The Start Of My New 12 Uk Gallon Nano Reef

[Musho3210]

you may want more flow, the hydor 1 might not be enough, it gives a great wide flow but doesnt really go all the way around the tank. Have that hydor on 1 side and put either another hydor on the oposite side or have a powerhead on the other side. This is probably more important in reef tanks but the hydor koralia 1's dont move water much.... you dont really follow the turnover rule for these stream pumps. But they are great pumps since fish and corals like a lot of wide flow rather than a lot of pencil flow.

 

[craigybaby37]

ok thanks for the advice will keep it in mind as the tank has only been set up fully for 3 days now but i suppose there is nothing stopping me putting another hydor1 in the front right corner of the tank......better to have to much flow than not enough i guess.

 

[littleme1969]

You could always get a good powerhead that is stronger than you need and has variable flow, that way you can turn it down if its too much for your live stock The first few weeks are great fun watching things starting to grow and settle and getting excited when things hapen as they should and planning new inmates Mines just coming up to 2 weeks and i'm loving it, far more fun than freshwater. Though I do love My BN's

 

[craigybaby37]

where abouts can i get these powerheads with variable flow rates then as that may be better than buying another complete unit.....are they much bigger than my hydor 1 i have atm then???

yea it is great fun lookin at the tank and trying to see whats new lol i keep seeing things twitch and ime straight there trying to find out what it was......found out last night when tank light went out i have 2 hermit crabs now

as for inmates ime not to sure what to do atm as for cleaner shrimps and bigger mermit crabs etc etc as ime not to sure when to put them in the tank so if you could help me on that it would be much appreciated?? i know what fish i want already though....either 1 or 2 clowns, a red fire fish and a purple 1 and maybe a watchman goby if i can fit it in ok??

thanks people

 

[littleme1969]

First of all where are you in the world...UK?
The Powerhead I use is a variable and its made by Interpet, They are great and not too expensive either. Pretty versatile on been able to direct flow etc.
As for adding crew... you need to do that when your tank settles and your ammonia is 0 Nitrates also should be less than 10. You usually get a hint of when its time when you get a Diatom outbreak. This appears as a brownish carpet that will pretty much cover everything. If your using cured live rock this will probably be about day 5 - 7 but uncured can take from 4 to 6 weeks.
Add your clean up crew slowly (but not the shrimp, do that when you add your first fish) If you look in my nano journal you will see how best to do a slow aclimatise as snails can be super sensertive and just throwing them in may lead to death Fish get put in when your nitrates between 5 - 0 and all tank stats are stable, i.e. Temperature PH s.g. and try to avoid adding too many at once, this could overload your fragile setup and send nitrtaes off the scale and cause a lot of serious problems, not to mention dead fish
Corals are last and should be put in when the tanks had a little time to mature, again just a few at a time to give the bacteria time to catch up with the poo output.

 

[craigybaby37]

ok thanks for all the advise i appreciate it and yes i am in the UK down in east anglia. will defo look into the power head. as for the diatoms i am already starting to see the rocks get browner in color as i have compared them with pics i took straight after they were put in the tank.....so as for clean up crew what would u recommend??

should be getting my interpet t5 light starter tomorow through the post and am a little concerned about rising temps from the bulb.....i am only fitting 1 36watt bulb mind but temperature at the moment with standard hood bulb in hovering between 79 - 81F or 26 - 28c depending on what u prefer???

 

[littleme1969]

Alot of people keep their tanks at about 80 - 82 so not an isssue. I have a 26w in a small tank and it does not rise the temperature at all. So just suck it and see keep am eye on it and if its a problem depending on what hood you have you can either add ventilation slits (wood hood) or add a couple of PC fans, Big C did a run down on how to do it.
I would go on you tests rather than anything else. You need to be seeing 0 ammonia and low nitrates before you risk anything in there. If you dont have a test kit then buy one ASAP Plus a calcium test and I'm assuming you got the hang of the hydrometer OK?
API are the cheapest test kits and I use them and have no problem at all.

