Salty problem

[DrOizo]

I've been looking into reefing for quite some time now and it really appeals to me and more so than tropical fish keeping, my only problem being though that I live away from home and can only come home on weekends. I leave my tanks in the able hands of my mum and it would be unfair to get her to look after another massive reef tank. So after originally thinking about getting a big 75 gal sumped monster I thought about trying out a nano reef which are of course much harder to look after, but then I thought why not make it easier by putting in a sump but then it would have to be skimmed, and then it would have to be UV sterilised and then I might aswell get a bigger tank!!!!!!! so you can see my problem. I could wait untill I'm older but I'm joining the RAF in 1 and a half years so I won't be able to have a reef tank or any tanks for that matter So does anyone have any suggestions maybe like keeping a super nano reef like 5 gals and not skimming it and only having live rock and 2 clowns and an anemone? It cant be that hard to keep that sized tank under control if there is someone always watching it and I only have two fish or am I horribly wrong (Which I think I am ) any way cheers for any input guys

 

[EddieW]

I think 5 galls is going to be too small for two clowns even if you have a decent sized sump. There wouldn't really be enough swimming room for them IMO.

You also don't need an anemone - most small clowns are tank raised and will host anything that gives them a bit of shelter, mine host in GSP and Xenia. You would also have difficulty keeping an anemone happy in a small tank. I personally wouldn't have an anemone.

If you go with a sump you don't necessarily need to skim any more than you need to skim a sump-less nano. It is a matter of choice really. A sump would be good as you can increase the water volume without increaing the dispaly tank footprint.

UV is another area where people either love it or hate it. Some people think that UV can kill of some of the smaller organisms which are useful on reefs, other feel that it improves the water quality and helps avoid disease. Your choice really.

I have a 20 or so gall nano at home - due to work I only really get a chance to do any serious work on it at weekends. I have added various bits and bobs to make it a reasonably easy setup to look after.

The main thing with a nano is evaporation. If you lose say 1 gallon per week to evaporation, then the salinity change is a LOT larger in a 5 gallon tank than a 55 gallon. To avoid this problem I have added a Tunze auto top up system so that the evaporated water is replaced immediately. I check this at weekends and an RO or DI water if necessary.

For feeding I use the Fish Mate F14 feeders so that the fish get a small feed a couple of times a day rather than having to wait until I am there. I clean this and add food once a week.

The lighting is on a timer so that I don;t have to make sure I am home in time to turn off the lights and to give the fish and corals a regular photo period.

The other jobs like water tests, water changes, glass cleaning, etc. I do at weekends.

If I am home early enough on a weekday evening I might do a few small jobs, but mostly I just like to sit and enjoy the tank.

I reckon that if you plan it out carefully and spend some money, you should be able to get a set up that will allow you to have a nice nano-reef without putting too much hassle on to your Mum. The main thing is to take it slowly - I have just added the first fish to my nano at work which has been running sine the beginning of January.

HTH, Eddie

 

[DrOizo]

So 5 Would be much to small. I like the idea of a tank that can look after itself reasonably well. A 20gal nano might be a viable option then? Thanks for the help Eddie

 

[DrOizo]

so I might try this

20 Gal long and short tank
100 watt Heater (Visitherm maybe)
fluval 4 (Idealy if I had money to burn a HOB ecosystem 40)
crushed coral substrate or argonite?
20lb live rock (no base rock)
No corals
Arcadia Marine white and Marine Blue 36inch tubes
2 powerheads (not sure about what power outage)

 

[EddieW]

You can do a 5 gall nano, but you would need to choose some other fish. I am in the process of setting up a nano at work which is a little under 10 gall. In terms of the fish I have had to look for those that don't grow too big AND don't need a large amount of room. I have just added the pyjama cardinal and, assuming the LFS gets them this week, I will be adding a one or two tiny yellow gobies next week. The fish grow to 3" max and 1 1/2" max respectively so my total fish length is 6" max which is a bit over for this size of aquarium but I will likely move the cardinal later in the year. The other factor was to look for peaceful slower swimming fish.

A 20 gall is a much easier proposition and gives you much more scope for the inhabitants - here are some pics of my 20.

Cheers, Eddie

 

[DrOizo]

Just had a good look at the ecosystem set upo and It looks as though it would be quite easy to make one of those your self (I have all the acrylic vac forming equipment at school

 

[EddieW]

Sorry - crossed over with your other post....

>20 Gal long and short tank
Go for the long - reef tanks work better with more surface area for oxygen exchange. It also allows for more scope when arranging the live rock.

>100 watt Heater (Visitherm maybe)
100 watt should be fine, visitherm are a good make.

