Learning Every Day

[sianeds]

Ok....so I now know that I have a nano tank. I fell into the trap of thinking starting small would be easier, now I understand that's not strictly true.

So....I could really do with some help now guys. Here we go.....

I have an Aqua One 620. I am using the standard lighting built into the hood which is 2 smallish flourescents. I'll check in a bit to see exactly what they are.

I have the standard filter also built into the hood. I added another filter on the opposite side of the tank to the outlet of my standard one so that there is plenty of movement in the water.

I am using an off the shelf heater which is doing a great job and my water is holding at 26c. I have a digital thermometer and a glass one just to be sure!

There is about 5kg of live rock in there and it looks pretty bre but i figure when I add corals and things they will come attached to rocks so I have left some room for them. I also have roughly 1" of crushed coral substrate.

It was looking very bare so on the advice of a lfs (whichi won't be using again) I have a big mass of seaweed type stuff in the back of the tank. All this seems to do is ollute my water and it's coming out today.

I have 3 scarlett hermits and 3 snails of some sort, none of which seem to do much.


So...My question is...what am I doing right? What am I doing wrong? and what do I need to do before I can start adding some corals?

 

[bunjiweb]

Well thats a 90Litre tank, and the Lighting is 2 x 18W Compact flourescent bulbs. Personally I would have aimed to have 2" of substrate, and a few more KG of Live Rock, although 5KG is certainly a good start.

The filteration that comes as standard has in my opinion too much sponge for a marine tank, i'd remove the sponges and fill the filter compartments with more ceramic media, or even crushed live rock. I have seen people use the top compartments in these tanks to grow caulerpa in, but you would need an extra light and caulerpa is usually more hassle than good to start with and its not a necessity to have it in the tank.

What kind of stocking are you aiming for?

Ben

 

[maidenfan]

hi
my set up is in an aqua one 620T and is going ok, i've got rid of the trikle filter in the hood, add a bit more LR and make sure you have good water movement you might have to add another power head i'm sure it will be ok i have an external filter running which i use for my water treatment ie poly filter,rowa phos, carbon etc which seems to work well. the main thing is though take your time and read some of the pinned topics on here

 

[PaulasPets]

What are you doing right? I would say not listening to the LFS advice is the right thing to do! Most of the time they only want to sell you stuff and make money and advice you accordingly... Yes a small tank is not easy to start with, but it is cheaper.
Are you testing the water? Your tank must fully cycle before adding any corals.

 

[sianeds]

ok...Thanks guys.

Today I went and got some more live rock (rougl=hly another 5kg) some of which had corals growing on it. I will look up exactly what they are but I am assured that they are easy to keep as corals go.

I have a protein skimmer being fitted next week as I need to have the lid modified slighlt to get it on there.

I do have a second power head in the tank and there is lots of movement!!

I am quite pleased though because the rocks I bought today are full of little critters and I'm sure I can see the tentacles of a brittle star in there.

The tank is fully cycled but I am expecting another mini cycle now there is more rock in there so I have my clean water at the ready for any emergency changes!!

 

[sianeds]

I have looked up exactly what the corals growing on my live rock are.

I have a few (approx 6-7 Bullseye mushrooms - Rhodactis Inchoata which are ranging from 1"-2" diameter. They are red/green in colour.

I have Starburst Polyp - Pachyclavulaira Sp. which is brown with vivid lime green middles. It is in a mat around 3" diameter and is very very pretty.

I also have 2 small Cauliflower Colt corals - Cladiella Sp. which are growing on the same rock as a group of Waving hand corals - Anthelia Sp. which I have discovered is very difficult to keep and will be going back in the morning which is a real shame beacuse it's very pretty

 

[SkiFletch]

Actually, everything I've ever heard indicates that Anthelia corals are very easy to keep... I could be wrong as I've never really researched them with plans on keeping them myself, but I know I've read in the past that they're pretty non-demanding as far as corals go.

Did you ever find out what your lighting was?

 

[sianeds]

I have been reading up on them for the past few hours and have come to the conclusion that you can either keep the Waving hand coral, and it thrives or some people just can't keep them alive. It seems split 50/50 from what I've seen so I'm going to give it a try.

As for my lights...I have two sets of 2 flourescents sitting side by side. Each are approx 20-25cm long. The only thing written on them is FSL red/white PL-18w 14000k/7100k

I hope this helps!!

 

[SkiFletch]

Well the color temp is an average 10k which is ok for marine, but the bulb diameter needs to be determined... Theres no marking that reads "Fsomething Tsomething"? For example, my bulbs read F34 T5 since they are 34 inch long T5 lamps. If there is no such marking, measure the diameter. 12/8 of an inch is T12, 8/8 of an inch is T8, and 5/8 of an inch is T5 (and yes, 8/8 of an inch is 1" )

 

[maidenfan]

the tubes you have are the same as mine i'm not sure what they are either i think they are T5 though

you may need to change them to to blue and white or day light white to increase the light for your corals

iv'e fitted silver or mirror looking wrapping paper behind the tubes to increase the light reflected down

8) 8)

 

[sianeds]

tomorrow i'm going to the shop where I bought the tank to find out what bulbs are in it and to get some brighter ones more suited to the corals.

I have also added a small brittlestar which is really cute.
Also.....I'm going on holiday in a week or so and I've been sorting out some bubbles in my tropical and coldwater tanks to help keep the water oxygenated for the fortnight we're away.

While I was buying the extra airline I needed, the guy in the lfs said I couldn't put bubbles in the marine tank (which I wasn't planning to do anyway)

Anyone know if this is true nd if so why?? Am curious lol

 

[bunjiweb]

Well usually if you use an airstone in a marine tank you will get microbubbles forming, which can attach to fish and corals. Particularly on fish, if they soak into the fish's blood stream it can get an embalism, usually causing death.
This also applys to skimmers that should be adjusted carefully so that microbubbles dont get back into the tank.

You shouldnt need to put anything into your tank yet as you dont have any fish stock yet (as far as I could tell).
Get your lights on a timer and you will be fine, oh and remember to check the salt level before you go away.

Ben

 

[maidenfan]

your lights are deffo T5 compacts 18w like mine, just found out aqua one are introducing a blue and white tube in this size at the end of the month so should be available at lfs early november, hope this helps