Change Of Plans

[Mr.September15]

OoOoOoOo. Ski is starting a nano. Can't wait until he comes out of the closet and starts his Journal

 

[Redstratplayer1]

Well, if you ask me, thats overkill lighting for the corals you listed. You might even burn your mushrooms with a halide in a shallow tank such as a 10g. zoos and an open brain would do great in there, as would a hammer. If you want something to encrust, you might want to go with a favites brain for an easy one, or if you want something a little more difficult, blastomussa or acanthestrea

If you want to keep any LPS corals in a nano, you'll NEED calc and alk test kits and you'll need to dose longterm. When the tank is young your aragonite sand should buffer the corals' uptake of calc/alk but as the tank ages it'll deplete calcium and alkalinity.

Sand should be around 1.5" deep and no deeper than 2"

Snails, I'd add 2 cerith, 2 nassaurius, and 1 trochus to the 5 scarlets and 1 cleaner

If I were stocking I'd use a single clown and a goby/pistolshrimp pair if I were to make a 10g (and I've been considering it )

Lol, omg that guy who built the 55 stole all my hood ideas... Mine's allready 3/4 made and it looks just like his. Anyways, my diabolical nano plans are on complete hold until I finish my hardware modificatoins to my 45. Prolly be at least a couple months, so dont hold your breath

Isent your 45 moded out with those new halides

so go get your nano up and runing

 

[Redstratplayer1]

And by the way what is the dimenshins of a 20 long

 

[Nalaundi]

And by the way what is the dimenshins of a 20 long

30 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 12 3/4


Just the Basic 20g AGA


PJ Cardlinals... Like um but not the same appeal.. look more kiddish than anything

I think I am going to find A blue something or other to put with the Yellow Watchman Goby and the Purple fire Fish... just for some contrast... but since the damsels are out... it will be interesting. any Ideas for a blue small non damsel fishhie lol

 

[Nalaundi]

K

Ive set this in stone... what do you think

blue Neon Goby (1 1/2"), Yellow Clown goby (2") , 6 line warasse (3").... this would make it 6 1/2" in my twenty Long... buying from DRsFostersmith.com (aka liveaquaria.com)

decided filtration... biowheel 50 (filter and wheel removed) inserts... pergen. Sea gel, and sponge (rinsed once a week replaced everyother week.)

Lighting 2-65watt pc plus two luner lights

Circulation- biowheel 50 (200gph), Penguin 1140 (300gph), Rio 600 (200gph)

Substrate- argonite sand reef grade (from Petsmart where I work) 2" deep

Live Rock.. 22lbs fiji premium precured (LiveAuaria.com)

as for corals.... the Live Auaria nano soft coral pack, and mushroom pack.


Any thoughts?

I never knew that planing an aquarium could get so.. um picky and spacific..... it has been an interesting adventure and Im ready to dive in (no pun intended lol)

I have go the RO water in the tank and doing my basic testing before I add the salt... (reef crystals by instant ocean)

Im adjusting posiitoning of circulation pumps figuring out what heating my lighting is going to put off.. checking heater make sure it is adjusted correctly.. (rena 100wtt) Checking amount of airbubbles in the tank.

I add salt when I know I at least have the temp and circulation right maybe tomarrow.

get that all squared away... real testing of levels will then start making sure the ph, buffer,Calcium, spacific gravity, and the like are all in ideal ranges.

then ordering the LR.... YEAH... the moment we have all been waiting for!!!!!!!!!!

I will eventually add a refugium and a canister filter... but right now my tiny bedroom is just that... not much room for extrnal filtration.. but will figure it out later.

Any suggestions? thoughts Comments... anything I am missing?




I know it is nothing like I had imagained it to be in the first place.... but I think these will complament each other best in temperment and in appearance... nothing out of the movies... just colorful and semi easy!!!

