rsaund Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 Hi, I ordered a 7.5 gal nano from Chris and am anxiously waiting for it! I am experienced with bigger reefs (125 gal) but this is my first nano. I am getting the model with the refugium and have never had a refugium (so I need advice about this). I will be ordering new live rock, and putting coral frags from my big tank into it. I plan to put a threadfin goby and shrimp in it. That's all the plans I have so far. I would like your wealth of knowledge to tell me: What have you done that you WOULDN'T do again! AND What have you done that you really love and would definitely do again! This will help me avoid mistakes from the beginning and get off to a great start. I am anxious to hear your stories. Thanks in advance! Robin www.tendb.com/robin to see my big tanks Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 get the best lighintg u can afford right now. when u have the money, upgrade. thats my motto, mistakes? well id say use RO/DI water only, dont use tap, and from what ive heard from others, dont use vitamin C. ure wuestion was a little vague, can u give us more detail as to waht u wanna kno not to do? thanks nishant Link to comment
rsaund Posted July 14, 2002 Author Share Posted July 14, 2002 Teenreefer, Got the standard setup Chris sells, with One 32 watt powercompact with smartbulb (True Actinic 03 & 10,000K in one bulb) I actually tried to by an extra bulb, but he talked me out of it! Go figure, I was throwing my money at him!! I will want to keep SPS and softies in it. I have lots of fragging I can do on my big tank, I kind of thought I should get two of the 32 watters, but I deferred to his judgment. Re the vaugeness of my question. I agree. I basically know how to keep a reef. The main thing I have never done is something this small, and something without a protein skimmer, or an auto topoff. I am planning to do water top offs at least 3x/week, with weekly small water changes. I am looking for basic advice from more experienced people with nanos. Specific things I am unsure about: 1. additives (will the water changes take care of Ca, alkalinity, Strontium? Or will I need to do additives?) I have seen differing opinions on this. 2. how do I get my refugium started (what stuff do I buy, where do I get it? what special things do I need to do?) I really have NO refugium experience. 3. live sand (kind of related to the refugium question). I have a bag of Southdown, but is this the best way to go? How deep a sandbed would you do in a 7.5 gal? How to seed it with critters? Etc... I do not do a DSB in my big tank, and don't have a lot of critters in the sand. This is something I would like to try in this nano. But mainly, I want words of wisdom specifically about nanos. Like I say, I am experienced in larger tanks. Hope this clarifies, and thanks for your reply! Robin Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 hmm well for wuestion number one.... imo, id say foods for corals, and calcium and a buffer. tahts about it. number 2&3, get macroalgea, live rock and sand. the southdown will work well i think, id say a good 3 inches in the fuge for a dsb. a in the main tank, 2 inches will be fine. there is debate over whether or not a dsb is very effficient in a nano, dont ask me about it, im not an expert. hope this helps nishant Link to comment
fishymissy Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 One thing I would do differently if I could is I would put down more sand in my tank. Right now it has about 2" in the deepest spot and about 1/2" in the shallowest. Even though there is much debate on whether or not a DSB will do what it is supposed to do in a nano, I think the deeper sand just looks nicer. And even if it doesn't reduce nitrates, I do believe it will mature quicker etc..... Link to comment
Toyfreek Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 Hi Robin , I told ya to get more light sheees! Ok here's the plan, I'm gonna put in a 70W DE MH in my nano When I do we can do yours at the same time or you can get another smart light retro (if you would rather have PC's) and We can cram it in there somehow. I will let you know, Toy Link to comment
Toyfreek Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 oh yeah, My biggest mistake was going too low on the lighting and upgrading three times now. Toy Link to comment
rsaund Posted July 14, 2002 Author Share Posted July 14, 2002 Toy, Whaddya do when they guy you're throwing money at refuses to sell it to ya?? haha I told him you said so, and he said you didn't know anything... I am JUST KIDDING - he said nothing of the sort. Chris? Will you take my money now? I better put the extra bulb in there or Toyfreek will freak. He's going to talk me into it anyway, so you might as well benefit... better email me..? Robin:p Link to comment
glazer Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 These are only my thoughts/opinions... Hmmm, did do but wouldn't do again.... don't rush anything, go slow... you can buy Instant Ocean (salt) but you can't make instant reef... (whoa, I just made that up! Somebody stop me!!!) I used rock and sand out of very well established tank and only added a few pounds of new, stuff that was already cured and tank cycled in less than a week, a month later I have only added a few shrooms and couple of snails. Just take your time and let the tank establish itself. Done, loved and will always do: I highly highly reccomend setting up some type of topoff system for your makeup water. I use a IV drip system, stability is the key. I am not and have never been much on additives of any kind in my tanks.... I just don't like the idea of adding chemicals to a closed system. In my opinion, all the elements needed are replaced with regular/frequent water changes... not to mention the water changes removing "bad stuff" as well... use a good salt. I have been using Instant Ocean for like twenty years. Works for me anyway. Oh and those water changes... be religous about them. I change out a gallon every week... being sure that the new stuff is at same salinity and temp. I am sure others may do differently and have great results as well but this is working for me. Soooo don't be afraid to ask questions... the guys (and gals of course) on here I am finding to be a great wealth of info and real helpful. Have a blast with the new tank and good luck! Link to comment
