Beauty Comes Slowly In The Nano World......

[steelhealr]

I often caution people that nano tanks should not contain corals for several months. Tanks need to mature. Newly cycled nano tanks are vulnerable to attack by cyanobacteria, hair algae and other pests. I always recommend against plop...the urge to run to the marine LFS and plop in everything you can. After cycling, this is a good time to master your water skills. After all, keeping a nano reef is really not about maintaining corals and fish, it's about maintaining good water quality. We are water keepers. Patience is important. Cycle completion is a good time to avoid the LFS in a sense, study your corals for the future, learn marine chemistry...and then.....add a fish...one at a time if possible. Learn to feed them, care for them. Understand and get a feel for nitrate control and what to do if they DO go out of control (and they will from time to time). Add your one or two or three fish, slowly, then acclimate YOURSELF.

Then..return to studying your corals and understand calcium chemistry. Understand why you leave your params alone for the most part. Then, understand when you should supplement or change them (which is almost never except for calcium).

I am showing a pic ...which really is very unimpressive....of my anchor coral, euphyllia ancora which I've kept now for a couple of years. Note the original skeleton on the bottom with coralline algae and note the new skeletal growth. The anchor is large and still healthy (it is retracted here as I had just cleaned the glass for a clearer pic). It is reassuring to see this. A small part of the ocean....alive and doing well.

Take your time. Don't rush your tank. Patience will give you a nano reef par excellence.
Remember the nano slogan:

Beauty comes slowly. Disaster arrives quickly.

Have fun.
SH

 

[Danno]

Good reminder to all whos eyes are fixed at the tank with tags.

You should pin this topic for one week for the topic of the week.

 

[BigC]

I totally agree with you SH on the need to maintain water qualities.
"Most people realize the sea covers two thirds of the planet, but few take the time to understand even a gallon of it" (The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch)
In my 30 odd years of keeping, breeding and showing killifish (some rare, some not so rare) the question I would always get form fellow aquarists in the fraternity would be "How do you breed those" (what ever species it was). My reply was simply "Look to the water" If you do not address this aspect then you will fail or have limited sucess. Good water quality is the golden key.
VG posting SH
Regards
BigC
P.S. Thanks for you constructive criticism thus far in my Nano Adventure,,,,,I'm taking it slowly.

 

[steelhealr]

I agree BigC. You can successfully keep almost ANYTHING in a nano reef....if you plan it well....understand it...and most importantly, keep the water in the tank as close as possible to that which is in the ocean. That means...knowing what reef temps are, s.g., etc. You're welcome. SH