10g Nano Journal

[OscarWilde]

First Marine Project

Hello all. I have been resisting the temptation to go marine for a long time now however I've fallen in love with Nano tanks so have decided to join the club.

I've been keeping Freshwater tropical fish for many years and currently have 3 established tanks but no experience keeping marine fish . I have the patience though and am here to learn. I hope you won't mind a few basic questions.

As it is my first marine tank I've already decided to go for a 'fish only with live rock' setup.

I would appreciate suggestions for suitable first time fish(s) though I do like Clown fish and hermit crabs.

What I have so far.

I picked up a second hand ViaAQUA VA380 Aquarium today for £20.

The tank measures 37.5cm x 25cm x 46cm which I make to be 43125 sq cm. After deducting the hood I make it a little over 10 US Gallons.
It comes with 400lph power head \filter and lighting built in to the hood.




I also have the following spares from my other tanks:

- 1 X 400lph power head
- 1 X 500lph power head
- Fluval 1 + and media
- Azoo galaxy clip on light
- Tons of pipework

What next?

I've been reading the advice in the pinned topics and have put together a provisional shopping/question list.

- 150W Heater
- Live rock (how much do I need?)
- Ocean sea salt (how much should I get and should I ask for a particular brand?)
- New test kit.
- Thermometer

Anything else I need?

Thanks in advance!

 

[nanocubeking]

YOu'll definetly need some new lighting if you want corals.
As for sea salts...if you can get tropic marin I'd get them.
Everything else looks fine to me.
What are your plans as for fish?

 

[OscarWilde]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I am not looking to get any Corals as want to keep it easy at this stage.

Will I need to add one of the other powerheads or will the built in be enough?
How much Live rock should I buy?
How do I know how much salt to add?

Cheers.

 

[nanocubeking]

I'd recommend 4.5 kg to 6.8 pounds. I would add an extra pump maybe 120-to 200 gph. I'm not sure on how much salt to add it should recommend the amount on the box of salt.

 

[tropicalwaters]

for the live rock you will need 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per gallon. so i would recommed about 13 pounds becuase the live rock is your primary filtration.

The salt bucket will tell you how much to add, mine stated about 1/4 per gallon. You will need a hydrometer or refractometer to test for the specific gravity ( how salty your water is) if you are going to keep only fish you can keep it at about 1.21 but if you are keeping corals 1.26 you will find what works for you. as for the powerheads if you are keeping only fish i would recommed atleadt 10X turnover, but for corals 20+X turnover. there are different packages sizes for salt from a little bag to a huge bucket.

again if you are only keeping fish you dont need to have RO water but i would treat it fr chlorine. if you plan on having corals ( you will) you will need to have distilled or buy an RO unit.

get a good test kit-one for saltwater

get some good books on keeping saltwater- there are some recomended here.

 

[OscarWilde]

Hi there.

Thanks for your advice so far.

I have spoke to my LFS and put together the following shopping list. Have I got everything and do you think the price is fair, particularly that of the Live rock?

Shopping List

- Cured Live Rock - £6.50 per pound (Is this agood price?)
- Redsea Hydrometer - £12.50
- 100W Heater - £12.00
- Salt - They have many sizes of a brand called 'Coral Life' - Is this any good?
- Full API Test kit £22.00
- Thermometer - £1.75

Also planning to buy a pack of disposable gloves after reading the Dangers of Owning a Nano Reef thread.

Many thanks.

 

[OscarWilde]

Bump bump

 

[CageUK]

Hi there.

Thanks for your advice so far.

I have spoke to my LFS and put together the following shopping list. Have I got everything and do you think the price is fair, particularly that of the Live rock?

Shopping List

- Cured Live Rock - £6.50 per pound (Is this agood price?)
- Redsea Hydrometer - £12.50
- 100W Heater - £12.00
- Salt - They have many sizes of a brand called 'Coral Life' - Is this any good?
- Full API Test kit £22.00
- Thermometer - £1.75

Also planning to buy a pack of disposable gloves after reading the Dangers of Owning a Nano Reef thread.

Many thanks.

If my maths is right your live rock seems a little expensive but not massively so. I paid about £11 per kilo and I know you can get it cheaper than that on the net. Uncured stuff is a bit cheaper but I would stick with the cured stuff.
If you haven't bought your hydrometer yet, save some extra money and definately get a refractometer instead. They are sooo much more accurate. I have two hydrometers and they both give different readings!
The heater sounds fine. Some makes are better than others but I wouldn't know which were best off hand. Some ppl recommend getting two heaters instead so you have redundancy but I've not gone down this road yet.
I'm not familiar with Coral Life...maybe a google will bring up some opinions. I use Tropic Marine Pro Reef and it's been fine for me.
Yes, a test kit is essential.

I would also recommend getting an electronic PH meter. I have this on one of my tanks and will buy another for my remaining one. Once callibrated it takes a lot of guess work out of checking your PH (hmmm is it that colour...or that one?) and you can see the trends of your PH changes through the daily cycle. You can normally pick them up for around a tenner on ebay.

Some Miliput (sp) would be handy as well, for when you are aquascaping and eventually adding corals.

I've also found that a turkey baster is invaluable for picking/hoovering up things and spot feeding. Not an essential but very useful for minimal cost.

Good luck in your venture.

