An Oldtimer is now a Nano Reefer

[limulus]

Not that 44 makes me old. I am an oldtimer as far as this hobby goes and by that I mean the "old ways". I had a 70-gal reef that I disassembled 13-yrs ago. I now have a 12g NC DX on order. Being out of the hobby for so long, I knew there were lots of new things and new ways to establish a reef...the internet for example:) I read steelhealr's startup thread: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=54602 That is quite informative! It was my plan to buy something in the 100-200 gal range, but I'm more excited about the Nano. I think it's the challenge. My old tank had been going a few years and basically only required: glass cleaning, a monthly 20% water change and top offs once per week.

 

I have now ordered: a digital thermometer, refractometer, testing supplies and a Mini-Jet 606 to go w/the 12g. Since I also have a brand new, never used Little Giant pump that I've had from another hobby, home brewing, I'm going to go ahead and mix some water in a clean cooler. I'll use the little giant to circulate it until the 12g arrives. If I can get a tracking number for the 12g, I can order my LR and LS and time it to arrive when the 12g does. I plan to order ~10lbs LR, 1-lb LR rubble and LS. Since I've done this before, I know it takes a LOT of patience and things must be added slowly. I'm assuming 1-2 small fish like a clown and/or firefish are OK for this size. My main goal is a colorful reef and I may have to eliminate the fish. My kids are wanting Tangs and other large volume fish. They've already been made aware that those are not approprate for this tank.

 

My main challenge is to determine what type of corals and cleanup crew to buy. In my day, you went to the LFS and bought what they had that was pretty. The idea of a specific cleanup crew existed, but I don't remember a formula for the types and numbers required.

 

I'm seeing one of these Nanos in my office, my kids rooms and the the basement gameroom/bar area. I'm crazy like that.

[newbiecarlz]

you wont regret it! nanos are great fun. sounds like you are on the right track. for coral stocking options, check out what other people on this site have in there cubes - but remember that some people have upgraded their lights so what they are keeping may not be applicable to you if you keep the cube stock. IMO there are more than enough coral options suitable under the stock lighting, most softies and some LPS. its just a matter of finding things that appeal to your taste, budget and tank!

 

clean up crews are generally a mix of snails and hermits, and you might also add a shrimp (though it might do more 'looking pretty' than cleaning!)

 

1-2 fish will be fine in the cube, ive got a clown and six line wrasse.

[limulus]

Thanks Mate! It's always nice to hear from an Aussie. A Wrasse would be really cool. I have a special place in my heart for them. I used to have a BlueHead and a Bird Wrasse. They were quite active and quite large. The Bird was a brute around the reef! I used to feed him Guppies. I could release a 3-4 into the tank and he would stalk them like a big cat. He could create some major havoc in that 70gal! They kinda had personalities.

[Tigahboy]

welcome to nano-reef. sounds like you should have no probs w/ your new set-up. w/ regards to clean-up crew, I don't think there is a magic number/formula for success. I don't like hermits b/c they tend to knock over or trample coral frags/polyps...and the ones I've kept seemed a little on the lazy side. Just throw in a cleaner skunk shrimp or blood fire red and that'll help w/ the leftovers.

 

LPS and Soft Coral (eg. zoanthids, ricordea, mushrooms, etc) can be kept in your tank. I would avoid anemones, light needy clams and sps.

[nanojake]

I agree with Tigah - don't much care for hermits. I can't get rid of them because my daughter likes to watch them. Why don't you start a diary on this forum when your tank arrives?

[limulus]

Thanks guys. I think mine is shipping tomorrow. Now all I have to do is figure out...and remember what all these abreviations mean. At least this forum has a nice glossary of terms link. There seems to be sooo much more knowledge about these things than when I was doing it before. As I said in my first post, it was unthinkable to have a reef tank this small a few yrs ago. The internet has really helped the hobby tremendously. I never knew that there were guys here in the states that could actually farm corals. In my day, I'm pretty sure the corals were probably poached from the oceans. From the many posts I've read, I have determined that Tigahboy is a great source for coral. Get ready for a new customer.

[Tigahboy]

[limulus]

In addition to all the stuff I've ordered below, I've now ordered:

HOT Magnum filter to polish the water after cleaning only

Purigen

Protein Skimmer

 

I already have some mods in mind, but I have to at least wait until everything arrives at my door. Since business keeps me traveling, I need to time the arrival of my LR and LS to arrive when I'm actually home.

 

[quote

I have now ordered: a digital thermometer, refractometer, testing supplies and a Mini-Jet 606 to go w/the 12g. Since I also have a brand new, never used Little Giant pump that I've had from another hobby, home brewing, I'm going to go ahead and mix some water in a clean cooler. I'll use the little giant to circulate it until the 12g arrives. /QUOTE]

[limulus]

Ordered 10lbs Nano LR, 3lbs LR rubble and a bag of Arag Live from Premium Aquatics. It is shipping on Tuesday, May 31 and will be here Thurs. Also, I'm getting a 24w upgrade from NanoTuners. I may also get the moonlight fix kit they have. In addition, I have my eye on an RO system on the bay.

