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The same way you keep a freshwater tank clean, provide more filtration than the tank actually needs, don't leave the lights on so long that the algae takes over, don't overfeed or overstock and keep the glass scrubbed.
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Jun 11, 2008 00:52
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That's all fine and dandy, general maintenance and common logic, but what happens when the fish and bacteria don't get all the grime? They'll slow down the buildup, but eventually you just gotta get in there with a scrubby pad and wage nuclear war on some filth. The worst I've had is a pissed-off corydoras catfish with a sharp spine to match his attitude. I don't want to think about tiptoeing around upset lionfish or puffers.
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Jun 11, 2008 07:33
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You just get more critters. Waterchanges are kind of important too, but I have gone a year without a waterchange before.
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Jun 11, 2008 14:10
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Yeah, please don't put a mandarin in a small tank. Ours roams the entire tank pretty quickly, and we have a 55g. I would hate to see him in a nano cube or something.
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Jun 11, 2008 17:31
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Morally speaking, fish don't belong in anything below 20 gallons. Shrimp and hermits look great in small tanks though.
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Jun 12, 2008 14:58
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SERPUS posted:Morally speaking, fish don't belong in anything below 20 gallons. I think most nano enthusiasts would disagree with you. Aphelion Necrology fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Jun 12, 2008 |
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Jun 12, 2008 16:27
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Aburke27 posted:If I wanted to get into starting a reef tank and know next to nothing about the equipment would this tank (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~aquarium_tanks_red_sea_max_complete.html)be overpriced? Is it made with good parts and adequate equipment to start out with? The guy I'm seeing has a 29 gallon biocube. We recently went to a local store and saw the Red Sea you linked on display. The salesman was showing us all the features it had and let me tell you, it was niiice. Some features I noticed are: Can prop the lid up with the Red Sea on hinges. Lid is overall much more nicely constructed than the biocube. Timers are built in, with the b.c. you have to go buy your own. Only one cord comes out of your Red Sea..theres like a power station inside so its very sleek. Just at first glance, the tank just looked a bit nicer and I was impressed with the features I saw just right there. I can't speak for the other (and probably more important) aspects like comparing filtration and lighting, etc but I was definitely impressed. You can get a biocube setup for about 350-400 and the Red Sea is (I was quoted 500 without stand) a few hundred more. The Red Sea to ME is definitely worth 100-150 more than the biocube. Is it worth 200-300 more? Thats definitely arguable. I'm pretty torn right now..I REALLY liked the red sea but the price tag is annoying. I'm just not quite sold that its worth that much more, so I'm still thinking about it.
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Jun 12, 2008 16:54
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SERPUS posted:Morally speaking, fish don't belong in anything below 20 gallons. Morally speaking, some fish don't belong in anything larger than a ten gallon. Dwarf seahorses for example, need tanks small enough to allow for a high concentration of food in the water. Anything larger than a ten, and they can't find enough food to survive. Some fish are so small they require a small tank to ever be observed. Smaller species of goby and clownfish also do extremely well in smaller tanks. In fact my False Percs in my 12 gallon exhibit far more natural behaviors than my father's False Percs in his 150. This is because in the wild, clownfish rarely swim more than a foot away from their host anenome in their entire lives. most captive bred clowns, for some reason do not host anenomes, but kept to a smaller space they are actually being kept more naturally than in larger spaces. I cannot tell you how bizzare it looks to me to see those little clowns swimming around like they're some kind of tang.
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Jun 13, 2008 01:08
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Finally got some crappy pictures, but I'm very happy to say that after almost 4 weeks of cycling, all my levels are finally good to go! Next week I will be ordering my FREE clean-up-crew of hermits and snails from aquaticisland.com Hard to tell, but this is my proud display of 0ppm tests:  Here is my glorious, though blurry, 6.6 gallon nano tank: 
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Jun 13, 2008 03:58
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Maybe you know this and are just using them for the cycling, but those test kits you have right now are not very good quality (especially the stick on inside one). You may want to invest in some better brands. Other than that, the rockwork looks great. What do you have for flow in there?
