20g Nano

[cuticom]

Figured I'd start a new post to ask some of the more nano questions.

Anyway I have a spare 20g tank that has a yabby in it currently keeping it cycled in case I found a must have freshwater fish that I wanted LOL.

Anyway since I stripped the tank down a while ago it's just a barebottom tank with a couple of pieces of broken pot and a filter.

I'd love to convert it to Marine, its a very old Mirabello 70 thats been reasealed twice already. The filter and heater that came with it died a long time ago but since their wired to the tank I cant remove them so they just sit around looking junky.

First question skimmers, do I really need one? as I'm 15 and it seems like a lot to shell out when on a tank this size I could just do weekly/fortnightly water changes.

As for stocking I have a thing about supporting a trade that removes things from the wild, so its captive bred all the way for me. Can anyone tell me if these fish and inverts are captive bred?
Sixline wrasse
Green Chromis
Clownfish
Hermit Crab
Star fish

I want to do a fairly low stocked tank, a few inverts and a single fish.

Some other questions is it possible to do a Fish Only tank? If I used a deep sand bed would that be enough? as I looked into DIY liverock and thats pretty expensive and I can't find a supply of aquacultured live rock...

Right now this is all in theory but my equipment list so far is
10 x per hour power head 800l/ph $16
25w heater (I already have a 50w) $14
Marine Salt $25
Crushed Coral Sand 5kg for $20,
Hydrometer/Thermometer $5

Well that all comes to $80 and then I need some sort of filtration media and livestock.

Any other comments? my other idea is brackish so if marine starts looking to expensive I can still try brackish LOL.

 

[steelhealr]

FAQ's for starting a nano tank



Welcome aboard. Just a few quick answers.

No..you don't need a skimmer. 10% weekly water changes will do it for you.
Sixline wrasses needs space to swim...no 20G for it.
Clowns can be obtained tank bred.
Star fish (sea stars) will die of starvation in nano tank....I wouldn't put it in.
Deep sand beds do not function in a nano tank.
You can do a fish only tank but LR is the best filtration for marine animals in an aquarium.
I'd stay away from crushed coral and go with aragonite.

SH

 

[cuticom]

So if I don't use LR, what's used as filtration. As I said I wont buy LR thats been removed from the oceans, so if theres no other filtration method guess that's that dream bust.

We also don't have aragonite umm I can get this though...
http/www.theaquariumshop.com.au/shopexd....d+5kg+%283mm%29

According to that its a natural filtration medium...

Can you tell me anything about hermit crabs and snails, captive bred or wild caught?

 

[James B]

You can buy Aqua cultured LR. This means it has never even seen an ocean. this also rings true for corals etc if your prepared to pay a couple o quid more for stuff then you can get them . here is a link to some aqua cultured LR i hope this helps. James Clicky for LR

EDIT: that sand is fine but aragonite can be easily sourced over the net

 

[cuticom]

I'm in Australia out in the sticks, I can only get whats available online and aquaculture LR isn't available...

 

[James B]

if thats the case you can make it your self. it takes some time but what you can do is buy a small amount of lr say one or two kgs then some base rock which is just the rock part put it all in a tank and it will eventually seed it all then take the one or 2 kgs back to the ocean and no damage has been done because all you have essentially done is borrow some lr to aquaculture your own

 

[cuticom]

Except the LR you buy on shops is removed from reefs with explosives killing untold numbers of animals, and there's no way I can get hold of anything from our local beaches, none of them have reefs. I understand it sounds odd, but I don't eat meat am a vegan and do what ever I can to prevent animals being forced from their natural environment. Buying LR that supports a trade that is blowing reefs up isn't part of that.

What about the sand picked up from beaches? I have no idea about rules etc but surely you can just take a couple of buckets home...

 

[norite]

Except the LR you buy on shops is removed from reefs with explosives killing untold numbers of animals, and there's no way I can get hold of anything from our local beaches, none of them have reefs. I understand it sounds odd, but I don't eat meat am a vegan and do what ever I can to prevent animals being forced from their natural environment. Buying LR that supports a trade that is blowing reefs up isn't part of that.

