Saltwater: Chapter 3 "The Nano"

Plant Hobbyist

Jun 27

Life and the Mini-Sea

Sometime in early 2021 I began to develop a busier schedule, naturally my time on this blog and the hobby began to wane- my original plan to upgrade my 3ft Marine tank was put on hold indefinitely and MANY of my planned project in the hobby (both marine and freshwater) languished, collecting dust.

I'm sure this is something that many of us in the hobby can relate to, but through the rest of 2021 I never stopped wanting to return to Marine, the question is: 'How can I have display salt water tank that is resistant to neglect and doesn't require a demanding maintenance schedule?'

Follow along with this article, this is my answer!

The Requirements

Maintenance limited to 5% water change every 2 weeks. I can premix salt water in 20L Jugs.
No skimmer, filter, fancy lights or anything that can potentially break which would lead to a complete system meltdown. I'm away a lot and my focus cant be worrying about equipment malfunction.
System has to be 'somewhat' self sustaining, this means minimal feeding(x1/x2 per week) and ZERO dosing. THIS alone will severely limit what I can do with the tank, but keep reading! I worked it out.
The system has to be healthy and its inhabitants has to be in fantastic shape! I wont compromise livestock wellbeing for my sake.
The Display has to be attractive! future proof and 'alive'. I need to bring life to my cold dead heart in my dark dead room....

The Build & Philosophy

I started my aquarium hobby studying the Walstad method and it has been the single most influential methodology that has governed my thought process both in the aquarium hobby and now in my other hobbies. Will be adapting this simple, minimalist approach to marine.
Budget friendly is a must for the build, livestock etc will be additional cost later.
I love SPS but this tank wont allow for intricate corals that will sap the alkalinity from the water column, my Requirements also mean I have to be VERY judicious with my design from the get go.
Anemone, shrimps, inverts and soft corals are on the menu. While I CAN have 1 or 2 LPS I will do my best not to incorporate unnecessary strain on an already small system.

Stage 1: The Build

Using corrugated plastic sheets from Office Works, I put together a simple 'weir' for this 40x40x40cm Aqua One nano tank. Really the purpose is to cover up my heater and powerhead, they are unsightly and may pose potential danger to small livestock if not separated.

Material and Equipment Used

Corrugated Plastic Sheets (Black)
Vinyl Wrap Film (Matt Black) for background
Stanley Knife
Aquarium Safe- Silicone from Bunnings
Gel Super Glue from Bunnings
Ruler
Fruit Garden Plastic Netting, this is to cover the hole cut into the 'weir'
x1 1200 L/H Jecod powerhead that I had lying around
x1 150w AquaOne heater that I've had for 4 years sitting in box
x1 Aqua Spectra 30w Marine Light (40$!)

The next item I had to consider was if I wanted substrate, functionally it can be beneficial but also problematic in the long term- but aesthetically they are very pleasing. nevertheless I did some research and came across this article:

Click

Stage 2: Wet Test

The aesthetic of sand was too much for me to resist, this tank has fairly weak flow so I can safely use Carib-Sea fine sand. I went to my local Fish store and traded plants for rocks and sand, I understand not everyone can do this- so monetary value is around 60$ if I had bought them all.

Originally the design was not going to use a powerhead at all! the tank was going to be stocked with Pulsing Xenia, a true minimalist tank with only light, heater and marco rocks (no sand). My Reef Mentor talked me out of it when he made me realize Xenia is super basic in looks and I would get bored within a month.

Material and Equipment Used

Carib-Sea Fine Sand (used around 2kg)
Painted Marco Rocks (6-7kg) I wanted bare white but the shop didnt have any...these will do.
Sand leveler.
650g of Blue Treasure Marine Salt
60L RODI Water
Arlec Socket app controlled timer, now my lights will switch on and off on a set schedule. $20 at Bunnings.

You can see the steps I took to do this initial wet Test, I should mention that I did do an empty wet test using unsalted water, this was the second wet test with sand and rock.

Stage 3: Rock Scape

With the wet test complete, it's time to look for scape inspiration, I found the picture on the right from Pintrest, I love it! it's simple, minimalist and striking- I only describe the rockwork since I will obviously choose different corals/livestocks. I made my iteration of rockwork and started to plan my placements.

Material and Equipment Used

Super glue
Cigarette filter
Tissue
Gel Super Glue from Bunnings
Aquaponic live bacteria

At this point my stocking wish list is coming together and and I'm designing my rockwork around them, Cycling the tank is now a priority but here is where I ran into another issue....

I don't want to keep fishes, their metabolism is too high and their bioload is counter intuitive to my design, however I had the best result cycling with a clown fish in the past, better than Dr Tim's etc. I dont want to buy a temporary clown fish for the sake of cycling and Dr. Tims cycling set (bacteria and ammonium chloride) is really pricey here in Australia...what to do..what to do.Some of you might be yelling at your screen reading this..

"USE PRAWN YOU PILLOCK"

....no, it's smelly and I hate cleaning that stuff, slimy smelly gunk.. so here is what I did. I used aquaponic live bacteria! cheap alternative from your local aquaponic store.

"But dude they are not the same strain..they'll die and be totally useless"

I know...that's the point- I'm using bacteria death to kick start my system, while also injecting 1ml of ammonia chloride from my freshwater fertiliser- if this is making you mad...read the next part to get fuming...Anywho, at this point I'm entirely focused on my rock-scape and ensuring that it will look good once I stock the tank.

Stage 4: Journey Begins WEEK 1

27th June 2022 marks the 7th day the tank has been filled with salt water, rockwork is final and I've put x2 Saron Shrimps for this cycling period, when I google Saron Shrimps' (Saron Marmoratus) or Marble shrimps...I got a lot of conflicting information on their size..when in doubt I speak to my mentor who I got them from and he said there are 2 variants in Australia and assured me that the one he gave me was the one that remains nano sized.

The light I bought is a budget one, preset to a single spectrum and undimmable, the picture on the right uses my phone and Reef photography lenses, the tank is very blue in person. Rocks are positioned in a way where there are plenty of flow routes, only the tip of the tallest rock is making contact with the back glass and the weir for support, other than that this tank is VERY visible, this is by design so that siphoning is easy where build up's occur.

Aquarium Parameters