what would I need?

[nanocurious]

Can anyone help me out here?, I am an experienced saltwater aquarist, but I am relatively new to the nano aquarium. I am just curious as to what I would need to be able to house a FOWLR for a dorm room! I was thinking of the JbJ nano cube or the eclipse twelve! but do not have any experience dealing with either one. I am wonderinring what kind of filtration is necessary, and what kind of inhabitants will be alright!

[tinyreef]

the cube should be fine for a FO/FOWLR. i wouldn't touch a thing since it's setup for fish (as is the Eclipse). i just think the cube looks sharper (i.e. more chicks) than the Eclipse.

 

you can opt for LR/LS or the wet/dry that's already on either. it's really up to you to have the LR/LS for looks more than filtration (for the FOWLR).

 

it also depends on your bio-load (fish-wise). if you're going for a lot of fish then i would stick with the wet/dry's. if you eventually planning on reefing (invert-wise) then you might as well start with the LR/LS and go from there. hth

[nanocurious]

Thanks tinyreef, for the info,you don't think that a tank with a small bioload and a five pounds of LR FOR NITRIFICATION would be too much upkeep do you? Also, would I need to upgrade the lighting for some star polyps?

[tinyreef]

hmm, altho gsp's are hardy and tolerant, otoh they're also 'canaries of a reef'. they'll be one of the first to tell you there's something amiss so they like clean water (who doesn't?). i'm a skimmer-person so i'm biased as to using them. 50/50 is the split here.

 

for that lineup i would recommend going reef-style filtration (i.e. any of the berlin, jaubert, shaolin , hybrid, or hail mary styles). the shrimp and corals will defnitely prefer (need) the complete denitrification cycle versus wet/dry's stunted cycle.

[nanocurious]

what kind of skimmer is necessary for that small of a tank?

[nanocurious]

I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE HYBRID SYSTEM, PLEASE ELABORATE IF YOU DON'T MIND

[tinyreef]

Originally posted by nanocurious

what kind of skimmer is necessary for that small of a tank?

nothing is 'necessary'. it's totally up to you on how you want to run it. for the cube, your choices are a bit limited unless you add a sump or do some carving in the back and drop a hob skimmer of some sort (e.g. prizm). it'll be a little awkward as the chambers would have to be flooded since you're pulling from one and dumping into another.

 

hybrid-style (aka north american-style) is basically a blend of berlin, jaubert, dsb, plenums in different combinations. it basically borrows a little from each different style. probably the most common configuration would be a berlin+jaubert (LR/skimmer/dosing + sand).

 

they're all just different paths to the same goal of maintaining a pristine environment for a reef.

 

some of the 'newer' or more radical styles (e.g. shaolin :teehee: , cryptic, new jaubert) don't seem to concentrate as much on clean water, at least in the traditional sense.

[nanocurious]

WHAT KIND OF BIOLOAD WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IF I WERE TO JUST KEEP A FO TANK/W ARAGONITE SAND

[tinyreef]

capitalization = SHOUTING (online lingo)

 

if you're only going for fish then just run the wet/dry filters that come with the cube and eclipse (bioballs or biowheels). they're fine for such setups.

 

bioload is what you make of it. bioload depends to a large degree upon your maintenance and feeding schedule.

 

figure out what you want first rather than asking what you can have. then build the system around your choice. an easy way of doing this is from looking at other setups and ideas. hth

[nanocurious]

thanks, I appreciate your responses