My First Nano-Reef Tank

[Adriana :)]

Hey! So this will be my very first reef tank! I absolutely love the idea of a mini ecosystem in my house, so here goes:

 

1. What natural (Maybe organic) fish/invert food do you reccommend?

 

2. What tank do you reccommend for a 35-45 gallon set-up?

 

3. What fish/invert species do you reccommend? (The smarter, the better)

 

4. What corals do you reccommend for a beginner?

 

5. What supplies do you need to start your very own nano reef tank. Also, what brands do you think are best?

 

6. Any tips and tricks?

 

Thank you!

[paulsz]

Some questions i can answer

 

2. What tank do you reccommend for a 35-45 gallon set-up? 40 gallon breeder looks cool and is the longest i think (for tanks 35-45 gallons in size.

 

3. What fish/invert species do you reccommend? (The smarter, the better) snails for inverts. Some hermit crabs if you think they're cool. I have a few scarlett hermits. A tad more expensive than some other hermits but they get pretty big and i've had mine for over 3 years now. But snails in my opinion do much better at cleaning algae from rocks and glass. 

 

4. What corals do you reccommend for a beginner? green star polyps (on it's own little rock because it spreads fast). A kenya tree is cool too. Leather corals in general. Look them up. 

 

5. What supplies do you need to start your very own nano reef tank. Also, what brands do you think are best? There's plenty of youtube videos and articles here on Nano Reef that help with that. You're better off watching the videos and reading the articles.

 

6. Any tips and tricks? A few things:

- Be patient. I mean very patient. It doesn't take a few weeks to get a beautiful little reef. It'll take months and years.

- I'd stay start with live rock rather than dry rock. 

- Don't change up everything often. The less you mess around the better.

- Having too much light hurts corals more than having not enough light. So when it doubt, go easier on the lights. 

- Read, watch videos, and read more. Research is key. Don't impulse buy. If something catches your eye at the fish store, research it. And if it's appropriate for your tank, get it. If it's gone, that's okay. There will be more. 

- Don't settle on a fish you aren't sure about just because your fish store doesn't have the ones you want. Because a fish will live many years. So if it's not something you want, you'll be stuck with it. Better just wait a few more months or even a year to finally the fish you want.

 

  

[paulsz]

here's the link to Nano Reef articles: 

https://www.nano-reef.com/articles/

 

Take the time to go through some of them. You can select "beginner articles" in the pane on the right side. 

[Adriana :)]

Thank you to everyone who answered! Also, I'll read those articles ASAP.

[ajmckay]

11 hours ago, Adriana :) said:

Hey! So this will be my very first reef tank! I absolutely love the idea of a mini ecosystem in my house, so here goes:

 

1. What natural (Maybe organic) fish/invert food do you reccommend?

 

2. What tank do you reccommend for a 35-45 gallon set-up?

 

3. What fish/invert species do you reccommend? (The smarter, the better)

 

4. What corals do you reccommend for a beginner?

 

5. What supplies do you need to start your very own nano reef tank. Also, what brands do you think are best?

 

6. Any tips and tricks?

 

Thank you!

Here are my thoughts on your questions

1) Depending on what fish you get you'll probably do best with a variety of foods.  I feed a combination of pellets and frozen preparations for variety.  I've even experimented with making my own food using bits and pieces of seafood (pre-cooked and rinsed of course)  Bottom line is there are plenty of high quality options out there.

 

2) I would second @paulsz and say that the 40 breeder, or even the 30 breeder are some of my favorite tank dimensions.  In fact, I like them so much I have both, one on top of the other lol. 

However, if rimless is more your style there are some really nice all in one (AIO) designs out there.  Someday I think I'll spring for an Innovative Marine Lagoon tank. 

 

3) I'm not sure I would classify one fish "smarter" than another honestly.  If by intelligent you mean personable then clownfish all day...  A single or pair of clowns would work great.  I got a falco hawkfish and I find it to be pretty personable.  It figured out in a matter of days that my turkey baster = food.  So when I pick it up it goes into feeding mode before the other fish do.  

 

From my experience fish selection is one of the most important things in building a tank.  Don't just get personable fish - because that often translates to aggressive.  You first need to decide if you want a peaceful tank or a semi-aggressive, or even aggressive tank.  That, along with coral compatibility and other things will be more useful information in picking fish. 

 

4) Soft corals are a fav for beginners. Just be careful because they're more apt to engage in allelopathic interations.   Meaning some corals secrete substances which impede the growth of competing corals nearby.   But GSP (green star polyps), zoanthids, some mushrooms, kenya trees, even frogspawn and similar LPS species are all pretty solid choices. 

 

5) Check what equipment others are running.  It all depends what you want to accomplish but at a very minimum you need 

- salt

- A good source of low TDS water (most people who persist in this hobby usually end up with a reverse osmosis filtration unit at some point)

- Thermometer

- Heater (optional but recommended are digital heater controllers)

- Light.  If you're going to keep corals you'll need a fairly powerful one.  Honestly this is an area where I think it's smarter to get a cube shaped tank and stick to 20x20 or less.  This lets you light the tank using a single pendant light.  Longer tanks either need multiple pendant lights (like the AI prime) or a pretty powerful strip light.  In the case of the 30g breeder you do have quite a few options since the tank is only 12" deep thus optics aren't required and you can get away with something relatively cheap from Amazon.  

- Refractometer or Hydrometer for measuring salinity (lots of debate here - whichever you get calibrate it with a known accurate instrument)

- Circulation pump - something like a Hydor Koralia on the cheap end up to a Vortech MP10 on the high end.  These are essential for providing flow

- For a regular glass tank a power filter that hangs on the back is optional.  Most choose Aquaclear filters because they're semi-customizable.  These are helpful for mechanical filtration.

- Skimmers are optional but they do help out IMO

- Nets, turkey baster for feeding, magnetic glass cleaner, and other small things.   You'll have to get some things as they come up, like medications, spare hermit shells, frag racks, etc.

 

6) Try not to get ahead of yourself.  You asked some good questions but they're a bit too general.  Research an equipment list/fish list/coral list and then get feedback on it.  

- Find a tank you like and learn all you can about it.  Focus on why the stock list is good, or why the equipment is good.  Similarly find out what maintenance routine they use.

- There are a LOT of ways in this hobby to get to the same place.  Just because someone says "that's the way it's done" doesn't mean you have to do it.  I'm not saying to ignore advice - but if your experience in this hobby ends up going back and forth on decisions based solely on advice then you're in for a rough ride.  Learn about the biological principles at work (nitrogen cycle for starters) and what the requirements are of the animals/inverts we keep.  Once you have a solid grasp on those things you'll be more successful. 

 

Good luck.

[Xj reefing]

As for fish a fairy wrasse would be a great option if you don’t want shrimp if you do want shrimp you might consider going with a fire fish of some sort. I would recommend buying a high end light first and then adding on better equipment as you keep going. Some of my favourite corals are hammers and torches for them you might need to wait a while