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Starting New Nano


motoservdog

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Hi all. Been lurking around here, reading and researching and now I am starting a 10g nano reef tank. I just built my canopy and stand for the 10g. I will post pics once it is painted. I have purchased this lighting:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ADME:B:EOT:US:3

I was thinking about drilling the tank so I can plumb another 10g sump/refugium. Any suggestions? Inhabitants will be soft corals and a pair of seahorses. I understand that seahorses require low flow. What corals can I keep with them? I will be putting 20lbs of aragonite sand and between 15-20# of LR from my 55g reef tank. The 55 has been running for almost a year so the LR is cured. Also, to get things started, I was planning on using my 55's water when I do a water cange to start the nano. Is this good? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

ServDog

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Due to the feeding requirements of seahorses in general, you'll have to monitor your water quality carefully. I'd definately agree with plumbing in the refugium and filling it with chaeto or caulerpa to help lower nitrates.

 

Even with moving everything over from your existing setup, you'll likely see a cycle in the new tank. Get the tank up and running before you get the seahorses.

 

As for corals, most of your softies should be fine. Mushrooms, xenia, zoos, etc.. And lastly, ask around at Seahorse.org.... they should be able to help you with more specific requirements. Good luck!!!

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Ok, here's some pics of the completed canopy and base for the 10g nano project. It's no work of art but it'll do the job. I will be adding sand and water from my 55g reef tomorrow. I'll be cycling the tank the same way I did my 55g. Just put water and sand, drop a shrimp or two in there, wait for ammonia and nitrites to get to 0, do a 50% water change, then add live rocks from my 55g. Is this ok to do on a 10g? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I will post pics as I go. Thanks.

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the only seahorses you could keep in a 10 gallon would be dwarves, hippocampus zosterae . If you want to keep them, bear in mind that you'll have to hatch baby brine shrimp daily for them, and you must do everything you can to keep out hydroids, which will kill the dwarves and their fry. This greatly limits what you can put in the tank. It means, among other things, that you definitely should not use any tank water, LR, or LS from your reef tank.

 

Read Abbott's article on seahorse.org on keeping dwarf seahorses and post questions in their dwarf forum. HTH

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Thanx for the info. I read up on seahorses at seahorse.org. I don't think I would be able to keep them successfully given what I want to keep in the tank. I will instead get fish and inverts along with softies. May a pair of clowns, skunk or copperband shrimp, may 5-10 snails and some blue legged crabs. This I think would be better for the tank. The tank is going to bemy son's and he would've liked to keep seahorses but I explained to him that there is no sense in keeping livestock that is not compatible with it's tank mates. He agreed to keep a pair of "Nemo's" in there. I have put water and sand in the tank and dead shrimp to start the cycle process. Now we just wait.........zzz

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Originally posted by motoservdog

Another one. I didn't realize that you could only post one pic per post.

Weird. You should be able to post more than one pic per post...there's something like a 6-8 picture per post maximum or something. I have like multiple pics per post in my thread.

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Here's a pic of the tank w/ saltwater and sand. The white stuff that's collecting on the filter is the pieces of shrimp I threw in there to get the cycle started. Once ammonia and nitrites get to 0, then I'll do a 50% water change and add 15# of cured live rock. Hopefully the cycle completes soon. I used my 55g tank's water to speed up cycling process. Hope it works.

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Just my preference. The LR I am using has been in my 55g for almost a year and I'm trying not to have too much die off. So I figure if I put in the LR after the cycling, then ammonia/nitrite spike would not be too much of a problem and as soon as I put the LR in, I can get the fish in there too. Any thoughts on this? Does this make sense or is it better to put the cured LR in right now? Suggestions are appreciated. TIA.

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