dufus Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 No one knows exactly what a skimmer is pulling out but you can be sure it is not pulling out ca or other such small compounds because they don't have the necessary hydrophobic and hydrophilic ends required to get caught by the skimmer bubbles. Couldn't you take a gallon of RODI water and add a teaspoon of skimate to it and test what you've added? Quote Link to comment
shaggydoo541 Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 Couldn't you take a gallon of RODI water and add a teaspoon of skimate to it and test what you've added? What would you be testing for? You have to know what you are looking for before you could find it. Also once you take it out of the water column and it ends up in the skimmer cup it is dead material and probably already decomposing, so most likely will not accurately reflect what is in the water column and what is originally being pulled out by the skimmer. Quote Link to comment
dufus Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 What would you be testing for? Calcium, traces, etc. IDK, whatever you may think the skimmer has removed. Quote Link to comment
shaggydoo541 Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Well you don't have to worry about a skimmer removing ca etc because it will only do this with wet skimmate the same as if you were just pulling water out. The skimmer itself is not removing these elements. Quote Link to comment
Scott Riemer Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Alright, NR vets and otherwise smart members, let's make an informative topic for new people to read. Hopefully this will reduce the "why is there so much brown algae all over everything?" and "why did my damsel die when he bit the lit firecracker that I tossed into the tank?" Just post your pointers and discuss whatever ones that have already been posted. Please don't hyjack this thread. It doesn't need to be 8 pages of crap. Just 1 or 2 pages of good, useful information. Quote Link to comment
DaftPunk Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 ooo ooo, i have a list: 10. No crushed coral. Anywhere. 15. No anemones under 25 gallons. 37. Rule of thumb: 1 clean up crew critter per gallon 10. Why does everybody keep saying no crushed coral? 15. Why no anenomes under 25 gal? I have one in a 5.5, it's small, and it's doing well, and has yet to sting any corals. 37. Is that a min or a max? Quote Link to comment
DaftPunk Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 (edited) How hard is it to top off every day manually? Especially on a nano. I have read too many horror stories about an auto-top off failure to ever recommend one. Skimmers are garbage. No one even knows what they pull out of the water... smelly gunk sure. But just about anything will smell once it is removed from its natural environment and allowed to die and rot. For all we know smelly skimmer junk is actually beneficial live food/bacteria/organisms that we pull out of our tanks and let die in a cup. I won't deny they can oxygenate the water fairly well but adequate water movement can do this just as easily. Again this is just my opinion based on years of running skimmerless tanks. But the bottom line is skimmers will not make or break your tank, so I say when you are first starting why not focus on more important aspects of a setup? Lighting, water movement, and just an overall well thought out plan based on the livestock you want to keep. Compared to these major factors you can give or take a skimmer and still have an awesome reef. the local place does a lot of hand scimming on their tanks and they have a amazing amazing corals and i believe it's they're 120 gallon tanks or bigger Edited November 9, 2007 by DaftPunk Quote Link to comment
karazy Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Let your tank mature for at least two months after the cycle if you want it to be more stable. I have done this with 7 of my tanks and I haven't had a crash yet. When you're adding livestock, add your peaceful fish first, wait a week or so (to allow him to get his territory together) before adding semi-aggresive fish. This will increase your chances of harmonious co-existence. Before buying a coral that you aren't familiar with, google it's name like this "*coral's name* care" that will give you better chances of survival. DON'T USE CRUSHED CORAL FOR SUBSTRATE!!! For best results, use Arag-alive wet-bagged sand. It's awesome. Just be sure to check the expiration date on the bag before buying. hello. i am a "noob" who wants to start a nano reef. this will be my first ever saltwater tank, but i do have tank expirience. i have my own 10 gallon, we have a family 20 gallon,and ive been around freshwater tanks all my life. thats sorta whyi want to start, u know, do sumthing different, something new. all the people on "fish forums" say "your not experienced enough" or "nano reefs are too hard to take care of and u will get sick of them", or "if u want to start a saltwater tank u have to start with a 40 gallon". well im kinda young so i dont have the space, OR the money for a 40 gallon, with all the things it requires(large protein skimmer, lots of salt, lots of live rock" and i want to provev them wrong. im thinkinh about getting a 24 nano cube for my first. wat do u think about that? pretty much what im saying is will you please be my "mentor"? Quote Link to comment
LoBo Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 crushed coral messes with pHand btw, if you have carbon, do you have to take it out when dosing calcium?ill be happy to teach you, but there are 2 things in this hobby. There is no unexpensive way and there are no shortcuts. Quote Link to comment
abarrera Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 THE MOST IMPORTAN RULE TO NANO REEF KEEPING:Dont get a Royal Gramma! why wouldn't you get a Royal Gramma? Quote Link to comment
allenspidey Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 10. Why does everybody keep saying no crushed coral?15. Why no anenomes under 25 gal? I have one in a 5.5, it's small, and it's doing well, and has yet to sting any corals. 37. Is that a min or a max? You need to do some reading about anemones. They get HUGE and in a short time. Quote Link to comment
GrandeGixxer Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 (edited) Why would you need to remove carbon when dosing calcium? I never have. I have also never heard this, what is the reasoning behind it? Edited November 16, 2007 by GrandeGixxer Quote Link to comment
crash43 Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 wow all of this is helping me alot! im a nooby...... i dont have a SW tank yet but im planing on getting 1 in the near future keep it comin! Quote Link to comment
