Back To Basics

[steelhealr]

Starting up a nano reef is one of the most rewarding hobbies you can do. Keeping a small slice of open reef in your house is challenging as well as a treat to the eye. The most difficult part of establishing your reef is it's inception. A marine tank under 30 gallons is inherently unstable. There is not enough water volume to give you a cushion for error.

In the beginning, your tank will be going thru a lot of changes. The live rock will be developing your biological filter. Nitrates will be given off. Corals, of which many are photosynthetic, will be giving off oxygen during the day and returning CO2 in the evening. Knowing that our tanks are special subset of marine aquarism, we try to do the right thing. We test. We stay regular with our water changes. We don't overstock. We become experts on water chemistry.....or do we?

In the field of medicine, we say don't order a test that you are not going to act on. We also say 'don't treat numbers'. In the beginning of startup, here are some of the things you might see:

• wide pH swings
• low calcium
• high phosphorus
• low kH
• among others

What are some basic thoughts here without going into heavy duty discussion?

1. In general, step back, look at your tank. Is it doing well? Then leave it alone.
2. All tanks in the beginning will have pH swings until it matures. Avoid dosing your tank with bicarb, etc in the beginning. Fish and invertebrates, in the short term, are really tougher than you think.
3. Basics to measure include pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, calcium, phosphorus, kH.
4. Calcium is worth maintaining at 350-400ppm: it helps with buffering, corallite growth and invertebrate shell growth
5. Phosphorus should be zero, if possible. Phosphate binders and an RO unit do the job.
6. Aragonite substrate helps with buffering
7. Water changes done regularly help with buffering
8. A refugium with a macroalgae run opposite the lighting schedule will assist as well

For the most part:
-avoid supplements such as iodine, strontium, molybdenum. Water changes..water changes, water changes.
-DON'T SUPPLEMENT WHAT YOU DON'T TEST FOR. Know your chemistry. If you supplement with Purple Up, Purple Down or Purple sideways, know that iodine has three components, iodate, free iodine and iodide eg. I keep NO additives except calcium
-stability is more important than perfect parameters for the most part

Just some thoughts.

Have fun.
FIB

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Very nice post for the newbs like me that are just getting going. It is all to easy to read the labels on these bottles and be lead into thinking that your tank is missing something vital. As you said though the reality is that unless you are careful with what you add you end up with parameters that are constantly up and down which is always much worse. This is made worse in small volumes of water as small mistakes arent diluted.

The phrase "if it aint broke dont try and fix it" applies pretty well

Lovely photos as well! Thanks very much for posting this.

 

[steelhealr]

No problem. It is a common error that we do here. You really don't have to add any supplements outside of calcium or at the most...a 2 part system IN THE BEGINNING. When you reach the stage of a 'mature' system and you've invested in some expensive corals ...you've hit your stride...done your reading...and getting some mileage under your belt, that is the time to consider whether or not your tank needs 'tweaking'. Even then, most won't need more than water changes...or a magnesium test. I've never had to add anything to my tank except calcium/2 part. SH

 

[Lynden]

An example for steelhealr's post:

Yesterday I "graduated" from a 20 gallon to a 33, in an attempt to give my massive sarcophyton and anemone more room (physically and chemically). I guessed at several things that deserved more planning, such as the amount of water I would need, since I used this method to transfer the animals from my ten into the twenty months ago, and it was very successful.

BIG MISTAKE. Most of my corals are now severely stressed and ragged looking, and I will be lucky if the tank's ecosystem does not collapse entirely. Learn from my mistake/stupidity; PLAN AHEAD (even if it sounds boring), and if it's not broke, don't @#$@%$ fix it.

 

[1entra]

Thanks for the post Steelhealr, its staright to the point without any waffling on and on and will defo be helpful for both myself along with others who are just starting up IMO.

Your tank is looking brill, it was after reading your thread/journal that inspired me to believe it could be done and start off my own nano reef.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Musho3210]

yup, i suffered from the mistake of relying too much on tests and dosing.

 

[steelhealr]

bump