New Nano advice

Hello all,

My first post on 3reef - Woooo!

Quick question: what is your protocol/policy on cross posting questions across different fourms? I wanted to check before doing something that may be frowned upon :-[

I had posted on another forum asking for advice/suggestions on getting my nano set-up up and running but, unfortunatey, have only received one repsonse so far. Granted, my intro was rather long winded and I asked a lot of questions so I'm sure that had something to do with it but I don't know for sure? That said, would you folks mind if I re-posted my intro and questions here?

Many thanks and looking forward to long and prosperous 3reef existence! ;D

 

welcome to 3reef. feel free to post you entro and all the questions you want. Im sure someone here will have the answers you need.

 

Many thanks!! Re-post Vol. I below:

Many years ago (10 to be exact) a change of jobs, a house move and the preparation for the birth of our second child unfortunately forced me into an early reef retirement! Well, after that ten year lay-off, I’m happy to announce that I’m finally getting back into this wonderful hobby with my 12 year old daughter.

Back in the day, I had a nice 90G reef stocked with mostly SPS's and clams. I had built my own calcium reactor, dual 250W MH hood set-up, 30g sump, and dual over flow tank. I still have the awesome plans for that cal reactor somewhere but don’t think I will be going through the expense or effort building another one for a nano. I used to know my stuff pretty well but after 10 years a lot of things change. Although I’ve been poring through the archives here and in other forums to get back up to speed I’m beginning to feel overwhelmed at how much I’ve forgotten and by how much new stuff I don’t know about. That said, I’m officially waving the white flag and reaching out to you fellow Coral Reefers for your expertise and advice (please excuse the Jimmy Buffett reference - I'm a huge fan!)

When I got out of the hobby, I sold EVERYTHING so I’m essentially starting off completely from scratch again. So with out further adieu here is the description of my current state of affairs followed by the laundry list of questions I’m asking for advice/help with.

We picked up an 14g Oceanic Biocube on 8/2 (almost two weeks ago) and proceeded to promptly stock it with some very overpriced LR and bagged LS purchased at the LFS to get it up and running the same day. Yes – in my haste to get things going stupid me paid $10.99/lb for about 15lbs of LR. Boy did that hurt but thank god it’s a nano and not a 90g. Anyway, we proceeded to mix up a batch SW using my tap (well) water which I also know is a no no but figured I could get away with it for now in the initial cycling period. I actually thought maybe the extra phosphates/minerals in the well water might jump start cycling a bit?? I’ll have to figure out the RO/DI thing for a nano down the road and that is actually one of my upcoming questions. The tank has been running for almost two weeks with this arrangement and I’m starting to see some brown algae developing on the sand and glass and on a couple of small places on the LR and I’ve been leaving the lights on for about 10-12 hours day. Seems like all is going well so far. Like I mentioned, I have a whole list of question I’d like to ask so in order to cut down on excess verbiage I figured it would make sense to list them below in bullet point form and go from there.

 

Re-post Vol. II:

1) Excluding any lighting or water flow mods what are the realistic coral containing capabilities of the 14g BC? Inverts, soft corals only? What types and how many would work well in there?

2) Fish – how many and recommendations? I’m thinking 2 maybe 3 very small at most. I loved my 6 line wrasse, royal G and yellow tang back in the day but I also love clowns and several others. These will a tough decisions once the tanks is ready for fish.

3) I bought and installed the skimmer made for the BC but from reading several opinions in the archives I’m starting to think weekly 15-20% water changes will work instead. Thoughts? If I should keep the skimmer, what is the proper air level adjustment? I can’t seem to get mine working properly.

4) Do you suggest any lighting or pump mods for the BC. I’ve read that replacing the stock pump with a Max 900 is a good idea. I would like to get some more intense lighting in there if I can make it work. 1- 24W 10K is PC and 1-Actinic PC is the stock lighting in the Biocube

5) I plan on adding nano Koralia for extra circulation. Good idea or should I go with something else?

6) Is a wave maker useful/needed for the BC?

7) How long should I have the main light (24W 10K) on for? The actinic I plan on turning on/off an hour before and after.

8) Is a controller good idea or overkill? I planned on getting a pH monitor but thought about getting a controller instead. I also need a heater and if I went with the controller I could get something that works with it.

9) If I don’t go with a controller, can you recommend a good heater for the BC?

10) Should I toss the bio-balls BC and replace with LR rubble?

11) Obviously not going to use a cal reactor so what are my choices for calcium supplements? Is kalkwasser a thing of the past? The LFS mentioned a calcium additive but I didn’t get into a detail discussion since I knew it would be a while before needed.

12) Test kits – which ones should I get and what brand? Not looking for laboratory quality

13) Cycling period. With the bagged LS and 15lbs of cured LR I bought how long should this take? I was thinking about a month but the LFS said it wouldn’t take that long. I’m in no hurry and was planning on at least a month anyway (hence the absence of any test kits yet!) but was curious to hear what experts had to say.

14) Brown algae. As mentioned, I’m starting to see this in the tank. I’m assuming it will turn green and then eventually go away as the silicates are consumed. Is this correct? Do I also have red/slime to look forward to as well or will I be spared if the water quality isn’t too bad?

15) Speaking of which, should I do any water changes during the cycling? I’ve read conflicting info on this. After cycling, I plan on a 50% change with hopefully RO/DI at that time. Sound good?

16) I have a small amount of hair algae on one of my LR’s. This normal?

17) Clean Up Crew – what, when, how many? I used to have Astrea’s, blue legged hermits, C banded’s and brittle stars and loved them. I know there are so many options and I’m at a loss at which direction to go. I would be happy going back to astrea’s and blue legs but will gladly listen to the experts advice on what kind, how many of each and when to start adding. Any online suggestions on where to pick these up would also be appreciated.

18) What do you Nano-er’s do for RO/DI supply? Do you bite the bullet for full blown 50 dal/day systems or buy it from your LFS. If you buy a system, what are your recommendations for manufacturer, model/size, and where to buy?

19) How do you adjust your pH levels?

Whew – well I think that’s enough for now. Thanks all in advance for you advice!

 

I think why most people won't answer your question is that your question will take at least one hour to reply.

Looking at the 19 questions, I don't even feel like answering.

Can you do it one by one?

 

Aye- You will get best results by breaking up your questions on the appropriate forum boards. No worries though - everyone has a lot of questions at first AND THANKS FOR JOINING 3reef!!

 

My replies are in GREEN.

Wow that chewed up my lunch hour lol. Good luck with this and welcome aboard.

 

5) I plan on adding nano Koralia for extra circulation. Good idea or should I go with something else?
6) Is a wave maker useful/needed for the BC?


EcoTech Marine VorTech MP10 - Plenty of movement, dont need 2 of them to make waves, way cheaper than buying 2 K nanos and a wavemaker, and they have a tiny in-tank footprint, aaaaaannnnd they just bloody rock. Mine is comming in a week

 

Agreed - i had a feeling it might be too much for one post but thought I would give it a shot. A couple of memers have been kind enought to post or send PM's directly answering the questions. I will post individually for items I still need help with.