24G Nano Cube DX Nano Reef Setup

[Riley]

okay, cool

Riley

 

[steelhealr]

Let me add another option which I will edit and add earlier to the mixing seawater area.
At the supermarket, you can buy the store brand container of steam distilled water for $2.25 for 2.5 gallons, priced here in NY. Here are some calculations if you do not want to foot the cost buying a filter to makeRO water:

--adding water to the 24 gallon cube will require 10 containers at a cost of $22.50
--a weekly 10% water change will cost you $2.25
--minimal water requirements for your 1st year will cost you $22.50 + $117.00 (52 x 2.25) =$139.50.

That already exceeds the price of a RO/DI unit. Just food for thought. For some people who don't wish to mess with this stuff, this may be an option. SH

 

[chkltcow]

Let me add another option which I will edit and add earlier to the mixing seawater area.
At the supermarket, you can buy the store brand container of steam distilled water for $2.25 for 2.5 gallons, priced here in NY. Here are some calculations if you do not want to foot the cost buying a filter to makeRO water:

--adding water to the 24 gallon cube will require 10 containers at a cost of $22.50
--a weekly 10% water change will cost you $2.25
--minimal water requirements for your 1st year will cost you $22.50 + $117.00 (52 x 2.25) =$139.50.

That already exceeds the price of a RO/DI unit. Just food for thought. For some people who don't wish to mess with this stuff, this may be an option. SH

Screw grocery stores, man. Most fish stores around here sell RO water. The one I go to most frequently sells RO water for $.29 a gal and pre-mixed 1.023SG saltater for $.89 a gal. That comes out to about $1.45 after tax for a 5 gallon container of RO water. For water changes, I get a thing of pre-mixed water from him so I don't have to mess with mixing it, and it's still under $1/gal. And finally.... water changes ain't weekly in the saltwater world

Check your LFS and ask how much they sell RO water for. Grocery stores charge for it like they're selling liquid gold.

 

[steelhealr]

Sorry chktlcow....standard over at nano-reef.com is weekly 10% water changes for a nano-tank. I'll choose to follow their guidelines for now. The smaller tanks don't have a skimmer and the changes help to remove some organics. But...thanks for the extra info on providing help to any new guys here on saving a few bucks on the water supply. SH

 

[Grey Legion]

I really think it best to have the gear you need at home to run and maintain your aquarium...why would you choose to buy water when you can make it yourself...makes no sence to me

I guess to each his own, but I would rather have it at hand then having to drive 25 min to my LFS across the city I might add just to buy water and have to lug it all home.. I guess I also factor the wacky price of gas here, less driving for me the better..

I like your idea SH make sure you post all your mixing results and lots of pics of when the LR comes !!!

 

[steelhealr]

Hi..I'm just responding to chktlcow's post above. I went to research his comment about water change frequency and here is the quote at nano-reef.com from the director of the forum:

The most important part of maintaining your nano reef is doing partial water changes. Water changes must be done religiously! You can do your partial water changes every week to every other week, depending on the bioload in your tank. If you decide to do them weekly, change out 10% of the tanks volume with freshly mixed saltwater. If you do them bi-weekly, then you will need to do a 15-20% water change.

I just want to remind people that this thread was started 'as a newbie, for newbies'. I take responsibility for my thread. If someone points out an error, I will research it and rectify it if true. This post is to help people, not to disburse bad information or be a 'know-it-all' (I can't be..this is my first reef tank). But REMEMBER:

1) Like all threads here, big numbers of posts don't mean big knowledge
2) Always read and research. There are many correct ways of doing things (and wrong ways too)
3) This thread was meant not only as a helpful guide for the 24G Nano Cube for new starters but was also to show stumbles and falls. Like others here, I post as I go.
Hopefully, LR goes up tonite. SH

 

[chkltcow]

You can change 16oz of water every day, if you really want to. On my 20g, I did about 3-4g once a month, and never had nitrates. The only instance that I EVER saw nitrates in my tank was when I went on vacation and my mother-in-law was feeding, and overfed the fish. A few days after I got back, even without a water change, nitrates were back to 0. Unless you are stressing and overloading your tank, I can't figure why weekly water changes will be necessary. Again, this is just my experience, and I've learned in the past few days that I'm not qualified to give any advice on anything, so please don't listen to me.