 

[CageUK]

OH and another thing that I've just spotted from your photos. Most marine aquarists don't bother with conventional filter medium and get rid of their noodles and filter foam from their tanks.
It is generally recognised that these encourage nitrates if not kept clean, and this would just add to your work load so most don't bother with it. Your live rock should be all you need with maybe some polywool behind your inlet grill for the floating particles but again this must be kept clean.

Cheers

 

[OscarWilde]

Thanks very much for the information. Ok, here is my plan (and some more questions)

New Shopping List

- 13lb of Cured Live Rock
- Live Sand
- Refractometer
- Electronic PH meter
- 100W Heater
- Salt
- Full API Test kit
- Thermometer
- Turkey Baster
- Disposable gloves

Questions.

I will certainly remove the filter media but was also wondering about the position of my second powerhead once I get the Live Rock in there. Is direction of flow important? The built in is 400l/h and the spare one I have is 500l/h. By my maths that will give me around 25X Turnover. Will this be too strong? Also, wher edo you think I should position the second powerhead?



Water Parameters.

I have decided I would like to stock with some Ocellaris Clownfish and Hermit Crabs.

Taking that in to account and considering that I will not be keeping Corals, am I correct in thinking the parameters below are what I should be aiming for?

Temp: 27 Degrees
Am : 0
Nitrate : 0
Nitrite : 0
PH : ? (My tap water is 7.2)
Calcuim : ?
Salt : 1.025

Thanks again.

 

[CageUK]

Thanks very much for the information. Ok, here is my plan (and some more questions)

New Shopping List

- 13lb of Cured Live Rock
- Live Sand
- Refractometer
- Electronic PH meter
- 100W Heater
- Salt
- Full API Test kit
- Thermometer
- Turkey Baster
- Disposable gloves

Questions.

I will certainly remove the filter media but was also wondering about the position of my second powerhead once I get the Live Rock in there. Is direction of flow important? The built in is 400l/h and the spare one I have is 500l/h. By my maths that will give me around 25X Turnover. Will this be too strong? Also, wher edo you think I should position the second powerhead?



Water Parameters.

I have decided I would like to stock with some Ocellaris Clownfish and Hermit Crabs.

Taking that in to account and considering that I will not be keeping Corals, am I correct in thinking the parameters below are what I should be aiming for?

Temp: 27 Degrees
Am : 0
Nitrate : 0
Nitrite : 0
PH : ? (My tap water is 7.2)
Calcuim : ?
Salt : 1.025

Thanks again.

Re: your power head, the 25x turnover is fine but you will need to work out the best position for your powerhead after you have aquascaped. Try to get the live rock so it is not all crammed together and you have plenty of voids for good water circulation. Then simply trial and error to determine the best all over flow around the live rock. It becomes a little more problematic if you put soft corals that prefer low flow as this is difficult to acheive in nano tanks of this size, particularly if others you buy prefer a fast flow. It is always a good idea to try to get some surface turbulence to help with your PH stabilisation. In one of my tanks I have an airstone in my filter chamber as well as my powerhead in my main display.

When you buy your clowns I would get them small and be prepared to put them into your upgraded tank (that you will almost certainly get) when they get bigger
If I'm reading right, your tank will be around 10 USGalls which is quite small for these guys and some would say not to put them into this sized tank!
The hermits will be fine, and I've found the best ones for nano's are the blue knuckled hermits who seem to be the better natured of all the choices.

27 degrees is a little warm and I would suggest the aim for should be around 25 degrees. I'm normally running at 25.something degrees. The sea is cooler than the tropical rivers you are used to emulating.
Am, Nitrite and Nitrate are fine at those levels but you will probably struggle to keep Nitrates at zero to begin with. 10 or below is fine 5 or below is better. It is not as crucial with a fish only tank but you want to keep it down to keep the diatoms and algae away.
PH should be between 8.2 and 8.4. I believe that deep oceans have a PH of 8.2 and shallow reefs are around 8.3
Calcium isn't really an issue with FO tanks but in a reef tank it is normally kept around 420-425ppm
Specific gravity (salt) is fine at 1.025.

Fish only tanks are much more straight forward than reef tanks but you will almost certainly decide to go for corals at some stage, for no other reason than to liven up the dull looking live rock. As long as you keep to some of the favourite softies, they will not add to your workload a great deal. A quick search of the forums will show you what people are stocking in their nano's.

HTH

 

[OscarWilde]

Quick Update:

I've started buying some of the kit. Should be delivered in the next week or so:

Purchased

- Electronic PH meter
- 50W Heater
- API Saltwater Master Test kit
- Electronic Thermometer
- Disposable gloves

Still need

- 13lb of Cured Live Rock
- Live Sand
- Refractometer
- Salt

I have a line on some cheaper Live rock. Someone local was trying to sell 38Kg on eBay but it did not go. He's offered me £5 per kg + he has salt and sand.

 

[OscarWilde]

OK. Got my Refractometer now! Off to the LFS tomorrow to get some sand and salt.

Is there any particular sand I should get? Also, given the size of my tank how much do you think I will need?

Many thanks.

Wilde.

 

[plutosmate]

Oscar,

My tank is probably a little bigger than yours (no playground sounds being played) BUT......I bought Caribsea Arag-alive Bimini Pink 10lbs @ £10.60 a bag, this fils my tank up nicely.
Roughly 1inch in some places and 1/2 inch in others. I didn't want to have it level as it would look dull and boring.

P.