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Jun 13, 2008 04:05
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fanaglethebagle posted:Maybe you know this and are just using them for the cycling, but those test kits you have right now are not very good quality (especially the stick on inside one). You may want to invest in some better brands. Other than that, the rockwork looks great. What do you have for flow in there? They're Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Salt and Reef kits.  I was told they were good ones. What else would you recommend?The stick-on-the-side ammonia meter was just for a general idea of how my levels were lowering during cycling, and the little quicky test strip is what I usually tested with daily, using the actual liquid tests every week. I have a Taam Rio Nano Skimmer and a Koralia Nano Mini powerhead. 
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Jun 13, 2008 04:49
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fanaglethebagle posted:Maybe you know this and are just using them for the cycling, but those test kits you have right now are not very good quality (especially the stick on inside one). You may want to invest in some better brands. Other than that, the rockwork looks great. What do you have for flow in there? I used aquarium pharm's test kits, and I've always found them to be very reliable. I can't comment on the stick-on ammo alert, but I have a pal who's bred fish for 30 years and he swears by them. I don't think there's anything wrong with those test kits at all.
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Jun 13, 2008 11:15
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For breeding fish and non-reef systems they are fine, but they do not measure small levels as well. Not to mention that those can sometimes randomly expire and give you 0 instead of what you actually have. I recommend salifert or elos test kits especially wen it comes to Alkalinity and calcium. For the cycling, the stick on is great, but I just want to make sure you weren't planning on using it for a reliable source when it is set up. How is the Koralia nano? I have heard good things but I have never actually seen one used yet.
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Jun 13, 2008 12:54
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I really like your rock-scape Hood! Looks good =)
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Jun 13, 2008 13:38
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fanaglethebagle posted:For breeding fish and non-reef systems they are fine, but they do not measure small levels as well. Not to mention that those can sometimes randomly expire and give you 0 instead of what you actually have. I recommend salifert or elos test kits especially wen it comes to Alkalinity and calcium. For the cycling, the stick on is great, but I just want to make sure you weren't planning on using it for a reliable source when it is set up. Yeah the stick-on was just for cycling, mostly because this tank is at my office at work and I was tired of all my coworkers asking me daily why I didn't have fish in there yet! Explaining cycling didn't seem to help, so I stuck it on there and said, "I can't even THINK of adding anything alive until that circle turns yellow!" They were all very excited and eagerly kept me updated on my colored circle. fanaglethebagle posted:How is the Koralia nano? I have heard good things but I have never actually seen one used yet. So far I really like it, very powerful for being so small, and I like being able to control flow direction. The only problem I had with it is that while cycling, it tends to get clogged up with residue and other junk. I emailed their customer service about it and they got back to me instantly and told me how to take it apart and clean it out, and now it's fine again. I'd recommend Koralia simply for their customer service. In the picture I have it in the far right corner. Kela posted:I really like your rock-scape Hood! Looks good =) Thank you! It was a tedious time getting everything balanced right so that it was both pretty AND stable. Some pieces came with what I assume were coral growths, but they've since turned white and had algae grow over so I think they're dead. However, when I first got them they were very alive and happily stung the poo poo out of me as I moved them around. 
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Jun 13, 2008 15:53
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Cool thread and great pictures, I didn't even know we had one until now. Does anyone know anything about using water softened water (ie salt -> brine tank) in a reef system? I can't find very much information on what kind of crazy RO/DI + supplement scheme I will have to engineer to make it work. Anyone have links about or personal experience with water softened water?
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Jun 13, 2008 18:31
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I would just buy marine salt because it includes the type of supplements needed to re-create seawater. Water softening salt is cheap and sold bulk, so I see why you'd be interested, especially if you are interested in a large tank, but I think finding and implementing all the supplements you would need would end up being just as expensive as marine salt, plus you don't want to risk crashing your whole tank because you tried to cut corners by loving around with its chemistry.
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Jun 13, 2008 20:55
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Hood Ornament posted:Here is my glorious, though blurry, 6.6 gallon nano tank: I recognize that tank, and I must say I love it. That 6.6 gallon bowfront acrylic is a lot of fun to aquascape. I've only used it for FW planted, but my roommate and I have had it up and running for over four years now. Thanks to the low height, it's really easy to grow plants that need high light, and thanks to the small overall size, you can really juggle around small (and cheap) chunks of rock and driftwood. They make great Betta, Dwarf Puffer, or shrimp tanks. Ours currently has Galaxy Rasboras, Malaysian Trumpet Snails, and Ramshorn Snails in it.
