donteatthenano Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 New tank has been started. This is my first venture into reef keeping. I've done a considerable amount of research and am hoping that I can be diligent enough to not destroy whatever I invest in. After reading message boards on this site and reefcentral, I've found that beginner reef-keepers are sometimes discouraged which has only fueled my desire to have said nano-reef tank. Well, for my graduation gift, my wife, in-laws, and neighbors went in on the equip. to start up my 10g tank. It was quite a nice surprise. Yesterday I purchased my salt-mix and crushed coral and the tank is up and running now. There are two lfs's here in sunny Athens, Ohio but neither of them are carrying any live rock at a price that interests me. So I'm putting off buying live rock, which I had kind of planned to do anyway. Here is a break down of what's going on right now (I will post pics as soon as I can): 45-125 gph oscillating powerhead (2) 20" 1x96W Coralife Aqualight CF hood w/ Quad 50/50 50W Submersible Heater 15 lbs. of crushed coral I am looking for any advice or suggestions anyone may have to offer a beginner. Currently I'm trying to decide what kind of schedule to keep my light on. I'm debating on 12-hr or 8-hrs on. I know of another nano-reefer in town that has had some problems with his similar lighting setup. He is leaving his light on for 12 hours per day. I'm debating because I think his problems are other than lighting, but really I don't know. I've also been debating on whether or not to purchase nitrate/nitrite test kits. Any suggestions here would be a great help. Also, my neighbor has a 30g setup and has had it for quite some time now. He has offered to seed my tank with some of his crushed coral. So, I was wondering how long I should wait and what the best way to do this is. He also thought that a fish in the tank would make the new setup a little more interesting but I fear subjecting a fish to my new environment. I've been tossing around the idea of adding an airstone in the crushed coral before I add any live rock. Is this a bad idea? Thanks a ton for any input y'all may have to share. I'm looking forward to joining the club. Rock on! Link to comment
Nullig Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 Test kits? Definitely. You should have at least the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate kits to determine when your cycle is done and a ph test kit. A few questions: Do you have anything to measure the salinity/specific gravity? I'm curious to know why you chose crushed coral instead of live sand for your substrate? How much live rock are you planning to use? Will you be using any supplemental filtration in addition to the live rock? What do you intend to keep in the tank? Noel Link to comment
jdsabin1 Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 Do you plan on this tank being a reef or a fish only environment? If it's a reef, stay away from the crushed coral and get live sand. Live sand offers more surface area for bacteria to colonize, and will create an anaerobic layer where the bacteria that break down nitrates can live. Live rock is also a requirement for a reef environment but it sounds like you already plan for that. if you are going to add it later just make sure you buy it already cured so you don't have die-off and force another cycle in your tank when you add it later. Test kits are a REQUIREMENT, especially nitrate/nitrites. This allows you to know where your water paramaters are during the cycle and well beyond it. I don't think you could do without them IMO. A HOB filter is good for additional water flow PLUS you can run carbon, phosphate remover, filter floss, etc when you need to. I would recommend that as well. Good luck and welcome aboard. Link to comment
donteatthenano Posted June 20, 2003 Author Share Posted June 20, 2003 thanks a lot for the quick replies. i didn't expect them so quickly. this is great. i am planning to make this a reef tank and to have one or two fish. i do have a hydrometer to measure the salinity/specific gravity but haven't done that yet because i am waiting for the needle to season. i went with the crushed coral over live sand because it was recommended by a friend of mine. i debated on the two for awhile and he suggested the crushed coral. is it too late to change? when is too late? i'll measure and correct the salinity this afternoon when i get home from work. i'll also plan on heading over to the lfs to get some test kits. i'm glad you all are recommending them. i wanted to get them but the wife really wants me to justify all my purchases for this new hobby of mine. also, i think i'm going to shoot for around 15 lbs of live rock and no supplemental filtration is in the picture yet. concerning water flow: i have 2 oscillating power heads which, according to the specs., produce up to 125 gph apiece. how much water flow is recommended? i thought this would be plenty. thanks again jdsabin1 and Nullig. Link to comment
