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Coral Vue Hydros

Some Questions....


dxfan227

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Hi Everyone!

 

Very excited to hopefully have my first "nano" reef tank set up over the next 5-6 months. I know I have ALOT of reading to do! I do have some basic questions I wanted to get started with to understand a few more things and make sure I am up to the commitment making sure my eventual livestock is well cared for and HAPPY.

 

1. I will be utilizing a Fluval Flex 15 Gallon Tank. It is completely stock ( light, filter, etc.) I am curious what if anything needs to be upgraded. I know that this will be largely dependent on my live stock choices ( further questions regarding this in the future) right now I really like the look of clown fish, and those shrimp with the really long antennas....

2. Regarding temperature, coming from fresh water alot of the heaters are just ON/OFF do I need to find one with more variability options for a salt water tank?

3. Water Changes- From my understanding, the smaller the tank...the more frequent water changes are required. What measurements does one look at to decide if a water change in necessary? With a 15 gallon would I be able to get by on once every 2 weeks? Does this frequency change at all if I am doing RO/DI top offs?

4. Mixing Water - I read the mixing guide and understand I will need to bring the water to temp before I change it....that being said how much water can be mixed in one time/how long does it "last" could I mix enough for 2-3 water changes and just have it sitting and bring it up to temp when needed? I only ask because I dont want to have to run to the store for RO/DI every two weeks! Also regarding the previous mentioned top-offs.....does that water need to be heated as well?

5. The ultimate goal is to set-up a reef-pi system. This is a small HomeKit computer that will automate alot of things like salinity checking, auto top off, etc..etc.... 

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18 minutes ago, dxfan227 said:

1. I will be utilizing a Fluval Flex 15 Gallon Tank. It is completely stock ( light, filter, etc.) I am curious what if anything needs to be upgraded. I know that this will be largely dependent on my live stock choices ( further questions regarding this in the future) right now I really like the look of clown fish, and those shrimp with the really long antennas....

You may be considering a lighting upgrade if you do corals, but that's about it.

 

18 minutes ago, dxfan227 said:

2. Regarding temperature, coming from fresh water alot of the heaters are just ON/OFF do I need to find one with more variability options for a salt water tank?

Nope...same deal here.  They just need to be able to keep the tank tropical.

 

19 minutes ago, dxfan227 said:

3. Water Changes- From my understanding, the smaller the tank...the more frequent water changes are required. What measurements does one look at to decide if a water change in necessary? With a 15 gallon would I be able to get by on once every 2 weeks? Does this frequency change at all if I am doing RO/DI top offs?

Generally, don't do anything to a new tank without need. 

 

Once the tank is cycled to handle nitrification (so no worries from ammonia or nitrite)....do a water change if alkalinity drops near/below 7 dKH. 

 

That's about it. 

 

Nutrients like nitrates and phosphates shouldn't be kept low or generally removed at all in a new tank.

 

This also means no excessive filtration....just live rock and a protein skimmer is enough.

 

26 minutes ago, dxfan227 said:

4. Mixing Water - I read the mixing guide and understand I will need to bring the water to temp before I change it....that being said how much water can be mixed in one time/how long does it "last" could I mix enough for 2-3 water changes and just have it sitting and bring it up to temp when needed? I only ask because I dont want to have to run to the store for RO/DI every two weeks! Also regarding the previous mentioned top-offs.....does that water need to be heated as well?

Mostly not necessary/not true.

 

Room temp. water (any normal human room temp) is just fine. 

 

If you keep your water in the refrigerator, or in an unheated garage in the winter, you are exceptional and better warm up the water.

 

I'd recommend mixing water as you need it....takes about 5 minutes to make if you do it right. (See videos at the end....the two best methods I could come up with....the best is the simplest!)

 

Mixed saltwater of most brands will last indefinitely once mixed...no need to keep mixing or to heat it or anything else....just slap a lid on it to keep unwanted critters, dust, etc, out.

 

If you're buying water at a fish store...you might just wanna buy premixed saltwater there too.  Almost too easy that way when you have a small tank.

 

No special treatment for the RODI water you'll use for top off (aka ATO).  Most folks have it sitting in a bucket next to the tank with a pump in it.

 

32 minutes ago, dxfan227 said:

5. The ultimate goal is to set-up a reef-pi system. This is a small HomeKit computer that will automate alot of things like salinity checking, auto top off, etc..etc...

Sounds like a bigger project than the tank itself -- do you have experience at this?  (I presume so.)   Definitely interesting!  🙂 

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Mixing paddle (equivalent to using your hand, you just don't get wet) is my go-to, even though I typically mix 55 gallons at once now.

 

If you use a pump to mix, the configuration in the first video is the only good way I found -- the pump has to be off the bottom, aimed AT the bottom to prevent salt settling.  Works great for the tast, but the pump setup is hinky.  Othe pump setups take FOREVER to mix by comparison.

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10 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

You may be considering a lighting upgrade if you do corals, but that's about it.

 

Nope...same deal here.  They just need to be able to keep the tank tropical.

 

Generally, don't do anything to a new tank without need. 

 

Once the tank is cycled to handle nitrification (so no worries from ammonia or nitrite)....do a water change if alkalinity drops near/below 7 dKH. 

 

That's about it. 

 

Nutrients like nitrates and phosphates shouldn't be kept low or generally removed at all in a new tank.

 

This also means no excessive filtration....just live rock and a protein skimmer is enough.

 

Mostly not necessary/not true.

 

Room temp. water (any normal human room temp) is just fine. 

 

If you keep your water in the refrigerator, or in an unheated garage in the winter, you are exceptional and better warm up the water.

