Hello-New Reefer Here

[Motorman]

Hello Fellow Reefers

New to the marine hobby but have been a fan for decades. Just purchased a Innovative Marine 30L and am looking forward to learning how to properly set it up. I am patient and am willing to take the time to do it right. Over the years I have done a lot of reading of books and forums and have found this one very helpful. 

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide. 

The other equipment I purchased with this tank is a canister filter and heater. After seeing the local fish store owners 125G reef tank (amazing & mature) operating with only a canister filter I thought this might be an simpler way to start. 

Looking forward to learning and loving the marine aquarium life. 

Life is too short not to try. 

Motorman

[falcooo]

Welcome to Nano-Reef! People here are super helpful and very knowledgable, I recently set up my first saltwater tank 6 months ago and learned a ton from this forum throughout the process.

[BrentSA]

Hello and welcome . 

 

 

Yes a canister is a great piece of equipment but needs regular cleaning and filter media replacement , like filterwool, coal or poly filter   . If regular maintenance is not maintained you will end up with a nitrate spike in your tank . But just keep your hand on it and it will do wonders . 

 

So what is your vision , do you have substrate and rocks already ?

[Motorman]

Hi All

No substrate or rocks yet. Going slow now. 

I understand that man made Live Rock is the way to go (no reef destruction).  Also live sand seems like a great place to start. Brand suggestions ?

Thanks

[specore]

Welcome.  The 30l is an awesome tank!  I honestly have never seen anyone run a canister filter on an AIO (although, I'm sure it has probably been done).  The point of the all in one is to keep your filtration internal and not need to run sumps or canister filters.  In my 30l I just run an inTank media basket which holds the mechanical and chemical filter media in the rear chamber, much the same way a canister filter works.  I would definitely recommend going to inTank's website and searching by tank to see what goodies are available for accessorizing and upgrading your tank.  

 

I have no experience with man made live rock, but dry rock is a great option.  It is generally more economical and typically is a terrestrial rock.  It will take longer to cycle the tank and you won't have any hitchhikers (sometimes good, sometimes bad) like you get with live rock.  

 

Anyways welcome to the 30l club.  There are several on these boards so look around and take note of what others are doing with the same tank.  I'll link a couple of the more active 30l  threads below.

 

 

[Motorman]

Thanks for your comments.  Please correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t a canister filter do the same as two media baskets ?? Still requires cleaning but you are passing unfiltered salt water through a media for cleaning. Have given some thought to upgrading one or both of my media baskets to IM’s better basket and using this in addition to the canister filter. 

What say you ?  Too much filtration ??

Thanks for your help

[Clown79]

15 minutes ago, Motorman said:

Thanks for your comments.  Please correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t a canister filter do the same as two media baskets ?? Still requires cleaning but you are passing unfiltered salt water through a media for cleaning. Have given some thought to upgrading one or both of my media baskets to IM’s better basket and using this in addition to the canister filter. 

What say you ?  Too much filtration ??

Thanks for your help

Hello and Welcome

 

This is a great place with tons of very helpful and friendly hobbyists.

 

Is this the tank you got

 

http://www.innovative-marine.com/nuvo-aquarium/micro30L.html

 

If so return the canister, you don't need it or the added maintenance. They do require frequent cleaning or they become an issue.

 

It's also over kill. There is the ability to over use media.

 

The media baskets are enough. You just place them in the back overflow chambers with your chosen media in them. 

It's less work too.

 

It's best to use filter floss. You can buy it in bulk, cut to size and replace 2 times a week.

 

Carbon is also used often by many. A good carbon like kent, brs, or seachem. This is changed every 2-3 weeks.

 

Purigen is another media ppl like which gets changed when it goes brown.

 

The back chambers should be vacuumed at least every other week as detritus builds in the first and second chambers quickly.

 

This is much added maintenance as it's done during a waterchange.

 

Going slow is great but to start your cycle you will need your rocks and sand(sand is optional)

Rocks you choose is based on what type of cycling you wanna do 

 

 

 

liverock- easiest and fastest cycle with a lot of diversity of life. Some liverock won't have a cycle some a short cycle.

Most liverock isn't taken from the ocean anymore due to laws, it's often dry rock that's been cured in an established tank.

 

Dry rock- you need to provide an ammonia source, like Dr Tim's ammonia and dose that with bacteria.

 

 

Out of the dry rock I have used, I love caribsea life rock. Its epoxies purple and injected with bacteria. It very nicely shaped and easy to break for shaping.

[Pod Your Reef]

Welcome to the forum!