hello once again! im very new when it comes to reef keeping (as in i have never had a reef before) and im probably going to have a few questions and such as i go along but heres a quick back story on how this came to be. (also i know its easier to start with a bigger tank especially when you are still learning but i just dont have the room for another big tank and my big planted tank will be converted to a reef in a couple years so this will be a starting point/learning curve for when that happens)

so i brought this tank a while ago and was planing to do a nano reef with it with the idea of keeping two clowns and a few corals i had seen quite a few people on the net using these tanks for nano reefs and after seeing one in the pet store down the road i couldn't say no. so in the mean time while i was researching and trawling forums on the best way to go about it i set it up as a fresh water tank with the idea to have a iwagimi style layout but after waiting and waiting for the substrate i wanted to use to come back into stock i got sick of it and moved the freshies into another tank and decided flag using it as fw and just go straight to the reef. so any way now thats out the way heres how it stands at the moment

today i went down the lfs and talked to craig (local guru) and was discussing my options with him as to what i need to get and what i want to achieve now im going to be upgrading the standard aqua one pl lights to led's but want to wait until the new fluval nano led kits are available in the country. also will be upgrading the power head to a ehiem compact 1000 and installing a tunze nanostream 6015 for extra flow. i am also contemplating a skimmer but after talking to craig he suggested i dont really need one on such a small tank as long as i keep up with the water changes.

so after around a hour in the lfs i ended up leaving with some live rock and some salt (and one pissed off girl friend since i took so long :slfg: ) to get the tank cycling while i acquire the rest of the stuff for it (pump, nano stream and leds) all the rock is in and the water is salty have been sitting watching it for the last half hour and have spotted 3 small snails (no idea what type they are) and heaps of little pink wormy things and one little tency wency star fish looking thing which has had me mesmerized haha

i will try to keep this updated as i go along and im shure ill have plenty questions for yall pics to come tomorrow schweeeet!

will upload some pics tomorrow and try to keep the post up dated as i go along.

just did first round of testing on tank results are as follows

salinity - 1.023

ph - 8.2

ammonia - 0.75ppm

nitrate - 0ppm

nitrite - 0ppm

do those sound about right?

also have been looking at led lighting options today and have narrowed it down to these 3 options what are you guys opinions on them

option 1 - haqos power cree 40w - cheapish from fish street only problem is they are out of stock and im not shure when they will have them back in but read a few reviews and they all seem positive.

price - $100 + shipping

link - http://www.fish-street.com/haqos_power_cree_40w_led_lighting?category_id=118

option 2 - fluval sea nano - not shure on price for these yet talked to craig at the lfs yesterday and he was saying they are in the country but wont be for sale for at least a couple weeks. i cant seem to find a hell of a lot of info on them but being fluval i think it should be good as they have never failed me b4

price - $no idea yet

link - http://blog.aquanerd.com/2012/10/fluval-marine-and-reef-performance-led.html

and finaly option 3 - key aquarium led lighting - also from fish street a bit more than i want to spend on a light tbh but it seems like a awsome light and all the reviews are awsome

price - 309.00 + shipping

link - http://www.fish-street.com/key_aquarium_led_lighting_us_version?category_id=118

let me know what you think will best suit i have seen quite a few of theses tanks online with the 1st light on them and they seem to be going great so at the moment thats what im thinking i will get but would love your opinions cheers!

also will post pics tonight

The Cree ones should be sufficient for your tank dude

cool good to hear i will have to find out when they will be back in stock they were wat i was swaying towards ither that or mabie 3 dymax zon NX5's but would prefer just the one light instead of 3 haha although i like the control you get with the key led lights would be nice to do sun rise - sunset type thing in the tank if posible oh i dont know! i think ill get the cree if its going to be back in stock shortly if not ill go for the key i think

Anyway heres some pics

View from the couch

Snail (id please?)

Another snail

It's turbo snail, excellent clean up crew and fast breeders. I started with six then lost a lot to a hungry wrasse but have re-populated and I have 1000+

oh cool. they seem pretty happy slithering around

today i brought a tunze 6015 for the tank and ordered a eheim compact 1000 so now all i need is the lighting :happy2: and possibly skimmer but im still not really sold on that yet.

got a new piece of rock on friday and rescaped a bit i think it looks much better now! also got a whole bunch more turbos and other critters that hitchhiked in on the new rock haha

also did tests last night

ph - 8.2

ammonia - 0.25

nitrate - 0

nitrite - 0

salinity 1.023

Did you add live rock? I am assuming so but in case you did not and do not know, each time you add rock that is 'dead' your cycling process will be put back.