Toyfreek Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 hee hee you are too funny! I got a better Idea I'll put the lighting in your nano for free and you get Steve to plumb my current project and make me a controller outta an alarm clock! he would love that huh? hey, I went Garage/Estate sale-ing today... jealous? See ya Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 maybe the tapwater in your area ludavico..... but in the US, usually tapwater has way to many trace elements and phosphates and nitrates for corals to comfortably live in. sure they can and will live in it, but there will be algea probs and u will have high nitrates. i thought urea avice was pretty bad.... how long has ure tank been setup again? nishant p.s. ya may wanna be a leedle nicer when replying like that... Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 not getting hostile.... by 4 yers do u mean ure freshwater tank? because i remember u telling me about how u havent setup ure nanoreef yet... nishant p.s. the dechlorinated water may be ok for freshwater fish, but remember, salt is a much different system... nishant Link to comment
kryptonite Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 Explain to me please how letting water sit will get rid of anything. So your saying if I filled up an aquarium with tap water and just let it sit there out in the open, the next day it would be clear of nitrates and all harmful bacteria? I see this one of two ways, you are either kidding yourself or someone else has been kidding you. Think about it logically, what exactly is going to remove the harmful trace elements and bacteria out of the tap water, the pure fact that the water has been stagnant for a day? Doubt it. Oh, and don't tell people their advice is bad unless it is. Thank you, Nate Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 lol thankyou nate, c what i mean.... nishant Link to comment
kryptonite Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 Oh yeah, as for things I wouldn't do again... I definately wouldn't try to save money by skimping on lighting. I ended up spending way more money then I should have by trying to save it. I would also be much more patient than I was. I'm the most impatient person on this earth and that can be a problem when it comes to nano's. Things I am glad I did... I am sooooooo happy that I bought my cpr backpack skimmer. It helps so much. It also gives me great peace of mind knowing I don't have to be so fluent with my water changes and being off by a week or so isn't going to hurt me much. Good Luck, Nate Link to comment
Kapelakin Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 When budgeting out what your tank will cost, itemize everything, add it up, then double that figure. As far as tap, there's no reason to use it, especially in a nano. At 25 cents a gallon for Glacier RO, the cost is well worth avoiding the algae headaches, etc, that come with many municipal water sources. The only thing that will be removed from the water through aeration is chlorine, and possibly traces of other dissolved gases. Nitrate, phosphate, lead, copper, etc, will not gas off. On my first reef, I got about 70 pounds of rock free from the LFS I worked at when the reef tank there burst a seam. This reef had been up for several years on tap water. No matter how closely I managed nutrients in that reef, the rock continually leached PO4, so I kept having to run phosphate sponges, add more and more snails and hermits, handpick hair algae, etc, etc. even though I went to RO water shortly after setting the tank up. NOT worth the hassle. My advice would be to plan all the inhabitants, including fish, inverts, corals, and cleanup crew in advance, to avoid impulse buys, and compatibility problems. Link to comment
NanoReefer53 Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 In my area the water is pretty good. I live in a nice small city so the stuff is good. Although, tap water still does contain traces of various things like phosphates, nitrates, metals, etc. Believe me, in my 10g I really wish I had used RO water instead of tap like I use now in my 20g. There's a noticible difference. In the 10g i could litteraly tear off whole sheets of cyanobacteria. RO/DI water is the way to go. Upgrade lighting soon as possible so u won't have to fuss with upgrading and upgrading. I've done it so many times. I went from 2x55, 2x55 & 2x20w actinic, 175w MH & 2x20w actinic, and now i'm using a 250w MH & 2x20w actinic. Heh, i might want to upgrade to 400w too . If u want to keep SPS in that tank like u stated you'll really need more light. At least 50w to grow the brownest montiporas. Link to comment
rsaund Posted July 14, 2002 Author Share Posted July 14, 2002 Thanks for all this! I will be using RO, I have an RO unit now for my big tank, MN water is bad. The lighting I will definitely upgrade to 2x32 PCs The patience? I'm not promising anything, but I will try! Keep the ideas coming. Refugium advice, anyone? Robin Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 sure anytime you guys like! www.nishant.nano-reef.com ! lol, i still dont agree with useing tapwater.... sure if ure municiple supply is just as good as RO/DI water go ahead and use it! im just saying, at least get it tested first, make sure its safe. nishant Link to comment
kryptonite Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 Does Ludavico mean A$$ in French??? Link to comment
rsaund Posted July 14, 2002 Author Share Posted July 14, 2002 It would be exceedingly mature to admit that what works in one's own tank may not work in others' tanks, because conditions may vary. It would be foolish indeed to take a sample size of (1) tank and assume that because it looks great that it is the only way to succeed. A bit of humility goes a long way in this hobby, because as soon as you think you're an expert, your tank crashes (speaking from personal experience). Let's all have fun. Robin Link to comment
Guest LudavicoTechnique Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 Actually, it does me a$$ in french. Link to comment
Sahin Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 I have a few essential tips: 1. Have lots of patience 2. RESEARCH every aspect of nanoreefing 3. Realise that a nano tank is LESS forgiving about mistake etc. 4. Understock on the fish-load Link to comment
HuBu Posted July 14, 2002 Share Posted July 14, 2002 you really dont need to buy all the stuff your LFS and friends will say you need. Link to comment
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