What about the sand picked up from beaches? I have no idea about rules etc but surely you can just take a couple of buckets home...

What, ALL the LR? reputable LR is just rubble from long dead reefs, not actually taken from the reef itself. it can be done in a sustainable way.

but I don't eat meat am a vegan and do what ever I can to prevent animals being forced from their natural environment.

Not trying to be flippant here, but perhaps if that's the way you feel, maybe you shouldn't be keeping any fish in a captive environment? Go scuba diving and enjoy them in their natural element instead

What about the sand picked up from beaches? I have no idea about rules etc but surely you can just take a couple of buckets home...

You might find that the foreshore is actually owned by someone, (If not the Queen, then the local council, private owner, etc.) and just simly taking beach sand, pebbles, etc without permission is actually theft....same as if you walked into a farmers field and helped yourself to some of his/her topsoil.....

 

[SkiFletch]

Before I really get going here, lemme say that the sand you linked was fine. Anything labeled "coral sand" is an indicator that it is a calcium carbonate sand suitable for marine systems. The idea here is to get calcium carbonate stuff, not common silica playsand as the calcium carbonate will help buffer your tank longterm. Make sure you use sand though, not crushed coral as sand is way easier to maintain.


I too will chime in here on the LR front. Most LR is actually collected in two ways. First, from the natural rubble zones between the reef and shore. In the wild, storms, sea surge, and wave action break off portions of the reef and bring them in towards shore. This "rubble" lands in the shallow water (~30' deep). There it is collected by divers and eventually shipped to your door.

The second method for live rock collection is common in the States and many locales near fiji and is basically a man made verison of the first. An LR farmer begins by purchasing tons and tons of rubble from tropical construction sites. Many tropical islands and areas are actually built on coral reefs that have been dead for millenia. As an example, nearly the entire state of florida was once a coral reef. Major construction projects in areas like this unearth tons upon tons of rubble which is essentially live rock thats been buried for milennia. So a rock farmer purchases tons upon tons of this rubble, gets a permit, rents a barge, and dumps the rubble in the sand between the reef and shore. The rock stays there for a year or more gradually becoming established with life common to reefs and natural LR. It is then collected by divers and shipped to your door.

Still believe LR is created by people destroying reefs with dynamite? Think about it this way, which is easier and safer for a diver/collector? Drive a boat 10+ miles offshore to a remote location (far enough so nobody sees what you're illegally doing), go down 50' to a natural reef, lay charges of dynamite, surface, set off dynamite (hoping you dont die in the process), wait for the water to clear, dive again to 50' and collect the rubble, much of which will be un-usable. OR, Drive a boat 1-3 miles offshore, dive to 30 feet or less, collect rubble from natural or man-made rubble zones, all of which will be usable, and drive home. Which might be easier, safer, and prefferable?

Now that that's over with, I have no doubt that a true vegan still would not buy LR, and that's fine. Make your own out of concrete and aragonite/coral sand (like you linked before). 1 part cement, 4 parts sand, just enough water to make it wet (not slushy), and let it sit and cure for a month. Garf.org has some great tips and tutorials for making your own rocks and is also a great conservationist site. You'd probably enjoy it.

And lastly on hermits and snails, I can't speak for any Australian companies, but I do know that a business by the name of tampabay saltwater breeds cerith snails and zebra hermits in captivity here in the States. Perhaps someone does this in australia, but I would not know.

 

[cuticom]

Thanks, I dunno where I got the explosives from but would still rather skip it. Keeping animals in captivity is different, I'm careful to make sure I only ever get captive bred fish, a couple I have rent, but they were virtually dumped on my doorstep and I wasn't exactly going to flush them down the toilet.

Thanks for the info, still not sure whether I'll try Marine tho, a small cichlid tank'd be nice to, or brackish if I can find some nice aussie natives