10gal Nano

[PNWnano]

So I have entered in to reef keeping again. This time with a nano. I have a simple set up so far which will get upgraded with better equipment soon.

Equipment:
10 gallon acrylic tank with refugium built on back
2 Nova extreme fixtures with T5HO lamps- One Blue+, two superactinic and One Fiji Purple
Small heater
Maxi Jet 400 pump

Aquatics:
12 lbs live mix of "base" rock and "live" rock
1" of sand

Refugium:
3 small pieces of live rock
Chaeto

 

[PNWnano]

Will post pictures as soon as I am able to.

Tanks has been up for a couple days and I already have an amonnia spike.

I got the live rock from Reef Keeper in Arlington and oh boy is it full of critters; small tube worms, starfish, a couple tiny snails, and some small crabs.

I am really glad I got back into this hobby again I missed it.

 

[PNWnano]

Here are a couple pictures.. Oops guess I still can not add them yet.

 

[Krish]

Looking forward to seeing the pictures. The post requirement was put in place as a precautionary measure against spammers. You're just about to the mark though.

 

[PNWnano]

Thanks, I look forward to sharing it with everyone

 

[Krish]

Not sure if it will work now, but give this a shot (in the link below) and see what happens. It may allow you to post your photos. If not, I think you only need about 8-10 posts


http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f236/how-post-photos-images-not-attachments-59241/

 

[PNWnano]

Ok let's see if this works.

The first image is the front of the tank.
The second image is the refugium I created with the attached filter box on the back.

The tank looks cloudy as this is right after it was setup and filled. It is crystal clear now.
I have 2 hermit crabs in it from when I got the Chaeto. Just waiting for it to cycle so I can add corals.

 

[Krish]

Looks good man!! It's always amazes me how you can set up a tank and can barely see in it due to it being so cloudy then you wake up the next morning and bam, crystal clear LOL!! Alot of the time, it has to do with either the sand bed being disturbed so much when adding in the water on top of it (this is why people would use a dish that they would place on the sand bed to pour the water on so as to not disturb the sand bed much) or if the salt mix wasn't given sufficient time to pre-mix before adding to the tank.

Looking forward to more pics!! So far so good!

 

[PNWnano]

I am looking for Chaeto if anyone is looking to get rid of any. I need about a quart size ziploc bag worth for my nano tank's refugium.

Also Should i have any cleaning crew critters in the refugium? or just leave it.... so far it has sand, a couple small pieces of liverock and a small amount of Chaeto.

 

[Krish]

I am looking for Chaeto if anyone is looking to get rid of any. I need about a quart size ziploc bag worth for my nano tank's refugium.

Also Should i have any cleaning crew critters in the refugium? or just leave it.... so far it has sand, a couple small pieces of liverock and a small amount of Chaeto.

You can add a few critters in there if you like. One thing you have to keep in mind with refugiums and sumps in general is they will need a bit of maintenance as well. Detritus can accumilate in there and cause water quality issues so just keep that in mind. I always ran my sumps with nothing in it besides equipment. Many ways to do things so go with what works best for you. I'm sure you can find tons of people here willing to give you some chaeto. I'd check some of the local club members in your area.

 

[PNWnano]

Thanks for the info. The nice part about my refugium being attached to the back and on the to part of the back is that it gets light and good water flow from the main tank.

I did just get a Dragon Eye Zoanthid frag from a friend of mine who has a large reef tank. My tank has already had a spike in Amonnia and Nitrates which are on their way into OK levels, but my Nitrites are getting higher. Hoping this will be ok for the Zoanthid as he came to visit from Idaho and I could not really say no to the coral even though the tank is not finished cycling.

I did notice that the frag has a tiny brittle star and what looks like an aiptasia anemone. Don't think I want the anemone in there but the brittle star would be cool if it survives the rest of the tank cycle and is ok for the reef. I used to have a green brittle in the 400gal reef tank i used to have and it did fine, just not sure about a brittle star in a nano tank.

This whole Nano tank hobby is simialr in some ways to a larger tank, but also completey different in other ways.

