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My New 10gal Nano Beginning


leslr

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Hi FIn Seekers.

Well most of my parts are in for the start of my new 10gal.All I've managed so far is the filling (8gal old/2gal new)(thks Dave espi). Heater/pumps etc in. Warmed and cycled all night. Today plan on moving most of the LS/Lr out of the old Eclipse 6 sittting beside it. With the holiday today I will have to wait to get more cured LS/LR from my LFS. The fish and coral will wait till till every thing is settled down before moving. The lighting consists of a 2x15 wat 18" NO hooked in series and overdriven by a 2x32 electronic Ballast . 1-actinic/1-PowerGlow ( nice and bright).

Heres a quick pic of old and new ready for transfer.

leslr.

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you will sooo thankyourself fo setting up a second tank instead of tearing down the one when upgrading on a budget.

lemme know when ya need some LS. Ill send ya a few #s

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  • 3 weeks later...

On the old Eclipse 6 I ran the bio wheel the whole time over a year. As for the new tank I plan on running it for a few more weeks then taking it out as by that time the little things in the tank should all be set up (bacteria etc). As well i will be cutting off the cornor of the filter to allow any little things to be able to crawl back out to the tank but still trap/catch any sediment etc in the mesh.

leslr.

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Yes I run the Bio Wheel! The tank has been set up for 1 1/2 months. All was fine.........on Sat. I went dow to the local fish store and got 5 gal. of pre mix for a water change. The salinity of the water was 1.026........Killed my Clown and Six Line Wrase. Yes I tested their water after the change......trust no one!!!! Has enyone ever heard of 026 killing fish??

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I've been cycling my tank and havn't tested the water yet. I know some of the rocks are smelly and it's not ready yet. Is there a reson to check if there is no fish or coral?

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I would like to know why you would take out the bio wheel in an eclipse hood?? What if I keep it in ? One more question.....can I start adding some hardy corals with the light that came with the hood??? I do plan to retro with a 32 watt actenic / 10,000.....what corals should i start with???

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smfyr241,

 

Ill try and provide some answers... This is based on my knowledge so if I am wrong, someone shoot me =)

 

The biowheel is great, its very efficient during the ammonia cycle and if you have a FO (fish only tank), Its your second best biological filitration next to live rock.

 

However for a reef tank, a biowheel is not so great, because it will build up alot of nitrates over time. This is not very desireable in a reef tank as nitrates do tend to have a detrimental effect on corals.

 

Before you add anything to the tank, you have to make sure everything is cycled. After the cycle, under your NO lights... I would say anything besides mushrooms and some polyps would be about it. And even that is kind of cutting it I think... the corals will live, but its kind of like being on life support. If you can do the PC upgrade soon, I say go for it.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Auron

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Originally posted by Auron

However for a reef tank, a biowheel is not so great, because it will build up alot of nitrates over time. This is not very desireable in a reef tank as nitrates do tend to have a detrimental effect on corals.

 

Keep in mind LR will turn the ammonia into nitrates, the biowheel will just do it faster. there is definatly somthing to the argument against bio wheels. However there is this school of thought that says to clean out your bio-wheel everyso often to kill the bactria so it doesn't over power the live rock. This is complete BS. it create fluctuation. It would be like running premium in your tanbk once a month. Many people do this, but it is bad for the engine.

 

I've been looking around and I havn't found one person that used the Bio-Wheel correctly and had a problem. Also they would have to be monitoring nitrates (as well as other levels) and doing water changes. If somone knows of a case please show me.

 

I'm not saying this opinion on bio-wheels is wrong. It is based on scientific fact. I just beleave the positives outweigh the negitives which (as far as I know) have yet to be seen in the real world. Imagine if you had a fish die. Would you rather have high ammonia or high nitrates?

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Thank you all for the info!!! I think I will try it with the bio wheel in.......I do want corals though......If all fails then I will yank the wheel and just keep the filter cartridge. So .....when corals are in place, what is the best chem. to add?? I know I ask too many questions but i need several opinions from "THE EXPERIENCED REEFERS" before i make up my mind. The guys at my fish store seem to think that anything will work!!! WRONG!!

 

One more.....what are you feeding ?? I am trying small pellets, but it seems the fish don't like it too much. Is the frozen brine the way to go??

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