Noob nano reef update 15 gallon AIO IM

[Luism23]

Hey guys so I’m 8 weeks in and it’s been such a fun and rewarding ride along the way. Currently I’m housing the following:

1 hammer 

2 Duncan 

2 zoas 

1 gsp

1 pulsing Xenia on its own rock 

1 mushroom 

1 Hollywood stunner chalice 

 

for the fish and clean up crew i got the following:

1 clown fish 

1 cardinal fish 

1 blue damsel 

1 cleaner crab 

3 large snails 

8 really small snails 

8 small blue legged hermits 

 

current water parameters are: 

Ammonia 0 ppm 

Calcium 420 ppm 

Carbonate Hardness 10 dKH 179

Phosphate 0.25 ppm

Nitrite 0 ppm 

High range Ph 8.0

Nitrates 20 ppm

magnesium 1320 ppm 

 

i also just removed the dual y heads i had and installed the IM spin stream and so far so good! 

[dadummy]

You are off to a good start

 

best advice I can offer is go slow, keep it simple (not needing all the hype In technology), routine maintenance and water changes will be good for a long time. And most of all enjoy the hobby

[Luism23]

9 hours ago, dadummy said:

You are off to a good start

 

best advice I can offer is go slow, keep it simple (not needing all the hype In technology), routine maintenance and water changes will be good for a long time. And most of all enjoy the hobby

Thanks bud! Filter Fridays are my weekly non negotiables and Sunday testing water parameters and document it in my phone. What’s the real deal on water changes, I’ve heard different opinions, some say that softies like dirty water others say it’s a good way to reset parameters if something is out of control, what are your thoughts? 

[dadummy]

Dilution is the solution to pollution.

 

many people go without water changes, sending water samples out for testing, ICP for instance.

Then the dose products to keep water at natural sea water levels.

People, myself included dose a carbon source to help control nitrate and phosphate. The added bacteria growth can also be a food source for some animals in our tank.

 

There is more than one way to keep a successful reef tank. In my experience doing water changes on a smallish non demanding system is the easiest and most forgiving way to maintain good water parameters.

 

I am not sure about dirty water. I feed my fish regularly which produces waste that the corals and bio load can benefit from.  On my 36g tank I do 5 gallon water change every week or two. Run a hob filter with a foam insert and sometimes run carbon if water is yellowing. Power head for flow and redundancy in case the hob filter quit working or vice versa.

 

My feeling is that for someone just starting out water changes are beneficial. Once that person has a good grasp of what’s going on in their tank, then they can decide when and if a water change is needed. 
of course make sure good water is used for water change matching salinity and temperature 

 

some people say you need a skimmer, a sump, fleece roller, reef monitor system so on and so on.

 

all you need is live rock, stable water parameters, light, and flow to maintain a reef tank.

water changes are easy way to maintain good water parameters
 

that’s my take on things

[mcarroll]

On 3/8/2024 at 5:44 PM, Luism23 said:

Thanks bud! Filter Fridays are my weekly non negotiables and Sunday testing water parameters and document it in my phone. What’s the real deal on water changes, I’ve heard different opinions, some say that softies like dirty water others say it’s a good way to reset parameters if something is out of control, what are your thoughts? 

Just to pile on...

 

Water changes are a tool – they can do good things like reduce levels of things that are too high, or raise levels of some things that are too low.  But done at the wrong times (eg when nutrient levels are already at minimal levels) even water changes can become "part of the problem".   Like any tool, use it when called for.  (Not else.)  🙂 

 

I know "dirty water" is used that way sometimes, but is a bad selection of words, IMO, since it implies poor husbandry and might even encourage bad practices like over feeding.  

 

BUT...

 

Corals are animals that host photosynthetic dinoflagellate "plants".  

 

As an animal corals do like a little something to eat, but can be quite picky.  This is what most coral feeding studies seem to illustrate – yes corals can be fed, but it's somewhat unpredictable what corals will eat what foods.  Some feeds can even have a negative effect on growth.  

 

As a plant, corals can depend almost totally on dissolved nutrients, importantly dissolved sources of nitrogen and phosphorus.  

 

In a reef tank where "coral food" is limited or non-existent (applies to most tanks, most corals), it's very wise to maintain minimal (or better) levels of NO3 and PO4.  Usually that means something like NO3≥5 ppm and PO4 ≥0.05 ppm.  I'd say that's perfect water, but if you still want to call it "dirty water" then OK.    😉😉 

 

As for soft corals vs others, what I said applies generally to all photosynthetic corals.  But when you get down to the differences among corals in your tank, what matters is how easy/difficult a coral is to feed and how good it is at capturing tank detritus as food.  (Detritus is one of the best coral foods, and can be a plentiful food source if properly managed.)  For better and worse, those feeding differences are very likely to differ from coral to coral in your tank.  There are acropora and zoanthids that are easy to feed and hard to feed, for example.  You may just have to experiment and observe.  Just keep in mind that with some corals it can be very hard to be sure whether they're eating, even if you see them eat!  Corals can/will reject "inappropriate" food items, even after it's been passed the mouth.  (Again, it's wise to keep dissolved nutrients "availabe" since all photosynthetic corals can utilize them to at least some degree in lieu of food.)

[dadummy]

5 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Just to pile on...

 

Water changes are a tool – they can do good things like reduce levels of things that are too high, or raise levels of some things that are too low.  But done at the wrong times (eg when nutrient levels are already at minimal levels) even water changes can become "part of the problem".   Like any tool, use it when called for.  (Not else.)  🙂 

 

I know "dirty water" is used that way sometimes, but is a bad selection of words, IMO, since it implies poor husbandry and might even encourage bad practices like over feeding.  

 

BUT...

 

Corals are animals that host photosynthetic dinoflagellate "plants".  

 

As an animal corals do like a little something to eat, but can be quite picky.  This is what most coral feeding studies seem to illustrate – yes corals can be fed, but it's somewhat unpredictable what corals will eat what foods.  Some feeds can even have a negative effect on growth.  

 

As a plant, corals can depend almost totally on dissolved nutrients, importantly dissolved sources of nitrogen and phosphorus.  

 

In a reef tank where "coral food" is limited or non-existent (applies to most tanks, most corals), it's very wise to maintain minimal (or better) levels of NO3 and PO4.  Usually that means something like NO3≥5 ppm and PO4 ≥0.05 ppm.  I'd say that's perfect water, but if you still want to call it "dirty water" then OK.    😉😉 

 

As for soft corals vs others, what I said applies generally to all photosynthetic corals.  But when you get down to the differences among corals in your tank, what matters is how easy/difficult a coral is to feed and how good it is at capturing tank detritus as food.  (Detritus is one of the best coral foods, and can be a plentiful food source if properly managed.)  For better and worse, those feeding differences are very likely to differ from coral to coral in your tank.  There are acropora and zoanthids that are easy to feed and hard to feed, for example.  You may just have to experiment and observe.  Just keep in mind that with some corals it can be very hard to be sure whether they're eating, even if you see them eat!  Corals can/will reject "inappropriate" food items, even after it's been passed the mouth.  (Again, it's wise to keep dissolved nutrients "availabe" since all photosynthetic corals can utilize them to at least some degree in lieu of food.)

Very well said…