 

[TJL]

Anytime you would like to stop by I'll have plenty of chaeto & Caulerpa for you also could easily find an extra Stomatilla snail for a janitor to your fuge. Probably an errant zoa or two as well.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Krish]

That's pretty strange on the ammonia and nitrates being on their way down, but nitrites were coming up. Do you think you may have had a typo there? Ammonia is produced first which is converted into nitrite (not nitrate) then another bacteria converts the nitrite into nitrate so it usually goes like this..Ammonia spikes and as it begins to drop of as it is being converted into nitirite, the nitrite levels begin to rise. After a while, as the nitrite is being converted into nitrates, nitrites will begin to drop off and nitrate levels rise. At some point, you will probably never test and see any traces of ammonia or nitrite because the aerobic bacteria's responsible for converting them do a really great job. Nitrates on the other hand takes a bit more work to work off so it's usually nitrates you see rise which most people battle with. Let us know though if what you posted wasn't a typo.

 

[Peppie]

The nano looks good. Cant wait to see some more pics. Is it an All In One?
I think the sand fairy comes in at night and clears the water. He then takes it, sells it to Santa who inturn makes it into magic dust for his reindeer to get air borne.lol

 

[rainydave]

Anytime you would like to stop by I'll have plenty of chaeto & Caulerpa for you also could easily find an extra Stomatilla snail for a janitor to your fuge. Probably an errant zoa or two as well.

Cheers, Todd

Hey Todd - If you have an extra Stomatilla snail or two, I'd love them. I lost my population in the move over to the 40b.

 

[PNWnano]

Yes it was a typo, the amonnia and nitrites are zero as of this morning and nitrates on way up.

Todd-

I would be more than happy to stop by anytime you have free. I am avaliable all weekend if that works.

 

[PNWnano]

Ok I think my LFS is horrible at water testing. I tested the water myself with a test set I bought and I am showing the following

Ammonia: 1.0
Nitrites: .2
Nitrates:10

The LFS said I had zero for Ammonia and Nirites, Either test shows them down a lot from 3 days ago when i did have amonnia at 5.0 and Nitrites at >1.

 

[PNWnano]

Today I found three 1/2" long bristleworms in my fuge. Should they be removed or allowed to stay. I know that it is ok to have a couple in a reef tank, but I am not sure how good they are in a nano tank.

I am also seeing a HUGE algae bloom in the past 4 hours.

 

[PNWnano]

A quick lighting question...

Is 2 18" fixtures with a total of 4 bulbs enough light? Not enough? Too much?

2 bulbs burnt out today and I am using a 24" dual T5HO light strip with actinic and Blue bulbs as well as one of the 18" fixtures with an actinic and Blue Bulb until I figure out what I am going to do for lighting as T5 bulbs for an 18" fixture are expensive. I am looking at other lighting options whether it be 24" T5 or LED or power compact. Not sure what I want to do or how much light I should have. My goal eventually is to not be limited on types of corals due to lighting.
Anyone have any suggestions.

 

[Krish]

Yes it was a typo, the amonnia and nitrites are zero as of this morning and nitrates on way up.

That sounds more like it. If it remains that way for a few days (no ammonia or nitrites and only just nitrates) then you have completed what we call the initial cycle. It is from here you can slowly start to introduce livestock to the tank going with the hardiest species first (my preference) and try and allow your tank to adjust to the increased bioload before adding in anything else.

Today I found three 1/2" long bristleworms in my fuge. Should they be removed or allowed to stay. I know that it is ok to have a couple in a reef tank, but I am not sure how good they are in a nano tank.

I am also seeing a HUGE algae bloom in the past 4 hours.

Bristle worms are good scavengers so if there is sufficient food in there to feed on then no point removing them. Let them clean up a bit for you. As for the algae bloom, in order for algae to grow, it usually needs a few things, lighting and excess nutrients (phosphates, nitrates etc). The fact that your tank is now reading nitrates, the algae will grow and start using it up for its growth. You will probably start getting false readings now if you tested for nitrates with it coming up reading zero nitrates, and are confused because you still have a tank full of algae. This happens because the nitrates are bound up in the algae which it is using for it's growth so it is actually being sucked up out of the tank. Depending on the type of algae will determine how you go about dealing with it. Hair algae for eg you would just manually remove what you can every week or so (which exports these nutrients out of your system) and just let it to continue to grow back and then repeat the process again. Eventually over time as your tank matures, the algae will grow less and less as less and less nitrates will be available for them to feed on. Just a few thoughts and an example. A picture of the type of algae you are dealing with would help alot in knowing which direction to point you in, but all in all, this is all a part of the cycling/maturing of any saltwater tank. We all go through these stages so don't panic.