SoCal Sandy’s Nano Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Hi! I’m Sandy and I live in Southern California. I am so excited to have found this forum and am reading the posts. I am retired and putting together my first real venture into a reef tank. Prior to this tank, I had a smaller nano for a few years with a clown, some rock, and a few snails. After the clown died, my nephew took the tank and it is doing well. So I am setting up a small reef tank. I got a Nano Cube CF-Quad LED 28 gallon. So far I have CaribSea sand (30lbs), one CaribSea “live rock” chunk of rock and one piece of barnacle. I have added 9 gallons of Nutri-Sea water, and 20 gallons bulk Catalina Water. And that is where I am now. I would think my next step is a heater setup. I read on the forums horror stories of “heaters gone bad”, and wonder if it’s worth it to just start out with some sort of monitoring system. If not, than I would be grateful for any direction or advice on heaters. All input is greatly appreciated!! I am really excited about setting up this tank! Nice to to meet you all. Sandy 2 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 48 minutes ago, SoCal Sandy’s Nano said: Hi! I’m Sandy and I live in Southern California. I am so excited to have found this forum and am reading the posts. I am retired and putting together my first real venture into a reef tank. Prior to this tank, I had a smaller nano for a few years with a clown, some rock, and a few snails. After the clown died, my nephew took the tank and it is doing well. So I am setting up a small reef tank. I got a Nano Cube CF-Quad LED 28 gallon. So far I have CaribSea sand (30lbs), one CaribSea “live rock” chunk of rock and one piece of barnacle. I have added 9 gallons of Nutri-Sea water, and 20 gallons bulk Catalina Water. And that is where I am now. I would think my next step is a heater setup. I read on the forums horror stories of “heaters gone bad”, and wonder if it’s worth it to just start out with some sort of monitoring system. If not, than I would be grateful for any direction or advice on heaters. All input is greatly appreciated!! I am really excited about setting up this tank! Nice to to meet you all. Sandy Welcome to NR Sandy! 😊 I can’t wait to see pics of your tank. A lot of people choose to use some type of controller with their heater. 1 Quote Link to comment
SoCal Sandy’s Nano Posted April 17, 2019 Author Share Posted April 17, 2019 Thanks for the welcome to the group. Here is my “beginning” pic. 2 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 1 minute ago, SoCal Sandy’s Nano said: Thanks for the welcome to the group. Here is my “beginning” pic. I had some of those barnacle shells in my pico. The crab liked hiding in them. What are you thinking for fish and corals? Quote Link to comment
SoCal Sandy’s Nano Posted April 17, 2019 Author Share Posted April 17, 2019 Christy, I’m not sure yet. Reading so much stuff still. I stayed up past midnight reading about Kimber’s setups. But there are so many more! I want to start slow and right. 3 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 8 minutes ago, SoCal Sandy’s Nano said: Christy, I’m not sure yet. Reading so much stuff still. I stayed up past midnight reading about Kimber’s setups. But there are so many more! I want to start slow and right. That is an excellent plan. 😊 Take your time. Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Welcome to the community @SoCal Sandy’s Nano! 👋 Since you have a 28 gallon aquarium, many high-end higher wattage aquarium heaters (75w, 100w) will have decent thermostats built into them to control the temperature. The trouble is that over time (years) as the heater ages they may not be as reliable as they once were, they may fail in the ON position and overheat a tank. To counteract this potential failure, many hobbyists use an external temperature controller for peace of mind. The most popular model is the Inkbird ITC-308S, it's just $36 on Amazon. It has its own temperature probe that goes in your aquarium, and the heater plugs into the Inkbird so it can turn the heater on and off as needed. Pair it with most any basic aquarium heater and you'll be good to go. 2 Quote Link to comment
Sancho Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Welcome Nice to see others from So Cal here. The inkbird CM recommended works well and saved my tank once from a heater malfunction. It’s inexpensive peace of mind Quote Link to comment
SoCal Sandy’s Nano Posted April 19, 2019 Author Share Posted April 19, 2019 Today’s progress: ordered the recommended Inkbird, and added an Eheim TruTemp heater to the tank. I also added Dr Tim’s “One and Only” for new tank cycling. Setting the temperature for 78 degrees. Too much fun! Can’t wait for some color installation. 1 Quote Link to comment
SoCal Sandy’s Nano Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 Today I added two yellow tailed blue damsels. My water tested high for salt content,so I added a gallon of distilled water and all is right with the world.... 1 Quote Link to comment
SoCal Sandy’s Nano Posted May 5, 2019 Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 So this is my current aquascape for my ref tank. I would love and appreciate any input or ideas on this. The highest point is 6 inches below the lights. Is it too much rock? Does it need to be more open? Thanks again for any input!! I need to get better at this, but the first two are the front, one closer. Then the left side and the last one, the right side. Quote Link to comment
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