>fluval 4 (Idealy if I had money to burn a HOB ecosystem 40)
I would avoid this personally. If you want to use a power filter you would be better getting an external cannister. Either way remove all of the foam and media as you will want the LR to do the work rather than producing nitrates in a filter. YOu can use the filter to add carbon, phosphate remover, etc. as required. I too would have liked to go for the ecosystem, but it is just too expensive.

>crushed coral substrate or argonite?
Personal choice - I used crushed aragonite for mine which looks nice. I also used a 20kg bag of Bio-Active Live Aragonite Reef Sand to provide an immediate biological assist - bear in mind you will only get the bacteria in this not the bentic critters. I also scrounged a small bag of live sand from the LFS to help seed the bed. Don't go too deep unless you are planning a full blown DSB which will take up a lot of room in a nano.

>20lb live rock (no base rock)
Sounds about right. You will probably want to pick it out at the LFS on several visits in order to build up the right sort of rock work. Buying a box mail order can be a problem with a nano due to the lack of space for larger pieces.

>No corals
Why no corals? Won't be a true reef set up without some. You can go for softies such as mushrooms, zoos, xenia, clove polyps, green star polyps, etc. which require very little additional care.

>Arcadia Marine white and Marine Blue 36inch tubes
Good wattage - wouldn't these be a bit too long for the tank though?

>2 powerheads (not sure about what power outage)
In my 20 I don't use any powerheads, I just have two Fluval 104s giving circulation. You need to aim between 10 and 20 times water volume turnover per hour. Some people do go higher than 20....

HTH, Eddie

 

[DrOizo]

Ok so 24 inch tubes, I would really like a long and not high tank so that I could get good light coverage within the whole tank. Corals are a good idea I was worrying about proper lighting for them but I think I've soughted that out now. Will LR only filtration be fine them? At my LFS they have these tanks that are about 6 inches high and about 2 metres by 2 metres with all the bits of live rock arranged in them for you to pick out and with some fish in there aswell, I would love a tank like that but It would probably have to be a custom build, it gives the tank and the way you see the fish a whole new perspective. Thanks so much Eddie you've given me lots of confidence now Just need to put my mind to it now and start collecting some bits and bobs

 

[EddieW]

For softies you can go as low as (I think) 2-3 watts per gallon. 24" T8 tubes are normally 18w so you would have 36w of lighting. This may be a little on the low side, it could be worth looking at T5 or compact T5 if your budget will stretch. 22" T5 tubes are 24w - using compact tubes you could go up to 110w by using 2 x 20" 55w tubes side by side. I use the ASL over tank luminaires which are really nice - you could go for the PR60cm which holds 2 x 36w tubes. It will fit on tanks up to 640mm wide. They are not cheap - about £55 plus about £10 per tube.

I use LR only filtration with the addition of occasional carbon, etc. in one of the canister filters.

I like the idea of having a large flat tank so that you can see the fish from above, but I am not sure whether this will work in practice. A lot of fish are quite plain when seen from above to avoid air bourne predators so you wouldn't see the full glory. Also you would have trouble building up and sort of structures with the live rock.

I would go for a normal sized tank - something like 24" x 16" x 16" would give you a nice size for display but still leave sufficient height and depth for setting up.

Having said that though it is entirely a personal preference - if you could get a 24" x 20" x 12" you would have less depth (therefore greater light pentration) and an increased surface area....

Cheers, Eddie

 

[Landlocked]

I think 5 galls is going to be too small for two clowns even if you have a decent sized sump. There wouldn't really be enough swimming room for them IMO.

You also don't need an anemone - most small clowns are tank raised and will host anything that gives them a bit of shelter, mine host in GSP and Xenia. You would also have difficulty keeping an anemone happy in a small tank. I personally wouldn't have an anemone.

5 gallons is definitely too small for a single clown, let alone 2! Clownfish need at least 30 gallons to keep. Otherwise, it is far too small and cramped for them. I agree that you don't need an anemone, though.

Don't forget a protein skimmer!

 

[DrOizo]

Yer the 5 gal was just an idea, I've put some thought into a 20gal now could i get away not skimming it or would this not be a good idea. Eddie I like the arcdia luminares but they aint cheap This is from my LFS which sand is preferable or is it personal preference. heres the link
http/thegoldfishbowl.co.uk/coralsands.html

 

[EddieW]

Skimming on a nano is down to personal choice. I don't skim but others do - I do a manual surface skim every so often to remove the film/scum.

The arcadia ones are very nice but pricey, the ASL ones are not quite as good but are cheaper and use compact T5s rather than straight ones. You can find them here.

The aragalive looks good - the colour is up to you, but personally I like the natural colurs...

Cheers, Eddie