Smallreefer Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Hi all, Some of you may remember me from a few years ago as I used to have a smallish reef tank (80l) but I gave it up due to school / time commitments however I am now back and looking forward to setting up this small nano tank. I also hope that others that are considering settings something similar to this up may learn from my experiences as my tank progresses as I will be constantly updating this thread. Equipment list- Aquarium: I have chosen a 30l aquarium with curved edges as my aquarium of choice and I have also painted the back of it black to contrast the bright white of the sand / fish (once they are added). Filtration: As for filtration I have opted not to use a Protein Skimmer mainly due to the size of the tank and the ease of regular water changes. I have however currently got 1 un branded hang on filter (500lph) which will mainly be used for chemical filtration and I am considering adding a second one for increased water flow and further space for chemical filtration media (Carbon mainly). Lighting and heating: At first when I was trying to select the right size tank to see lighting looked like it was going to be a challenge however as the tank I selected is 450mm long this opened up a few more options for me and in the end I opted for an Aqua One double fluorescent lighting system which delivers a total of 30W (2x15W) which is perfect for my 30l of water (1 White, 1 Actinic). In regards to heating I have a small Aqua One 55W heater hidden behind the large piece of rock which worked out well. Contents: I have added 2kgs of (once) live rock and decided to use a thin layer of Aragonite as the substrate for its bright white appearance. As this tank was set up today (20/10) I will need to wait at least 2-4 weeks before adding anything further however I would be interested in purchasing a snail or 2 within the next couple of weeks if anyone has any they do not need . Aqua Scaping: With water and lighting: Once it has cycled my plans are to add a few easy to care for yet vibrant Soft Corals and I am also hoping this will be able to support 2 Clown fish + a Cleaner Shrimp of some sort however I would appreciate comments on what you believe this tank could sustain bio load wise with frequent water changes. Also as I do not have an RO unit I will be doing all of my water changes with bottled water from the supermarket which as far as I can tell should be fine. I will do my best to keep this thread constantly updated with new pictures and please ask if you have any questions regarding my set up or and feedback as to what I could improve ect - Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danilada Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted October 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 Thanks, now the waiting game begins.... :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 perhaps only one clown and a shrimp its a pretty small tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 I have a friend with 2 black clowns living in a fluval edge tank (23 liters) it's been running for quite a while now and doesn't seem to be having any issues. No skimmer, but also no sand so nice and easy to clean out. He's also replaced the lights with LED's and added a pump for water movement. Regarding your lighting, it's probably okay for soft corals, but you can't really count the blue light for your 1 watt per liter rule, if it was me I think I would run two white lights and DIY some blue led's into the reflector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted October 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 Yea fair comment on the lighting... I will probably only be looking at keeping soft corals to begin with however I will definitely look into LED lighting further down the track. It’s also good to hear that my hope of having 2 clown fish is definitely doable I’m also looking at adding a power head to help better circulate the water... does anyone have any suggestions for a tank of this size and what output would be considered about right? (I will head up to HFF over the weekend and check out what they have on offer) -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 Rule of thumb for water flow is MINIMUM 20 x tank volume, so you would be looking at a pump of 600lph+ it's not uncommon to go 100 x the display volume. You want a nice wide flow. You could even think about connecting some pipe work to a pump and dividing the flow up round the tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted October 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 Ok thanks for the advice... I will find something suitable tomorrow. Also my tank is still very cloudy (more so that it was when I first set it up) is this just being caused by all the dead organisms ect within the un cured rock leeching out as it smells a little as well so I don’t believe it is the sand? -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted October 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Hi all, Just a quick update on my tank, I decided to do around a 95% water change in the hope of removing what ever was making my water so cloudy (wasnt the sand) which seems to have done the trick for now as it also gave me the chance to clean the sand properly as well as the live rock which I should have done before I filled it up last time around :oops: Much better I was also up at HFF today and purchased a new Aqua Clear 50 hang on filter which is rated at 800lph as well as a Via Aqua 400-600lph power head for extra water circulation which appear to be creating a nice level of water movement. (45x tank volume per hour) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Leaving the bio media and sponges in there may not be a good idea. However this type of filter is good for holding stuff like phosphate removers and as you have found, good for surface movement, which seems to help get rid of the surface scum that seems to accumulate in saltwater tanks that have no surface agitation. Canisters, hang on filters, trickle filters, and other highly aerated filtration types used in fresh water tanks, should NOT BE USED in marine tanks for biological filtration, although they can be used to hold carbon or similar. The reason is that nitrate reducing bacteria cannot function in a highly aerated environment, and use of these filters will result in a build up of nitrate to levels that are harmful to many reef dwelling creatures. In a marine tank use liverock to house the bacteria. Deep within the pores of the rock, where there is less oxygen, the nitrate eating bacteria can do their job and keep nitrate levels low. retrieved from: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/index.php?PG=marinearticle01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brennos Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Awesome. Whats your cost at so far? