My First Nano Reef

[RoyalGramma001]

 

So this is my first tank and I just got it setup and running. I have been researching for months about Nano-Reefs and I decided to get one. I ended up getting a Aqueon 20 gallon high. It took a while to get it fully set up, it also took a while to get all the equipment because as you know these things are expensive. I ended up setting all up right around New Years. I used CaribSea Arag-Alice sand, (about 20lbs.) I bought all of my other equipment right after I got sand. I then went out to my local fish store and bought 14lbs of live rock and started cycling. I went back the next week and the lady working there told me it was ready for fish. I was very excited by this and went around the store looking for the perfect fish for my tank. I spotted a small royal gramma hiding under a rock and thought that he was perfect. They fed him and he ate very aggressively. A worker then bagged him and I took him home with some acclimation equipment. I put him in a bucket and acclimated him (using the drip acclimation method) for 45 minutes and scooped him out and put him in. At first he was a little frightened by me but that quickly changed. I feed him Omega One Marine Mini Pellets and Hikari Brine Shrimp. He is now doing great and eating well and I cannot wait to add more to this forum! 

 

Filter: Aqueon 20 LED Pro Filter

Circulation: Marineland Maxi Jet 350

Heater: 100w Aqueon Pre Set Heater

Salinity: 1.023

Ph: around 8.2

Temperature: Around 77

Light: MingDak LED Planted Tank Light Fixture

Ammonia: 0

Nitrites: 0

Alkalinity: Cannot remember
Salt: Instant Ocean Sea Salt

 

 

Maintenance: (If your wondering) The worker at my fish store told me not to do any water changes to my tank for about a month so that good bacteria can build up. But I plan to do a weekly 5 gallon water tank change and clean the glass weekly with a sponge. Also adding a clean up crew soon so glass cleaning will go down.

Plans for the future: I hope to add a mixture of Zoas and Torch corals to my tank to add some more color. Also want to add a watchman goby and a Percula Clownfish. (One of my favorite clowns.) 

If you have questions or help for my tank I would love to hear them and look forward to all of your replies! 😄

Also if you want pictures I can post them!

[Seadragon]

1 hour ago, RoyalGramma001 said:

Light: MingDak LED Planted Tank Light Fixture

 

According to Amazon, that light is made for freshwater so you may have issues growing corals with it.

 

If you like that shape, for a little bit more you could buy a Current USA Orbit Marine Aquarium LED Light that will be better suited for soft corals and low light LPS corals.

 

1 hour ago, RoyalGramma001 said:

Also if you want pictures I can post them!

Please post pictures, we’d love to see them!

[RoyalGramma001]

Okay thank you for replying I will certainly look into the different light and I will post pictures for everyone.

[billygoat]

Hello and welcome to Nano-Reef! 

Glad to see you're enjoying the hobby so far. I second @Seadragon on the light; you'll definitely want to invest in a different fixture once you get a little bit further down the line. It won't matter much until you get corals though, so you have plenty of time to do some research and figure out what sort of light you want to use. Current USA makes a line of good, affordable LEDs, and Kessil's A80 Tuna Blue seems to be fairly popular as well.

 

I'd also think about getting a heater with a built-in thermostat, or a controller for the heater you've got. It's a good idea to have some sort of controller on your heater to turn it on and off as needed. Such features save energy, and can also insulate your tank against various heater-related disasters.

[Clown79]

Definitely agree on the light needing upgrading for corals.

 

The light on your tank is for freshwater planted/fish only tanks.

 

Sane with the heater. Preset heaters are notorious for not having a thermostat, you definitely want one you can set to a specific temp.

[RoyalGramma001]

Okay thank you all for the help I will get another light a little down the road and look into that heater.

[Clown79]

3 hours ago, RoyalGramma001 said:

Okay thank you all for the help I will get another light a little down the road and look into that heater.

Ya, you don't need to upgrade light until you get into corals.

 

There are quite a few options, even good budget lights.

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome to the community @RoyalGramma001! It looks like you're off to a great start with your nano reef.

 

Royal grammas have always been a favorite fish of mine, perhaps the first saltwater fish that really captivated me when I was young. I kept one in my 15 gallon nano reef back in 2002, they have a lot of character!

