I'm Doing It...

[smithrc]

Right folks - the time has come...

So has the tank

Its an Aqua One AR380 - 34L

It was free - nothing a quick repair wont fix

Lighting is at the moment an 11W T5 compact
I'll be stripping it out and adding 2 24W T5 compacts
(either that or leaving the 11W and adding a 24W)

Filtration is going the be external (Fluval 304) via a Vectron UV8
I'll be going for a Hydor in line heater aswell to keep the tank clear of clutter

Quite looking forward to this

 

[bunjiweb]

DONT use a UV on a tank this small. Infact, I wouldnt use a UV on a reef tank anything under about 30 Gallons. You will actually end up stripping more planktonic content and trace elements from the water than necessary, and IMHO it is far too over the top.

Go for the External filter and in-line heater, use ehfi mech and ehfi substrat as the media with 1 carbon sponge and no others and it should work fine.

Are you going for a Deep Sand Bed? I personally would go for it, this means having about 2-2.5" of sand on the bottom.

If you can retro-fit 2x24W into the hood, go for it, you could then potentially keep LPS and SPS in the tank easily. If not, then a 24W accompanying the 11W already in there would be fine for all softies and some LPS.

Ben

 

[smithrc]

DONT use a UV on a tank this small. Infact, I wouldnt use a UV on a reef tank anything under about 30 Gallons. You will actually end up stripping more planktonic content and trace elements from the water than necessary, and IMHO it is far too over the top.

Go for the External filter and in-line heater, use ehfi mech and ehfi substrat as the media with 1 carbon sponge and no others and it should work fine.

Are you going for a Deep Sand Bed? I personally would go for it, this means having about 2-2.5" of sand on the bottom.

If you can retro-fit 2x24W into the hood, go for it, you could then potentially keep LPS and SPS in the tank easily. If not, then a 24W accompanying the 11W already in there would be fine for all softies and some LPS.

Ben

fair enough

I'm not sure on the depth of the bed yet - I've got coral sand already (not live)
Local store is getting a new batch of live rock in on thursday - so by the weekend I'll be busting to get over there!

I'll be testing the tank water holding ability tomorow (once the silicon has dried) and then adding the substrate. so I'll see where that leaves me

the original filter runs alog the back of the hood - without that in there i can easily fit 2x 24W

If I went mad I could fit 4x 24Ws in there 8)
The only problem is that the starters I can find only come in singals
I'll start with 11W + 24W

 

[@ombomb]

Asl do a 2x24W.

http/www.aquatics-online.co.uk/Z299137.asp

 

[steelhealr]

Thoughts:

1) deep sands beds are non functional in a nano tank setting and this has been proven over time. The footprint is not large enough and it ends up causing more headaches. Stay with a thin sand bed or barebottom. Avoid crushed coral

2) I wouldn't put any ceramics in your Fluval. In fact, if possible (I don't own one), I would fit it out with phosphate binding material and ChemiPure or the equivalent. You want to avoid turning your filter into a nitrate trap.

3) I agree with Bunjiweb that the UV has no place in a nano tank

4) 34/4 = ? 8.5 gallons? Some define a pico reef as anything under 6 gallons. I feel anything under 10 is a pico. SH

 

[smithrc]

Thoughts:

1) deep sands beds are non functional in a nano tank setting and this has been proven over time. The footprint is not large enough and it ends up causing more headaches. Stay with a thin sand bed or barebottom. Avoid crushed coral

2) I wouldn't put any ceramics in your Fluval. In fact, if possible (I don't own one), I would fit it out with phosphate binding material and ChemiPure or the equivalent. You want to avoid turning your filter into a nitrate trap.

3) I agree with Bunjiweb that the UV has no place in a nano tank

4) 34/4 = ? 8.5 gallons? Some define a pico reef as anything under 6 gallons. I feel anything under 10 is a pico. SH

34L is approx 7.5 UK gals (about 9us gal) - Its the smallest proper tank I've ever setup!

Do phosphates build up naturally? I'll be using RO and not Tap water so adding it wont be a problem.

I'm used to planted tropical tanks and have been adding nitrates and phosphates for quite a while now

What mechanical filtration do you recomend then - so far its just chemical that has been recommended...

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Hey Smithrc

Good to see you're setting up a nano, you can have mine if you hand over the zebra plecs

Phosphates can come from food for your fish, as they contain phosphates The best way to avoid adding too many is to do 2 small feeds a day instead of one large one as this leaves very little waste

For filtration you just want LR and powerhead, although you could use an external and cram it with rubble and/or a bag of ChemiPure etc. as SH has said.

Goodluck, look forward to following your progress

Dan

 

[smithrc]

Hey Smithrc

Good to see you're setting up a nano, you can have mine if you hand over the zebra plecs

Phosphates can come from food for your fish, as they contain phosphates The best way to avoid adding too many is to do 2 small feeds a day instead of one large one as this leaves very little waste

For filtration you just want LR and powerhead, although you could use an external and cram it with rubble and/or a bag of ChemiPure etc. as SH has said.

Goodluck, look forward to following your progress

Dan

So no need for sponges then?

I'll be building up the rock slowly - what sort of clean up crew would be good for a pico?

 

[@ombomb]

If it was me, I'd go for something like:

1 X Blue Knuckle Hermit - Destroys algae on rocks, particularly hair algae
5 X Nerite Snails - Stay small, much through most types of algae on the rock and glass, not particularly hardy though judging by mine
2 X Astrea Snails - Don't get as big as turbos but again will eat pretty much anything
2 X Nassarius Snails - which clear up any food that isn't eaten

All reef safe.

 

[steelhealr]

Sounds good from @ombomb. Live rock and a minjet PH would work..or...an AC HOB filter. I don't recommend to anyone to put a fish in a pico. SH

 

[Aquascaper]

Twin T5 Power Compacts

 

[smithrc]

Twin T5 Power Compacts

not 24W though - thats the problem

I'm going to start with the 11 while I cycle and add one 24W and see how things go.

 

[Donya]

Avoid crushed coral

Why is that? Nano-specific reason or just in general?

 

[smithrc]

Avoid crushed coral

Why is that? Nano-specific reason or just in general?

I wondered the same...

we need some elaboration

 

[steelhealr]

Crushed coral is a large particle substrate, some pieces of which can have edges. Problems reported with CC include:

-uneven substrate tends to catch particles of food and detritus, making it difficult to keep clean
-particle entrapment can lead to increased nitrates
-many of our cleanup crew which can sandsift and clean the substrate do NOT prefer CC. Eg., nassarius snails

SH