Salt water newbie

[reefwars]

liverock for a 20g got to cost what $40 at most:P

[claymax]

i cant seem to find live rock for less that 8$/lb....

[mrhasan]

You can buy the aqua cultured live rock from ecoliverock. I use it and is happy with it. Costs around 4lb/pound with free shipping (but you have to buy min of 20 pounds).

[Proteus]

Or post a thread on here :LF LIVE ROCK

Normally sells $3-$4 lb

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Titus99

Or post a thread on here :LF LIVE ROCK

Normally sells $3-$4 lb

Yah that would be even better since there cycle will most probably take a day or two (or maybe no cycle at all).

[Snaz]

Nano tanks are wonderful. A good size is 20 - 30 gallons, with a 29g Biocube a great tank for beginner or expert. Nano's offer a visual perspective that is not often available with a large tank and that is closeness. You can get your eyes within eight inches(or less) of every nook, cranny and growing thing in your tank.

My tank looks like a bit of a dog's breakfast from afar but I designed it to my viewing pleasure which is on a stool with my nose pressed up against the glass. So much life!

Smaller tanks are no more difficult than larger tanks in my opinion. In fact it is easier because maintenance is a breeze. My weekly 10% water change is half a bucket of water. You ask some of the big reefers around here how long it takes to prepare ro/di, mix and hump five buckets in and out of a system and it would be hella of lot longer than my half bucket. My additives? 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in 20ml of water, simple.

Welcome to reefing and Nano!!
Keith

[mrhasan]

Can't agree more

Plus to me, smaller fishes are cuter than their larger counterparts. The other day I was a hardly 1/2" hippo tank and that's probably the cutest fish I have ever seen!

In my 20long, I haven't done any major water change in the last 1 month. Just did regular top offs.

I personally don't like cube aquariums because they actually give less place for the fishes to swim in straight.

Originally Posted by Snaz

Nano tanks are wonderful. A good size is 20 - 30 gallons, with a 29g Biocube a great tank for beginner or expert. Nano's offer a visual perspective that is not often available with a large tank and that is closeness. You can get your eyes within eight inches(or less) of every nook, cranny and growing thing in your tank.

My tank looks like a bit of a dog's breakfast from afar but I designed it to my viewing pleasure which is on a stool with my nose pressed up against the glass. So much life!

Smaller tanks are no more difficult than larger tanks in my opinion. In fact it is easier because maintenance is a breeze. My weekly 10% water change is half a bucket of water. You ask some of the big reefers around here how long it takes to prepare ro/di, mix and hump five buckets in and out of a system and it would be hella of lot longer than my half bucket. My additives? 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in 20ml of water, simple.

Welcome to reefing and Nano!!
Keith

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Yah that would be even better since there cycle will most probably take a day or two (or maybe no cycle at all).

Any live rock will give you a cycle of some kind, no matter where it comes from, due to transfer / handling
Just saying don't expect it to be 'cycle free'

And I'll agree with reefwars ...
It will be inexpensive enough to buy LR for a tank that small, so don't bother with base rock
Some things shouldn't be skimped on, such as rock, skimmer, and if you want SPS, quality lights are important too

[oyf709]

Just in case no one has suggested this yet, for a nano tank, you can even try bare bottom tank. A lot easier to manage as a smaller tank and give you a cleaner look. I would suggest this simply because in a nano tank, you can't really achieve DSB anyways.

[Lonster]

Buying live rock from someone that is shutting down is pretty risky IMO. Especially with a new person not knowing what type of things to look out for. Paying $160 at the lfs vs. $50 gives you some decent extra money to spend, and can make a difference with a skimmer for a small system. He said he wanted to watch his spending so just throwing in my 2 cents.

I used all dry rock and I am happy with a pest free tank.