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If I only knew then what I know now...


Chamkeeper

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Chamkeeper

I realize there are 100 ways to be sucessful in starting and maintaining a nano.  If you had to advise a new person on the optimum tank size, equipment, test kits livestock sources, (including LR/LS), cleaning crews, beginner corals, what would be your answer?  

 

I am trying to miss the pitfalls others have endured...

 

Thanks,

 

Bill

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There are lots of others who can answer your questions specifically, probably better and I could, but I'll say this: research everything and learn as much as you can before you take action.  You'll find that a lot of ways to do things are called "correct" by certain people and "incorrect" by others... sometimes there is a lot of opinion about the right way to do something, while other times the right way is nearly universal.  all that matters is that it works for you, but finding out what you should definitely *not* do is still highly important!  critically analyze all the data (and opinions) you find and then make your own decision.  if you do this you will be successful.

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printerdown01

Totally agree with flaunt! Key element: research... Get both facts and opinions, sort through them both, and create what YOU want! Almost everything in the hobby is opinion -seriously. There are also a lot of guidelines that are inaccurate -USE LOGIC! If you have a 20 gallon and put a large domino damsel or a leaf fish in the tank, that is it for fish, lol (the 1 fish per x number of gallons doesn't apply). You have to research and think... that in my opinion is ALL you need to do to create a great tank (oh yeah, money would help ;) -maybe my first rule should have been, get a job, lol)!

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Let me just preface this by saying: I am not expert (contrary to what it may seem, they are actually very few and far between).

 

I won't preach about the best way to set up a nano, but I can recall what I've done and what I'd do differently.

 

I started with a 10gal in March.  It already feels cramped.  I really wish I had gone with a 20.  Live Rock costs would have been a little higher, but I would be much happier.

 

Equipment:

I really like having two powerheads.  It gives you a lot of control over the current flow in the tank.  

As for heaters, after some bad experience, I settled on an Ebo Jager and couldn't be happier with it.  

For lights, I went with two 32W CSL Kits in a pre-built hood from AH Supply.  Ideally, I would have built the hood myself and ordered better lights, but this was the quickest route, and I don't have much free time these days.

The one piece of equipment I don't have that I intend to get is a cheap-o hang-on-back filter.  I've found that whenever I change water and/or do algae-clean-up, I get an incredible about of crap floating around.  I'd love to have a filter (with just floss) I could turn on for an hour or two afterwards to clean up the water.

 

Test kits....  I don't have much of an opinion on.  I got pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate to test during cycling.  Once the tank stabilized, though, I almost compeltely stopped using them.  Overy week or so I bring a little water to my local fish store and they test it for free.  The one thing I do test for regularly is specific gravity, though.  Get a good hydrometer.  In a nano, evaporation can really screw with s.g., and the problem is compounded by the amount of water I remove in preparing food and trying to nurse my sun coral.  I test s.g. every time my water level has dropped, and decide whether to add fresh or salt water.

 

For livestock, I would never order online.  I have big issues with shipping, not to mention, it's hard for me to be home to receive items.  Thankfully, I have an assortment of local stores.  Several of which I've already developed good relationships with.  These guys are my lifeline, and I highly recommend getting to know yours.  You may pay a little more, but you get to select healthy specimens yourself, with fish, rock, and coral.  Not to mention, I can watch for particularly interesting strains, which can appear frequently in clowns.  One of my ocellaris' middle-stripes is actually just a saddle.  I think it's cool, and I'm interested in what her offspring are going to look like.  And if your LFS is any good at all, special-ordering fish through them is a lot less painful than doing so with an on-line store.  But like I said, I have it easy in the LFS department, living in L.A. (go Lakers!).

 

Cleaning crews: Margarita snails.  Margarita snails.  More Margarita snails.  I love mine, they work hard, and don't wreck havoc like turbos.  My Trochus snails are jsut about as effective.  I also have bumblebee snails, which in comparison, might as well just be for aesthetic value.  Which I have no problem with, but just keep in mind they won't do much for clean-up.  I also like the sight of hermits, and while mine (scarlet, blue-leg, and Mexican red-leg) might not compare to the work level of the big snails, they're still a joy to watch, and they do an ample amount of work.  I recently added an orange linkia starfish, which is also a kick to watch, but once again, better be considered for aesthetics and not clean-up.  As starfish go, I would never recommend anything but linkia's in a reef tank.  Them, and those awesome-but-hard-to-find Australian basket stars.

