week old nano

[sinful]

have a total of about 15lbs of LR and 15lbs of sand(guessing). no livestock yet, I bought the rock cured(kinda) but it still needed to cycle. So I'm just waiting it out now before I add any kind of livestock. Do ya'll think this is to much rock? I wanted alot but think I might have gotten to much. I'm mainly just wanting inverts in it. goby/shrimp pair is a must, and I was also thinking maybe a pair of perc's( might not have enough room though). As for corals...I dont plain on any yet, maybe later down the road and first would be a frogspawn.

I took out all the bioballs from chamber 2 and added a bunch of LR rubble, I read that was better than the balls, everyone agree? anything else ya'll recommend? 14 biocube. Also, I filled all chambers up about a 1/4 inch from the top so I could get more water volume. it's only holding about 10 gallons after all the rock and sand.


http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/Mattsworld/nano.jpg

[ProAccordV6]

looks like a nice start. I bet it will look sweet once coraline grows and you start gettin some corals. But i must ask, why no corals till later on?

As for if its too much rock? I dont think so...i have 17lbs of figi. I think yours looks fine and i've seen people with more. I do not know of any bad effects from too much LR. It sounds like you have things under control. Just be paitent. I wouldnt add any fish or shrimp for another 4 weeks or so and only do so if your water parameters are ready.

[steph30]

Looks good. I don't think there's such a thing as too much live rock, but it's all personal preference in the end. How long has your tank been running? Never mind (I just saw it...a week)

Stephanie

[Agu]

I think the branch rock looks like an after thought and would remove it if it was my tank.


Sorry................... jmo,

[Spartan9576]

I would put the branch on the bottom and fiji on top, to allow for more flow. The least amount of rock touching the substrate the better.



Spartan

[sinful]

its cool, I did decide I wanted the branch a couple days after. But, hopefully after a couple months it will all blend together. Thanks for your opinion

[fishfanatic06]

I would keep one of the branches and have it sticking out of the rockwork. Then i would grow some type of incrusting coral on it. Personally, I just think it looks like the branches just fell on there. It just looks a little sloppy. Hopefully if everything goes as planned the corals will make it look better. Otherwise it looks good!
Good Luck!
Nanos are fun!

[wea747]

Yeah I don't like the branchs, looks unproportional, and out of place.

[sinful]

thanks for all the comments guys. I moved the rock around a little bit. I understand what ya'll are saying about the branch looking out of place, but I want the tank to be different than every other nano I see posted. *everyone* has the same rockwork, and it gets quite boring following the pack. I think once the rock gets cycled and starts groing algae it will look alot better, afterall...it is only a week old.

as for corals. I'm not planning corals for it for some time b/c I really do not have the time to devote to keeping a reef. I'm a full time student maxed out on hrs/semester and can't afford to put the effort or money intoa reef at this time. Which is part of the reason I wanted the branch so it looked somewhat interesting and not just boring rock.

Isn't there something you can treat the water with that will help grow the purple algae? anyone know what its called? Thanks again for all the comments, keep them comming. And if you have any suggestions on moving around the current rockwork please share, as long as it involves keeping all the rock. I can't afford to just take out rock I spent $7 a lb on =P

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/Mattsworld/nano2.jpg

[sinful]

I had an idea and rearranged the rock 1 last time.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/Mattsworld/nano3.jpg



the next step would be to break the long branch in the middle into two seperate pieces. I * might * do that later on

[TXKev]

I think the stuff you are refering to is called Purple Up. It is supposed to help Coraline grow. One more suggestion for you on your rock. You might want to pull the rockwork away from the glass a bit. With the rock so close it will be very hard to keep the glass clean.

Good luck,
Kevin

[sinful]

man I just can't get happy with the rockwork. I'm almost mad I bought it. This is basically the last attempt to get it to look decent. I took a hammer to most of the branch..lol. O'well, tell me what you think. I took it away from the glass aswell...I should be able to clean the sides alot easier now. Let me know if you have anymore suggestions please

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/Mattsworld/nano4.jpg

[wea747]

Much, much better!

[TXKev]

Looks much better. Now you just need some zoo's covering some of that branch.

Kevin

[rkelman]

I like the branch rock.. I think once it matures it will blend nicely. I like the last pic....

[AdriftQuasar]

Your final attempt turned out very well. Be sure to post update pic later on.

[fishfanatic06]

Excellent!

[Agu]

Looks much better. Now as advised, get some encrusting coral on those branches and it'll be fantastic. Zoanthids, green star polyps, or encrusting gorgonian and those branches will be the centerpiece of your tank.


:thumbsup:

[sinful]

would love to, seems my levels have went off the roof now after adding the branch rock though


ammonia 0
nitrite 2.0
nitrate 80


we'll see how it goes, hopefully I can find a submersible light for my 2nd chamber so I can get some chaeto in there. I'm not going to peel the paint off.

[Dr.FuManchu]

Last pic looks much better. This tank is looking good. Keep us posted.

[macperry]

Nice work...i like the latest version of rock placement. You definitely want to leave enough room on all sides of the glass to get a mag-float through....unless you plan to have coraline cover some of the side glass. I have had my 12g nano for 9 months, and have been through every configuration of filtration known to man. So many choices for those 4 little compartments... I will tell you what has finally worked the best for me in terms of stable water parameters.....stable being the most important factor in keeping your inhabitants alive. Number 1 chamber (from left to right)....PolyFilter....best stuff money can buy. Second and third chambers....nothing but water. Fourth chamber.....upgraded pump from stock to maxijet 900...dropped right in...much better flow now. Also equally important is to do at least one 20% water change per week. This routine has yielded a very stable environment for my livestock. Good luck...and keep the pics and questions coming.

[sinful]

alot of the rock is up against the back wall though, I'm planning on letting the algae grow back there though. That shouldn't be a problem right? And one last thing. I moved a little more around, again! I'm done now though! Would ya'll suggest I block off the lower intake so it starts surface skimming or is having the lower intake usefull?

I plan on buying a submersible pond light from home depot this weekend that will fit in chamber 2 to try and make it a fuge. btw, I only have 3 chambers.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/Mattsworld/nano5.jpg