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisP Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Looking good so far. (Haven't read rest of thread just looked at photos), but... I would get my hands on some smaller pieces of rock, or coral or whatever it is, and place it around the base. It just makes it look more natural as it just stands out a bit much as it is. Just a thought. :lol: Good luck, hope all goes well with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted October 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 @dennisisawesome Yea I agree that there needs to be a little more rock scattered around to make things look less man made... I am going to try to get a small amount from an existing tank if I can to help speed up the cycle / seed the tank with good bacteria. @ Brennos I’m not 100% sure exactly how much it has cost however I put together a small list below with the main items but there were plenty of extras I had to get as I did not have much gear left over from when I last had my tank. Tank - $55.00 HOB Aqua Clear 50 filter - $90.00 Lighting - $100.00 Aqua One Heater - $25.00 Via Aqua power head - $23.00 Substrate - $6.00 (1 bag) Rock - $20.00 (unsure exactly how much this was, 2kgs) So far that list comes to around $300 or so however if you then include test kits, salt, extra heater for water changes... this quickly goes up :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted October 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Hi all, Just another quick update... I decided to take dennisisawesome's advice and added a couple more pieces of Coral rock to outside edges which looks good. I managed to get these pieces from HFF's sumps so they are live which should seed my existing piece and hopefully speed up the cycle as well Also on a side note what brand of heaters are the most accurate / popular as I’m finding that my Aqua One (yes I know it’s cheap ) isn’t really keeping the temperate that precise and its varying a bit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 jager are known to be the best another problem however you mite find as we get in to summer is that your tank overheats having an open top like you do will help- as evaporation slightly cools the water fans mite be needed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Ok, thanks for the advice I may need to grab one of those. I am also wondering about my lighting again as I am unsure whether 30 watts (1 x 15w white, 1 x 15w Actinic) will be enough lighting to keep most soft corals ect. I do have a 150W Metal Halide unit but I feel this may a bit of an overkill, especially with the heat it produces? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollergirl Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 Ok, thanks for the advice I may need to grab one of those. I am also wondering about my lighting again as I am unsure whether 30 watts (1 x 15w white, 1 x 15w Actinic) will be enough lighting to keep most soft corals ect. I do have a 150W Metal Halide unit but I feel this may a bit of an overkill, especially with the heat it produces? Hi smallreefer, I haven't posted in a while but just lurking on the forums thought I would reply to this as I have *some* experience with saltwater nanos... In my first marine tank which was 500mm deep I used just one of the lights you are using with the same bulbs and (shock horror! ) managed to keep quite a few soft corals and believe it or not even montipora and hydnophora sps corals which actually seemed to do really well. I did later upgrade to a 150w halide but for your size tank that is probably overkill as you say. You could start with keeping mushrooms and zoas etc and see how you go- could either stick another Aqua One double tube on, or try to DIY some leds into the hood. Forgot to check out your location, but if you're in Auckland, Lamp Specialists in Hillside Road on the Shore can help with heaps of lighting stuff and would no doubt be able to sort out wiring in an led setup for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted October 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Hi rollergirl, Cheers for the advice and I am glad to hear that I will hopefully be able to keep most corals under my current lighting and will likely upgrade to another one of my current lighting hoods if needed. I have also always been interested in LED lighting as I believe that it is the way of the future, will have to have a look around to see what’s out there Also just a quick update on my nano.. I have started using TLC instant cycle which claims to be able to cycle a new tank almost instantly, I will take that claim with a grain of salt (no pun intended ) and keep monitoring my parameters to ascertain when it is safe to begin adding stock as I know nothing good happens fast with a reef tank (http://bit.ly/coy0OJ - Link to the product if you are interested) Also diatoms have started growing over my rocks and it is slowly trying to populate my sand bed as well so it looks like everything is progressing nicely atm.. (It is actually allot lighter than it looks ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 I tried the smart start in my tropical tank and it didn't work as directed. I'd be interested to see if it works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 I would move the small rocks closer to the middle, having them that close to the edges makes cleaning the glass harder, especially if you use a magnet cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted November 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 Hi all, Just another update on my Nano.... I have recently added 2 Glass Shrimp from my local beach / rock pools to provide some life while the tank finishes cycling and these little guys appear to be doing great and will let me hand feed them ect and are generally quite active however I think they are still a little shy.. Also I was wanting to know from anyone that has Glass Shrimp whether these would get on okay with Cleaner / Fire Shrimp as I plan to have 1 of these as well at a later date and would like to keep my Glassies too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollergirl Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 They may do, or they might just make a tasty lunch 8) Might depend on the size of the cleaner shrimp you put in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zayne Posted November 5, 2010 Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Very nice so far!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted November 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Cheers, I think my tank should be fully cycled in the next weekish roughly as my nitrites are spiking and my ammonia is slowly coming down so hopefully it won’t be too much longer before I can cautiously start adding live stock. I am also wanting people opinions on a DIY fuge I have in mind that I see a lot of nano reefers doing with Aqua clear HOB filters (this type of thing http://www.reefmonkey.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=2222) however I am not sure how effective it would be and if it would be worthwhile on my tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscnz Posted November 6, 2010 Report Share Posted November 6, 2010 I was looking at a similar set up for my tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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