NEW NANO REEF

[hedson_25]

hello, i'm trying to make by fist time a nanoreef, i have years of experience in planted tanks but no tiny experience in marine tanks, so i got the tank is this one:

 

it is 17"x14"x12", the situation is, i live very close to the ocean, if you see my gallery you will see some of the organisms i could obtain, don't get me wrong, i will not take them, just sand and rocks maybe something else, a key factor is that i'm moving away from the ocean... i'm going to move abroad (germany) in 10 months, so i wanted this porject since a long time, i decided to make it just because i will not be able to make it there for the first years . i know setting up this for ten months may sounds worthless, but i'm sure i will find some one that will adopt it.

 

my questions are: how tick the sand bed should be?what pump? what kind of filtering material?wich macro algae? how much of live rock? what stuff should i used in the overflow, since i decided not to use skimmer or sump. i will be able to get fresh ocean water every week from a causin that works with boats and watr far from the bay.

all i have is the tank and a 2x24 jebo lamp what kind of corals could i keep with this lighting? and i have a pair of fans to cool the water since here tem gets very hot.

is there any place where i should go and read instead of making old song questions?

 

 

tahnk you very much.

 

here are other pics:

 

[briancv]

Welcome no the mini world of nano-reefing hedson, it is a joy and a heartbreaker sometimes. Regardless, it is educational.

 

As for your questions, a lot of that depends. Like piracy, many of the "rules" of nano-reefing are more like general guidelines. So, I'll impart what I have learned and believe to understand.

 

1) Sand Bed Depth: Most reefers will tell you to go somewhere between an inch to two inches of sand. But this depends on if you are planning on using the sand as an integral part of filtration with an anerobic cycle in your floor. Also, if you plan to keep sand sifters like a serpent star. If either of these is a yes, you would do well to stick between 1.5 inches and 2 inches on the sand bed.

2) Pump: The general rule is to take your aquarium capacity in gallons and multiply that by 10. This is the minimum gph flow you should have. I prefer Hydor's Evolution mini pumps due to the minimal heat they produce in the tank. However, a minijet would serve you well as well. Just remember, if you plan on keeping the harder coral, you'll need an extra pump in the tank. Again, this all depends on what you plan to stock as higher flow tends to frustrate some coral, but others love it.

3) Filtering Material: There are lots of filtering methods, I believe in the good old 3-legged stool: mechanical, chemical, and biological all working together. For mechanical, I stick to good old filter floss, it is dirt cheap and easy to maintain. Biological is your algea and live rock (see below). For chemical, this is all personal choice. Some will never touch anything unnatural, and that is fine. I stick with Seachem's Purigen at all times and then swap in and try other media based on how my tank is looking and how the regular water tests are panning out.

4) Macro Algea: I think most, if not all of us, will swear by cheato, the stuff is awesome.

5) Live Rock: The rule in the past was always 2 pounds per gallon, but the hobbyist population seems to have revised that to 1 pound to 1.5 pounds per gallon. To me, it has more to do with surface area than weight, but this is a good general rule. Fopr me, the more porous the rock, the less weight is necessary.

6) Overflow: Play around with your setup and use your overflow to house as much as you can to keep it out of the display area, but do so in an intelligable manner. Filter floss should bee your first filtration to block as much solid waste as possible, then go to your chemical filtration and/or macro algea.

7) Lighting: I am not too familiar with the lighting system you have, I would google that one and see what others are keeping suiccessfully under the light.

 

Always remember, it is a hobby and testing new combinations and paving new ground is not a bad things and can lead to some awesome breakthroughs in how we handle our reefs. And, again, what I have said above is general guidance and some may disagree with some of what I have said. and that is ok, we are all trying to accomplish the same goal, but go about it with varying means. Be innovative, and have fun!

[hedson_25]

thank you very much briancv, my lamp is a jebo 2x24watt so 48 watt in power compact or PL-

[hedson_25]

could some body tell me what types of corals could i have?

 

chalices? i know that by no means SPS but some LPS right? mushroms? soft corals what else?

 

with 48watts PL?

[briancv]

I have heard a general rule that you need 3.5 Watts of 6700k lighting per gallon for soft corals and 4.5 Watts of 6700k lighting per gallon for harder coral. I am unsure how accurate this really is, but it would imply that an 8 gallon tank would require 28 Watts for softies and 36 Watts for hard coral.

 

Now, I cannot speak to the accuracy of this and I do not have plans to test it, but there it is.

[Dizzle21]

I have heard a general rule that you need 3.5 Watts of 6700k lighting per gallon for soft corals and 4.5 Watts of 6700k lighting per gallon for harder coral. I am unsure how accurate this really is, but it would imply that an 8 gallon tank would require 28 Watts for softies and 36 Watts for hard coral.

 

Now, I cannot speak to the accuracy of this and I do not have plans to test it, but there it is.

 

 

 

WHAT?

