New to Nano's. Need some advice

gcres84 · #1 12/28/2007, 04:31 PM

So here's my story:

I was living in my parents basement in Georgia while I finished up college. I had a great 55g set up which I loved. Fish, inverts, a few pieces of coral. It was my first foray into this crazy world of SW aquariums. I had it going really well for about a year. When I graduated I moved to Los Angeles, and as you can imagine had to downsize quite a bit. No room for 55g, no room for much at all, and sadly my hobby/obsession was put to the back seat. My mother agreed to care for the 55g because she, like everyone else, grew to love the aquarium

Jump forward 7 months to today, when I have come home for the holidays. I find that my corals are all dead, algae covers everything, and the salinity level is off the charts. I half expected this, but over the past week I have been working to get the tank back to it's good condition, thus reigniting the desire.

Now as a prepare to return to the world of Hollywood after New Years, I am determined to get a nano reef up and going at my new home. Unfortunately, I know very little about the nano world, and will be reading this forum extensively to prepare.

My aim with this post is to get some advice for before I purchase anything. I am looking to see what all I will need to set up and then maintain a quality nano reef, everything. I work way too many hours, so I don't think I will have the time to do anything extensive such as drilling or plumbing, perhaps one of those all in one's would be a good start, something where I could make minor modifications to optimize if I had to.

So here's the deal. I have between $600-1000 to get going. Because of space, probably 8-12gallons would be as big as I could get.

What's the best I could do with what I have to work with?

Thanks all, you guys rock.

I also plan to be posting pictures and detail the process for you all to see.

Illuminati · #2 12/28/2007, 04:57 PM

An All In One would be perfect. The stock hood really helps to keep the evaporation down making it easier to maintain. Really all you have to do is feed the fish, scrape the glass weekly, top off maybe twice a week at the most and do weekly water changes.

Look into Nanocubes or Aquapods. I would suggest Biocubes but there are numerous stories about the ballasts going out in them.

cerreta · #3 12/28/2007, 05:29 PM

If you can go bigger, the Solana is a great system. It is a stand alone system. The only change I would make to that system is the lamp. Upgrade to a Phoenix 14k.

I have had lots of practice with keeping reef tanks. My success with predominately stony coral nano reefs have been best when cared for in a very simple approach.

Equipment: All-in-One system or
Tank with Internal Skimmer (I use the Tunze Nano pak), and a single 150 or 250 watt DE MH light system with Phoenix 14K lamp. Do not use an external sump if you can avoid it.

Here is a simple recipe for a successful stony coral nano reef

If you keep hard corals you will need to monitor alkalinity and Calcium for levels of 10dKH and >450 respectively. Check theses values weekly once tank is established. Since these are the only two kits you really need to have, buy reliable kits; I prefer Salifert.

If you can maintain a stable alkalinity and calcium, than you will almost certainly have success with Nanos. I have found that no other water chemistry parameter is more important than these two measurements. Furthermore, if you can maintain these values then your reef will be stable and you will not need to test for pH, PO4, Nitrtate, O2, etc. Save your money and don't buy these test kits. Just take your water to the LFS for the first 60 days of break in if you have problems. Again, you should not see any problems with other water chemistry if you can hold these alkalinity and calcium values.

Perform 15-20% weekly water changes. This removes most proteins and wastes not handled by the skimmer.

To maintain Alkalinity and Calcium I prefer Oceans Blend Two Part supplement. This is the best advice I can give anyone! Do not trust the label directions for dosing. You will need to find your own dosing requirements based on your coral consumption. All tanks are stocked differently and there is no magic formula for dosing. How much you dose the tank depends on how much the corals are consuming. The only way to accurately determine dosing requirements for YOUR reef is to test your water and input the results into a chemistry calculator. The calculator will tell you how much to dose. However, you need to continue weekly tests and adjust your dosing as needed.

This is the problem many people have with keeping a nano reefs, and most people are unaware of the cause for their lack of success. Here is an example to illustrate the problem with trusting dosing recommendations: I have a 15 gallon nano. The directions of Ocean’s Blend recommends dosing 3cc of each part once a day. I currently dose 21cc per day of each part. The needs of your tank are determined by your corals. I have a heavy stocked nano and the corals are very greedy.

I will post a link to the calculator later today.

gsusfreak · #4 12/28/2007, 06:41 PM

i agree with cerreta, get the solana.....its in your price range......and yes, its bigger than you plan....but a 8-12 gal cant hold much livestock ...most people want more than a clown

gcres84 · #5 12/30/2007, 01:50 PM

thanks for the advice,

I looked into the solana, that definitely would be the best option. I will have to do some measuring when I get back, I don't have high hopes though it would be great.

gcres84 · #6 01/03/2008, 06:49 PM

Ok, I'm finally back to LA, I have measured the area I have to for the nano, and unfortunately the solana is just a little too big, which sucks.

