Newbie with a Nano

[Sunee]

Welcome!!

[Dearth]

All rock will have hitch hikers of some sort you will find many additions some good some not so good

If the worms are grey or grey with a red tip they are harmless bristle worms they are a good part of your CuC however once you have them almost impossible to completely remove from your system. I don't like them myself but kinda learning to live with them.

As to aiptasia you have a couple of options as I previously stated you can get peppermint shrimp which are relatively cheap, you can remove and cook the rock but not a guarantee to fully remove unless you cook it properly and it takes a lot of time, manual removal but that is hit and miss.

As others stated get some power heads in there it will help a lot and stir up the detritus

Canister filters are ok in a smaller system but they are a lot of work and honestly getting a skimmer will cut your workload so much

Most importantly don't rush take your time and ask questions if your not sure and take time to enjoy it you will get so much pleasure from it

[Jessie]

Thanks! I originally wanted a sump however, I do not have a reef ready aquarium - just a plain tank. I was going to try and remodel my aquarium but was told by my LFS that you cannot buy a pre-made overflow to silicone into a tank...they pretty much discouraged me from doing anything other than a) buying a canister filter or b) purchasing a reef ready tank and sump. I picked the less expensive option (canister) since I had just purchased this tank and couldn't return it (had goldies for 4 days in it).

I am looking into hob skimmers and how effective they really are compared to 20% weekly water changes (which in my case equals out to just over a 5g bucket so not very complicated).

Also, I will purchase powerheads tomorrow, I'm not sure if I need 1 or 2. I'm going to do some research later tonight to try and find out exactly what I need and then what I want (and then how much I'm willing to spend lol). I think I need 2 because my tank has quite a bit of rock and it all sits in the center with very little flow around the back.

I do have 2 questions, when cycling a tank with sand and rock from a previous 3 year old aquarium, should I be doing water changes (@ 20%) and cleaning the canister filter weekly?

@JmeJReefer - the canister I have claims a 303 gph flow rate, should I have gone with a higher flow rate canister? or a hob pump? What other options do I have if not a sump? TIA.

[JmeJReefer]

Originally Posted by Jessie

Thanks! I originally wanted a sump however, I do not have a reef ready aquarium - just a plain tank. I was going to try and remodel my aquarium but was told by my LFS that you cannot buy a pre-made overflow to silicone into a tank...they pretty much discouraged me from doing anything other than a) buying a canister filter or b) purchasing a reef ready tank and sump. I picked the less expensive option (canister) since I had just purchased this tank and couldn't return it (had goldies for 4 days in it).

I am looking into hob skimmers and how effective they really are compared to 20% weekly water changes (which in my case equals out to just over a 5g bucket so not very complicated).

Also, I will purchase powerheads tomorrow, I'm not sure if I need 1 or 2. I'm going to do some research later tonight to try and find out exactly what I need and then what I want (and then how much I'm willing to spend lol). I think I need 2 because my tank has quite a bit of rock and it all sits in the center with very little flow around the back.

I do have 2 questions, when cycling a tank with sand and rock from a previous 3 year old aquarium, should I be doing water changes (@ 20%) and cleaning the canister filter weekly?

@JmeJReefer - the canister I have claims a 303 gph flow rate, should I have gone with a higher flow rate canister? or a hob pump? What other options do I have if not a sump? TIA.

Im always astounded that an LFS promotes this canister on a saltwater tank...

Agreed to lose media in canister for plain live rock. Your Live Rock once mature and cycled will begin to act as your biological filtration.
Perhaps some sort of Chemipure Elite in there will help if cleaned regularly.

for Flow. a friend has put 2 240gph hydor K's in a 29 gallon with one aimed behind rock and low with another high and aimed toward front. Have seen no ill effects and the flow seems to be just right as he has never battled algae produced from lack of flow. (a thin film of red or green stuff with bubbles under it is an indication of poor flow)
Water changes during a cycle. I heard of doing both. Leaving until cycle completes (the water and rock and sand has "matured" in a sense) and water changing a little just to remove some nutrients and die off...since youhave no livestock or anything yet, a water changeless cycle wouldnt affect ya. the Remora Nano, and the REd sea prizm have been notably the best HoBs as far as microbubble control goes (it bugs some people, and other ppl are like,"bubbles!!!yay!" so wutever floats ur boat so to speak.
An idea for later once you've explored some options is an overflow box like Eshopps or CPR to a sump. Very simple.

Have u any test kits to monitor ur water? If not, u can take a sample to a "Top Notch" LFS like Marine Aquaria, REd Coral to test ur water for ya and offer any "real" advice in regards to ur tank. A good test kit from Salifert, REd Sea or Elos to test for nitrates, phosphates, nitrites would benefit ya.

I will say this. Things go wrong quick in nanos so once ur off to the races, weekly water changes are a must regardless of what anyone tells ya. 20% is a good start. I do almost 50% on my 14g biocube every 7 days. Have seen no ill effects from doing so, and my water parameters always stay in check.

Nice rockwork, and if ur aptasia gets going crazy, a peppermint shrimp has always worked for me but its hit or miss sometimes with the little crustaceans!!!

Nice one Bruv!!!!!!

[Madreefer]

You should give one of those WP25 powerheads a go. You'll probably only need one. Guys are giving good reviews on them. I'm not a big fan of the Hydors, I use them to mix my salt for water changes and have got some nasty shocks from them.

[Jessie]

Just really want to say thanks to all of you who responded to me - I appreciate it and have definitely taken every piece of info and worked with it (you don't know what you don't know) - so yeah, a huge thanks!

I have more flow now - 2x 240gph Hydor Koralias. I have one placed mid-tank side flowing behind my rocks and the other opp. side top flowing across the front. If I add everything up I have about 780gph movement in a 30g tank.

I did a 20% water change (which didn't go smoothly but will get better). Removed sponges but haven't replaced them with anything yet - this Fluval came with 2 carbon bags and media that looks like cylinders with a hole in the middle. I'm going tonight to pick up some small frags to replace the sponges and cylinders tonight.

I'm about to order a skimmer, just have to take some measurements to make sure it will fit - Hydor SlimSkim (not the nano, the larger version). My tank is in my living room so it was really important to me that things are quiet but functional; I checked out some reviews and they really sold me on this unit. Tank is getting crowded with equipment, if all goes well then I may put together a 15g sump, but considering I just poured money into the canister set up, I'll keep this setup for a bit.

I've been testing and logging my parameters daily, as well as checking temp. and salinity. I'm on Day 6 and my parameters haven't moved a point since starting, sitting at ph: 7.9, Ammonia/Nitrate/Nitrite: 0 Salinity: 1.024 & temp. 80. Getting brown algae now I think, covering sand and some rock.

I'm going to look into an RO/DI system soon, apparently we have pretty good water quality in Edmonton (so says a Chemist I know) so I'm just using tap + prime + time (letting it sit for 24 hours before use) at the moment.

Other than that, I'm over the worms thing, they're fine - it's not like I have the loch ness monster in there. Also, big surprise, a blue and black striped brittle star fish came out of hiding last night so thought that was pretty cool.

[Dearth]

Not sure if you have heard of this site before but it is basically the almost bible for most of us in the SW hobby

Www.liveaquaria.com

It is a very useful tool and probably one of the better resources for fish/coral/critters