 

With corals, I do have two great beginner corals: xenia and green star polyps.  These both have thrived in my little ocean....  The Xenia is almost double the size from when I bought it a month ago.  I also have a green torch coral, which is doing well for me, with almost no care what-so-ever.  My one "mistake" is my sun coral.  We committed the great sin of buying it on a whim, then got home and realized how unique their needs were.  Basically, each of its 30-some polyps have to be individually fed brine-shrimp, almost daily (which is complicated by the voracious appetites of the clownfish, who try to steal the food).  I've had it almost a month now, and very few of the polyps even come out all of the way, but it's finally looking like the others are ready to open fully.  At which point it should be gorgeous, and worth all for the hard work.  But I would never recommend these unless you're a glutton for punishment.

 

The one category I don't think you touched is maintenance.....  And this depends greatly on your setup.  But here's how it goes for me:

 

Because of the small amount of water in a 10gal, and the lack of a protein skimmer, there's no excuse for not chaing water weekly.  I do 10-15% every Saturday morning.  I've developed a system where I can get it done in about 15 minutes now.  And doing this, my ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels all read 0, all the time.  In changing the water, I use a small cup to skim the crud off the water's surface.  This is extremely important, because this layer of filth can prevent gas exchange and oxygen-starve your ocean cirtters.

 

I feed the two clowns daily, now that my red slime problem has gone away.  Depending on how much time I have, I'll either feed them flakes (soaked in Selcon, a fatty-acid supplement), or frozen bloodworms and brineshrimp.  In doing so, I only pour a few morsels of food in at a time, let the fish eat them, then repeat.  Once the fish start letting some of the morsels fall to the sand, I cut them off.  The three simple corals photosyhtesize, so there's no feeding to be done there, but I do add a small amount of LiquidLife BioPlankton to the tank twice a week.  Really, I do this for the sun coral, which does not photosynthesize, in hopes that it'll help it while it's refusing meaty food, but the other corals can all benifit.

 

I also have a lot of algae growth in my tank (both good and annoyance), so each week I also take a little time to prune it all back.  My coraline has just started taking off in the the tank, and I hope that with time, it'll take over in  a lot of places and leave less room for the other stuff.

 

And one last thing in parting....  I just want to highly reocmmend ocellaris clowns as excellent starter fish for a nano.  Especially tank-raised ones, which will be hardier and friendlier.  A pair can fit into a 10gal (although I would like a little more space for them someday), and together have more personality than most any other fish out there.  Mine just finished their fight for dominance, which has been quite the sight to watch.  They're hardy, easy to feed, always active, and just plain silly.

 

So, there's a very long answer to a rather short question.  Hope it didn't bore you.

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nice post Mkramer!  the clowns you have are a mated pair?  did you buy them this way or did you buy them individually?

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I bought them as juvenile swimming buddies (they were the only ocellaris left in the tank at an LFS), and nothing more.  At the time they were the same size.  This was only six weeks ago.

 

About four weeks ago, one of them (Halfie, because her middle stripe is just a saddle), started putting the smack down on the other (Stripie).  Stipie started doing the fanatical twitch of sumission whenever Halfie approached, and was always being chased down into a little cave in the corner.  It was really quiet hilarious to watch.  Whenever Stripes decided to even poke his head out of the cave, Halfie would come flying across the tank to put him back in his place.

 

This lasted about three weeks, then Halfie finally started letting Stripie come out and play.  Now when you see them side-by-side, it's obvious Halfie is about 50% larger.  Her colors have become much deeper, too.  It's quite obvious she had made the metamorphisis to female.  In the last week, we've seen Stripie finally start to grow a little and pick up some more black on his fins.  In another week or two, he should be fully male (and still halfie's #####).

 

At which point, I think we'll have a true pair, and spawning will probably commence within a month with any luck.

 

It's been a real fun transition to watch.  I honestly never in my life thought fish could exhibit such distinct personalities.

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Guest AbSoluTc

MKramer -

 

A tip for you on your sun corals.  I had some in my 155 and they did great!  They are moderate growers and were never a problem.

 

Target feeding is OPTIONAL.  However, I have had the best success with feeding the tank first - in doing this, the sun polyps would "sense" this and open up - thus allowing me to target feed if I wanted to, more effectively.  Try it!

 

They are not as fragile as people make them out to be.  They are very hardy.  If yours are opening at night, you can change that.  Feed in the morning and then target feed them after you feed the tank.  Over a few weeks period they will start to open during the day.  They are beautiful when all of them are fully open!

 

Just a little tidbit if you didn't know already.

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man theres so many things that i would do differently when i start on my 29 gal. moving from a 10 gal to 29 gal.

 

1. ill get a canopy that air can flow thru. especially if you are planning on using power compacts. these lights produce so much heat.

 

2. dont put rocks too close to the sides or the front.

 

3. stop trying to keep tracks on the number of snails in the tank. youll go crazy trying.

 

4. dont go cheap with lights.

 

5. why buy corals from LFS. try to trade or buy frags from people. so much cheaper and better because youll get to see them grow yourself.

 

many more but too tired to list. gotta study for my exam tomorrow. i hate college.

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