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Jun 14, 2008 05:29
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Desert Bus posted:I recognize that tank, and I must say I love it. That 6.6 gallon bowfront acrylic is a lot of fun to aquascape. I've only used it for FW planted, but my roommate and I have had it up and running for over four years now. Thanks to the low height, it's really easy to grow plants that need high light, and thanks to the small overall size, you can really juggle around small (and cheap) chunks of rock and driftwood. They make great Betta, Dwarf Puffer, or shrimp tanks. Ours currently has Galaxy Rasboras, Malaysian Trumpet Snails, and Ramshorn Snails in it. I really like it as well, when I used it for FW I had Oto Cats and Dwarf Frogs in it. I love how low it is as well, very easy to get in there and mess around, and so far everyone who has seen it thinks it's a much bigger tank. Still not sure what fish will end up in here, though. Unfortunately I've already scratched up the front by letting some sand get under my MagFloat. Supernaturalist posted:I would just buy marine salt because it includes the type of supplements needed to re-create seawater. Water softening salt is cheap and sold bulk, so I see why you'd be interested, especially if you are interested in a large tank, but I think finding and implementing all the supplements you would need would end up being just as expensive as marine salt, plus you don't want to risk crashing your whole tank because you tried to cut corners by loving around with its chemistry. I agree with this, the bolded part in particular. I've discovered that you just can't skimp on anything with SW tanks, especially during set-up.
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Jun 14, 2008 14:30
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Sweet, a reef tank thread! I just started a 29g Bio Cube. Obligatory full tank shot:  Still waiting for it to cycle. Can't wait to add a clean up crew, hermit crabs are badass!
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Jun 15, 2008 21:45
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I just bought this yesterday: http://tinyurl.com/3sfqsg Now I'm trying to decide what I want to put in it when it is ready. Any suggestions? FixxxeR fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Jun 16, 2008 |
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Jun 16, 2008 18:14
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Green star polyps and skunk shrimp! http://www.nano-reef.com/corals/ That website has a good list with pictures of critters that can be safely kept in a nano. (Click on the "Information" menu at the top to go to the other lists besides coral)
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Jun 16, 2008 19:13
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Supernaturalist posted:If you're willing to pay that much, the Red Sea Max is highly regarded as the best AIO out there. Personally I prefer the look and price tag of the Current Solana http://www.jtdiscountstore.com/servlet/the-396/CUR-SOLANA-34-GAL/Detail Other sites offer it at the same price as the RSM w/ the stand and hanging HQI light. The only thing I don't like about it is the "disco ball" style light, I would use a nice sunpod or similar lighting, it looks much sleeker that way, I would order the tank and stand separately and then also get a sunpod to put on it if you want to go with the solana, unless you like the hanging light. Can you speak to this tank VS. the Read Sea or Bio-cube, that seems to be a fairly big price difference. I even like the look of the light!
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Jun 16, 2008 21:51
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FixxxeR posted:I just bought this yesterday: A bi-color blenny (it's on the first page of this thread) is a great fish that would do well in a nano. They look cool and are active. They won't hurt your coral or inverts and are hardy.
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Jun 16, 2008 22:41
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Kela posted:Green star polyps and skunk shrimp! Skunk shrimp are really cool so I'm definitely going to get one. I like the green star polyps so I'll keep that in mind. Chappy posted:A bi-color blenny (it's on the first page of this thread) is a great fish that would do well in a nano. They look cool and are active. They won't hurt your coral or inverts and are hardy. I was actually considering a bi-color blenny. I've been reading through this page (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nanoreefsysart.htm) and that was a fish they recommended, although they're not too fond of nano tanks. Looking around I saw this tank which looks really nice: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=75821 but I actually feel sorry for those clowns, they just seem too big to be in that tank. FixxxeR fucked around with this message at 01:36 on Jun 17, 2008 |
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Jun 17, 2008 01:31
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FixxxeR posted:Looking around I saw this tank which looks really nice: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=75821 but I actually feel sorry for those clowns, they just seem too big to be in that tank. True and False Percula Clowns do fine in anything over 7 gallons, with a pair needing at least 10. As Supernaturalist pointed out earlier, in the wild they have very tiny territories, which is why they're such a popular nano fish. Here's a handy guide for nano fish: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74703
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Jun 17, 2008 01:41
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Thanks for the correction, and I appreciate the link I'll read over this tonight.
