My new 30l Nano set up

[Smallreefer]

Hi all just thought I would post another update on my Nano...

Soo... good news it has completed cycling and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate have all been 0 for the past few days so today I decided to add a pair of small Clown fish (Percs I believe), they have settled in well and are very active.

I had also noticed the water was somewhat cloudy this morning and as far as I could tell it was an algae bloom so I completed a rather large water change and added a UV sterilizer (This was probably an overkill ) however it seems to be clearing up quickly now :bounce:

I am also thinking of slowly adding some corals and I currently have my eye on a very nice Torch coral at HFF, my question is would this be fine under my lighting (30w) and what sort of flow would you recommend for it? (Low, med, high?)

Cheers

-Dan

(PS: pics to follow soon )

[nativelover]

looking good

[Smallreefer]

Cheers,

Here are a few more pics that I took today (with my new Torch coral)!

Clowns:

Torch Coral (may not be fully open just yet as only added today):

One of my glass shrimp (acclimatized to warm water - these guys are great, highly recommend them)

Full tank pic:

(I must get around to removing the dimensions that are still written on the tank :roll: )

-Dan

[nativelover]

i am wanting to setup a small marine like you but how much does a setup like this cost ?

thanks

[ryanjury]

@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 :-?

lol I am sometimes guilty of not reading the whole thread too but here is the pricing he posted on the first page

I have been following this one closely too because I would love to do a tank like this one day as well. My only question is I thought that marine tanks took ages to cycle the live rock but this one went from filling to fish in less than a month, from previous reading most people would suggest this is far too fast so I am wondering what the story is there?

[nativelover]

i must be blind thanks haha

[Smallreefer]

I have been following this one closely too because I would love to do a tank like this one day as well. My only question is I thought that marine tanks took ages to cycle the live rock but this one went from filling to fish in less than a month, from previous reading most people would suggest this is far too fast so I am wondering what the story is there?

Hi, Generally the time it takes to cycles can vary quite a bit but is not normally longer then 1 month. I believe mine took approximately 3 weeks to complete however the only way to tell / monitor your progress is to test the water (I did this every day) for Ammonia and Nitrite as you should see your Ammonia spike after around the first week and then slowly go down as your Nitrite spikes which will then reduce and eventually should both read at 0 at which point you have completed your cycle. (This can be sped up by using live rock that has been in someone else's tank for some time)

The last thing you should test for initially is Nitrate however this is much less toxic then the others however the bacteria that are needed to break this down into nitrogen gas takes much longer to take hold therefore frequent water changes are the best option to reduce this early on. (Which is easy in a small nano tank)

-Dan

[suphew]

There are two cycles in a marine tank, the aerobic and anaerobic.

The first is the same as a fresh water tank, and take about the same time. Once completed it's safe to add fish.

Anaerobic bacteria convert the nitrate from the aerobic cycle to nitrogen gas. This cycle can take months to kick into gear and often take's a year to finish at which point a tank is considered "mature". During this time you get various algal blooms, and unless you have a way of removing the nitrate (skimmers, water changes, zeolites, and resins, etc) it's not a good environment for corals. Buying live rock short cuts this process and adding fish very slowly also lessens the impact.

[foamy]

Can i ask a question.. Is it compulsory to add RO/DI water?

[Smallreefer]

I wouldnt saying having you're own RO / DI unit is essenital (for a nano tank) as I am just using bottled water from the supermarket for all my top offs / water changes. (the 10l Pure Dew ones - these have been paseed through RO / DI + ozone ect)

- Dan

[ryanjury]

There are two cycles in a marine tank, the aerobic and anaerobic.

The first is the same as a fresh water tank, and take about the same time. Once completed it's safe to add fish.

Anaerobic bacteria convert the nitrate from the aerobic cycle to nitrogen gas. This cycle can take months to kick into gear and often take's a year to finish at which point a tank is considered "mature". During this time you get various algal blooms, and unless you have a way of removing the nitrate (skimmers, water changes, zeolites, and resins, etc) it's not a good environment for corals. Buying live rock short cuts this process and adding fish very slowly also lessens the impact.

Awesome thanks suphew that clears it up

[suphew]

Can i ask a question.. Is it compulsory to add RO/DI water?

When water evaporates from your tank it's the same process as distilling. The problem being that the pure water has evaporated leaving the impurities in your tank. If you add top up water with more impurities the levels of impurities slowly build up. This is a slow process which is why some people claim to have used tap water for ages and had no problems, but sooner or later the levels will build up enough to cause you problems.

As smallreefer says you can buy pure water from supermarkets and some LFS's sell RO/DI water which can be a good option if you only have a small setup. If you decide to get it from a supermarket make sure it's pure water and not spring or mineral water.

HTH

[foamy]

When you cycle the tank for the first time is it alright to use tap water with salt mix? and 20% water change weekly and Top up with RO/DI water after that? By doing this can save some money:) any comment? thx

[Smallreefer]

It should be ok however if at all possible I would use bottled / RO water just so you start with perfect water. If you do choose to use tap water you will likely notice more algae growth ect but this may not be too much of an issue.

PS: Also added an Orange plate coral yesterday and have recently added a few turbo snails as well... pics soon

(Also will be adding a chiller over the coming weeks as I can see my temp rises by around 2 degrees during the day atm)

-Dan

[Zev]

Marine fishkeeping is not a cheap hobby, cutting corners here and there may not appear to make much difference in the beginning, but start as you mean to continue - with the best you can afford, and hopefully you will avoid any problems later on.

[Smallreefer]

Hi all,

Just another update with more pics!

I recently got a new coral.. Orange plate:

Updated full tank pick at 1 month:

(Torch is closed up somewhat in this pick as the water change earlier annoyed him )

Now I need to work out what to put on the main piece of live rock as it looks a bit bare.. Any suggestions?

-Dan

[livingart]

Now I need to work out what to put on the main piece of live rock as it looks a bit bare.. Any suggestions?

perhaps a bit more time

[nativelover]

how do you attach corals to rocks?

[spoon]

some you can use super glue gel others are best attached using selleys aqua knead it or you can get more expensive reef epoxies that are purple coloured to look like coralline algae but give the aqua knead it time and it will get covered anyway

[Smallreefer]

Hi all,

I have just added a new nano chillier to my system to ensure the temp remains stable through the summer months, it also heats the water as well when needed which is great so I have taken my heater out for now as well.

Also my Torch coral is looking much better now and everything appears to be thriving. There is still a bit of hair algae that covers quite a bit of my rock but I’m doing my best to manually remove this with twice weekly water changes (siphoning it off) and running phosphate/silicate removers ect and I believe my Turbo snails are eating some of it as well so hopefully it doesn’t last much longer :-?

-Dan

(pics will follow soon )