Jade Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 I've been thinking about starting a nanoreef for the past year or two. I'm finally at a point where I can handle it - time wise and financially. Right now, I have a very basic idea as to what I'd like - but was hoping from some advice/input from you experienced folks. The tank will be an Eclipse 12 - it comes with a built in wet/dry filter, that moves 150 gallons per hour. The lighting is a 13 watt flourescent. For the time being, I really don't have intentions of having corals - although that may change down the road and I'd upgrade the lighting as necessary. However, if anyone has suggestions on easy to keep, low light requiring corals - I'm all ears. My goal is: 20-25 lbs of live sand approximately 20 lbs of live rock Bi-color pseudochromis or Royal Gramma Basslet 2 Red Legged Hermit Crabs 3-4 Turbo Snails 3-4 Astraea Snails I've heard mixed opinions on power heads being necessary - any input? I've read that it's something I can always add on later if needed. An Ebo-Jager heater is already here waiting, as is a specific gravity meter and testing kits. Does this set up sound reasonable? If you think things should be added/removed/changed, I'd love to hear your input. Link to comment
technoshaman Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Jade, I think Eclipses make great nanos. I have an eclipse 6 and a hex 5 I use in addition to my 18 gallon nano. As for the built in filter it's ok - some will tell you to remove the biowheel. This is not a bad idea - the mini sump part of the eclipse you don't have to use the cartridges for it you could just as easily use live rock rubble or cut some filter material to fit and place a small bag of carbon in there when you want to. The lighting would support mushrooms and maybe a few zooanthids. Mushrooms are great corals and are low maintenance and reproduce easily. You can always upgrade the lighting down the road and there are many kits you can buy for the eclipse hood if you decide to go that route later. I wouldn't start off with so many snails. Maybe 3 astrella and then a few sand stirring snails like nassarius or ceriths. Scarlet hermits are about the safest as far as bothering other animals but they are pretty lazy comparitively speaking. They are cute though but primarily active at night IME. For fish go with either the gramma or the pseudochromis. Grammas can be a little territorial, dottybacks are sheer hell on other fish in a small tank. Also consider possibly one small cleaner shrimp - probably a skunk but add him later. I like all shrimp but the other popular ones (CBS, Scarlet, Peppermint) all have issues to one degree or another. If you aren't set on a dottyback (I like them too just the atitude things has kept me away for now) consider a pair of false percs - highly entertaining. Also if you are keeping an eclipse 12 consider a yellow headed jawfish - these are a blast to watch the only drawback is making sort of a mess with sand but if not many corals then it's kosher. HTH -Mike Link to comment
vanessa Posted March 2, 2003 Share Posted March 2, 2003 I've got a 12 gal eclipse as well. It's great. The only problem I have is the hood doesn't allow you to have much in the way of accessories...I can barely fit a heater and powerhead in there with the filter the eclipse already has...I ended up removing the heater because I noticed it never came on because the water temp stays pretty constant no matter what. I do have a small powerhead which I think I would recommend...it gets the water circulating well. I have 2 snails and 3-4 blue-legged hermits. I've got a ton of bristle worms which came with my LR which actually eat the uneaten food and junk off the sand floor. Your set up sounds pretty good...you'll end up going back to the fish store though and buying more and more and more stuff for your tank because this hobby is addicting!!! I went from a small 2 gal eclipse to a 5 gal eclipse to a 10 gal glass tank to a 12 gal eclipse( I still have my 12 gal set up) to an 18 gal via aqua tank. My husband is going to kill me because we're building a house and now I want a large tank mounted in the wall. But as I tell him it's the only thing that relieves my stress from work and kids. So he can't complain. Good luck on your tank! Link to comment
caja Posted March 2, 2003 Share Posted March 2, 2003 If you do decide to upgrade your lighting, Custom Sea Life makes a Power Compact 2x32 retrofit that fits perfectly in the Eclipse hood. I just upgraded the lighitng in my Eclipse 6 hood with this and it was real easy. The directions come with the retrofit for installing it in the Eclipse hoods. After running my tank for two months with the factory installed flourescent, then changing to the retrofit, I was amazed at how different the tank looks with the proper lighting. I agree about the snails. Get a couple of nassarius snails to dig around in the snail bed. My turbo snail has to be the laziest snail in my tank. My nass. snails and my bumble bees do three times more work than that lazy turbo. Try to find yourself a micro powerhead. Mine is only about 2"x2" and it just looks better in the tank than the bigger models. Dave ESPI can hook youup with one of those if you can't find one. Good luck and happy nano-ing! Link to comment
Jade Posted March 2, 2003 Author Share Posted March 2, 2003 I was at my LFS today, and mentioned the upcoming nano to one of the fish guys. They sell strictly freshwater fish/supplies, and he told me of an online company that he himself has used in the past for live sand, live rock and a cleanup crew. He had nothing but great things to say about this company and the rock/sand/critters. The 10 gallon package runs $135 plus shipping. I figure adding an extra couple pounds of live sand should offset everything since it's a 12 gallon setup. The package comes with: 20lbs live rock 10lbs live sand 20 blue leg hermit crabs 5 Turbo snails 1 Tiger Tail Cucumber 1 Serpant or Brittle Star 1 Pistol Shrimp Based on a few "estimates" I've put together with other online companies, this is by far the best deal. They send you the live sand and part of your live rock, you call them up once your tank is cycled and they send the last of the rock and critters right out. My LFS guy is going to give me a few nassarius snails once I'm set up, and he is willing to take some of the turbos if I want him to. I haven't done enough research (money wise) to know what is and isn't a huge ripoff. This sounds like a really decent deal to me, and the LFS guy agrees (based on the research he's done) He has a 55 gallon reef that's absolutely stunning, so I have no reason not to trust him on this Link to comment
lostdog Posted March 3, 2003 Share Posted March 3, 2003 That would be Tampa Bay Saltwater that you are describing, and although I haven't ordered anything from them yet, they have a pretty good reputation for aquacultered live rock. Do a search for them in the forums to read people's experiences with them. I guess it is also common for bad hitchhikers (can you say Mantis Shrimp) to come along, so you just would want to be prepared for that. Link to comment
Integracer Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 I got a Bicolor Pseudochromis as the second fish to my first time nano-reef. It is colorfull and fun to watch dart at food, but is way to aggresive if more fish are added. My Pseudochromis has killed my cycling Damsel and 2 $28 cleaner shrimp. If you want any sort of crustacean the Pseudochromis is a NO-NO. You will also probably need more light on your tank, I have a 55 watt PC and a 13 watt florescent on my 10 gallon. Link to comment
zizmans Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 I was going to say you don't need 20-25 pounds of sand. 1/2 " is fine Link to comment
muz_yamosa Posted July 6, 2003 Share Posted July 6, 2003 Which Custom sealife light fits into the Eclipse 12g? We are also thinking of starting one in the eclipse 12g. Link to comment
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