[limulus]

LR, LS and LR rubble shipped today from Premium Aquatics and will be here Thursday. I also bought a 6-stage RO system. I have to get some water mixed tomorrow! I bought Tropic Marin salt.

[limulus]

OK, the LR and LS from Premium Aquatics came today. I must say that the rocks were a little damaged. It looked like the box had been dropped and possibly opened. It says Live Fish and I think someone at UPS dropped it and then opened it for inspection. Anyway several of my Nano Size rocks were broken and there are now will go into the rubble section. I guess that's a pitfall or ordering online vs LFS.

 

My NC arrives tomorrow and today, I mixed 12 gals of Tropic Marin in a large blue tote. I dropped in one of my Mini-Jet 606 pumps and the heater. I let it mix all day and the SG is 1.023 and the temp is now at 78F. I added all the LR and will let it run until the NC arrives tomorrow. I am a little dissapointed about the broken rocks.

[steelhealr]

Limulus....hey..don't go bad mouthing 40+ 'ers...I'm not that far from you...LOL. Welcome aboard. Dont fret the LR...you know, you can buy aquarium epoxy and put them back together if you want...it's nontoxic and will get covered with coralline algae. Also...1.023 is fine but 1.025-1.026 might be better if you plan on corals later on.

 

Anyway, it's my turn to sit back, subscribe to this thread and watch your progress. I hope you have a good digital cam. Pass the popcorn please. Welcome back. SH

[limulus]

Thanks SH,

I have it all set up in my office. It has a bag of AragAlive sand along w/the LR and LR Rubble. I have one of the Mini-Jet 606 pumps running. The 2nd chamber is full of rubble and the first has a little rubble in the bottom and two sponges for now. I made a skimmer out of a HI-8 tape case. It's thicker than a cassette tape case. My LR was fully cured Nano Rock from Premium Aquatics and so far, I'm not seeing any ammonia after about 36-hrs. I'll definitely adjust the SG up a little. The refractometer is a nice piece of equipment. I've been in this new house for 9-mos and still have boxes that haven't been unpacked. Today, I found the box that contains a brand new Teel centrifugal pump that was left over from my old brewery. I don't think I'll use it in the nano, but probably for something in the future. It's a heavy duty pump, but doesn't really pump that much...only 5.3 GPM @ 6ft or 6 GPM @ 3ft and can pump 2.9 GPM @12ft. My digital photos are too large to post here. I'm either going to adjust them or create my own web page with tank pics.

 

As my water clears, I'm seeing things in there. At first, I thought it was stuff blowing around in the current. However, I turned off the mains and left on the moon lights and pretty soon I saw a small critter that is either a shrimp or a pod. I just hope it isn't the bad kind.

[steelhealr]

WTG....I saw one of those guys...was crawling on the wall the next day. Check out photobucket.com....you can upload your photos there and then link them in your posts here. You're on your way. SH

[limulus]

What is this?

[Caesar777]

Isopod. Most likely bad. They'll attack living fish, and hook onto them like a lamprey. Some are vegetarian/detritivores, I think, but I wouldn't take the risk. I'd suggest throwing it out.

[artarmon42]

That looks like a Sphaeromatid Isopod to me, which is harmless. A great pictorial guide to distinguish Isopods can be found here .

[limulus]

OK, after looking at some of the pics and reading bout Isopods, I've decided that this one is Sphaeromatidae. I returned him to the tank. I haven't seen him since putting him back.

 

Next on the agenda is determining what's going on w/the water. After two days, I still have seen no spike in ammonia. In a tank this small, I would have expected it by now. I guess this LR was really cured. In the old days, we would have thrown in some Damsels to pollute it. I think I'll throw in some fish food from my daughter's aquarium and see what happens. The other thing is the total volume of water that actually went into the tank. It's quite a bit less than 12g. A bag of sand LR and LR rubble take up a lot of space.

[artarmon42]

If you bought cured from Premium Aquatics, it's pretty much good to go. I've bought from them twice and both times there was no spike.

[limulus]

Artarmon42,

That's actually good to hear. I guess I'll let it sit a week and then get some snails and shrimp. Then I'll move on to soft corals and LPS if 92w is enough. This thing has lots of little caves for mushrooms and it's just waaay too cool on my desk.

[steelhealr]

I agree with Atarman....my PA LR cured in 2 days. I wouldn't toss any food in there...why start your tank off with nutrients you don't need yet. SH

[limulus]

Ok that sounds good to me. I'm going to start putting together a list of inhabitants to buy. Yesterday, I posted a link to my new site in the nano forum. To see it from here, just click on the www button below.

[limulus]

Latest water conditions as of 11:30am EST

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrite: <.25 ppm

Nitrate: <5 ppm

SG: 1.024

[limulus]

Was in So FL this week on business and stopped by a store that Auryn told me about. I bought my first coral, a Candycane, and five Margarita snails. This is a pretty well stocked store that is a marine only store. They had lots of corals but only a few left in nano size. When I got back to my office, I was surprised to see my tank so full of algae. It had been spotless. All other params were at ZERO...even the nitrate. The temp was running high at 83.8F.

[steelhealr]

Welcome to the world of nano cubes...if you are cycled, time for a cleanup crew and a good Magfloat. SH