Wanting To Start A Nano! Help...

[murphyk32]

Hi, so i have been with freshwater for almost 2 years now, and was thinking about starting a small saltwater.. a nano as i now know its called. So to explain, i rushed my freshwater tanks in the past because i didnt know better, had some problems.. so i wanna do this right. ive been reading and searching the last few days and am not actually planning on starting anything for atleast a month or two but wanna know what im doing well in advance. first off, I have an old 20 gallon tank, not actually that old, only a few yaers, just kinda a term we tend to use for things we havent used in a couple years. So its like a 20g normal typical longerthentaller tank. Can this work? what do i have to do to make it work if it can? what does it limit as far as choices, if anything, if it can be used?

thanks for any and all help guys, im really relying on this forum, plus research, patience, and prolly NOT the lfs to get me through this cuz so far im taking a lot in and got a lot of confussion il figure it all out, so any helps appreciated.

Thanks

Murphy

 

[Colin_T]

A 20g tank is fine for a mini marine tank (nano). You will need some beach sand, shell or coral rubble for the bottom. Some limestone rock for ornamental purposes. A power filter of some sort. If you want to use live rock (rock that has been in the ocean for a while) as the filter, (instead of a power filter) then you can do that too. But you need a fair bit of live rock and a couple of power heads to provide water movement.

Once the tank is set up with sand and rock, fill it up with seawater. You can use natural seawater or artificial marine salt. If you use artificial marine salt it should be made up 24 hours before it is used. You will need a hydrometer (salt measuring device) to test the salt levels in the water. They are available in floating glass types, plastic chamber, and refractometer. The plastic chamber are the better ones to get for price but the refractometer is the most accurate, although they are very expensive.


You will need an ammonia & nitrite test kit. Many freshwater kits will also test salt water. A marine PH test kit is needed to monitor the PH. A digital PH meter can also be used but is also expensive and will need calibrating regularly.

Once the tank is set up with water in, turn the filter on. Add some ammonia and leave it to cycle like a freshwater tank. When the tank has finished cycling you add some small peaceful fish.
If you want corals then you will need lots of light. High output T5s are a good choice for smaller tanks.

 

[seffieuk]

Murphy to the salty side, it's a great place to be

Nip over to mine and my sisters journel -we set up a 26 gallon not that long ago, all the things you will need and how to set up is on there

We will all of course help you along the way

Colin mentioned ammonia, many people don't use ammonia when cycling a tank without live rock they just use fish food/prawn etc to start the cycle. But you wouldn't put ammonia in a tank with live rock, the live rock will kick start your cycle for you

I would always go with the live rock option, I know it is more expensive but oh it is so much fun - I can hear you saying how can rock be fun, well on here we all have 'pet rocks and rock watching' as a major pass time, so don't knock it till you've tried it

Anyway, spend a few glorious hours reading all the pinned articles, journels and threads, make some plans and ask lots of questions The planning can be such fun

Seffie x

 

[murphyk32]

ahhhh thank you very much, so il research this stuff up, but any recommendations from yourself or anybody else as far as like sand/shell/coral (ive read no crushed coral?), live rock or power filter? leaning towards live rock prolly..

also another side question, i know its going to be a while before this is an issue (ive read 6-12 months for them) but jsut outta curiousity, clam in a tank this size? referring to the colorful clams not like food clams

so i just realised Seffie that you replied while i was writing my original response so im editing this, thanks for the help, and yes i will prolly go with live rock, and am heading to your journal right away

Also do i have to do anything with the tank itself or simply use it as is?

sorry expect a lot of questions

 

[Colin_T]

You can use whatever you like as the substrate. I like beach sand but that is because we have great beaches where I live Most people use a calcium based substrate to help keep the pH up and add small amounts of calcium to the water for the corals and invertebrates.
If you have sand then it is usually fine enough to prevent things settling in it and decomposing. Then you have a power filter, which can trap the particles of gunk and remove them from the water. Shell and coral rubble are usually much courser and allow bits of food and fish waste to settle among the bits of substrate. If you have a course substrate then you will need to gravel clean the tank when you do water changes.
Don't use Lime Sand as it is very fine and gets disturbed easily. Then it gets sucked into powerheads and filters and is horrible to work with.

There are some small species of clam but they need good light, high calcium levels, and clean water.

You don't have to do anything to the tank before you can use it, just rinse it out and set it up. There were rumours around many years ago that you had to change the silicon if you wanted saltwater fish. But that was started by a petshop trying to sell "their special saltwater silicon", and was bogus misleading advertising.

 

[murphyk32]

what are some of these small species of clam, any idea? hmm... i like the sound of sand, but when you mentioned getting calcium based substrate, can yo uget sand calcium based substrate or is that only with like crushed coral types?

 

[Colin_T]

Most white beach sand is calcium based. It is made up of crushed shells and limestone rock or dead corals. You don't have to have a calcium based substrate but it does help stabilise the pH a bit. I have had marine tanks with normal brown aquarium gravel as the substrate and they did fine.

One of the other marine nuts (nice nuts tho ) should be able to help you with small species of clam. The only ones I know of are the bigger Tridacna species from the Great Barrier Reef.

 

[murphyk32]

k thanks again for the info, il go post a topic and see what somebody sais as for sand, which imo sounds like itd be good and easy and i kinda like the idea, i searched around my lfs earlier and didnt find any. I have two more to check at yet, but was curious, since my main lfs doesnt carry any, if its even something fish stores carry idk, anyways any ideas where to look and exactly what i should be asking for at those places?

 

[Colin_T]

most shops won't carry beach sand. I just go to the beach with a bucket and scoop some up.
You can try asking for coral sand, which is tiny bits of coral a bit bigger than normal sand. You might be able to get it online somewhere.

 

[murphyk32]

hmm sounds good, im not short on beaches thats for sure k il update when any progress is made of if i get more questions, thanks

 

[steelhealr]

Hi....I don't recommend beach sand but that's just me. I'm an aragonite fan myself. Keep doing what you are doing and do a lot of reading first. A 20 gallon long is actually the best tank you can do for a nano. The longer than higher dimensions allows for better light penetration and easier aquascaping.

Although some nano'ers try clams, I don't recommend it. At least not until you have a 'mature' tank. When setting up your nano reef, it goes thru a period of instability and vulnerability. Many people rush to 'plop' in a reef only to find their corals dying or failing within months.

Plan out a reef with the lighting necessary to support a clam. They need high light. Manage it. Get your water keeping skills down. If you plan on keeping fish, add them before. Fish require food. Food brings fish poop. Excess food and fishpoop = nitrates. The other reason for taking your time is to become an expert water keeper...which is 'our thing' as nano'ers.

Welcome aboard.

SH

 

[murphyk32]

thank you i will look into the sand thing more, like i said it will prolly be a month or two before anything starts i just wanna get it figured out beforehand. As for the clams yes i plan on waiting a while, as ive heard that everywheres ive looked so far.