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Jun 17, 2008 01:57
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Be careful with the green star polyps, they can take over a tank.
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Jun 17, 2008 02:23
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I have been wanting to ask for suggestions for my tank for a while. This is what it looks like: I apologize for the algae, it had not been scrubbed off the glass for a week or so. It's a 30 gallon high with 40 lbs. of live rock, 2 astera snails, 2 occelaris clowns, and a firefish goby. I am planning on adding a cleaner shrimp to it for algae cleanup because my snails are slackers. I am looking for suggestions of something that is going to churn up my substrate. It's a sand/gravel mix so I think a sand sifting star or nassarius snails would have some trouble. I was thinking something like a jawfish but they seem to be kind of hard to find. My firefish has hes couple caves he likes and keeps the sand stirred up in those caves, but everything else needs some help. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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Jun 17, 2008 02:53
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I would say no to the sand sifting star and jawfish. The star will starve once it goes through that sandbed and the jawfish would not have enough sand to have a happy, natural, environment. Nassarius snails are always good, hermit crabs are good, maybe a watchmen goby or other sandsifting goby. You could also probably use some more water movement, I can't see any powerheads from the picture and a hang on back filter would not be enough. Also, cleaner shrimp aren't algae clean up, they might occasionally munch on algae but they won't just consume it.
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Jun 17, 2008 04:17
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supercheesy posted:
I'd try to stack your rock higher so it was more like a pyramid in the middle. You don't want the rock extending all the way out to the sides of the tank..then no coral can grow there and it'll never be pretty to look at from the side. You might even consider adding a little more rock to make it taller. I think they recommend 1 pound per gallon?
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Jun 17, 2008 04:32
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Thanks for the suggestions. I have looked at watchmen gobies before. They are pretty cute little fellas. I will look at getting a powerhead. I put one in my 10 gallon freshwater because the surface was pretty stagnant. It doesn't seem to be in the 30 gallon because my filter is an aquaclear 70 so its way more powerful than I actually need. I also have 40 pound of live rock, so I have more than the pound per gallon. I would love to add more if I can find it for a good price. I am not really interested in corals at this point in time because I do not have a particularly powerful light. I would hate to drop some money and then the corals die. I thought about nassarius snails but I figured the gravel mixed with the sand would be too rough for them. If you think they would do okay, I would love to get some. I have also planned on adding a little more sand soon to make the bed a little thicker. Thanks again.
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Jun 17, 2008 12:16
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The snails would do fine, but even if your filter is bigger than you need, I'm sure there are dead spots on the tank that need more flow.
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Jun 17, 2008 13:48
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supercheesy posted:I also have 40 pound of live rock, so I have more than the pound per gallon.
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Jun 17, 2008 14:05
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For anyone looking for live rock, I HIGHLY recommend http://sealifeinc.net. Ken runs a really wonderful operation out of the Florida Keys. Most LR is pulled right off the reef in the Pacific islands, however all of Ken's liverock is aquacultured, meaning he buys high quality rocks, and puts them in his little area of the ocean for a few years. When he pulls them out again to sell, they are covered in life and really beautiful. He's extremely environmentally conscious, he's involved in a coral re-propagation program where he's taking rare corals that have been growing on his rocks and moving them back to the reef. He's actually working with a team right now to study how successful coral re-propagation is. His livestock is also top quality, and available at great prices since he collects them himself.
