24G Nano Cube DX Startup, Setup, Manual for newbies, in the works

[nanoguru]

WOW!

I only read upto the part when Steelhlr found a hairline crack on his nano...looks like a lot happened after that...better check back later..

 

I just purchased the aquapod 12g and this thread has been amazingly helpful...although I've been told JBJ and current USA nanos are slightly different...

 

I'm still waiting for the tank to arrive but I did buy powerhead, heater, etc to get the tank started on the test run - to check for any cracks before I put in any LR.

 

in any case,

thanks SH for this great thread! It is extremely helpful for any newcomers like myself!

 

Nano

[ktrandc]

Hi Steel,

Thanks for all the great info. I just purchased a Fission protein skimmer and was going to place it in the 2nd chamber and move my refugium to the 1st. Any comments on pluses/minuses to placing a protein skimmer in the 24 nano? I noticed someone else here also had a Fission and decided to remove it from their tank but didn't say why. Again, thanks for all the great information. Mike.

[steelhealr]

No problem Mike. I've perused some fission skimmer threads and I get the feel there are mixed feelings about it's performance.

 

The issue of skimming in a 24G is, to say the least, a hot topic. People have done well with them either way.....meaning consistent water changes or skimming. This is my take on it, and, again, opinion only:

 

-if you are mainly interested in the fish aspect of a nano and, perhaps, some hardy low light corals, I wouldn't be hard pressed to skim and would rely on water changes

 

-if you are planning on keeping fish and more sensitive corals, well, if you tend to be a heavy handed feeder, you may want to skim. This decision can only come with time, experience and a feel for your tank.

 

What do I do? IMO, any small piece of plastic made to fit in the back of a nano cube, to date, is just a, let's say, inefficient skimmer. No one has a good mod for drilling a NC like mine (pre-2006). You'd probably have to be nuts to drill one anyway for risk of cracking.

 

So, I had purchased an AquaC Remora months ago last year because of all the high ratings....to test it out. Do I use it? Yes and no. If my tank is sailing along, corals are open and I don't have diatoms, I don't skim. I rely on water changes.

 

If I have a problem, nitrates climb, corals close, I hook it up. Some may say that continual use may help prevent that, but, it CAN remove food and phyto from the water column.

 

The AquaC Remora is an EXCELLENT skimmer, but, you have to partially leave open the hood to use it. When I do use it, I place it at night after lights out and remove it the next morning and use it every other day. I put some covering over the open area to prevent jumpers/escapees.

 

Mike....these tanks are setup based on what we know about current marine principles. HOWEVER, managing them afterwards is an art. That's why I cringe when people are adding fish and then corals 1-2 weeks after cycling. They have NO feel for feeding and water husbandry or nitrate production in response to what they do to their tank. Take your time...it's your best friend when it comes to nanos. Welcome aboard. SH

Edited February 20, 2006 by steelhealr

[ktrandc]

Hi Steel,

I tried to place a submersible light inside the back for a refugium setup but the tank got too hot and I had to remove it (it was stable at 83 and reached up to 86). My tank has been setup for almost 3 weeks now and this I'm getting another diatom outbreak. Is this unusual? I've been leaving the lights on for 9 hours daily and I think this may be too much for cycling. What do you think? Also, I've decided to place the chaeto inside the tank itself, behind the liverock. What are your thoughts on that? Any disadvantages to this? Is there enough lighting?

 

Thanks again for your excellent thread and for saving me tons of money because I've been able to avoid making many mistakes by following your thread. Best advice you've given me is to be patient and let the tank cycle. It's been killing me not to add fish/corals but I know it's going to turn out for the best.

Mike.

[steelhealr]

Mike...you may go thru waves of diatom blooms. By now...I almost don't have to test for nitrates..if any signs of coral closure show up, particularly with my yellow Fiji leather, OR, diatoms increase on the walls, I know my nitrates are climbing. I haven't had to scrape them in almost 2 weeks.

 

Ditch the halogen light and use the external fuge light mod..it works better. You can't go higher than a 10 watt submerged, IMO, without effecting heat.

 

Eventually, 9 hours in not enough IMO when you start to add corals. Mine are on 12 hours a day. Chaeto in the main tank might get messy, but, it is less of a problem than caulerpa, which can go sexual or take over the LR. The stock lighting should be plenty to support chaeto.

