Back To Basics....refresher For All

[steelhealr]

Hi...after seeing some various posts here, I thought it might be good to post a few nano reef basic tenets. Now...anyone can push the envelope or deviate from recommendations and 'get away with it'. However, to avoid the following threads:

• "Help, my corals are dying"
• "My nitrates are 40 and my fish are dying"

...here are some recommendations that are easy to follow and may save you some money:

1. Patience is the key. There is no such thing as an instant reef after cycling
2. Try and add your LR all at once. If you add later, BE SURE IT IS COMPLETELY CYCLED. Otherwise, wait until you can buy ALL your LR
3. Beauty comes slowly. Disaster comes quickly.. GO SLOW. TAKE YOUR TIME.
4. READ, read, read. Plan. Research anything and everything before you add it to your tank
5. There is no BETTER substitute for RO/DI water. Choose wisely padawan.
6. Fish first, corals second. Fish mean fish food, poop and NITRATES. Get a handle on this BEFORE ADDING YOUR CORALS! Corals do NOT like nitrates.
7. After your tank cycles, 25% water change followed by weekly 10% water changes. DO NOT ADD LIVESTOCK until you bring your nitrates down to about 10 or under. Some hardier cleanup crew MAY be added if the tank starts to get dirty. Use your judgment.
8. Additions should be put in ONE AT A TIME, ESPECIALLY FISH (some corals excepted). Non-aggressive fish first followed by aggressive last
9. Changes in specific gravity should be made slowly. Acclimate carefully. Fish weren't made to go from 1.018 (fish store) to 1.026 in 30'
10. Check your compatibilities, between fish AND KNOW YOUR CORALS' DEFENSE MECHANISMS
11. Sorry, but, anemones don't belong in a nano tank
12. Resist the urge to overstock; try to be a conscientious aquarist: sorry, clownfish should NOT be in 7G nano tanks
13. Refractometers are recommended
14. If 99% of aquarists CANNOT keep a starfish, mandarin or flame scallop in a nano, resist the urge of feeling that 'this is your time'

Feel free to add more. I could go on and on. Happy nano'ing. SH

 

[gigmeyer]

Excellent list! I'd add shopping for an LFS you trust and make sure they hold new arrivals until they appear healthy and are eating. If it's not too far away, see if they will hold livestock for you to insure they are healthy. I know some good stores are swarmed on livestock delivery day, so it may be difficult to do. Even good stores can have bad days, so be careful!

 

[steelhealr]

Some marine LFS's will hold the fish for you if you ask them to or put a deposit on it. Depends sometimes if you have a relationship with them. SH

 

[sianeds]

Personally when I buy a fish I pay for it then ask them to keep it for a week. I also ask them when they got it. I have 2 LFS which I use regularly and I have a good relationship with both. They both let me go in early before the shop opens to watch them feed the fish and I get a sneak preview of the stock orders too. I think one of the most important things about keeping fish and corals is having a LFS you trust.

The other thing you can do is read read read and read again. We all make impulse purchases occasionally, but it's way better to read up before you buy. I make a list of things I would like, then go to the shops and only buy the things on my list. I also make a list of the requirements of the stuff I'm looking for and signs of good/bad health so I can refer to it when I'm looking. It's also useful to ask around on here or other sites for any information and also local prices if you're not sure. Nobody likes paying over the odds.

When I'm shopping for corals I decide where in the tank I want to put something and then read up on what would go best in that spot. It saves buying something pretty only to find you can't put it where you want it and having to re-scape the whole tank to find a suitable home. This is especially important in nano tanks where space is at a premium. It also should hopefully stop conflicts between the corals you have. Some species just won't live close together.

I think when you set up a new tank, nano's in particular, it's good to really think long and hard about what you want to achieve in the long term. Decide what corals and fish you want to keep before you buy the tank. This will allow you to make a plan. You can start off with the correct lighting and flow as it's a real pain to change things later on. Have a look at pictures of as many tanks as you can, to get a feel for what can be achieved in the size you're buying. Draw out a plan of how you want your LR to sit and take it with you when you go to buy it. I have found it useful to cut a piece of cardboard to the footprint of my tank to take with me when I've bought my LR so no pieces were going to be too big. Remember when you buy your LR, if you want a reef there's going to have to be places to put your corals. Have a good look at the rocks you buy to make sure they will suit your plans.

Above all, enjoy the whole process. The time you spend reading up will pay off 100x over when the tank is up and running. There is nothing better than looking at a beautiful, healthy, happy tank. Don't be scared to ask lots of questions and expect to make a few mistakes. Don't buy expensive carpets because they WILL get wet at some point and take lots and lots of pictures

 

[rhysiboy]

After comments recently posted by someone alls i can say is if oyu dont liek what someone says then dont post a reply. Also good free advice is worth listning too and just because someone else has done things dont think that you can or that it is ok to.

 

[atmmachine816]

I have a question, when you say RO/DI water, is there a reason you didn't put distilled water?

 

[demonmagus]

isn't DI distilled?

 

[steelhealr]

Distilled water is fine as long as you are sure of the source. Most store bought distilled is OK. I actually tested the bran I buy and the TDS is 0. Taking a gallon home from the local high school copper tubing distilling apparatus is NOT a good idea. LOL. If you add up the costs, I DO believe that RO/DI water is cheaper. SH

DI is de-ionized.....different bird. SH

 

[Mr.September15]

DI is de-ionized.....different bird. SH

This is news to me.

 

[atmmachine816]

O ok thanks.

One more question, the tank won't notice the difference if you use RO water then distilled then RO will they?

this is a good topic btw

 

[steelhealr]

The final product is essentially the same....pure water. It is just the method of how it is done. True distilling should give you 100% pure water. RO/DI water should too, but, probably approaches 98-100% SH

 

[atmmachine816]

thanks