DogfoodEnforcer Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 (edited) i was recently talking to someone about the feeding periods for my fish. i was saying how i planned to feed them either lightly once a day, or a normal amount every other day or so. i got reamed out for "being cruel" by not feeding them 2-3 times a day. i brought up the whole idea of "more food = more waste" in a nano tank, and they reamed me out some more. this person has more experience than me in the hobby so i wasnt going to fight what they said. so is it ok if i feed my tank every other day? lately ive been feeding them once a day, but making sure that only a pellet or two make it to the ground (the nassarius love that stuff). i only have two small ocellaris right now, and they dont eat a lot when i feed them, so im wondering if feeding them every other day would be better for them, as i know it would be better for the rest of the tank's inhabitants. Edited December 5, 2007 by DogfoodEnforcer Quote Link to comment
ElMonoCalvo Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 add live rock first, then sand. Is this for stability reasons? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to have greater surface area by putting the rock on top of the sand? I'm looking to set up a 12 gal without a skimmer so I want to insure that I get the most from the LR that I can. Quote Link to comment
lovesafron Posted December 26, 2007 Share Posted December 26, 2007 Yes i agree good things takes time to happen bad things happen instantly...... Quote Link to comment
CSoli921 Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Is this for stability reasons? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to have greater surface area by putting the rock on top of the sand? I'm looking to set up a 12 gal without a skimmer so I want to insure that I get the most from the LR that I can. I am a noob to nano reefs, but I keep african cichlids. The reason for this, IMO, is so that your live rock doesnt collapse when fish dig and stuff like that. Quote Link to comment
Tyrsdottir Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 i was recently talking to someone about the feeding periods for my fish. i was saying how i planned to feed them either lightly once a day, or a normal amount every other day or so. i got reamed out for "being cruel" by not feeding them 2-3 times a day. i brought up the whole idea of "more food = more waste" in a nano tank, and they reamed me out some more. this person has more experience than me in the hobby so i wasnt going to fight what they said. so is it ok if i feed my tank every other day? lately ive been feeding them once a day, but making sure that only a pellet or two make it to the ground (the nassarius love that stuff). i only have two small ocellaris right now, and they dont eat a lot when i feed them, so im wondering if feeding them every other day would be better for them, as i know it would be better for the rest of the tank's inhabitants. I'd like to hear opinions on this as well. None of you more experienced people have any input for this?? Quote Link to comment
spanko Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 IMO feeding every other day or so is fine. You can see if a fish is healthy or not. If it looks thin and it's stomach is shrunken then it's not getting enough. Remember that the fish are also eating things in the tank like pods and algae. Quote Link to comment
derekandrenee Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Keep your wife happy....buy her flowers, remember birthdays and your anniversary - and for God's sake do your share around the house. These things will come in VERY handy when you are shelling out that dough for that Beautiful Coral or LS that you just "have to have"! Seriously: Get your spouse involved. My wife and I love this and we have 5 tanks (1 freshwater, 2 breeding tanks - freshwater, and 2 saltwater tanks). The time we spend on this is invaluable to our relationship and the kids love it too!!! BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO: RELAX AND ENJOY YOUR TANKS - WATCH THEM AND HAVE FUN! 2 Quote Link to comment
jayxem Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 I'm currently reading all i can find on this forum about starting a nano reef. This is my new project I plan on spending quite a bit of time and money on BUT does anyone have advice where to start. I have no experience in keeping any type of tank but take pride and large amounts of time when i do something. Is there any site or link anyone has written or started that goes over the basics of basics. Most of the things I've read in this post have been very informative and 90% of the things I've understood except some abbreviations but usually has to do with large tank supplies. I understand the idea of not going cheap when doing this but I'm just curious for the beginning noobs who just want to start their first tank and plan on going with something like a BioCube 14G. What should we consider as far as upgrading or any other supplies we need for a BioCube besides the norm: LS, Salt mix, and LR. I'm assuming you need a test kit to test the water for Ph, gravity, and nutriets(sp) Are the lights in a BioCube sufficient? Do you need any other things like chiller or anything else i've seen people talk about with a start up 14G? Two last questions: I live in Miami,FL and know some friends who just started tanks but seem around the same level of knowledge after a couple of hours of reading on this forum BUT they've gone out on the boat and caught fishes and put them in tanks. Can you do this? and if so is the logic of getting rock, fish, sand, and water from the ocean also usable for a nono reef? It might be a basic NO WAY but haven't really read anything about anyone asking that. Sorry about all the noob questions but figure if someone answers the questions it might help someone in the future with my same questions. Thanks in advance! ps: anyone in Miami who might want to mentor or give some pointers ? Quote Link to comment
Scott Riemer Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Hi jayxem, to N-R.com. I'd suggest reading through the Nano-Reef.com Articles >>LINK HERE<< Then if there's more questions you need answered, post them in the Beginner Section, start your own thread. Quote Link to comment
jayxem Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Hi jayxem, to N-R.com. I'd suggest reading through the Nano-Reef.com Articles >>LINK HERE<< Then if there's more questions you need answered, post them in the Beginner Section, start your own thread. Thanks for warm welcome. Yeah I've read all the articles and seem to learning as the minutes pass. Yeah i guess that i should of just started my own thread but instinct told me, maybe some other people might want these questions and answers on a sticky instead of just posting a thread. Thanks though Quote Link to comment
superswimmer Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 I have noticed that my fish stayis in one corner of my tank and goes no where else. Is there are problem should i be worried? 1 Quote Link to comment
Scott Riemer Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 I have noticed that my fish stayis in one corner of my tank and goes no where else. Is there are problem should i be worried? Yes, you just got the tank for Christmas, you shouldn't have a fish in there yet. Quote Link to comment
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