My First Nano (10g)

[CanadianNano]

Hey Nano-Reefers!

 

Been lurking to and from this site for a long while. Decided to see what the nano craze is all about and im pretty excited. Ive had a 75g reef running for about 3 years but a recent lack of space led me to shut it down a few months back. I was searching through YouTube about 2 weeks ago and came across a video that made me want to give a 10 gallon nano reef a shot.

 

(link to video that inspired me, i love this tank )

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=jId-kU...feature=related

 

Anyway, with all the inspiration from that 10g, and all of the info on here i've recently set up a 10 gallon nano reef. Started it aproximately 8 days ago.

It's a pretty basic set-up:

10g AGA

Aquaclear 70 (Modding into a fuge)(Chaeto)

Koralia Nano

Current USA 6x18w t5ho (lots of light, may not use all bulbs)

18lbs live sand

10lbs live rock ( wanted to keep a minimal amount for swimming/growing room)

 

Corals:

Going to stock with all sorts of corals, dont think im going to have any trouble with lighting issues. Although im not the biggest fan of SPS so odds are I may have one peice or none in here.

 

GSP,Xenia,Zoanthids,Cloves,Euphylia,Mushrooms,Rics,Leathers,CandyCanes,Acans....

Maybe one Digitata

 

Fish/Inverts.....:

Pearly Jawfish

Clown Goby

Mandarin Goby (In Due Time)

Porcelain Crab

Cleaner Shrimp

Sexy Shrimp x 3

 

CUC:

Red Leg Hermits x 4

Turbo Snails x 2

Cerith Snails x 2

Nasarius x 4

 

Anyway, lets get some insight from anybody that has owned a similar set-up.

 

FTS Shots!!!

[BytheSea]

I like your scape.

[imolaragazzo]

I love that little shelf from the rock on the left. Looks amazing. I'm setting up a 10g right now too, let me know how that light works for you, I've got a 96 watt fixture for mine right now and don't know if that'll be too powerful.

[CanadianNano]

Thanks, i played around with the scapefor a few hours haha, thats the 3rd and hopefully final scape....

 

I think the light may be a little too much, so im going to use 5 bulbs, 2 actinic and 3 daylight... i hear that UVL makes bulbs that will fit this fixture? anybody know if this is true?

[CanadianNano]

So i looked at my tank today, just now.. and noticed that over the course of 12 hours since i left my house, i developed quite a bit of brown film algae, is this normal in nanos??????? also discovered a receipt from the 17th for live rock, which means my tank is acutally 12 days old! yippee

[CanadianNano]

Damn i have tons of brown film algae... all over everything. Gottaa get a CUC asap...

 

So I tested everything today and all was well, other than the pH was a tiny bit low but nothing too concerning, went to a local LFS, which is okay but a little expensive, picked up a small cleaning crew:

 

Consists of:

3 Red Leg Hermits

3 Turbo Snails

5 Cerith snails.... ( had a sale for 5 nasarius snails for 5 bucks, and they gave me cerith..) oh well guess thats the extent of my CUC for now.

 

Also still wondering about those UVL bulbs, can anybody give me some info on that......????

[CanadianNano]

A Few pics of the algae...

[.Newman.]

your algae looks to be either cyano or diatoms, and deffo some brown film, either way nothing to worry about and is very normal to appear fast during cycling. will go away on its own or with your cleaning crew. once you get 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite i suggest you run the chaeto? how does that sound?

 

wow, thats a lot of stocking planned lol! I hope you can do all that w/o a problem cuz I'm planning on similar heavy stocking and it would be a shame if we fail x_x

 

Will be following this

[CanadianNano]

yea the algae is definitely diatom and brown film, not red enough for cyano i think

 

the stocking list is pretty ambitious but i feel like i can keep up with it with regular water changes. the list of corals is pretty huge it probably wont get to the full list but thats just a list of what i like and may put in i guess. seems to be alot of 10g's poppin up on this forum. too bad i missed out on that contest, oh well, anyway the CUC seems to be pretty happy today, used my cell to peak into the tank last night and the emerald was out and about

 

cant wait for this algae to clear up, first corals are already bought and waiting at my LFS, maybe another 2 weeks before i start adding them though

[.Newman.]

you never mentioned the emerald before lol?

so what does your CUC consist of right now?

[CanadianNano]

oh yah, lol well theres an emeral, 3 hermits, 2 turbos(one was an empty shell) LFS is stupid, and 5 cerith, thats all its probably gonna be

[.Newman.]

wrong lol, your cerith are gonna multiply and youll have an infestation

dont know about turbos tho, never had 2 of them so no breeding.

[captainbastard]

blame canada

[CanadianNano]

well as far as the two last posts go

 

 

ONE:

"wrong, cerith blah blah blah"

 

ive always kept cerith snails, for at least 5 years and have NEVER had an "infestation"

 

TWO:

"blame canada"

 

give me a break, that movie came out 11 years ago....

 

either way, this post is about the progess of a nano reef, not an argument, thanks for anybody who is looking and not posting stupid comments, ( not directed to newman)

[.Newman.]

lol its just that in my experiences dwarf ceriths breed like crazy. maybe regular ceriths dont breed as much? lol

I cant wait to start my tank but I have to wait until my base rock arrives probably this Saturday

[CanadianNano]

im excited to see it progress newman, not at home right now, wonder how the algae is lookin

[CanadianNano]

algae, has pretty much cleared up, water changed today, first fish tommorow? first corals soon? who knows

stay tuned

[saralear]

algae, has pretty much cleared up, water changed today, first fish tommorow? first corals soon? who knows

stay tuned

 

As a friendly heads up from a GTA reefer, you probably dont want to put any livestock in for at least a full 4 weeks since you started your set up.

 

Patience is everything as I'm sure you remember with your 75 gallon....

[CanadianNano]

As a friendly heads up from a GTA reefer, you probably dont want to put any livestock in for at least a full 4 weeks since you started your set up.

 

Patience is everything as I'm sure you remember with your 75 gallon....

 

 

i do know that patience is everything, but I dont always follow the rules! lol nah im kidding, just thinking too much about my first fish i suppose.... still cant decide on what i want anyway, watchman or jawfish...

[.Newman.]

or clown

 

thats what I'm going with. I suppose since you already played with a 75 SW tank that you might be way beyond the "clownfish" phase xD

[CanadianNano]

haha i dont think anybody can ever be past the "clownfish phase", i love them so much, but i like clowns in pairs and with an anemone, and if i were to keep a pair in a 10g with an anemone that takes up alot of room.... so i think this will be a "clownless" 10g, but i say that now, things might change

[.Newman.]

so get one clown and a torch coral anemone lookalike right there.

[CanadianNano]

lol well i will certainly some sort of torch,frogspawn,hammer in my tank im still unsure about the first fishy, i guess it depends on what the LFS has on tuesday when i go....... thats right, tuesday, first fish! no if ands or buts, but definitely not first coral, their prices are insane, so ill have to take an hour and a half bus trip downtown to get some cheaper coral prices....

 

by the way, the algae is pretty much all cleared up, i gotta clean the glass though, im so lazy and its only been 2 weeks lol

[CanadianNano]

cleaned my tank today, lookin good

[CanadianNano]

in total disregard of common sense and the "rules" of a nano reef aquarium, i went to the LFS today to get my first fish.......... and i came home with!..............

 

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nothing....... what a crappy selection lol