My First Nano Reef

[MartinS]

10 mins? .. ahh you must have just got lucky then ( ) , as it looks great
dunno what others will say but i would sort the sand sooner rather than later,dead spots are the last thing you want.. tho its new sand so maybe you`ll be ok ( we all know the fun i had with nitrates due to having too much and used sand

) but saying that,maybe the critters would keep it good for you

dont worry too much about him, maybe he`ll show up, the one i had was the type that would kill fish.. he was always in there and i never lost anything.. maybe someone will have a cunning plan to trap him

when i have only my blue lights on everything hides ( they go to bed when theyre told!) but then i dont ,as far as i know have any shrimp/crabs etc..maybe it`ll work,

Thank Shelagh
Will sort the sand out tonight then, after I've done my first lot of tests.
I'll keep my eyes open for him
Martin x

 

[seffieuk]

Agree with Shelagh, you have some lovely rock there

Couple of problems I can spy:

You don't have enough surface aggitation - try putting the spray bar back on

Your rock needs to be stacked away from the back and sides to allow good flow.

You obviously have a very good eye for picking out some choice pieces of rock

Seffie x

 

[MartinS]

Agree with Shelagh, you have some lovely rock there

Thanks

Couple of problems I can spy:

You don't have enough surface aggitation - try putting the spray bar back on

OK, will add spraybar back

Your rock needs to be stacked away from the back and sides to allow good flow.

Oh Does that mean i need to re-arrange all the rock that's not buried in the sand? Could I move the powerhead to the r/h side glass and point it down across the rock instead? If I have to move it so be it, but just checking my options.

You obviously have a very good eye for picking out some choice pieces of rock

Seffie x

Well, I can't take all the praise as it wasn't all my eye - the managers at my LFS chose some too
Thanks again
Martin

 

[seffieuk]

Well, I would move the rock, the glass will be a devil to clean if the rock is too close! You could move the powerhead to the back and angle the flow so that it hits the front glass and bounces flow through the rocks

Seffie x

 

[MartinS]

Well, I would move the rock, the glass will be a devil to clean if the rock is too close! You could move the powerhead to the back and angle the flow so that it hits the front glass and bounces flow through the rocks

Seffie x

OK thanks
Looks like I know my plans for this evening now but it does mean will have to take more video/pics too
I'll also do the tests later and see how the pH, NO2 and NO3 are doing.
Thanks again
Martin

 

[MartinS]

OK, ten minutes later and it's all change again
Front View

Side View

Not very clear, but you can see the spraybar is back, and I have changed the direction of the powerhead to point forward.
Now, I don't think I' being silly, but a nitrite test is a nitrite test, i.e. there is not a specific one for marine and one for freshwater like there is for pH?
pH is around 8 (using a digital ph tester), temperature 27.8C, nitrite is just slightly pink (and I mean slightly, it's almost clear), but I don't have a nitrate kit yet, so need to get one at the weekend. Missed out on a refractometer today on eBay by 50p, my LFS only do TMC ones at £40, so unless I can find a second hand one cheap, I may have to bite the bullet with one of those (after discount, obviously )
Martin

 

[aly_starh]

Looks good!

Have you not got any salt in the tank yet? How did you measure it with no Refractometer?

 

[MartinS]

Looks good!

Have you not got any salt in the tank yet? How did you measure it with no Refractometer?

Yes, I got the water premixed from my LFS - I wouldn't have added the LR without the correct conditions. I don't know the SG yet, but do know my LFS use the same mix every time they make it up, and it's the same as they use for the shop. I can live without the refractometer for a bit, and I might even be able to borrow one from work for a bit, so shoud be OK.
Martin

 

[shelaghfishface]

looking good..10 mins indeed takes me longer than that to put my mascara on, nevermind scape a tank :lol

be aware that in LFS they usually mix the salt to a lower SG to prevent the spread of diesease- around 1.021 ,ideally you want that to be around the 1.025 mark..you can always check that with them tho ( actually i think its lower than that that the lfs use, but cant think of the number

-long day!

 

[MartinS]

looking good..10 mins indeed takes me longer than that to put my mascara on, nevermind scape a tank :lol

OK, it was less than that but didn't want to show off

be aware that in LFS they usually mix the salt to a lower SG to prevent the spread of diesease- around 1.021 ,ideally you want that to be around the 1.025 mark..you can always check that with them tho ( actually i think its lower than that that the lfs use, but cant think of the number

-long day!

Thanks Shelagh - will find a way to test it sooner rather than later if that's the case, but will call them first thing tomorrow to check.
Martin x

 

[seffieuk]

Im liking it

Shelagh is right, lfs tend to run anywhere between 1.019 upwards very few run at 1.026

Seffie x

 

[aly_starh]

Any plans on stocking?



Edit: its the nearly the same size as my new marine Nano (65L), so i will be following this...!

 

[MartinS]

Im liking it

Shelagh is right, lfs tend to run anywhere between 1.019 upwards very few run at 1.026

Seffie x

OK, thanks Seffie. Will call them in the morning, and go from there. What's the best way to up the SG - water change with a higher SG content?

Any plans on stocking?



Edit: its the nearly the same size as my new marine Nano (65L), so i will be following this...!

After the CUC, I plan to add a few small coral frags, and a shrimp/goby pair. Everything else I like is either not suitable or just too expensive (Scarlet Hawkfish, Black Cap Gramma, Royal Gramma, Fire Shrimp to name but a few!)
Martin

 

[MartinS]

Actually, I just realised something - the water I used was from the vats they sell to customers from, not where they get their water for the shops from as that is from a different source, so I'm hoping (he says with fingers crossed) that this will be a higher SG than what they use for the shop, but as I said, will confirm with them in the morning.
Thanks again Shelagh and seffie for pointing it out - I know i started a bit under prepared, but relied on my LFS to make sure I was OK with everything I bought. I'll get everything I need over the next few days so I am able to test everything necessary and report back accordingly.
Martin x

 

[MartinS]

Panic averted
The water is 1.025, and they also run the same in the display tanks. I need to get the water tested (might go tomorrow, or if not, at the weekend) and if all is well, maybe get some of the CUC (my LFS is out of Turbo Snails at the moment, but there are more due in next week). I'll probably just add some snails and some crabs.
I did see something strange this morning - see its-got-yellow-hairy-legs.
They also suggested I drop the temperature too - I'm running at 27C, but have been told to drop it to between 24-25C as it is better for the corals.
Martin