The Start Of My New 12 Uk Gallon Nano Reef

[craigybaby37]

Finally got things going today wooooooo......so far i have fitted the powerhead into the tank, put in my new filter media, added salt to the water and added live sand to the tank. Gunna sort out lighting this weekend as i think ive sorted out what to do now i am going to get a twin T5 light fitting kit from my lfs as i can fit that into my existing tank hood no probs...i hope lol

Spec of Equipment is as follows:

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...11072007586.jpg

Hydor Koralia 1 powerhead which flows 1500lph
Tropica marin sea salt
Fluval filter media
Caribsea arag-alive live sand
Got a refractometer aswell.

Live rock will be added this weekend

just a quick question........i added the salt to the water and then the sand and it went very murky like this and still is about 2 hours after adding it...will it settle after some more time?? shall i turn off the powerhead to stop it mixing up the water or will it be ok left on??

heres a pic of the tank as it is now??

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...11072007590.jpg

 

[kkyyllee]

sand will take a day or two to settle, leave the power head on to get the salt mixed up and help sand settle

 

[craigybaby37]

ok thanks alot mate glad its normall for tank to go cloudy.....salt is all mixed up now with SG of 1.021 so gotta rise that up a little....when would u recomend doing a water test??

 

[kkyyllee]

i wouldnt test anytihng besides sg till you get ur lierock then everyt other day or so durring the cycle

 

[craigybaby37]

ok thanks mate.....Added a little more salt and SG is now upto 1.024

 

[craigybaby37]

just a small update for people.....ill be getting my liverock tomorow and have brought a single 36watt Interpet T5 light starter from ebay so should be here tuesday as i have used the seller before and they are realy quick at delivering stuff.........will be getting the light for it tomoz when i get my liverock as i dont trust bulbs with the royal mail lol

so anyways once i have my liverock in tomorow what would u say is the next step for me??

thanks

P.S will get pick of liverock in tank up once i have put them in the tank

 

[Musho3210]

you may need more flow, the hydor 1 doesnt move much water in a long way but gives a wide flow, maybe get a mini jet or small maxi-jet. But this only matters if you want corals and not sio much if you want fish.

 

[craigybaby37]

well the spec of the hydor 1 is 1500lph and its only in a 12 gallon tank.....i can see there is plenty of movement around the live rock with small pieces of dust etc u can see going around them.

anyway heres an exciting update i have some piccys of my liverock in the tank so let me know what u think



http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...ank07-07002.jpg

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...ank07-07004.jpg

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...ank07-07005.jpg


got a few hitch hikers aswell.....only managed to get pics of 1 but i also have 2 or 3 small crabs and a hermit crab but they are all v small

heres the pic of the other creature with a shell on its back when i first got the liverock

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...by37/rocks8.jpg

and after being in the tank a few hours it either come out of its shell but i cant see the shell anywhere???

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...16072007603.jpg

sorry about the clarity of last pic was takin on my mobile phone

 

[littleme1969]

You got some nice bits of rock there. Snail is harmless and looks like classic clean up crew as will be your hermit. But the crabs can be a bit of an issue . Known for creeping on sleping fish and killing them sadly. They also attack snails and hermits given the chance.
Looks great Keep the pics comming and try and catch the crabs if you can before the tanks goes any further, nothing worse than trying to get them out when its all establised.

 

[BigC]

Nice open structure with the Liverock
Good Luck with the venture.
Regards
BigC

 

[craigybaby37]

ime realy happy with the liverock i spent a good 15 mins picking it out of the huge storage tank it was in....little bit more pricey than other places but the marine tanks they have set up for keeping there stock in are just amazing so would rather pay a little more and get realy good stuff but all together the 6 peices cost me £82.75 and thats with a %10 discount as i joined there marine club which cost £5 but u get %10 discount on all marine stuff in any of there 5 branches

and as for the crabs i will do my best to fish them out but i guess it will be a bit of a job no doubt but if they are going to cause probelms then they will have to go.

just a quick question about posting pictures......how do i get it so the picture displays instead of the web link to the picture??

thanks peeps

 

[BigC]

6 peices cost me £82.75

6 pieces that size for the price you paid is not bad at all.
Very good deal I would say.
Regards
BigC

 

[craigybaby37]

yea i now think i paid good money for them as everytime i look at the tank and see them and see what a nice tank they will hopefully make in the months to come.....the other lfs to me in bury st edmunds was offering them at £10 a kilo and i had a look at them the day before i brought these bits an there wasnt half as many bits and didnt seem to have many diff shaped pieces which was what i was idealy looking for.......and they didnt offer any club deal like swallow aquatics where now i get %10 off all marine stuff

 

[craigybaby37]

small update for you all got my digital thermometer through the post today so set it up an put it in the tank.....just a few pics of it for ya

http/smg.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...17072007611.jpg

http/smg.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...17072007610.jpg

Tank is coming on nicely aswell the liverocks are starting to get a little more colour to them now and growing small flower like things which are reddy brown in colour.

whats the next steps for the tank then??

and 1 other thing how do i get the pictures to display rather than the web link to where i upload them to???

 

[shibby]

copy the IMG code into your post