Critters.. well here is pretty good..
Reef Critters
I got most of mine from there and all arrived healthy and well packaged. As for wht to get, try and get a good mix of hermits snails etc to try and cover ever algae problem. I have 3 types of snails and 4 types of Hermits. Between them they are doing a fantasic job of cleaning the tank, it already looks clean just after a few days

 

[craigybaby37]

well the hood on the tank is plastic so no ventilation slits.....just been on ebay an ordered a few bits i got a ac/dc adaptor and 2 60mm cooling fans which i can put in the compartment that holds all the current light starters etc which i will do away with once the new t5 light is in.....i have seen the temps creep to around 30c or 86f during the day if i dont have my windows wide open so i think heat may be a problem with the new light. i have got my test kit so dont worry.....though i dont have anything to test calcium and on that note of calcium will i need to add it to the tank as i was told i may need to by someone at my lfs???

one thing ive been meaning to find out is once i have a clean up crew in the tank and they have done there job do you leave them in there or take them out??? may sound silly but i dont know lol and also will having a clean up crew in the tank effect how many fish i can have in the tank??

 

[littleme1969]

Calcium.. you only really need to test for this if your planning corals I would say. between 400 and 500 is best for coral growth mines about 580 which is quite high mainly due to gigh calcium content in my tap water. You shouldnt need to add any as the salts you mix should have it in, so every time you top up with water your replacing the calcium. Its good to test though just so you know where its at.

Clean up crew... PMSL.. no they are part of the tanks stability. they will keep your algae in check and also help maitain a balance with cleaning and turning over of sand etc. And no they are very little Bio load on the tank, and once you get them youll realise they add another interest to it. I love watching my hermits cleaning the rock, beating the sh*t out of each other and swapping their shells. I have some snails that burrow into the sand and all you see is a tube moving through the gravel..lol So cute

 

[craigybaby37]

well ime glad thats all cleared up now lol and yea they will add another interest to the tank as there are some nice looking hermits etc out there....as for shells will any shells do as long as they are bigger than what they have???

You say about ur tap water having a high content of calcium so do you just use that for the tank or are u using RO water aswell as i have got 3 25 litre containers to buy some RO water the next time i goto my lfs but i have been told by a few people tap water is ok as long as u de-chlorinate it?? and as for RO water sometimes it can be so pure that u have to add vital neutrients back to it??

just a few pics of the live rock and how much its changed after 3 days

start of tank http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...15-07-07006.jpg

now http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...k18-7-07005.jpg

 

[littleme1969]

Hi..
Shells.. you can buy them off e.bay in mixed bags just for hermit crabs. Thats where I got mine a bag of 150 from tiny right through to about 4cms long. Very pretty too and cheap also so just the job. Just rinse with a little mixed salt or RO water before you add them to your tank, make sure you get the air out of each one or it will just bob about lol
If you dont put shells in then they will start attacking your snails and maybe each other to get a new shell..NOT GOOD

No I use RO water I bought a unit as I dont have a shop within 50 miles that sells it. Even after the RO unit has finised with it the calcium level is still quite high considering. Everything in my house thats water related gets covered in scale very quickly due to the disolved minerals that are present in the tap water. Never Use Tap Water!

AS for adding nutrients, yes this is done via the salt you add to get the right s.g. Thats way its always better to pay a little extra and get a good quality REEF salt. Make sure its REEF salt otherwise it wont have everything your going to need to grow corals as well as keep healthy fish.

 

[craigybaby37]

think the shells will eb my next buy from ebay then......and as for salts i use tropic marin as it says it has 70 trace ellements found in natural sea water so must be good i guess lol

Finally got my T5 light fixture through the post yesterday so fitted that now with a 36watt daylight blue bulb made by interpet.

just a quick piccy of the tank with the new light

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...20-07-07004.jpg

 

[craigybaby37]

got a few updates for you all so here goes

1: woooooo huge diatoms outbreak...i think its so supprising how much a tank can change in just 2 days i couldnt believe it when i got back from my mums house where i was for the weekend an to see my tank looking as it is lol

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...22-07-07001.jpg
http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...22-07-07003.jpg

2: got my fans and ac/dc adaptor through post over weekend so will be installing them tomoz night. i think ime just gunna use 1 fan for the moment as had a trial set up and was supprised how much air a 60mm fan can push out.

3: got some tank stats for you so let me know if u think things are going ok

SG/Salinity stands at 1.024
ph between 8.2 and 8.3
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
tank temp 81 F

tanks been set up 1 week today

 

[Musho3210]

oops i realized i sorta double posted about the hydor 1's, sorry about that, my fault, a mod can delete one of them....

 

[craigybaby37]

small update....added a 60mm cooling fan today as temps were reaching 84F an is not keeping at a nice 81F

also should u clean the brown mess off the side of the tank??? look at pics on previos post to see what i am talking about