13 hours ago, billygoat said:

I'd also think about getting a heater with a built-in thermostat, or a controller for the heater you've got. It's a good idea to have some sort of controller on your heater to turn it on and off as needed. Such features save energy, and can also insulate your tank against various heater-related disasters.

This is good advice, as it turns out aquarium heaters are a common point of failure in aquarium system design, sometimes they get stuck 'ON' and do not turn off when the set temperature is met, quickly overheating nano reefs. Fortunately there's a common solution most of us use for peace of mind, an Inkbird ITC-308s Thermostat. The Inkbird controller is designed so that you plug your aquarium heater into the Inkbird first, and the Inkbird's precise temperature probe placed in your aquarium allows it to turn the heater on and off in a more intelligent manner. The Inkbird also includes a second plug for cooling, should a tank overheat (in the summer for example), a cooling fan could be turned on.

[RoyalGramma001]

Thank you so much I will definitely get a new heater soon. I also love royal grammas as they are one of my favorite fish!

[Seadragon]

All this talk of Royal Grammas, I might have to get one someday!  (I was thinking about it long ago.)

 

Tell me, how often do you see your Royal Gramma hide?  Would you say it's a shy fish when there's other fish around?  I also wonder if they become more aggressive as they age?

[RoyalGramma001]

You should get one they are such wonderful and active fish and eat relentlessly! He is not much of a hider he likes to be out and about in his tank. It’s funny he has a little routine, he comes out checks everything out and goes back in. A little skid fish when I come to feed him though, but once he knows there’s food he goes after it.

[RoyalGramma001]

Don’t know if they get more aggressive he is a small guy.

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, Seadragon said:

All this talk of Royal Grammas, I might have to get one someday!  (I was thinking about it long ago.)

 

Tell me, how often do you see your Royal Gramma hide?  Would you say it's a shy fish when there's other fish around?  I also wonder if they become more aggressive as they age?

You'll find various reviews on them.

 

Some hide more than others, some get more aggressive with age, some active and friendly.

 

 

[RoyalGramma001]

Does the aquascape set up look good or should I change it around?

[Seadragon]

4 minutes ago, RoyalGramma001 said:

Does the aquascape set up look good or should I change it around?

That looks like a pretty cool design to me.  Now, if you are thinking about getting GSP (Green Star Polyps) though, I’d put them by themselves on an isolated island and work that into the aquascape.

[RoyalGramma001]

I will probably add another piece of rock soon as I think it looks a little barren. I also really like green star polyps and will end up getting some once I research nps corals more.

[RoyalGramma001]

Anyone know of any other fish that I could put in with the watchman goby I am getting on Friday.

[mitten_reef]

In response to the topic above, your tank appears to be about 2-3 weeks old(?). 

 

So I'd say it is about to hit its ugly phase, where diatom, cyano, green algae, etc start to pop up. Don't be alarmed, it's normal for all new tanks.  This is the time when you introduce clean up crew.  It is also time to observe and understand your bioload, feeding, and water change schedule a little bit more - but avoid knee-jerk reaction. 

 

Again, ugly phases come and go naturally, but it's the time to hone your tank husbandry habit through observations.      

[RoyalGramma001]

Thank you, I was freaking out a little because I left my house and my tank was all clean and when I came back they popped up out of now where.

[RoyalGramma001]

UPDATE: I just got six hermit crabs Thursday night for $15, they are Mexican red leg hermit crabs. Also today I picked up a small Watchman Goby who is already settling into his new home!

[RoyalGramma001]

Soon getting a red headed solar wrasse for my tank saw one at the pet store beautiful colors on them.

[RoyalGramma001]

Update, 

Got a tiger sand conch and an emerald crab and now the diatoms are gone.

[RoyalGramma001]

New Solor Wrasse, got him today at the pet store.

[Ratvan]

31 minutes ago, RoyalGramma001 said:

New Solor Wrasse, got him today at the pet store.

Gorgeous

[RoyalGramma001]

Update,

A couple days ago my royal gramma got ick. I put medication in the water and he is doing much better. Also yesterday I went to my local fish store and bought another live rock, 4 Mexican Turbo Snails, a Nassarius Snail (sorry don’t know how to spell it), and a Yellow Sea cucumber!