 

I'd recommend mixing water as you need it....takes about 5 minutes to make if you do it right. (See videos at the end....the two best methods I could come up with....the best is the simplest!)

 

Mixed saltwater of most brands will last indefinitely once mixed...no need to keep mixing or to heat it or anything else....just slap a lid on it to keep unwanted critters, dust, etc, out.

 

If you're buying water at a fish store...you might just wanna buy premixed saltwater there too.  Almost too easy that way when you have a small tank.

 

No special treatment for the RODI water you'll use for top off (aka ATO).  Most folks have it sitting in a bucket next to the tank with a pump in it.

 

Sounds like a bigger project than the tank itself -- do you have experience at this?  (I presume so.)   Definitely interesting!  🙂 

Hey thanks for the quick and thoughtful response....I just typed fluval 15 into the search bar and already have pages and pages to read lol

regarding my question about water changes, I didn't mean on the brand new tank...I mean once it's more established....how often.

 

I have some VERY BASIC experience working with the raspberry pi. and NO experience in some of the soldering required to attach some of the components. However I have found with these kinds of of things it really is just following directions. There is no coding required, meaning creating code, there is copy and past others code and things like that but again it pretty much is follow along. So hopefully it is successful. Should be a fun little project.

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Welcome to Nano Reef!

 

Hope this answers some of your questions. 
 

1) I’m not completely familiar with that tank. After a quick look I would say a light upgrade would be necessary if you plan on keeping corals. It also looks like there are InTank media baskets  which would replace the stock sponge, know to increase nitrate. 
2) Temperature probes are basically the same just set it to 78F. 
3) The more frequent the water change the more stable your tank will be. Two weeks is probably middle of the road. Some do them regardless of readings and others would focus on Alkalinity, Nitrates or Phosphates. Topping off water does not remove nutrients so it does not count as a water change. 
4) You can store mixed salt for a few months probably just keep a lid to reduce evaporation. I always heat my water before changing but not my top off. 
5) looking forward to see how that works


 

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3 minutes ago, dxfan227 said:

I mean once it's more established....how often.

Same....pretty much only when alk dips. 

 

If you don't have stony corals, there many be almost no call for water changes....or rarely.  The most stony corals you have, the more water changes that will be required....up to the point where you exceed the amount of water you're willing (or able?) to change.  That's where you have to get into dosing of one sort or another to keep water chemistry from going out of whack.  No more complicated than feeding your fish really, but it can take a little getting used to at first...seems like lots of testing if you haven't done a lot before.

 

If you feel like you need a water change so you can do some cleaning, that's another scenario. 

 

You CAN replace the water in this case, OR you can drain the tank, while cleaning, into something like a filter sock (that's inside a bucket) to remove the crud you siphon out, and THEN put the clean water back in the tank.

 

It may be worth pointing out that in a reef you WANT algae to grow -- it's an important part of the tank's ecosystem.  So don't remove dissolved nutrients...let the tank use them up at it's own pace.  If you get algae, make sure nothing is wrong to cause excessive growth, but remove it by hand AND with a cleanup crew of herbivorous snails....nothing more.  

 

 

Definitely looking forward to the tank and the DIY project!!  👍

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12 hours ago, dxfan227 said:

Hi Everyone!

 

Very excited to hopefully have my first "nano" reef tank set up over the next 5-6 months. I know I have ALOT of reading to do! I do have some basic questions I wanted to get started with to understand a few more things and make sure I am up to the commitment making sure my eventual livestock is well cared for and HAPPY.

 

1. I will be utilizing a Fluval Flex 15 Gallon Tank. It is completely stock ( light, filter, etc.) I am curious what if anything needs to be upgraded. I know that this will be largely dependent on my live stock choices ( further questions regarding this in the future) right now I really like the look of clown fish, and those shrimp with the really long antennas....

2. Regarding temperature, coming from fresh water alot of the heaters are just ON/OFF do I need to find one with more variability options for a salt water tank?

3. Water Changes- From my understanding, the smaller the tank...the more frequent water changes are required. What measurements does one look at to decide if a water change in necessary? With a 15 gallon would I be able to get by on once every 2 weeks? Does this frequency change at all if I am doing RO/DI top offs?

4. Mixing Water - I read the mixing guide and understand I will need to bring the water to temp before I change it....that being said how much water can be mixed in one time/how long does it "last" could I mix enough for 2-3 water changes and just have it sitting and bring it up to temp when needed? I only ask because I dont want to have to run to the store for RO/DI every two weeks! Also regarding the previous mentioned top-offs.....does that water need to be heated as well?

5. The ultimate goal is to set-up a reef-pi system. This is a small HomeKit computer that will automate alot of things like salinity checking, auto top off, etc..etc.... 

1. The flex is designed for freshwater so a new light, upgraded pump, a powerhead, and a diy media basket for back chamber will be needed.

 

2. A good heater with an inkbird controller is a decent set up. Good heaters: cobalt neotherm, eheim jagger, aqueon pro.

 

3. Watervhange frequency and volume depends on the system. I do 3g waterchanges weekly yo every 2 weeks. 

There are people that do no waterchanges, ppl that do them weekly, biweekly, monthly.

Start off with weekly is normal until you understand the complexities of the ecosystem and your systems needs.

 

4. Depends on salt brand. Not all salt is good to save after a week. 

I prefer making my saltwater the day of waterchange. Takes 30mins to mix so it's not an issue.

Best thing- get your own rodi. It's cheaper in the end, you control the quality of the water, and it's a real pain when you need to do emergency waterchanges or more waterchanges due to an issue and you don't have easy access to water.

 

5. Can't offer any advice on this.

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