Back at it.... this time with a 12 gallon nano

M

mbingha

Guest
Well its been a few years since I've been in the saltwater hobby so in some respects I'm not a newbie, however its going to take a few weeks or so to get back into the swing of things. Back in highschool I had 3 tanks, a 12 gallon nano, 20 gallon QT, and a 55 gallon reef. I maintained them sucessfully for 2 years, then went to college and they took a turn for the worse (parents just fed them and turned the lights on and off
) Well now that I've graduated, gotten a job (so I can finally afford this expensive, yet rewarding, hobby) I decided to start my nano back up. So far its been running for a week with just saltwater/sand. I added 7 lbs. of live rock today, and hopefully the water quality will get better...
 
so far its sitting at
 
temp: 82
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: .25 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm
 
I'm going to continue to test it and wait for it to stabilize before I buy anything living. If it looks good next weekend I may get a few hermit crabs (since they are only 1.99 at the lfs). If not, I'll give it another week. I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can, there's a few pieces of interesting life on the rock(snails and polyps that the lfs didn't see), so hopefully they will make it through the cycle!
 
EDIT: Pics added! These pics are after the fist snails/crabs were put in to combat the first cycle of algae.
 
 
M

mbingha

Guest
ps. anyone thats used their nano as a reef tank, have you had to buy a chiller? it was 82 before the addition of a heater (heater is just in there, it hasn't come on yet). 82 seems a bit high to me?
 
section143

section143

Member
82 is a little high. What kind of light are you using and how many pumps? Chiller is overkill for a nano imo... you can get clip on fans from bidding sites that drop the temp... just make sure you buy american and not overseas or youll be doing some electrical splicing
 
M

mbingha

Guest
I changed pumps, I'll have to see how that works out, water feels cooler but I haven't had a chance to check temp yet. I think I'm through the first cycle...
 
Second day with live rock:
 
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: .50 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm
 
didn't test the third day, and then today I tested and the results were as follows:
 
pH: 7.8 (added some pH 8.2 so it should bring it back up)
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
 
Also there were some polyps on the live rock that closed up after the first day and didn't start to open back up until tonight. Looks promising! I may get some crabs to go in this weekend, if I do I'll update with pics
Feels good to be back in the hobby
 
M

mbingha

Guest
Well, I finally got a digital thermometer from coral life... confirmed what the cheap thermometer read... clocked just over 86 degrees 2 days ago, then back to 81 in the morning... I knew the PC lights were a major factor so I got a small fan to run right in the vent by the lights since the 2 stock fans don't do much... imediately lowered the temp to 83.
 
the next morning it was down to 80, so I left the air at 78 and the fan running with the lights and it pulled it down to 78.0 degrees. I'm thrilled that I don't have to buy a chiller, and I don't have to keep my lid open and have to top off the evaporation water every other day!
 
I put in 3 snails and a scarlet hermit crab. The snails have done great so far, pretty much clearing any algae in their path as soon as they go over it (margarita snail seems to be the best so far at clearing algae. also got a turbo snail and Nassarius snail) The hermet crab hasn't moved too much, maybe 2 inches since he's been in there, so I moved him from the crushed coral and put him on the live rock. Almost imediately he started picking up food and eating it, but he still isn't walking around much? maybe still acclimating?
 
edit: oh and ammonia, pH, nitrate, and nitrite have stayed the same (pH 8.0-8.2 and others 0 ppm)
 
hunt

hunt

Active Member
Did you acclimate the inverts, thaty might be why. Ive also noticed my hermits are more nocturnal. are those hidden cup corals i see?
 
M

mbingha

Guest
I did acclimate them, although I didn't have any air tube to do the drip acclimation. I placed the bag in the water, let the temperature equalize, then took a shot glass and added water from the tank to the bag, let it sit another 20 min, repeated, etc. Did this about 4 times. And I'm not sure what kind of coral that is, but since day 3 of it being in there, its done great. Really extends its arms once the lights are out! There are some clam/mussel/scallop looking filter feeders that died tho. Didn't realize they were even alive at all till I placed the live rock in the tank, then they opened and closed for a day or so, then opened up and died lol.
 
hunt

hunt

Active Member
Your inverts will prabably be fine. Do the corals have a hard skeleton under the tentacles? If not, they are some kind of anemone, if it does, it It looks like a hidden cup coral to me.
 
M

mbingha

Guest
It is definitely a type of coral. Each one has a hard skeleton underneath
 
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