jdsabin1 Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 Seriously I would get the live sand now before you're too far into this thing. Six months from now you will thank yourself for making that decision. 15 pounds of LR should be fine. Normal rule of thumb is 1.5 to 1.75 pounds per gallon so you're in the ballpark. Test kits are mandatory because you need to know when the tank has cycled for one thing. Otherwise you would never know. You need to keep levels at a favorable level after the cycle also (like calcium and alkalinity) so there's no getting away from the kits. Again, you may want to consider a HOB like an Aquaclear. Fosters has them online for $15 I think. When you want to run carbon, phosphate remover (for algae issues), filter material to clean up the water, you have the ability to do that easily. The oscillating powerheads I've read about on the boards haven't received favorable reviews at all. What brand did you buy? I hate to burst anyone's bubble but at the same time I hate to see anyone making mistakes that they will more than likely find out the hard way about their decisions later down the road. That only leads to frustration and a quick exit out of the hobby. HTH. Link to comment
Nullig Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 I would definitely dump the crushed coral in favor of live sand. It would be much easier to do it now, before you get things really started. The live sand will provided added filtration and denitrifying capabilities. The crushed coral just acts like a detritus trap, ultimately polluting your tank. You should have at least 3-4 inches of live sand. You may be able to get southdown sand to start with, and it will become live after the addition of your live rock. Water flow sounds OK. Noel Link to comment
donteatthenano Posted June 20, 2003 Author Share Posted June 20, 2003 thanks again for the input. the powerheads are PowerSweep 212's. they were purchased from Drs. Foster Smith. i'm going to look into the live sand and filter this afternoon. thanks. DETN Link to comment
fishbabies Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 you can make your own live rock with concrete and aragamix or crushed shell for pennies. Public aquariums do it all the time. I believe there are articles in the DIY forum. Takes about a month for the concrete to cure though.....before you place it in your tank. If stores in your area don't have a price you like, you can buy a couple pounds of real live rock and supplement it with DIY live rock later. Just a thought. Link to comment
donteatthenano Posted June 20, 2003 Author Share Posted June 20, 2003 thanks fishbabies. i'll definitely look into it. i'm sure another hobby couldn't hurt, right? :-) Link to comment
fishbabies Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 you're welcome...but oops....not in the Nano-Reef DIY forum like I thought. If you are interested, a yahoo.com search for: DIY LIVE ROCK will take you there Link to comment
twflint Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 Regarding the powersweep PH. I have one in my tank, I think it ran fine for about 2 days before jamming up. I have tried cleaning it, and it works for an hour. Now its just finally stuck pointed across the tank and I am gonna leave it that way. My 2 cents is ditch em. Link to comment
fishbabies Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 I wish another manufacturer would improve on those powersweeps. it's a great concept. Link to comment
donteatthenano Posted June 22, 2003 Author Share Posted June 22, 2003 i think i'm going to remove some of my crushed coral bed and add 5-10 lbs of live sand with the crushed coral. this was suggested by an employee at the local fish store. what are your opinions? Link to comment
jdsabin1 Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 I am not sure I follow that reasoning at all. While you have the chance, ditch the cc and go with all live sand. It will cost you a little more now but the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. We've all been there so trust us when we tell you to lose the CC now, while you can, and replace with all live sand. My .02 cents anyway. Link to comment
donteatthenano Posted August 7, 2003 Author Share Posted August 7, 2003 I'm hoping all that were subscribed two months ago are still subscribed so that I can bring you up to par and let you know that I took most of your advice. I bought a mini HOB and have removed the crushed coral, well most of it. I left about 3 pounds just to make my bed a little deeper (about 3 inches). As of Sunday, August 3, I have added 14 lbs. of Fiji Aquacultured LR and 15 lbs. of BioActive sand on top of the crushed coral. The live rock is loaded and I'm looking forward to see what it has in store for me, whether it be good or bad. I've borrowed a digital camera today and will take pictures and post them so that I might get some help identifiying some of the LR hitchhikers (there are a couple of things that I think might be aiptasia). This site is great. What a resource for opinions and information. With the BioActive sand and LR what is the typical cycle-time, or is that something that is so varying that it's hard to predict? Just curious. I checked the pH, NH3, NO2, and NO3 two nights ago and plan on checking again tonight to see how things are going. I'd also like any opinions/advice on the frequency of testing. My plan was simply to check it when I had the time until it is cycled. Also, a friend of mine is interested in giving me a button-polyp frag and he seemed to think that it would be okay to introduce it to my system within the next week. Is that feasible and what should I expect? I think that's it. Thanks fellow nano-reefers. I'll post pictures very soon. Link to comment
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