I'm looking at the 24g Aquapod now as that is as large as I can go. Any suggestions about this? Also, would getting current's fission nano skimmer to go along with it be worth it?

Can't wait to get started. Thx for the help

gsusfreak · #7 01/03/2008, 08:58 PM

how much space you got?.....you might be better off getting a standard tank, instead of an AIO tank.....a 20gal tank is only $30 around here....and you would have the rest of the $$$ to spend on some quality equipment

nanO352 · #8 01/03/2008, 09:05 PM

Personally I would suggest a 24g Nanocube(just because I own one). But by a 150 watt Hqi metal halide. Best choice is a Sunpod because it is sturdier and has the Lunar Lights but that is my personal choice. But if you are looking a Twelve gallon try and aquapod or nanocube with a K-2 viper 70 watt.

gcres84 · #9 01/03/2008, 09:44 PM

I don't have that much space, which is why I was looking to go for an all in one set up to maximize space.

I am looking at the 24g aquapod because it has the 150 watt metal halides already built in plus lunar lights.

I'm sure that I am way over thinking all of this. But let me ask.

If you had let's say, $750 to get nothing larger than a 24g, what would you spend in order to go form having nothing to having a tank up and running?

thin crust · #10 01/03/2008, 10:09 PM

Which ever tank you end up getting, I would highly suggest getting a controller such as a ReefKeeper 2 or a AC Jr.. It's by far the best piece of equipment I've purchased for this hobby. An ATO is also a neccesity, imo.

FishFace28 · #11 01/04/2008, 12:21 AM

gcres84,

I have the 24gal Aquapod, and I really like it. It's my first attempt at a SW tank, and so far it's been great. I haven't made any modifications to it (mostly because I have no idea where I would need to start on mods). It's been easy to care for and only takes up minimum space. I would highly recommend it.

gsusfreak · #12 01/04/2008, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by gcres84
I don't have that much space, which is why I was looking to go for an all in one set up to maximize space.

I am looking at the 24g aquapod because it has the 150 watt metal halides already built in plus lunar lights.

I'm sure that I am way over thinking all of this. But let me ask.

If you had let's say, $750 to get nothing larger than a 24g, what would you spend in order to go form having nothing to having a tank up and running?

is there a reason that you want MHs? yes its great to have sps corals, but they will always look like frags in small tanks....most people who have nano's tend to stay with softies, zoas, shrooms.....and MHs arent needed for that purpose

gcres84 · #13 01/04/2008, 02:46 PM

Well, I am fairly new to corals.

I had a reef tank where I used to live, 55g, with 29g sump, I had power compacts on there and I had started getting into corals before I left, Mostly softies and LPS.

I'd like to have the option to try any coral a shot, at the very least to get more experienced so when I have the resources I will be able to create a really great reef tank.

I'm getting the tank, stand, and rock tomorrow. I'll be taking pictures to document along the way.

Do you think that I would be able to fit an AquaC nano skimmer in there, if I could do if that would be best, I'll know more once I have the tank, just wanted to see if anyone knows if it will fit.

gsusfreak · #14 01/04/2008, 08:50 PM

i dont know much about the AC nano skimmer, but if you do a WC every week or so....you wont really need a skimmer

cant wait to see your setup

gcres84 · #15 01/04/2008, 09:46 PM

So I went ahead and bought everything to get the tank up and running.

I went with a 24g nanocube
30lbs live rock
20lbs live sand
I'm retro fitting the hood to accommodate a tunze nano skimmer (I wasn't so sure about this, but my LFS has a nano reef running a tunze skimmer that is just amazing, and since I was buying so much already, they agreed to throw it in for half off)

Getting things ready tonight for set up tomorrow morning, will have pics posted tomorrow

gcres84 · #16 01/05/2008, 05:52 PM

Some pictures of the new tank. Cloudy.

[IMG] http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/145951tank1.JPG[/IMG]

bohannbj · #17 01/05/2008, 07:21 PM

I like it. I suggest that you cut some plexi to cover the back slits. This will allow you to get overflow skimming and improve the water quality.

gcres84 · #18 01/06/2008, 02:25 PM

More pictures. Tank isn't as cloudy anymore.

[IMG] http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...5951tank_5.JPG[/IMG]

[IMG] http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/145951tank4.JPG[/IMG]

Here is the tank with the lunar lights on

[IMG] http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...1tanknight.JPG[/IMG]

Here is my rigged sump in the back, added a Tunze nano skimmer.

[IMG] http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/145951sump.JPG[/IMG]