 

[SkiFletch]

Sounds great, just one suggestion... Biowheels are not ideal for marine aquaria, especially nano aquaria. They can become nitrate traps in a hurry. I'd toss the wheel itself if you still have it and just use the thing as a hang on for both circulation and for running carbon/phosphate bags

 

[Nalaundi]

Sounds great, just one suggestion... Biowheels are not ideal for marine aquaria, especially nano aquaria. They can become nitrate traps in a hurry. I'd toss the wheel itself if you still have it and just use the thing as a hang on for both circulation and for running carbon/phosphate bags

cool cool.. that was the plan but I just found my millenium (sp?) 3000 (280 gph) which will be nicer cause of the extra chamber... so I just removed the biowheel... sooo all happy there..... i will have to do some rearanging cause the filter takes up just a titch too much space in the tank for my glass canopy to fit inside the tank lip so there is a gap around the filters for salt to creep into the open.. but I will figure something else... on my 55 in california I used plastic wrap lol... it worked well... maybe I will have to do th same thing... who knows lol

fun fun!

 

[Nalaundi]

whoops... forgot gph on millenium 3000... 280gph

= 200 + 300 + 280 = 780gph total.. I know way too much I calculated it at 39gph per gallon yikes... so I will just turn my rio and my Millenium down... cause I dont want to overkill my corals... I will try to gauge it at about 20 or 25 gph...

where I have more rather than less gph... is it ok to have it around 30? or is that over kill... I know some of the issues are for the corals in the flow of things and not all like strong water flow.. same with fish.... just trying to get things adujusted.... is it better to have them each on their own setting one high one medium and one low... one hight two low... all medium? again it is a 20g long (30" long) by 12 1/2" from top to bottom....
what is the best combonation... I dont have a wave timer but am thinking this would be the ideal situation to have one... yes no? if so what should the timing intervals be ( I would do it between my Rio 600 200gph and my Penguin 1140 300gph) and leave the millenium alone on constant.

any thoughts?

 

[SkiFletch]

Depends on what kind of corals you want to keep. Most LPS will be just fine with 30times turnover (my tanks got about 27times turnover and everybody's happy). Some softies may not like that much flow, but you can always stick them in a lower flow area. Heck, some SPS prefer 50-100 times turnover

 

[Nalaundi]

Well Allrightythen!

Ive got it up and running. got the ro water in, got the reef crystals mixed and in.. sg at 1.025 Temp at 78F I changed out the filtersystem again. Iknow I know.... I just purchased the Renastar x 1.9 (the smallest with gph of 185 rated for tanks up to 45g) so that puts my total gph split 3 ways at 680 meaning x34 turnover. sill a bit high but I have changed some configurations to where I will have places of high flow and low flow but hopefully no dead spots.

Question....

If I am using argonite sand and doing weekly 3-5gallon changes do I need to worry about adding buffer to my system? I know it will depend on my test results but in general.... i need to do preliminary tests before I get my rock to make sure that everying is at the right levels.... but since Im doing weekly changes wont that automaticly replenish the goodies?

Im getting excited now as it is getting so close... I will be happy just getting my live rock in there... I love the colors and textures. Im thinkin next week Friday is when I will have my rock delivered

gotta go get some 5 g buckets to re rinse the rock before I place it in the tank. super excited! and some more RO water for My changes now... and to have some water allready pre mixed for emergencies.


the temperature fluxuates from when the lights are off to when they come on... is there a way to minimize this... what fluxuations are normal... like between .1 and .5 or should I be chucking my Rena excel heater and getting a different one.... it is a 100watt used for about a year (if that) again tank is 20g Long.

any tips on things to add or keep on hand durring the beginning process?

gunna get some rubber gloves also today. fun fun.

Im strapin in and ready to go....... with a HUGE smile on my face

fyi everyone..... thanks so much for your posts on this board.... I find I cant get enough of it. My parents went away for the weekend and all I could think of to say was... I will have a lap top for the internet... you are not taking both right... cause it was painful to think I might not get to read the posts here for two whole days... yikes.........me obsessed naaaaa.... not me


thanks for the tips guys!

 

[SkiFletch]

Lol, allready hooked and he doesnt even have the tank yet

Temperature fluctuations below 1 degree should not be your worry, I'd be more concerned if they started fluctuating above 1 degree.

As for the water changes and the elements, if you have a low coral load you wont need to worry about dosing, if you have a high coral load, dosing calcium and alkalinity may be necessary, but thats a way down the road