Well, hello everyone! I'm CrunchyToast. I started a saltwater tank, which I'm trying to setup as a reef tank, about two months ago or so. This is one hell of a task lol. I've had some algae, cyano problems and some other issues, but nothing too major. I'm still battling the cyano and just recently (about a month ago) started using RO/DI water and have done one water change with it of about 10 gallons.

Here is my current stock:
2 Percula Clown Fish
1 Firefish Goby
3 Nassarius Snails
1 Emerald Crab
1 Bubble Tip Anemone

Setup is:
1 Emperor 400 Filter (400 GPH)
1 Aqua-Tech 30-60 Filter (330 GPH)
2 Petco Powerheads (250 GPH ea.)
1 ZooMed PowerSweep Powerhead (270 GPH)

Click to enlarge.


Tell me what ya honestly think. I know it's lacking a lot, but I need all the advice I can get.

Oh, and if I posted in the wrong section, please tell me so I know next time.

At what stage of the cycle is your tank currently at? Would be nice to see number for reference there, especially since you have animals in your tank already.

Did you use LS and those few pieces of LR to start the cycle?

What are your plans for more LR?

What kind of fish and corals are you looking to keep?

What kind of light do you have?

What kind of salt are you using?

What is the SG of your mix?

More questions to come!

Welcome to nano-reef

Thanks for the welcome! Right now since the tank is fairly new I'm still using the basic lighting that came with the tank which is a single crappy 48" flouresant 32 watt bulb. This is the reason there are not any corals added yet. Salt type is Red Sea salt kept at 1.021.

The cycle is fully complete and has been for a month or so. Yes, I did use live sand and the small amount of LR. I myself don't add anything alive to a non-cycled tank. My only issue right now is my nitrates stay at 40 PPM even after a water change. As for fish and corals, I'm not really sure at the moment, but I do currently have 2 Percula clowns and one Firefish Goby.

If I seem off with starting, let me know what to change or what to add and I'll do what I can to change it. I know my lighting needs changing for a reef tank.

Nice start man! Look into some koralia powerheads and a skimmer and reduce that HOB mess!

Yeah, when I can get my hands on a skimmer that cheap Aqua-Tech HOB filter will be leaving. I do plan on getting 2 Koralia 3's but nobody sells them here unless I want to pay nearly $100 a piece. Anything I should know or do before doing much more?

Try a series of K1's and 2's first, I have 2 K3s in my 55 and its too much flow
Look into a AC110 fuge mod, nice remora.. etc...

A pair of K2s in a 55 is pretty good. That's what my buddy has along with a small HOB skimmer.

Well then I guess it'll be a pair of #2s then. Will save me a pretty penny lol. Know of a site or anything where I can get them for not too much? The stores suck here for fish. I can always take a drive to Seattle and find what I need if I must.

Also, does anyone maybe know a great DIY protein skimmer?

SO..I created a SMALL skimmer for my tank. I think it's working because the foam is creating water in the collection cup which is yellowish/brownish lol. I can only run it when I'm home because it fills too fast as like I said, It's SMALL lol. It's an internal one now, but the big one I'm going to make will be external. Anyone know a good place to get clear PVC or Acrylic?

Here we be..My dull start of a tank lol.

Is that sufficient lighting for the BTA?

hey looks like your CUC is a bit small, but then again you don't have that much liverock. i would definately buy some more if you are looking into making a reef tank, you'll probably want a large CUC then.
also you can make some pretty good protein skimmers, but depending on the style it can be just as expensive. u would probably have to buy a pump that's quite large for your tank since your tank isn't like 10 gallons

The BTA has been alive so far with no problems for about 2 or 3 months now. The lighting I need to get more of yes, but this city sucks for having marine supplies such as that. There's one store here that gets stuff wholesale but I'll end up paying double for what I can find online.

CUC? Just to clarify,y ou mean Sea Cucumber right? I don't have one. I don't know what you saw lol. I will be getting more LR, just at the moment my budget has done some plummeting. The air pump I'm using is a 20-60 Gal.

ah cool deal on the BTA.

CUC = clean up crew, I thought people were talking about cucumbers at first too :-/

Barrier Reef in Renton has great stuff, but I definitely hear you on prices.

Okay, finally I know for sure what CUC is lmao. Yeah, right now I only have the 2 turbos, 3 nasarus snails and one emerald crab. I know it needs to be much bigger for my tank. The earlier posted video was right after I did my cleanup and water change. If I would have taken a before video, it would have looked way different as there were LOADS of diatoms everywhere (they'll be back in about 2 days).

Renton is about a 2 hour drive from here. I guess I can always gather a huge wad of cash from somewhere and just take a special shopping trip lol. I'm in Yakima.

ahhh, I see how that can be tough. My roommate is from Selah, and I go to school in Pullman.

I been all over that area. Next time I'm around I'll have to remember to look into aquatic stores.