My Rushed Nano - 10 gal

raisemyrent · #1 04-09-2009, 04:16 AM

Hello,

I have been lurking in the dark here for a bit, so about time I made a journal. The story behind this nano is long, but goes as follows:
OK, I can't skip this, when we were going to univ, one my housemates was walking home from the bar and saw a fish tank at the back of a house, in the alley, by the dump. For some strange reason, he decided it was a great find and brought it home. Little more happened until fairly recently when he heard that I was into tanks and decided to randomly come and drop it off at my place. I figured I'd take it, as a possible future sump for my main project: my 33 gal living room reef.

Then the addiction kicked in, and I decided to establish a nano (oh, I had a 6 gal nano for a couple years when I was in high school, 7 years ago) while I waited for equipment deliveries, etc, for my main tank.

The rest of the story is typical, I got some rock, some sand, some equipment here there and everywhere, deals here, expensive there, and the tank is as the picture now shows. The cycle/break-in has recently ended, and now it is time to stock it.

Any suggestions???

I plan on keeping softies, mushrooms, and maybe the odd SPS near the top. I have a rio nano skimmer that also circulates the water well, a koralia nano, and a Current USA T5HO 2x24W 24" 10K plus 460nm light fixture... the big piece of LR on the left was from an established LFS (she uses it as LR for her display tanks with frags and sells it sporadically) and the coralline encrusted pieces were the few from her frag/display tank that I could snag without any life on them. The other two big pieces of LR were from another store that I bought shortly after delivery (uncured then, and I have figured they're too big and will end up in the other tank as soon as it is ready). The dead/white pieces are caribsea base rock in a bag (fossilised LR I believe).

Most of the sand is dead aragonite then seeded with some ocean direct.

First thing that comes to mind is CUC, but can I just start with a fish? or a frag? hahaha please feel free to chip in with your suggestions...

ILIKECOUGARS · #2 04-09-2009, 04:35 AM

I guess that this is a fairly new set up. I would wait for the tank to cycle before adding anything to it. Then start with a small clean up crew.

raisemyrent · #3 04-09-2009, 04:43 AM

OK, thanks. I will do that. I think the inverts are fairly hardy anyways... I don't want to throw everything out the window by waiting. The tank has been up for just over 3 weeks and has now finished cycling/breaking-in per my test kits, so I will give it a week or two before anything goes in. That will give my time to plan it, too.

Myka · #4 04-09-2009, 05:16 AM

Inverts are actually more sensitive to water chemistry than fish are. Wait until you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and <10 ppm nitrates. Once the first two are down, do waterchanges until the third is achieved. You can read through the tank cycling guide in my signature too if you want.

ElGuappo · #5 04-09-2009, 11:22 AM

Nice rock scape. if you have a glass top i might drop the light right on top of the tank. i have found that with only 2x24 w on my 10G doesnt really raise the tank temp and gives much better light penitration to the bottom of the tank. i have 4 types of sps and some zoas in this tank and all seem to be doing well. just my opinion.

raisemyrent · #6 04-09-2009, 02:23 PM

thanks, Myka. you're right, inverts are more sensitive to poor water...

so why does everyone start with a CUC? especially as there's not a lot for them to eat yet, IMO.

Either way, I will plan this carefully... ElGuappo seems to have quite a few critters in his tank... and I wanted TWO snails! I thought shrimps were out of the question due to the size of the tank...

I didn't test for nitrates, but I hope they're low... the tank is getting a water change no matter what...

something in the back of my mind tells me to stop by the LF on the way home...

Myka · #7 04-09-2009, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisemyrent

thanks, Myka. you're right, inverts are more sensitive to poor water...

so why does everyone start with a CUC? especially as there's not a lot for them to eat yet, IMO.

Ya your tank is too small for a shrimp....unless you spot feed often. I've had trouble keeping them in my 33g, but I don't spot feed.

People start with a CUC for a couple main reasons; they are cheap and "disposable" (I disagree on the second part) which makes them good for kamikaze work, and they get on top of the algae before it becomes a problem. A big mistake many people make is that they pick out a HUUUUUGE CUC and slam it into a mostly barren tank, and 3/4 of them die from starvation. Wow, that was a good waste of money. Websites suggest 1 snail and 1 hermit per gallon. That's ridiculous. Some people may require a CUC of that size, but not until the tank has matured. Be aware that hermits are predacious and will often kill snails when they are hungry or just to steal their shells. Many people (myself included) dont' keep hermits just because of this. Scarlet hermits are the lesser of the evils, with Mini Blue legs next. Start off with a small CUC (like 2 or 3 like you intended), and add more as you see fit and as your tank matures.

I find Astreas (my fav), Trochus, and Turbos live the longest. Nassarius die left, right, and center (in my tank anyway, they rarely last over a year in my tank) but are good for eating detritus, and cerith aren't far behind (|and pretty useless imo). Margaritas are a temperate species and shouldn't be kept in tropical tanks (unbeknownst to way too many people) which is too bad because they are one of the best algae eaters. What am I missing? Bumble Bee snails are not always reef-safe. Oh Ring Cowries are pretty cool, but aren't very hardy and don't do much imo, wait until your tank matures, and even then you will probably lose half of them within the first 6 months, but the remainder will be hardy.

raisemyrent · #8 04-09-2009, 06:55 PM

I see I see..

I couldn't wait, so I.... took a trip to the LFS... they have lots of little snails and lots of little crabs, but I won't give in, crabs are evil, mine used to fight all the time...

They do have very very small cleaner shrimps, like an inch long, but they grow, right?
I'll have a cleaner shrimp later on in my 33gal... for now, I will buy a snail or two and go from there...

are pruple firefish hardy fish?

Snaz · #9 04-09-2009, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisemyrent

I see I see..
crabs are evil, mine used to fight all the time...

Where they Blue Legged Hermits? I read they can be kinda aggressive. My red legged hermits are docile until a pellet lands nearby but then its more of a clutch and hold rather than fight. Never seen injuries. I credit my army of hermits for keeping my sand clean.

raisemyrent · #10 04-11-2009, 07:23 AM

no, they were red legged as far as I remember, i had one, and he always gointo fights with the hitchhiker crab that came with my rock, he looked like an emerald, but in the typical opaque red colour...

anywyas, my tanks will be crab free from now on...

I just bought 2 astrea snails, a cerith snail, a clown fish (not percula), and 3 ricordea florida frags, about the size of a quarter or loonie...
pale pruple, glowy green, and orange...

can you say rushing?

now I am happy.. I am just waiting for my jlawuatics order toc ome in the mail so that I can move a couple of big pieces of live rock into my bigger tank (33gal) and redo the aquascaping in my 10gal once and for all