New to the reefin world

For the cycle im just using live sand... scaping with my dry rock... filling with water... and letting it do its thing. Maybe a small pinch of flake food to get things moving. Quick question... is that biospira stuff worth anything? Seems BRS pushes it pretty hard.

Im not going to run a skimmer out the gate on this tank. Just small weekly water changes. If it becomes necessary, I have no qualms buying one... but im definitely going with this K.I.S.S. motto on this particular tank to see how it works out with just a natural filter system.

Test kits.. well im a huge fan of BRS tv on youtube... and from their videos im picking up the overall opinion that red sea has the best test kits.


As to the feeding needs of the corals, it almost sounds easier to get the tank through its initial cycle, add a fish, and in a few weeks or a month, look at adding a frag or two. Correct me if im wrong, but it seems like there is a symbiotic relationship between fish and corals that would make caring for one or the other easier if both existed in the tank.

Thanks for all the great advise! I appreciate the hell out of it

 

With fish you always carry the strong possibility of introducing disease to your tank unless you quarantine everything. In an established tank, a year or so old, no biggy usually in a new nano a fish wipe out.

Fish produce waste and you introduce waste when you feed them ( as you do when you feed corals) but far less when feeding corals. Corals need some DOC (dissolved organic compounds) in my opinion, those DOC come from introduction of food and the bi-products of metabolism of fish or inverts. Finding the right concentration to benefit corals and not compromise water quality at the same time is half the battle.

For a nano I introduce corals first let the tank continue to build up it's biological filter and then fish down the line. There are many ways to skin the same cat. Let the tank cycle before introduction.

With my current tank and past tanks, I used some cured live rock, some bottle bacteria ( I prefer Dr.Tims or Microbacter7) and I do small water changes. This works for me but results may vary.

Currently I have no fish but a good smattering of corals and my tank will be a month old on the 23rd. Do not rush things ( I have started, cycled a lot of nanos), fish do not need corals and corals do not need fish.

HTH