Nano reef for a newbie

[bumbala]

Hi!

 

I am totally new to reef tanks. I had experience on planted tanks for the past 2 years. I have a 15 gallon tank with a lid and internal sump. Here is my setup:

 

• Lighting: 14W 10000K PC lamp on lid with extra reflector to boost lighting.
• Sump: Composed of 4 compartments. From inlet to outlet: PS, heater, biological sponge + sera siporax + activated carbon, powerhead.
• PS: Resun SK-05 (crappy product, but it is the only PS to fit my sump)
• Circulation Pump: Resun Waver 2000 (2000 L/H)
• Substrate: Crushed coral and live rocks
• Salinity: 1025

 

I used tap water conditioned with sera aquatan for the first run. I really don't want to invest for RO/DI unit for a 15 gal tank. The tank is cycling for 10 days and diatoms started to build up on rocks, sand and a little on the glass.

 

Should I do something for the diatoms? When should I introduce cleaning crew?

 

Thanks.

[Gilligan]

Diatoms will quickly disappear when the silica from your sank is used up.

 

If you are concerned enough to get a CUC, then you should be using at least RO water.

 

HAve fun

[malawian]

i agree, you dont need to buy a RODI unit if you dont want but you should then either be getting RODI from a LFS or getting distilled water from a grocery store. Using tap water is just a recipe for disaster, I promise you. I'll eat my hat if those diatoms arent there at least in part because of the fact that you used tap water. before you do anything else think long and hard about this problem.

 

as for when to do anything, you should be testing your water looking for the cycle. Thats the only real way to know if you should do a water change. Once the cycle is complete you will do a water change and get a CUC.

 

Also are you planning on keeping coral or is this a fish only tank? That light is a bit on the weak side, even for a PC and may not be able to support much.

[Rainbowunicorn]

Buy tap water from the store! It works just fine and cost like 89cents a gallon. Diatoms will go away just really try to watch out for cyano because it will happen in your tank no matter what so just be prepared.

[bumbala]

Shall I do a WC with distilled water from store? I know my lighting is weak. I think a higher PC lamp would fit in the fixture but, PC lamps are not common here. Even if I find one, it won't be suitable for a reef tank. The highest kelvin I would find would be 6500K which is cool daylight. I want to add some easy corals, some blue crabs and clown fish.

[jservedio]

Shall I do a WC with distilled water from store? I know my lighting is weak. I think a higher PC lamp would fit in the fixture but, PC lamps are not common here. Even if I find one, it won't be suitable for a reef tank. The highest kelvin I would find would be 6500K which is cool daylight. I want to add some easy corals, some blue crabs and clown fish.

 

14w PC lighting isn't goin to be enough for corals on a 15g tank - it just doesn't put out enough light. The smallest lighting you would want on a tank like that would be a 48w 2xT5HO fixture. If you wanted to go with LED, there are plenty of options for under $200, but a really cheap 2 bulb T5HO is going to be hard to beat pricewise. Also, 6500K is a poor choice for bulb color temperature and is going to mean crazy algae, at minimum you would want a 10000K.

 

As for water - as others stated tap water is a recipe for disaster - it contains all kinds of crap, besides the Chlorine and Chloramine including nitrates, phosphates, and silicates. I went 2 years before I bougth an RODI unit and either went to Whole Foods with a bucket to get RODI for 30 cents or so a gallon or would buy the 1g jugs of Distilled from any grocery store. Use RODI or Distilled for topoff water and for making up new saltwater. However, for convenience an RODI unit makes things so much easier and you always have water handy (and your recycling won't constantly be filled with empty gallon or 2.5 gallon jugs).