Starting a Nano tank! - Page 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 

 

Nutrients is what we need to remove from our tanks (Nitrate and Phosphate)

 

If you solely rely on water changes, buy a decent quality salt. Tropic Marin, Seachem Reef, Aqua Vitro, all good salts. They have the extra calcium and alkalinity and trace elements a reef tank needs to thrive.

 

Hah... well you know what I mean...

good point mentioning the salt!! I forgot to mention that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwaternoobie 

woah my bad on posting that link i was thinking that might be an issue... anyways im sure it is 8 gallons but i will look into the possibility of upgrading lighting now if i can i should get these T5HO? will these be powerful enough to affect temperatures? I'm also wondering if i need a chilling fan... it never gets that hot in my house. also i am planning on getting a single powerhead that is meant for biocubes should i? i just want some nice small corals and also am wondering what a good anemone would be as i've read that the sexy shrimp will most likely host it..

The lights are fine. You don't need to worry about temps getting too hot or too cold, just stable and constant. Buy a small digital thermometer and keep an eye on it.

I personally wouldn't put an anemone in anything less than 55g.

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelerjp98 

Hah... well you know what I mean...

 

good point mentioning the salt!! I forgot to mention that!

 

I know what you mean, the OP doesn't. It's better to educate now, then uneducate later.

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwaternoobie 

oh haha i mixed those up! but yes i have read in many places that an anemone can only be added to a mature tank no problems there i can be patient and will definitely dedicate much more time to researching them. the bicube actually comes with cooling fans which is pretty cool im just hoping they aren't loud bout i don't care if they are anyways will the powerhead bother the shrimp? or will i just need to intelligently place it so it does not do so... also is it possible to add soft corals to a newly cycled tank or is that risky swell...

Well, any corals shouldn't be added for a while.. first it is live rock, then a base cuc (clean up crew- like snails, crabs etc), then fish/other inverts, then coral.. which is probably 3 months down the road from when the live rock is put in at first.

An anemone does require a mature tank, but I'm just tellin' yah that you may get one and it probably won't survive long term. But, then again, there's only one way to find out...

Powerheads shouldn't be a problem for any fish, shrimp etc. as long as they are happy and healthy. You should have a minimum of 20-30x your tanks volume in flow. For your tank, 240g of flow is perfect. A small koralia nano 240 would be good for your size tank. 

No, a tank, any tank, should be at least 3 months old before adding corals. Some German tanks talk about a year old tank being a baby. To us it's a mature tank. lol. 3 months!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwaternoobie 

ok so no to instant ocean?? thats what i use for my brackish but clearly the a nano reef requires a lot more attention to detail.. i will not get an anemone then at all if you wouldn't recommend anything under a 55g thats a huge difference in size... doesn't bother me that i wont have one so no worries there, now what are the your opinions on possible soft corals? will the lighting still be acceptable? im not trying to get ahead of myself i just want to have this forum as a reference for the future.. 

Instant Ocean Reef Crystals is ok. Tropic Marin, Aqua Vitro or another good quality salt will be better. Nano reefs need a lower salinity - like 1.023, so that evaporation doesn't cause salinity to rise too quickly. You'll have to top off the tank every day to keep salinity constant, especially in such a small tank.

You need some hardy soft corals. I recommend xenia, anthelia, zoanthids, protopalythoa and mushrooms for starters. With barely adequate lighting, these corals still do well. Maybe you should look into a PAR38 bulb to spotlight your tank with LEDs? lol. Now I'm getting complicated. anyway, There are a lot of people who have had success with PAR38 bulbs. They're about $80 for a decent one with 80 degree optics, and you can screw it into almost any standard light socket.

10# live sand is plenty.

It's easier to add your live sand and rock to the tank first, then add your saltwater on top of it. That way you know what your aquascape is before you add water. 

oh, and testing daily isn't needed, really. It's better to start the tank and then wait a week and test, then test every 5 days till the parameters get right. No water changes are necessary during the cycle. It's a good practice though to do a small water change when your ammonia spikes. You do know to add a small piece of shrimp to the tank to jump start the cycle...

A very small piece of raw shrimp would the the best choice. Another option is ghost feeding the tank every day with as much food as you would feed one small fish. That would get your cycle going well and help bacteria build up so that your tank will become safe for fish.