Answers To The Nano Quiz

[steelhealr]

Nothing is written in stone. All answers are up for discussion.

1) The least desireable sandbed is the third choice, 4" deep. This would make it a DSB. Nano systems do not have the surface area for a DSB to function properly and effectively. They tend to be sites for anaerobic growth and can foul the water.

2) None of the above. You can put anything you want in your nano tank if you don't care if an animal starves or inverts it's guts and poisons your tank.

• semi-aggressive and aggressive means just that
• caution, can poison your tank..means...IT CAN
• sorry, sea stars starve in nano tanks
• mandarins are the most beautiful fish I've seen. Sorry..it needs a 100 gallon tank

3) S.G. is affected by temperature. Salinity is the amount of salt in water. This is fixed. However, as temperature changes, density changes and s.g. is effected by changes in density.

4) All macroalgaes can go sexual, some more than others. Caulerpa is the worst culprit. Chaeto and halimeda probably the least. Last answer is correct, all the above.

5) Third answer, galaxea. This coral has tremendous stinging potential with some of the longest sweepers. At a minimum of six inches plus, it would eliminate 12 inches of space in your tank.

6) First answer is the best. Many people make the error of 'coral plunking' or 'the need for reef'. Nano reefing is a hobby of being a water keeper. People start this hobby and then their eyes get too big. Unh unh. No can do. Adding fish adds ammonia, fish poop, fish food...ALL the stuff that corals hate....NITRATES. Most of us are better off developing our water skills first. Fish challenge water quality. If you want fish...add them first. Get your skills down. If your nitrates stay zero and your fish don't die....you're doin' OK.

7) Last question is correct. During the day, corals undergo photosynthesis. They take CO2 out of the water and give off oxygen. As this happens, the pH will tend to .......rise. At night, photosynthesis stops and the corals respire. They take up O2 and give off CO2. This is why pH in your tank can drop at night. By illuminating the refugium opposite the main tank, it can help to offset this process.

8) Second answer. There are very few people in our 'club' that need to do anything else to their tank except consistent water changes with an excellent sea salt. DO NOT DOSE YOUR TANK UNLESS YOU ARE MEASURING WHAT YOU ARE DOSING. DO NOT DOSE YOUR TANK WITH IODINE UNLESS YOU ARE TESTING FOR ALL THREE COMPONENTS OF IODINE. Never use spring water in your tank..it contains minerals including phosphate. Avoid using baking soda. Use calcium supplements to maintain your Ca2/buffering system (brief answer)

9) Trick question...First and third are good answers with the third being the best. Water changes......JUST DO IT!

Did you pass? LOLOLOL

Keeping you on your toes.

SH

 

[Donya]

Caulerpa is the worst culprit.

Feather Caulerpa (more species than just taxifloia I think?) being the worst of those. As Caulerpa species go those are more fragile. I've never been able to make razor Caulerpa go sexual though...tried stressing it in a bucket a few times to see what range of conditions would provoke it but it seems to just resorb its chlorophill into the stems until the stress goes away, while others will spore pretty consistently with swings in sg or certain types of physical damage.

Never use spring water in your tank..

Or any bottled/distilled/etc. water that hasn't been tested for kH and whatnot. Learned that one the hard way.

9) Trick question...

Oh you meanie! I knew there was something fishy with that one.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oh i didn't do too bad with those, few i wasn't sure on but got most of them OK

 

[andywg]

I feel, for the sake of being factually correct, that the madorin recommendation needs qualifying.

To live in a reef and survive on a colony of pods alone that are growing in the tank then a 100 gallon tank is recommended for a mandarin.

However, if you have a supply of pods and/or have one that will take frozen foods then that can be drastically reduced.

While I appreciate the efforts to deter people from purchasing a dragonet without fully understanding its feeding requirements, I think the marine side of this forum is starting to give out common advice without really looking into it.

For example, if anyone mentions an external filter the instant response will be "nitrate factory" without thinking about how that will happen or why.

 

[steelhealr]

andywg...I agree 100% with you. However, after monitoring the 'nano community' for several years, especially those with mandarins, the survival rate is rather paltry. I won't deny that an experienced nano reefer can fully design and maintain a 'pod factory' to keep a mandarin alive. However, for the majority of people in our section, starvation is highly likely. I"m not sure that even I could keep one alive.

Same goes with sea cucumbers and stars. Yeah...you could put them in and keep 'em alive for awhile. You're rolling the dice tho'. You see...we forget that 20 gallons of water can't handle inverted cuke guts....and if you don't catch the star when it dies..it disintergrates quickly. These tanks nuke quickly.

This comes down to that book I love and the phrase which is SO TRUE: conscientious marine aquarist.

JMO.

SH

 

[andywg]

I fully agree on the sea stars as they are well known for dying after 6 months to a year regardless.

However the dietry habits of the others on the list are better understood now and phyoplankton will keep the cuc and the scallop alive and well (according to Ronald Shimek who spends his time researching marine inverts for their suitability to captive life).

I am all for pointing out how difficult it is to keep things (especially pointing out how cucs can nuke any tank if they die and the problems with the diets of certain animals) but I don't like the blanket "You can't do this" comment which is repeated all too often by members of the board, especially in a thread for the answers to a quiz (where one would expect exact and full information to be displayed, rather than stating no one should keep it just because most are unable to).

I would far rather this forum gives the entirety of the information (including caveats about the extreme problems one might experience) rather than posting slightly misleading statements.

I do not feel that being conscientious prevents us from stating these facts.

 

[steelhealr]

but I don't like the blanket "You can't do this" comment

I don't believe I said this exactly. SH

 

[andywg]

but I don't like the blanket "You can't do this" comment

I don't believe I said this exactly. SH

Nope, but the way you phrased the answer to number 2 is as close as one can get without crossing over

But that sentance was not just aimed at you, but the general line of threads on these boards. If someone mentions they want to use a cannister filter what is one of the first three responses?: "They are a nitrate trap" Some things are starting to get ingrained into the people on this forum and they are repeating advice as gospel truths without fully understanding the reasoning behind the advice.

And I strongly stand by my statement:

I would far rather this forum gives the entirety of the information (including caveats about the extreme problems one might experience) rather than posting slightly misleading statements.

I do not feel that being conscientious prevents us from stating these facts.

 

[atmmachine816]

Never use spring water in your tank..

Or any bottled/distilled/etc. water that hasn't been tested for kH and whatnot. Learned that one the hard way.

Do you know if Giant Eagle distilled water is ok?

 

[Donya]

Do you know if Giant Eagle distilled water is ok?

It's not a matter of brand unfortunately. It's an issue of which batch of bottles you get. I used a local brand of distilled water for a long time with no troubles, then my tank's kH was suddenly through the roof and I had pH trouble. I had a couple bottles that had a kH reading on them...not all bottles did, but it was unreliable enough that I switched to using RO from an LFS that I trust more than the distilled water companies.