. The lower "arms" of the structure are long and flat, perfect for a zoa garden and an Acan display.

The sand got pretty stirred up with the rearranging so it may take a couple days to clear the water. Several hitchhiking Zoanthids have made it into the tank with the additional rock and are already open to full effect.

The rock, sand and glass is virtually spotless as all algae, and diatoms have disappeared.

With one more water change and the halide lighting addition, the system should be ready to house an array of coral species.

The Chemi-Solution

Today one full unit of Chemi-Pure Elite was added to the nano system.

This filter bag supposedly works well in marine aquariums. It "removes heavy metals, copper, phenol, ammonia, and other nitrogenous waste." Not only does Chemi-Pure Elite remove all these hazardous components, but it claims to "help in keeping pH at a consistently safe range and your water sparkling clear." The Elite version of Chemi-Pure also employs ferric oxide to also remove phosphates and silicates, perfect for fighting off unwanted algae blooms and keeping all nutrient parameters to a bare minimum.

The 14.74 oz tub of wonder media came pre-bagged and ready to use, with a short rinse as the only required step before application. This bag is rated to effectively treat 40 gallons of water for 4-6 months.

It was decided that below the eggcrate refugium floor in the middle chamber would be the best possible location to run the Chemi-Pure. This allows constant moderate flow through the bag providing the best possible water contact (without a reactor).

With a tiny bioload and Nitrate and Phosphate already at zero it may be difficult to see direct results of the media immediately, however, the back wall of the display is home to a tiny portion of green hair algae that will most likely die off with the effects of the Chemi-Pure Elite solution.

Only time will tell if this solution is in fact as good as it claims to be. Until then, based on the enormous amount of positive reviews and recommendations it is safe to say that Chemi-Pure Elite is quite possibly the best filter media solution available to anyone in this hobby.

The Nitrate Problem

For about 2 weeks the tanks Nitrate level was at a standstill of 7ppm. After seeking well received consultation at Nano-Reef.com, and AquariumPros.ca the suggestion to go buy a new test kit arose. The people helping with the case were in agreeance that: With a refugium, filter floss, carbon, zeolite, r/o water, a significant amount of liverock and sand, a skimmer, and vitually no bioload, there is no way the Nitrates would stay strong for as long as they did.

So....

A new test kit was immediately purchased. After having problems with the Seachem tests the next best option was a basic Nutrafin NO3 test.

A few drops and five minutes later, the results were in and the water sample read zero ppm.

Unfortunately, a faulty kit had me pulling my hair out trying to lower the Nitrate levels. However, with the purchase of the new kit today that concern has been eliminated and the tanks progress can continue.

Moving on... with the water paramaters fully balanced the next steps are the lighting setup, aquascaping, slow addition of coral species, and finally the fish.

The Crew

It has been just over four weeks since the nano system was first filled. The cycle is complete but it is still essential to take it slow, this means adding livestock at a moderate pace. A clean up crew (CUC) is the first step to getting rid of the leftover algae while adding adding waste production to the system. This slight increase in ammonia production allows the denytrifying bacteria growth to steadily incline thus keeping the system in check.

After a quick trip to the local fish store and a patient "drip in" process, the crew was in place. Thanks to Garden City Reptile and Aquaria (St. Catharines, ON), there are now seven blue legged hermit crabs, several Astreas and Nassarius Snails, an Emerald Crab and a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp residing in the aquarium.

Most would argue that the snails are the most important aspect of a solid CUC, but the Hermits and the Emerald are definitely more interesting to watch. These choices are purely subjective, but if one is to put in such an amazing amount of effort to house a aesthetically and technically sophisticated aquarium, then logical decisions based on preference and opinion must sometimes be made.

For now, this small but diligent CUC will do the dirty work. This early in the cube's life a sudden bioload increase any bigger may throw the system out of balance. In a week or two if things are still stable the Halide will turn on and the coral will arrive shortly thereafter.
In the meantime this crew has some work to do.

The Transferee

As for what will be occupying the nano, it seems appropriate to quickly profile the system that will soon be "cubed".

This aquarium is a 55 gallon mixed reef and was set up in August of 2006. It's 25 gallon sump houses a deep sand bed, refugium and an Aqua C Remora Pro with a mag 6 pump. A custom split return line running on a mag 7 helps keep the surface oxygenated and helps with flow. It has 65 lbs. of Figi and Tonga liverock, and 15 lbs. of base rock. It is lit by a 15k 250w Metal Halide w/Icecap Ballast.

The livestock includes 3 blue Cromis, a Pair of Ocellaris Clowns, and a Red Fairy Wrasse. As for inverts the tank is home to a Cleaner Shrimp, 6 Blue Leg Hermit Crabs, 10 or so assorted Snails, and tons of hitchikers. There is a broad range of corals in this system all of which are growing and fragging rapidly. These include: A few Mixed Acro Frags, a Monti Cap, two colonies of Cabbage Leather, a Yellow Tonga Leather, some Trumpet Coral, assorted Zoas, assorted Mushrooms, A Torch Coral, Blue Candy Cane, an Orange Ricordia, two Devils Hand Leather colonies, an Open Brain, some Christmas Favia, Blue Pulsing Xenia, Pink Pulsing Xenia, Green Star Polyps, and a Kenya Tree.

The tank is mature and thriving. Since its initial setup Carbon and Zeolite have been running in the overflow. And the corals have been feeding regularily on rinsed Mysis Shrimp and Polyp Labs "Reef Roids."

Obviously all of its contents will not fit in the significantly smaller 29 Gallon Biocube and the livestock will be selected subjectively when transfered.

This aquarium is a great setup and a perfect size for any moderate reef keeper. However, due to space limitations I have chosen to run a Nano style aquarium which hopefully will bring an equal amount of success.

In comparison both tanks have their pros and cons, however the significantly larger amount of water in the 80 gallon system made for a somewhat flexible routine. A 29 gallon nano aquarium will require a great deal more attention to detail and precision with measurements and additives.