Help And Advice

[Aquascaper]

Live rock is either cured or uncured when purchased but by the time you get it home both types will have die-off on it. SkiFletch was just pointing out that it's good practice to place newly acquired live rock in a bucket until the die-off and associated Ammonia spike has cleared before placing in the main tank to avoid spiking the tank. The more cured the rock, the less the die-off and the quicker it can be placed in the main tank. This is not really an issue in larger tanks but it certainly has to be considered with a Nano.

 

[maidenfan]

good sound advice as usual thanks all

i will let you know how things go i hope to post some pic's etc soon cheers again

 

[maidenfan]

hi all just a quick update

did small water change last night using RO water, diatoms seem under control, just tested my water readings as follows

temp 24 c
ph 8.2
am between 0.0 and 0.25
nitrite 0.0
nitrate 0.0
sg 1.025

plan for week ahead

introduce another 5 kilo's of LR
another small water change next week
monitor water
more research

 

[Aquascaper]

Sounds like you're progressing along nicely

 

[maidenfan]

right guys been doin bit of research and hanging round lfs got a few more bits of advice needed as follows,

i'm running 2 filters at the momment 1 a wet and dry trickle filter in the hood and 1 a fluval 204 cannister filter both have foam, carbon and noodles in them, i relise now that this is not really best practice for marine or nano set ups as they store nitrates but hey i've go them now and have been looking into best way to use them so here goes

remove bio noodles from both filters put the carbon from the fluval into the wet and dry trickle filter
replace the doodles with small pieces live rock in the baskets in the fluval filter.

ive been told about a poly filter foam that i can put in the fluval which will act almost like a skimmer does anybody else have any experiance of this?

i want to use the fluval if i can because its moving a lot of water and the return is giving me good surface movement.

goin get my next load of live rock for inside my tank on weds

 

[SkiFletch]

Dump some LR or rubble in your filters, that'll be way better than floss and chemical filtration in the long run

 

[maidenfan]

when you say rubble what is that exactly? cheers by the way ski hope you and your fish are well

 

[Aquascaper]

Live rock rubble is just small broken pieces of live rock that get snapped off in transit and chucked into the curing tank.
If you can't get hold of rubble then make your own...............take that odd shaped piece of live rock that you've twisted and turned but can't get to fit into the whole reef look in your tank, get a hammer and bring the two into close proximity - preferably connecting

 

[maidenfan]

i get the idea aqua cheers mate
do you think my suggestion for the filters would work?

 

[Aquascaper]

Cram as much live rock into the Fluval and you're sorted, the wet/dry is easier to get to so keep the carbon and any 'scrubbers' in there.
Leaving the Fluval with just live rock will ensure maximum circulation inside it and therefore maximum filtration from the live rock, if you start adding filter pads, etc. the flow will reduce and only get clogged up meaning that you'll need to keep stopping it for cleaning.

 

[maidenfan]

well i got my new live rock this morn one day early

already noticed one thing got aptasia damn

ah well cant have it all roads

 

[SkiFletch]

Prepare for battle

 

[maidenfan]

hi all, quick update on tank

stats this morning were
temp 24
ph 8.0
am 0.25ppm
nitrite0.25ppm
nitrate 0.00
sg 1.023

it looks like my tank as gone on a mini cycle since doubling my live rock

cleaned out filters and done small water change

diatoms starting to die off

battle with aptasia is being planned (looking at peppermint shrimps)

plan for week:

monitor water

more research

plan 10% water change for next weekend

 

[maidenfan]

 

[Aquascaper]

Looking good

I would try to get hold of a nice long bit of live rock to try and get a coloumn up to the surface, this will allow you add a few more light intensive corals and detract from the depth of the tank.
I have the AquaOne 418 (40l) and the only downside to it i've found is the height of the tank with regards to lighting. I'm tackling this from a different angle by putting in a false floor of acrylic and hiding my equipment under that