10g (us) Nano Diary (fowlr)

Hello everyone! I started up a nano fowlr today as a present to myself for recently reaching 22 years of age (not a hard feat in the burbs'). Anywho, lets begin!

Equipment:

Sand (not live)
Maxi-Jet 600 Powerhead (160gph)
Salt
Sponge media on bottom of powerhead to help bacteria flourish
Hydrometer (cheap- refract on the way in the mail soon)

All for $60 USD. The tank was $10.


I mixed the salt in with the dechlorinated water and poured it in the tank and juiced up the powerhead. I let it run for 6 hours (SG at 1.02) and then returned to my LFS.

I purchased 4lbs. of cured live rock and a 3-stripe damsel (on loan for cycling purposes) and returned home and began setting everything up.

$26 USD

Here's what she looks like 5 minutes after releasing the damsel. (cell phone picture, sorry)



I am going to either order the rest of my live rock online, as my LFS had a very limited supply, or have them special order me some (more expensive).

Total cost to get it up and running (though not completely satisfied with everything) = $96 USD

Anyways.. next comes my compact lights (coming thurs/fri), heater, and more rocks!

take the damsel back pronto!!! Live rock will cycle your tank, DONT ADD ANYTHING LIVE EXCEPT LIVE ROCK

i think you have too much sand btw

I was under the impression that if the rock was cured, there would be no cycle. Guess not then?

Also, I agree with the sand. I'm going to scoop some out when I aquascape with more rock.

You need to cycle the tank and wait till all parameters are 0 before adding fish.

Even though the fish may survive the cycling process, it is very cruel on the fish and is not recommended especially as it is not necessary!

With the marine hobby you have to be patient otherwise you will cause unforseeable damage to your livestock in the future so take your time especially when setting up!

Also get yourself some reading material as well as check out this site thouroughly along with others to help gain as much knowledge about the hobby as possible

And finally, GOOD LUCK with it all

Well, take the rock out, and smell it. If it doesnt smell like its dead, its cured. If its cured, you can add fish immediately, but make sure all of the rocks are cured.

Edit: Oh yeah, you should remove that sponge from the bottom of your filter out once you put any more fish in there. I believe that will be a nitrate factory once the tanks starts up. All the filtration you need occurs within the liverock, so you dont need anything but flow. I think you need a few more pounds of rock for your tank. You can buy uncured if its cheaper, but you will have to take the fish out before you put that stuff in and wait until it doesnt smell dead and your water chemistry is okay, then do a water change and add fish. If you have cured, just dump it right in

Day 2:

The tank was cold last night so I set off this morning to go grab a heater. I took the 3 Striped Damsel back with me and they took him off my hands. While I was there I also grabbed some more rock. Not all of it is live, unfortunately, but 5 out of 8 are. I now have roughtly 10lbs. of rock in the tank. The cured rock has a unique stink to it.



I removed some of the sand as well. There is a passageway underneath all of the rock that I think, as soon as it's cycled, will be trafficked with joy by a green clown goby or two.

Edit:

How is my powerhead position? Is it too low/high? The surface tension on the water isn't very ripply but you can tell there is a strong current.

Looking good so far, it should cycle within a few weeks because you already have bits of cured live rock. Dont forget to remove the sponge in the future(unless you plan on cleaning it out every few days) and remember to do a water change before you add any fish. Goodluck

How exactly would the sponge become a nitrate factory? Not that I'm opposed to removing it, as it was the LFS's idea and not mine (also, free).

mechanical filtration IMO is the best filtration you can have in saltwater tanks. The problem is they get so clogged with junk that the constant flow through the junk is causing bacteria to convert ammonia to nitrate faster than bacteria can convert nitrate to nitrogen gas or plants using it for growth. So i would recommend cleaning it every day (not weekly). I mechanically filter my tank and the filter gets so clogged up with junk, i clean it every day.

Musho3210 said:

mechanical filtration IMO is the best filtration you can have in saltwater tanks. The problem is they get so clogged with junk that the constant flow through the junk is causing bacteria to convert ammonia to nitrate faster than bacteria can convert nitrate to nitrogen gas or plants using it for growth.

Click to expand...

That is like 30% true. You forgot about the nitrite to nitrate. Its not about how fast ammonia is being converted into nitrite and how fast nitrite is being converted to nitrate, because you want that to happen as quickly as possible(which you already know from the brackish post). The main reason why they are called nitrate factories is because they just trap poo and they don't have ANY bacteria that converts nitrate to nitrogen gas. As long as you clean it out once every 2-3 days, it should be fine though. Just dont buy bioballs, they are useless if you have enough live rock, and you do have enough.

Ah ok that makes sense, thanks.



Day 3

Today the tank looks desolate. I'm hoping my PC lights come in today. I've just been swapping out my Coralife 28w freshwater lights every 12 hours from my other small tank to give it some light.

Water readings are as follows:

pH: ~8.0
Ammonia: .50
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Temp: 76 F
SG: 1.021

I'm noticing that I'm not getting water movement around all my rocks, is this alright? I'm assuming that a calm spot or two won't do any harm but I want to ensure a proper environment to grow. Also, my powerheads position is again a concern of mine. Consult the picture from Day 2, as it has not changed, and let me know if the angle of the nozzle is fine. I want to make sure I have enough surface disruption but not too much.

Well, a maxi 600 is not much at all on a 10g tank... You should be looking to get at least 200gph, and more like 300gph. Also remember, those foam inlet strainers kill the flow on maxijets.

SkiFletch said:

Well, a maxi 600 is not much at all on a 10g tank... You should be looking to get at least 200gph, and more like 300gph. Also remember, those foam inlet strainers kill the flow on maxijets.

Click to expand...

It is around the minimum amount of flow that you would accept in the tank, so I agree that it is not enough. I picked up a Millenium 2000 Power Filter today as well as 2.2lbs of live rock and 1 lb of live rock rubble. I placed the big pieces in the tank and placed the rubble in the filter where the carbon goes. I'm not really trying to make a refugium out of the filter or anything, just continuing with my rock-only filter plan. So here's a question: Does live rock need light to stay alive? With the miniscule amount of light that escapes through my tank into the clear but tinted power filter be enough to keep it alive? Should I just put the carbon flter in and put the rubble in the tank?

The Millenium 200 is another 160gph so that plus the Maji-Jet 600 (160gph) I've got a total of 320gph which should be quite sufficient. I also got rid of the sponge on the powerhead. I read that they are good if you have anemoees tho

Updated pictures to come later tonight.

Pictures thumbnailed because of their size ***

Here she is with her new scape. The Tonga rocks that I bought today are on top and all the way to the right. I could only get 2 as they were $12/lb. They're the white ones.


Above here you can see a bit of red coral that came with my live rock rubble. It's right in the middle in the small gap, in the shadows a bit. The glowing white piece on the top is covered in lovely red, green, and yellow algae as well as holes and crevices. (thumbnailed because the hosting says its too large)


A shot of the left side of the tank. The rocks forming an awning on the right have a great lot of purple and green algae.


Angled shot


Some worm action


The tunnel on the right side. Tonga rock on the left there. The other 2 are base rock.


The Millennium 2000 filter with the live rock in the bottom instead of carbon and such.

so wat fish are you thinking of getting for this tank also are u going to have any corals

jakeroberts said:

so wat fish are you thinking of getting for this tank also are u going to have any corals

Click to expand...

Its fowlr, that means no coral