 

Staying the course is the BEST thing you can do for your tank. I didn't add corals for over 1-2 months. There is just NO good reasoning to do that except to rush a reef into your home. Besides, this is the BEST time to get your water husbandry down. Afterall, my favorite phrase used here at N-R.com is that we really are 'water keepers'. Rushing will only increase your chances of a nuked tank. JMO. SH

Edited February 22, 2006 by steelhealr

[the life aquatic]

Hey steelhair!

 

I'm a newbie, but nonetheless a girl who has done her research. First, just wanted to thank you for this amazingly helpful post. Your insight has been an inspiration. I created a post today w/ all of my info and questions. I would greatly appreciate if you could take a look when you have some free time! The post is titled "New 24 gal Nano cuber needs advice!" Again, thanks for the tutorial...

 

~Brianna

 

"Even monkeys fall from a tree"

[littletyger]

Hello SH and everyone!

 

I just decided a couple of weeks ago that I was going to do a nano reef (again). I had a 12G Eclipse system three years ago and went from a fish only to a reef tank. I depended upon my 2 lfs for info and help and after spending hundreds of $$ and losing alot of lives I ended up with a half decent little reef. At that point I had to sell everything because I was moving cross country. I swore that I wouldn't do it again- it was difficult to maintain and I couldn't bear to see another beautiful creature die. But it is an addiction!

 

This time I'm going to take it slow . I've purchased The New Marine Aquarium and The Conscientious Marine Aquarist to do alot of reading before even buying the tank. By the grace of God I stumbled across this site and this thread. I'm only on page 16, but I've learned so much already!!! Thanks to SH for starting this and to everyone else for their contributions!!!

 

As I mentioned I'm only on page 16 so this has probably already been covered, but till I catch up: what are the thoughts on a Current USA 24G Aquapod?

 

Peace be with you!

[steelhealr]

Thanks to both of you...very kind comments. Brianna, I'll swing into your post and follow with you for fun.

 

Littletyger....I've heard some early misgivings about AquaPod with respect to some cheesey construction....hood not fitting well, eg. JBJ's NC still is not perfect, but, at least the glass is stronger. I was very pro AquaPod when I started, now I think it's a toss of the coin. I've posted before here that there is still no tank better with regards to flexibility as an AGA tank. SH

[steelhealr]

Since replacing my bulbs, my tank has taken a hit, in spite of having 0 nitrates. My favites is regressing and losing color; my yellow Fiji leather closed and is partially opening; my open brain has lost most of it's color; zoo's closed and look horrible. Others look fine..my anchor, fox, plate and mushrooms.

 

I'm not sure if the new bulbs have shocked them or not. Will post back. Sad. SH

[debbeach13]

Hi Steelhealr

I was wondering when you replaced your lights. Did you use the same type of bulbs or did you get some thing different?

[e7046v]

Hey,

i need a little help. my tang has ich. I don't know if you have covered this topic( if you did what page?), but What should i use? I have an old medication that i used for some freshwater fish i used to have(TetraMedica ContraSpot). i think all it is is Bromathymol Blue, but do you think it would harm the inverts?I visited the pet store and looked at all of their medications but they are all harmful for reef tanks, or it stains the rocks. is their any homemade remedy I can try. i heard that you can make a freshwater dip, with a little bit of Baking Soda, for p.h, but i don't know if that will harm the fish. What is yoour thought on this?Please respond quick. thanks

[steelhealr]

I used similar bulbs, from nanotuners, 2X36watts, 50/50 actinic.

 

To e704v....always a tough thing. Obviously, the best solution is to move the fish to a hospital tank and treat it there...then leave the main tank fallow for a month or so to allow the parasite to die.Most treatments containe copper which is deadly to inverts.

 

Some have tried garlic..some drop the s.g. to very low, but, you risk losing the corals. The FW treatment won't work for SW fish.

 

FW dip sometimes help, but, you might lose the fish. If you do it, I would make sure the FW is same temp, same pH. The hospital tank is the best solution.

 

I"m not sure why you have a tang in nano tank. The stress of an open water swimming fish in a miniscule tank probably gave him the ich. SH

[anndi]

steelhealr....how much did you pay for shipping on the live rock from premiumaquatics? I have tried to look it up online but I can't find the shipping charges anywhere...in fact it looks like you may have to call the order in right?