Hi

If you have not already purchased your lights you may want to get in contact with a trader on trade me called valray. They have listed the Key LED lights. I bought the 80D freshwater model from them 4 months ago and it is a great unit. I think the guys name is Raymond and he is a member of FNZAS but do not know his details. He had the 80cm, 60cm and 40cm marine lights at one stage and was able to change the colour configuration of the led chips for me. Thats when I was thinking of starting a marine tank. Seems all too difficult to me at the moment so I will stay with my small 250L planted tank.

Good luck with your setup, I might brave the leap to marine one day.

Raymond sells as valray on TM and is a member if The Fishroom as lotofish. He is not a FNZAS member.

This is a reminder to people that being a member of this forum does not make you a member of the FNZAS. To be a FNZAS member you mist be a paid member of an affiliated club

Nice looking bit of rock! :thup:

fay on here has key lights over a large reef they appear to be working well for her perhaps she can tell you more about the lighting controls moonlight etc

Raymond sells as valray on TM and is a member if The Fishroom as lotofish. He is not a FNZAS member.

This is a reminder to people that being a member of this forum does not make you a member of the FNZAS. To be a FNZAS member you mist be a paid member of an affiliated club :

Nop not a member of FNZAS yet

I have a 40cm unit available with the Bridgelux LEDs that have the lens kit installed. Aslo has the night light with RGBP and remote.

Cheers

yes nice lights, trademe member 868028

watch your ammonia doesn't kill off your live rock

Did you add live rock? I am assuming so but in case you did not and do not know, each time you add rock that is 'dead' your cycling process will be put back.

yeah your right its all "live" rock in there.

as for the lights i have been talking to valray on trade me. and as much as i would love one the k3 pendant lights with all the adjustments they can do and that i just cant justify spending almost $600 on a light for the nano tank at the moment haha

as for the ammonia it seems like its already peaked and is now dropping? ill do another test tonight and see what its sitting at only problem is i have a api fw kit that im using to test untill i can get back out to the lfs to get proper salty test kits i know this is probably silly using them as they are for fw but its all i have to work with at the moment and seems to give results.

what test kits do you all reccomend i pick up on the next trip to the lfs? i was thinking ammonia,nitrate,nitrite, ph what others do i need? and which brand do you find is best?

thanks for all the help btw guys

:thup:

once again stopped off at the lfs today and picked up my eheim compact 1000 and yet another piece of live rock :slfg: also brought my sand im going to use (have not put it in yet and wont be for some time) so got home installed the pump and new rock then did a 20% water change also brought some superglue gel to glue the new rock in place and also used it to kill off some of the aptasia (basicly just dabbed it on them) anyway heres some pics of the new rock and a little mushroom that hitchiked in on it :thup:

mushroom

front view

from the left

from the right

another quick update going up to auckland/coromandel next week for a weeks holiday with the misses and while in auckland im planing to pick up my new nano k3 cree pendant from valray :thup: so anyway was at the lfs today and couldn't help my self and picked up my first coral frag :D apart from that the tests have been stable for the last week or so and as soon as the lfs can get some more peppermint shrimp in ill be getting one of them and plan on getting 1 or 2 blue leg hermits but until then once the lights are all sorted i plan on adding a new frag every two weeks or as the ones i want become available

heres a couple pics the new frag has been in the tank now for just under 2 hours and has started opening up again

added sand last night after work and had a bit of a shift around and am really happy with the results so think im going to leave it how it is now and try keep my hands out the tank so it can settle haha heres some pics

What is the tank?

And are you using fresh sea-water or making up your own?

What is the tank?

And are you using fresh sea-water or making up your own?

Ignore that first question, I just re-read the title.

hey there im currently making my own but i was wondering about the whole using fresh sea water thing would it be ok for me to transfer to using it later on down the track?

Looks good and i like the painting above it in this pic

Hi

How is the new light?

Love to see some pictures it working

Cheers

what type of fish are you wanting?

hey guys new light is absolutely awesome! makes the tank look so much better! just waiting for the camera to charge so i can get some decent photos the iphone just cant do it justice. seems like all the new corals are settling in so hopefully get some nice shots today.

as for stock im thinking of putting 1 or 2 peppermint shrimp in and 2 small percular clowns and mabie a blue legged hermit or 2. this tank is more of an experiment to see how i go b4 converting my 680ltr fw tank to marine early next year.

also if anyone around the wellington region has any small coral frags please get in contact with me im looking for zoos mainly want as many different colors as posible but im interested in any frags people have so let me know whats out there also shipping from out of wellington is fine so nz wide hit me up