As for buying RO water vs. buying a RO unit.... I did the maths beforehand. By my calculations, for a decent RO unit (I'm not willing to buy from eBay) it would be about $150-200. For me to spend that much buying water from the LFS, I'd have to buy between 500 and 700 gallons of water. And, like I said, he sells pre-mixed saltwater, so it's one less thing I have to worry about when I do water changes. I don't have to fiddle with mixing it in a bucket and testing the SG.... I just make sure it's up to temperature and I'm done. One less thing to worry about is one less thing to screw up... and it's still under $1/gal.

 

[steelhealr]

Hi..duly noted. One note to be aware of ....make sure there isn't a large difference in the s.g. of the premixed compared to your tank. I"m sure that the premade stuff is probably pretty close.

One of the things one has to do...same as in FW, is adapt a method that works for you. SH

 

[sammydee]

It's not just nitrates that build up in a tank. Everything that goes in with the food/from the air/whatever will STAY in the tank until removed by water changes. So something like an air freshener spray might stay in the water until you change it...

IMHO better to keep unknown crap down by doing regular water changes than let something build up to potentially toxic levels.

 

[steelhealr]

Agree Sammydee. Thanks.My LR is sitting in the box downstairs.....SH

 

[parker313]

Hey! I was glad to read that you got enough R/O water made! What a relief.

Just to chime in, I also buy pre-made water at my lfs but only b/c my lfs is right around the corner, and also b/c I only have a 10g. If I had anything larger, I'd probably check out an R/O unit myself.

I can't wait to see some pics once you get everything in!

 

[steelhealr]

Ready to Rock (or my LR arrived)

Ok..well..as you can read from Parker 313's post, my sensei, I underestimated the amount of time I needed to make RO water but snuck in under the wire. I liked using the refractometer and feel more confident about it. I compared it with the plastic hydrometer and they were off by .003. However, both were in the 'safe zone'. So, my water parameters were:

pH 8.2
s.g. 1.024 , salinity 30
ammonia, nitrite, nitrate 0 (obviously)
Calcium 500 ppm
Alkalinity 3 meq/l

In summary, I ordered 20lbs of the premium LR, unured, nano package from premiumaquatics.com. They were very friendly, very professional, answered all my questions and shipped that day. Took exactly 48 hours to arrive. Here are some pix.
Sorry if the pix are boring, but, for any of you who never ordered live rock like me, here is how it arrived:

The shipment arrived with wet paper but no water. Didn't really have an odor.

As you can see below, my LR rubble was separately packaged. Notice the good red and green coralline algae.

I removed 1/3rd of the seawater, placed some of my live sand towards the back and then I tried to arrange the rock as an atoll, or C-shaped. It wasn't easy with the rock pieces and small tank size. I wish I spent more time as a kid doing building blocks. It wasn't easy trying to get the rock to lock...I may even try a rearrange. I then added live sand, leaving room for a bit more when the live sand from a live tank arrives (around 5lbs). After most of the dust cleared...and trust me it was pea soup, I turned the lights on to take a pic for the thread:

I have a cave on the right, a reasonable C (indentation in the front), an open hole in the top back, lots of crevices. I might adjust the rock on the left.

Here is another shot that shows good green coralline algae and directly below it, pink coralline algae:

So, time to cycle. Then we await a little algae growth, then it will be time for the 'cleanup crew'. I'll leave the lights off for now and let things settle. Supposedly, this thing can get quite rank. We'll see. And.....I'm not going to torture everyone with daily water parameters. SH

 

[canyoubelieveit]

Is stacking the LR the best thing to do? I have heard it creates dead spots...

 

[Grey Legion]

Your LR looks amazing !!!

please keep us posted on any hitchhikers you find...

 

[steelhealr]

To Canyou believe it....hi.....I'm not sure how else to put the necessary amount of LR into such a small space. I'll take closer pictures of it today since the water is clearing. Part of what you are saying is true....if you stack LR together tight like a puzzle, it eliminates areas of circulation and creates deadspace. On the other hand..if you spread it along the floor, there won't be room for sand which also provides a biologic substrate and home for certain invertebrates and fish. Stacking also creates nooks and crannies for fish to seek shelter/hide/reduce stress...gives interest and dimension. SH