[steelhealr]

If I recall, the entire order cost about $100. It was 3.99/lb and I initially went for 20lbs, which was not enough. With shipping and the box that you have to pay for, it was a little over $100. The cheapest I could buy LR locally was $8.99/lb, a vast savings. You can call in the order. SH

[anndi]

Yea same here in Phoenix, 8 for fiji and 9 for tonga...I also found a seller on ebay that has nanocube size fiji for 2.25 plus 23 shipping... is fiji a good rock?

Edited February 28, 2006 by anndi

[steelhealr]

Fiji is good rock as is Kaelini and Marshall Islands. I got a bad hitchhiker macroalgae from a LR from, reportedly, the Solomon Islands. Stay away from Tonga branch unless you are buying one or two pieces for shape and design. SH

[Sea_Of_Treachery]

hey steel, how is that orange tube coral doing, i thought the needed to be heavily fed, what do you feed it? this is a great thread i read the entire thing for the first time today.

[steelhealr]

I lost 3/4's of the colony...partially intentionally. It's very sad at the lsot of beauty, but, I ordered a small frag and I would have ranked that as medium. The original frag had over 20 heads and was a killer to feed. Caused my nitrates to climb. I had to back off. I'm working as hard as I can now to preserve several of the coral heads. I've saved about 3 I think. Maybe they'll make a small come back. Although the coral is gorgeous, I don't recommend it for anyone who doesnt' have time to feed it and chase after their nitrates.

 

I rotate the feeding on it...I usually make a combo of cyclopeeze, enriched brine shrimp, baby brine shrimp or mysis. I tried squid once which it loves but squid is high protein and I ended up doing massive water changes afterward.

 

Thanks for the nice comments. SH

[littletyger]

Hey SH, how did your tank recover from the light change? Except for the sun coral, of course. Could you have found another home for it? (Sorry, I come from the animal shelter world)

 

You know, I'm having SH withdrawal! After reading this entire thread it's become a serial for me and I just can't wait to find out what happens next! Seriously, I really appreciate you sharing your triumphs, trials, and tribulations (and your humble style) so we can all learn along with you.

[steelhealr]

Not a problem. I guess I could have given the sun away, but, down deep I wanted to keep it. I'm trying to recover it and so far I'm keeping several coral heads alive.

 

Three corals took a hit after the light change...the favites brain is struggling and looks horrible...my gorgeous green zoos are alive but look shrunken....the open brain is expanded and looks healthy but lost a lot of it's beautiful green color. It's been a rough road from time to time.

 

There is ONE thing I"m going to give to the lfs...my black longspine urchin. Although it's been VERY easy to care for, it's spines are tripled in length at least and they DO rearrange corals. I'd love to keep it in the tank, but, it's definitely going to outgrow it. It didn't do much to the macroalgae in the tank but I DO suspect it ate one of my ricordeas....my beautiful orange one.

 

Thanks littletyger. My tank is in a tough phase right now..and..funny thing...I have 0 nitrates. Go figger. SH

[natureboy]

Hi Steelhealr,

 

I've been reading your LONG post! Thanks for all the info!

 

But, I haven't really found a post that lists all your corals, fish and other critters. Would you be able to provide a recent tank shot and try to list your inhabitants right to left, for example? Maybe you could give a short little summary about the care and your experience?

 

I'm really interested in that white tree looking coral in the right of your tank.

 

Thanks!

[steelhealr]

I'll try and edit one of my tank shots with numbers and label the corals for you tomorrow. The tree looking coral is sinularia flexibis or spaghetti finger coral. SH

[steelhealr]

I hope this helps:

 

 

 

SH

[dee]

Steel,

 

Great to see your sharing. Excellent job!!!

 

I'm setting up the 24g cube this week. I'm a pure newbie.(only studied a few books)

Just clean up the tank today.

I would follow your set up. (yours looks wonderful)

But I've a few questions so far,

 

1. Why do you change the pump in the third champer? the one provided already 290gph?

2. I bought a Maxijet 900. Do you think I should put Maxijet 1200 instead of 900 replace the stock pump?

or I just add the 900 into the tank somewhere?

 

Thanks.

 

Dee

[steelhealr]

The pump in the third chamber with the old nanocubes was weak. The o/p is rated 295gph but seemed nothing compared to the MJ1200. . The MJ1200 is rated as the same O/P but works better. I think the MJ 900 is a step downward and if you are considering a reeftank, you want higher flow. You could:

 

1) put the MJ900 in chamber 1 and leave the stock pump where it is

2) use the MJ900 to mix your SW and buy an MJ1200

 

Welcome aboard Dee. SH