Supplies needed

[Spiffyguy]

WEll my first tank is rapidly apporaching it's shipping date so it is about time I get my other supplies. The tank is a JBJ 24 gallon nano tank. The plan is to pull out the bio balls and such and replace with live rock rubble and a Micor whisper filter. So with that taken care of the tank itself seems to have all its supplies. so help me out with the other stuff I will need. So far I have:

1 Gloves, the nice coralife ones

2 a hydrometer/refractor. haven't decided which one yet

3 a few buckets from Home Depot

4 a vaccum sucky thing for water changes ans sucking out the junk

5 live sand about 20 lbs. i think that should be enough. if I need more no biggie

6 about 15-20 lbs of live rock from someone's sump. I may need more but I can get that too.

7 test kits. haven't really looked at these yet but the basic ones I can get anywhere.

8 net

9 turkey baster

10 i may need a heater. most of what I have read these tanks are fairly stable with out one. but I can get one if I find i need one. any idea on wattage?

11 Thermometer. is there really any secret to these or just any one? I heard the LCD ones aren't good.

12 a mag float algea thing

That is all i can think of right now. Let me know what other things you think I should pic up. Thanks

[pm_devin]

100w heater if you find you need one I would say yes, although the JBJ 24 have heat concerns. A ro/di unit if you don't want to go to the lfs every week to do your water changes, yes every week with nanos without without skimmers. I recommend not using just any test kits, the cheaper ones give false readings. You can't afford this with smaller tanks. Salifert has a good rep with their test kits. Depending on the livestock you may want to upgrade lighting and water movement in the future.

[45commando]

Some clear vinyl tubing for using as a siphon on water change days.Also you may want some super glue gel for attaching some coral frags to your live rock.Oh & you'll need plenty of patience & way more cash than you ever thought you would....Good luck.

[Spiffyguy]

I have some tubing I can use for water change. I have a cheezy Triop tank that my wife bought at toys-r-us. So I got some for that. I do water changes on that atleast 3 times a week but it is only about a half gallon lol. i will probably get another powerhead eventually. I know I will not need it in the first month or so, so I can hold off getting it right away. I think the plan would be to remove the existing pump and upgrade that, then take the original pump and make it a powerhead. but that is a whole different discussion.

add to the list
13 2 5 gallon gas tank container to hold water to and from the fish store.

[pm_devin]

Chris at nanocustoms.com does mods for jbj hoods, with added lighting and some other things as well. I plan on buying the new 2005 24DX with max lighting. I hear great comments on his work. we'll see. Good luck Spiffy,
Pat

Also you should visit the nano reef forum here at RC to get some more ideas.

[Spiffyguy]

yeah I don't plan on doing too much upgrading. maybe after it is up for a year or so. It comes with 2 50/50 bulbs and I may change those out but that is about it. What I am compiling is a list of all the peripheral stuff that I need to get. Stuff used to keep the tank running and that sort of stuff.

The stuff at nanocustoms is pretty cool too.

[Spiffyguy]

any other ideas on supplies I should get to get my tank up and running smooth?

[adickerson0]

It never hurts to have a few pre made bags of carbon on hand.

[Spiffyguy]

good idea I would not have thought of that one.