New to the NANOs..first attempt: Aqua Japan AJ45

[Grantlewis1983]

Hello all, just getting back into aquariums and such. Decided I wanted to do a Nano reef. Expensive and challenging I'm aware. Giving it a go. Any ideas or recommendations are welcome as I am new to reefing. Thanks!

 

Specs so far:

 

AJ45 Acrylic tank

Cobalt Neo-therm heater 50watt

Stock light fixture (led, unsure of light output it's all in Japanese)

Stock media, added bag of charcoal (removing media once all my live rock arrives)

Rio+ 600 or 800 return pump (can't remember)

Tunzi Mini pump 5024.04 for surface breakup and water flow (not pictured)

 

Coming soon:

 

AquaC Remora Nano Skimmer with MJ900 pump

20 pounds of Caribean live rock

Any suggestions, ideas?

[Urchinhead]

Pull the carbon. It is used to pull DOC's (dissolved organic compounds) out of the water and keep the water clear looking. Since you shouldn't have any DOC's in the water it's not doing anything for you.

 

Wait to setup the skimmer since you want the tank to cycle first and again it's for pulling DOC's out of the water so again not doing anything for you yet.

 

Check on the lights. If you want to have corals you need to make sure they are the right lights. That may be a planted tank light or just a light up the tank with nice color light.

 

See if you can convert one of the back chambers to a small refugium that will hold cheato or other large algae. It will help keep bad algae from growing.

[Grantlewis1983]

Yea, was gonna pull the media but had heard it's ok until tank cycles. Pull it anyway? Pull the ceramic media as well?

 

Yes I want to upgrade the light, it claims to be an 8watt LED, which isnt enough to be any good for corals.

 

If I remove the media there's a good open chamber that would hold the cheato, but I may need the space for the skimmer pump. Hadn't planned on doing a refugium but it's an option.

 

The two pieces of live rock are almost bleached white now. I expected die off but they are ghosts. That normal or is something wrong?

[ajmckay]

Tank looks nice.

 

I think you're on the right track, though as mentioned you'll probably need to look into a more powerful light for a reef tank. Speaking of which, what are the dimensions of the tank and what is your planned livestock (fish/corals)? That will have an impact on which light would be appropriate for you. The light you have looks nice but more for a fish-only tank.

 

As for your other equipment you seem pretty well on track.

[Grantlewis1983]

The tank dimensions are 45W X 28.5D X 30 H cm from what I could find online. I've been looking at starting with some very easy soft corals. I'm still researching and I have a long time before I will be adding anything. My rock I ordered won't arrive for at least another 2-3 weeks, plus the curing time, and time to stabilize the tank. I'm going VERY slow, since I still need some equipment i.e. Lights. Maybe some buttons and mushroom corals..simple stuff. Not set on anything for certain yet. Still doing my research. And thanks good tho know!

 

My past experience was a 55 fowlr tank that did well. Trying to unlearn the habits I learned from that system, and switching to the reef mindset.

I wanted an anemome but those are too much for the size of my tank. I think just one fish will be all I put in, rest is gonna be corals.

[Grantlewis1983]

Update on the tank. Got my remora skimmer, and test kit I ordered. Installed the skimmer to start the break in process. Tested the water here are the results:

 

Ammonia: 0

Ph: 8.0

Nitrite: 5.0ppm

Nitrate: 7-8.0ppm (was hard to read)

[ajmckay]

Lookin' good. I assume you're eventually going to raise the water level?

[Grantlewis1983]

Yes the water level is low because I have a shipment of Caribean live rock coming. Once I'm done aquascaping it I'll see where it's at and fill as needed.

[Grantlewis1983]

Live rock has arrived! I received many large flat pieces so it was challenging trying to arrange them to look natural. I may have to break the larger piece down to allow for more flexibility. Lights are off now, only on long enough to snap the photo.

 

I inspected each piece closely, didn't see anything bad hitchhiking so fingers crossed..did see lots of worms. They are hanging out of the rocks. From the reading I found they may be "peanut worms" and climb out during cycling to die..so hopefully not all of them die lol.

 

Now we wait and see how things go. Hopefully will cycle with no issues..

[ajmckay]

Pretty sweet looking rock - though I agree that main rock is too big. Not a bad idea to order more than you think you'll need as you did - gives you the opportunity to pick and choose what you use and have a sacrificial rock to break into rubble to fill gaps and such if that's what you want.

 

If you want more of the hitch hikers to live you could simply add some bottled bacteria like biospira or similar.

[Sk8n Reefer]

Live rock has arrived! I received many large flat pieces so it was challenging trying to arrange them to look natural. I may have to break the larger piece down to allow for more flexibility. Lights are off now, only on long enough to snap the photo.

I inspected each piece closely, didn't see anything bad hitchhiking so fingers crossed..did see lots of worms. They are hanging out of the rocks. From the reading I found they may be "peanut worms" and climb out during cycling to die..so hopefully not all of them die lol.

Now we wait and see how things go. Hopefully will cycle with no issues..

Cool, coming along. Ya, I think your right on breaking up the rock in to smaller pieces. You can always add some smaller pieces back in the filter area to open up the display. I keep a good amount in the filter of my Nuvo 16

[Grantlewis1983]

Yea I was thinking of maybe making some acrylic platforms or something to place the rock onto to create ledges, and to get more height without just stacking the rocks. Any ideas or ways to make some kind of framework?

 

EDIT: Did some reading on using acrylic rods and drilling hole. I may look into trying this to create a better looking stack.

[Grantlewis1983]

UPDATE: After adding live rock the ammonia has skyrocketed higher then my test kit can read lol. Well over 8.0 ppm. So this morning I did a 15-20% water change using NSW. PH is still hanging around 8.0, using a ph booster plus mineral combo how long does it take to see a change in Ph?