Help with 1 week old 10g nano

[Midknight]

I would stop doing water changes for a week or so and see if it clears up.
Also start using fresh water that you make.
If you are pulling water from your friends tank for your changes you are just swapping you dirty water for his.

[Nixon]

does the fact that i have an open top play a part in this? almost seems like there's "dust" on the surface of the water

[andsoitgoes]

Nope. Shouldn't. If you want, get a hagen surface skimmer or find an attachment for the Rio that will skim the surface. I got a bit of the gunk buildup on the surface when I took mine away, now that it's back, it's fabu, and scum free.

You have to realize that all that gunk is what SHOULD be going into the skimmer, but since (for some reason) these skimmers are designed to suck water like a standard HOB, they miss all that stuff. I'm pretty positive adding one of those on will change things quite a bit. It's 15 bucks well spent.

[Nixon]

Originally Posted by andsoitgoes

Nope. Shouldn't. If you want, get a hagen surface skimmer or find an attachment for the Rio that will skim the surface. I got a bit of the gunk buildup on the surface when I took mine away, now that it's back, it's fabu, and scum free.

You have to realize that all that gunk is what SHOULD be going into the skimmer, but since (for some reason) these skimmers are designed to suck water like a standard HOB, they miss all that stuff. I'm pretty positive adding one of those on will change things quite a bit. It's 15 bucks well spent.

where'd you get a hold of either one of those that you mentioned? either the hagen or something that can add on to my rio. i checked a few online shops with no prevail

[andsoitgoes]

Check out any of the local pet stores, they're all over! Call whoever is local and ask if they have it, otherwise get 'em to order it in

If all else fails:

http://mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/...g+-p+PATO-1138

[Nixon]

Originally Posted by andsoitgoes

Check out any of the local pet stores, they're all over! Call whoever is local and ask if they have it, otherwise get 'em to order it in

If all else fails:

http://mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/...g+-p+PATO-1138

no luck with local shops i guess i might just have to live with it. i tried to rig up my own but the way the rio's designed, i can't get a pcv pipe around the intake pipe out of luck

[nano-sean]

Nixon,

Looking through your pictures, the timeline and the messages, I get the sense that you acquired a bunch of live rock about 3 weeks ago and dumped it into a new tank without inspecting and cleaning off the rock.

Has your tank even finished cycling yet? It seems like you're having a lot of issues early in the game.

I know when I first got sucked into this hobby I didn't follow any of the recommendations about cleaning the LR because the thought of having an empty tank with no cool critters seemed anti-climactic after the initial expense. Between dealing with Algae, Aptasia, etc problems I learned my lesson.

Reef keeping can be very rewarding, but it can also be devistating if you're not patient. You should always be very cautious adding stuff to your tank. With a 10Gal, there's really no margin for error.

I hope this didn't come out sounding like a lecture! Good luck to you.

[kwirky]

Originally Posted by nano-sean

I know when I first got sucked into this hobby I didn't follow any of the recommendations about cleaning the LR because the thought of having an empty tank with no cool critters seemed anti-climactic after the initial expense. Between dealing with Algae, Aptasia, etc problems I learned my lesson.

I just follow the mantra of innocent until proven guilty. Or aiptasia... or very big...

"Cleaning" new rock requires experience anyways. Don't worry too much over what's good and bad right now. You'll learn as you go, and the next batch of rock you get, you'll personally have a better feel for what to remove and what to leave alone.

I remember when I first got live rock, I watched it for hours wanting to identify everything in there. Especially when I had my nano because there's less rock to look over, so you notice everything.

Just make sure you leave your lights off for a long while. So many people made that mistake for their first tank (myself included), and it causes headaches for MONTHS afterwards. Took about 4 months for my tank to settle out and start behaving. Give your tank a month before turning on all your lights.

[Nixon]

thanks for the advise guys. and yes, i didn't clean off the LR when i got it. I thought that the established rock would aid in the tank's cycle. i just got my light a few days ago so it hasn't been on. the only thing i have is the 2 led moon lights on (should i shut those off too?). i'm very slowly adding a clean up crew to get the tank undercontrol before adding fish. once again, thanks for the feedback guys

[Phanman]

Im new to this "expensive" hobby to Nixon. I just got my 10gallon nano up and running 2 days ago. I did the same thing, got LR from a friend as well as the water. Now im a newb too and trying to absorb all the info i can, but since your using established water/LR from a friend why would you need to cycle anything? Should it not be "ready to go"? I plan on just doing a 10%water change once a month as I also have a Rio Nano Skimmer (works beautiful already). Which was the heated debate Skimmer vs. Water changes... which is better??? I dont know, lol.

I was also impatient and got 2 clown fish and a few zoo's and everything is going good, and the water looks crystal clear