[Dizzle21]

-6700k is for like fw plants and algae.....

-wpg rule is dumb, its about PAR

- get a 10k bulb and a actinic bulb.

quality bulbs are bettter so dont skimp, if you can upgrade the reflectors on your light too your golden.

-you can keep softies for now. if you upgrade your light to a t5ho you can keep lps (chalices). But goooooood water parameters are a most with anything other than softies.

[briancv]

-6700k is for like fw plants and algae.....

-wpg rule is dumb, its about PAR

- get a 10k bulb and a actinic bulb.

quality bulbs are bettter so dont skimp, if you can upgrade the reflectors on your light too your golden.

-you can keep softies for now. if you upgrade your light to a t5ho you can keep lps (chalices). But goooooood water parameters are a most with anything other than softies.

Hey, I wqas just giving the general rule I have heard before, though I should have said it is lights between 6700k and 10000k, that was my bad.

[hedson_25]

ok, then why have i seen in biocubes some nice colorfull soft corals?

my tank is 12 gallons ande 48 wats, i have seen tanks with much lesser lioght and some nice corals...

[hedson_25]

i just started my tank yesterday, today it smells bad, i rinsed the LR before i placed them on the tank, and the water i added was from the ocean (seashore), it is kind of milky, should i wait or replace the water?

 

any other suggestions? it has no skimmer or filter yet is just circulating the waster with a pump.

[briancv]

Probably smelling die-off from the rock. As for the seashore water...that could be a bit scary. I used to surf when I lived in California and I wouldn't use the water from even the best seashores I was at. Safer with your own mixed water, in my opinion. But, being in Arizona now, I have never tried using straight up ocean water... Though the milky color might just be an ammonia spike, but that's what test kits are for, otherwise you are just guessing.

 

As for seeing those corals in those tanks, it's all marketing. Either the lights are heavily upgraded or somebody is a bad-ace at photoshop.

[hedson_25]

ok i took out the LR rinsed and brushed it again and make a 605 water change...

now it looks much better:

could i add cheato in the overflow/back is kind of a refuge... i will have LR sand a and cheato back there just not sure what is the best moment to add macro algae...

[hedson_25]

an updated of my tank.... i want so badly to add something soon.

overflo/sump/refugium with LR and sand

what is this? i found it at the ocean and brough it home is it bad or good?

[hedson_25]

what fish do you suggest? do i need more LR?

[hedson_25]

just some updates:

[Chest Rockwell]

Looking good. You may want to take it slow though with adding corals as your tank is probably still cycling. As for lighting, I think you can keep just about any softies or LPS under PCs. Even some SPS will survive under them, but don't expect any growth. I've kept plenty of chalices, acans, favia, etc. under PCs just fine though. SPS, clams, and anemones are where I would draw the line unless you're ready to upgrade to metal halide or LEDs (or possibly T5).

 

Disregard anything you hear about wattage of lights or watts per gallon in your tank. It really is meaningless. A 20 watt LED fixture can easy outshine 100 watts of PCs. What matters is the type of light. If you're really looking for powerful lights, you want metal halide or LED. PCs are fine though as long as you stick with softies and LPS, and you'll even get good growth as long as you keep up with water quality.

[adinsxq]

i'm in mexico too!

[hedson_25]

but it says china?

 

 

yes i'm sticking just to softies, only zoas and discosomas.... maybe couple xenias or leather...

the crew is 5 red leg hermit crabs, 1 urchin, 4 starfisch of 1/4", and i'm so eager to add fisches.

 

[hedson_25]

i would like to add 3 fishes what about this?

 

along with this shrimp:couple of this:

 

do not say anything about too much bioload, i will have an skimmer along with weekly water changes

[BigBad82]

That's not the best combination for a tank of your size and the depth of your sandbed.

[Deleted User 6]

the camel shrimp will eat your softies. and then come for your brains.

[hedson_25]

well i knwo my sand bed is not that deep but i have tought about it, thanks for the advice.

 

then i would rather have a banded or other shrimp. what fish/shrimp do you suggest?

 

i'm tired ot the tipical clown anemone setup

 

i will try something diferent, i live by the ocean and i know by first hand how a marine reef looks like.... i will try to imitate it.

 

thanks

[BigBad82]

Check out the following suggestions which I think will work well in your setup and see if any take your fancy:

 

clown goby

green banded goby

tail spot blenny

firefish

 

I'm not a shrimp kinda guy so i'll let someone in the know make some suggestions for that.

[hedson_25]

thank you.

 

the clown goby seems greate but the tank is open, the fire goby may jump out of the tank? so does the clown or he is less nervös?

 

the six line wrasse is because i won't get aptasia...

[BigBad82]

You're right the firefish may well jump, the clown goby and green banded goby should be alright. The sixline wrasse is a great worker and controlling pests etc and I wanted one in my tank which is of similar size but it's probably too small and you'd probably find the sixline would really agressive towards the other inhabitants in such a sized tank.