Ethos' Nano Diary

[Ethos]

Ok, so today I started my Nano.
I bought sand, and premixed water.
I spent about $35 so far.
Right now, the sand is settling. I have the empty filter running, a heater set at 80, and a plain florecent light up.
Looking pretty good, things are runjning smothe. I saw some great peices of LR, looks great.
I spent $20 on premixed water, $8 on sand, and about $5 on a hydromameter.
Things are looking great, like I said.
I bought a 10 pound bag of sand, but I only used about 7. Is this ok? Its just normal playsandy-like.
Will sand get in the empty filter? If so, how do i get it?
When can I add LR?
When can I add invertabres?
I was at HarMar last night, and they said I could have(in normal florecent lighting) just clams and button polyurps(sp?).
What can I can I keep in here?
As soon as I recover a bit more $$, I'll think about upgrading.

The fish I'm considering:
Maroon Clownfish
Ocellaris Clownfish
Black and White Cardnel fish(They didn't say exactly what it was)
Green Clown Goby
Any other suggestions?

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated, piccys might be coming soon

Edit: What about snails and shrimp? Info?

 

[parker313]

This cardinal fish?

If that's the one, I wouldn't do it in a 10g (that is what size you've got, right?). That's the Banggai Cardinal, AKA Kaudern's Cardinal AKA Longfin Cardinal. I wouldn't keep one in a 10g just b/c once you add all your LR, there's just really not enough room.

Yup, 7lbs is fine - I *think* I only have 5lbs in mine. I know I just used one bag and I think it was a 5lb bag.

If the sand is mostly settled, it should be fine. Once the sand is settled, you can take the filter off and rinse it out in the sink, but I wouldn't bother. The only reason I'd do that is that too much sand can clog the impeller.

You can add LR as soon as you want. You can add it today or tomorrow or you can run your tank for a week or so just to double check your heater, salinity, etc. I added mine right away.

You can add inverts at the first sign of a diatom outbreak. I started with 3 snails.

In normal flourescent lighting? I dunno... It doesn't have the actinic lighting in it and might not be the right spectrum. Lighting's not really my forte. I just have the Coralife 50/50 which was not an expensive upgrade from the standard flourescent and includes the flouro and actinic all in one bulb.

Another *personal* choice is that I would stick with the Percula or Ocellaris for clownfish, unless you strongly prefer one of the other kinds. The Percs stay smaller than the other kinds. Just remember, no anemone

You can also consider:
Firefish
Yellow Watchman Goby & Pistol Shrimp
Here is a link to liveaquaria's list of nano fish for some more ideas

HTH!
--Kristin

 

[Ethos]

thanks kristen, i'm still wondering about invertabreas and shrimp and stuff.
Also, should i just trust that premixed water has the right saltanity?

 

[Lynden]

Not a maroon clown......... they get about 8.9'', more than half the tanks length.

Pretty much all darter species can, as long as they are under 4''. And gobies, and some blennies. They are really good little fish.

 

[Ethos]

Funny, I read they only get to 4.
Anyways, my question still stands.
Shrimp? Snails? How many can I have?
I don't have a SW test kit.
But should I just trust pre-mixed salt has the right amount of salt? I have a Hydromameter.

 

[afireinside]

thanks kristen, i'm still wondering about invertabreas and shrimp and stuff.
Also, should i just trust that premixed water has the right saltanity?

They are selling black seahorses at the HarMar, just got em in there today, in these little 6 gallons (a little small, but it looks excellent!)

 

[Ben]

With your clean up crew, the standard procedure is 1cleaner/gallon.

So you can have up to ten shrimp and snails
HTH

DD

 

[afireinside]

Oh ya, here's a good list of fish that can go in a Nano!
List of Nano Fish

 

[Ethos]

Oh ya, here's a good list of fish that can go in a Nano!
List of Nano Fish

I've looked that list through and through, yet nothing that had grabbed my attention.
I'm still wondering what kind of snails..
I dont want an out-of-control snail infested problem.

I think I'm getting LR tomorow, the water temp is at 78-80 right now, the saltanity is about 1.23 (Or atleast thats what the cheap hydromameter said).
I got the water premixed, like I said, and so it should be at the perfect level.
Its kinda hard to return water, so it better be at the right level.....

 

[steelhealr]

Ethos...is it a ten? Rule of thumb is 1 snail per 1-2 gallons of water. A good cleanup crew for a 10 gallon might consist of:

3 astrea
3 nassarius
3 cerith
1 skunk cleaner

I'm not big on crabs, but, if you wanted them, stay with 2 or 3 scarlet hermits or a mithrax (emerald crab).

Seven lbs of LS is fine...thinner sand beds are 'in' right now.

Ditch the hydrometer and invest in a refractometer. They hydrometer is finicky, inaccurate and messy. It will do fine for now if a refractometer is not in your budget.

If the sand you added wasn't aragonite or coral based, I would switch it out. Silica based sand won't assist with buffering the water as a calcium carbonate based sand will. SH

 

[Ethos]

If the sand you added wasn't aragonite or coral based, I would switch it out. Silica based sand won't assist with buffering the water as a calcium carbonate based sand will.

Thanks SH.
Well, its too late to switch the sand. I'm on a very strick budget, and I've already made my first mistake.
I'll have to just continue as it is.
What the problem with this? I've heard of many people doing this before, well, read inmore actuality.

 

[Mr Miagi]

You dont have to return water if its not at the right SG level mate. Either add freshwater f the salinity level is too high, or make a mix of more saline sea water if its too low.

I keep my SG at 1.026-1.028.

Snails dont tend to go 'out of control' in SW tanks. Bar a few. 1 per gallon as DD already mentioned. What snails/hermits are available to you? As i know i cant get all types.

 

[steelhealr]

Well..double check to see if the sand is pure...can you?

Problems:
1) Zero buffering capacity and pH drift can be an issue
2) If it is fine stuff, you may find yourself with dust storms
3) Over time the pure white can become an ugly beige

Silica sand should not be confused with 'silicates' which can be a problem in nano tanks. The sand is OK to use as a substrate, ie, it is not going to kill anything, it's just that aragonite is probably less headache. SH

SH

 

[Ethos]

Yeah, here.
Its called "Nature's Ocean."
This is what I have,
http/www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?R=3...ean%26spell%3d1

 

[Lynden]

Hmm... if you have enough rock, plus maybe some shells, the pH shouldnt slide... very much, that is. Maybe you could put some aragonite into the filter, to help prevent any drift. Are you going to have a sump/fuge?

Mithrax crabs are good cleaners, they eat bubble algae, as well as diatoms and green algae. I tend to like crabs, especially the zebra hermits, however i am just starting my nano, so i dont know how hellish they can be.

Snails are hard to get breeding in SW, so dont worry about overpopulating. The snails i got are pyramid-shaped, however im not to good with the snail names. They eat about 1 square foot of diatoms every hour. Then when the tank is clean, they appear to turn to green or dust algae.