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Jun 17, 2008 17:32
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Supernaturalist posted:For anyone looking for live rock, I HIGHLY recommend http://sealifeinc.net. Ken runs a really wonderful operation out of the Florida Keys. Most LR is pulled right off the reef in the Pacific islands, however all of Ken's liverock is aquacultured, meaning he buys high quality rocks, and puts them in his little area of the ocean for a few years. When he pulls them out again to sell, they are covered in life and really beautiful. He's extremely environmentally conscious, he's involved in a coral re-propagation program where he's taking rare corals that have been growing on his rocks and moving them back to the reef. He's actually working with a team right now to study how successful coral re-propagation is. His livestock is also top quality, and available at great prices since he collects them himself. I didn't get any rock, but I did just buy my clean-up crew and some ric/zoa/shrooms from this guy. Can't wait to see it!
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Jun 17, 2008 23:42
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FixxxeR posted:Now I'm trying to decide what I want to put in it when it is ready. Any suggestions? Fans. This may sound really weird, but I have found that most, if not all, self contained cubes have cooling problems. They look great because they're all self contained, but I don't think the designers really thought things through when they were designing them. This isn't just anecdotal speculation either. I have a 14G Biocube and found that with both lights on, my tank can hit 84F near the end of the day. This is WAY to hot. One thing I did to solve this is I installed an 80mm computer fan near the front of the lid and drilled a series of small holes in the top to allow for ventilation. This solved the problem completely. Now the only problem that I run into is moisture (or salt creep, possibly both, I'm not really sure) getting into the fan and killing it after about 2 months worth of use.
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Jun 18, 2008 14:47
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Going to cut this one up a bit. It'll be easier. supercheesy posted:Thanks for the suggestions. I have looked at watchmen gobies before. They are pretty cute little fellas. They are cute. They also get pretty big. Have fun with it as it grows (not knocking you there, I think it'll be fine in your 30G). quote:I will look at getting a powerhead. Definitely do. Powerheads are a very good thing. In my 30G, I had I think 3-4 at its peak before I moved up to a 50G (granted, mine was reef so it needed higher flow, but I'm a big fan of a lot of flow). quote:It doesn't seem to be in the 30 gallon because my filter is an aquaclear 70 so its way more powerful than I actually need. Not necessarily. The model 70 is actually for freshwater usage. Saltwater will always need more flow (even if the box says OK FOR 70 GALLONS!!!). I'd never have one of those on a 70G as my primary means of flow creation. I would recommend, even if your tank is a fish only setup, getting a Hydor Korelia 1 for your tank. It's powerful, quiet, and reasonably priced. 1-2 of them should be perfect for a 30G setup, even if you to a reef. quote:I also have 40 pound of live rock, so I have more than the pound per gallon. I would love to add more if I can find it for a good price. More than a pound per gallon is good, but not necessarily a lot more. It all depends on the density of your rock. Really porous Fiji or something similar will sometimes fill a tank before you get to a pound per gallon (exaggeration). Fill it to the point that you think it looks good, but don't run into the problem I had that I couldn't make a decent rock structure because I had too much rock in my tank. quote:I am not really interested in corals at this point in time because I do not have a particularly powerful light. Doesn't take a very powerful light to run SOME corals. A 192W Power Compact fixture will run you about a hundred bucks and will grow soft soft polyped corals like zoanthids or mushrooms like a loving weed. You could probably also get some nice hammer coral or frogspawn growing under one of those. quote:I thought about nassarius snails but I figured the gravel mixed with the sand would be too rough for them. Nassarius snails should be fine. quote:If you think they would do okay, I would love to get some. I have also planned on adding a little more sand soon to make the bed a little thicker. Thanks again. Beware the mixed density sandbed. It's not going to cause your tank to explode or anything, but always keep in mind that the sand WILL NOT MIX. In the end, all of your fine grain stuff will sink to the bottom leaving your coarse stuff on top. This is only really a problem for someone like me that gets pissed off that I can see the density layers in my sandbed when I look at the side of the tank.
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Jun 18, 2008 15:03
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supercheesy posted:I am planning on adding a cleaner shrimp to it for algae cleanup because my snails are slackers. Cleaner shrimp won't do jack for your algae. Cleaner shrimp are named because they clean fish. They are carnivores and will only eat food that you drop into the tank (or bugs that your tank grows naturally. But if you drop one in looking for it to eat hair algae or what not, you're going to be waiting a while. quote:I am looking for suggestions of something that is going to churn up my substrate. It's a sand/gravel mix so I think a sand sifting star or nassarius snails would have some trouble. A sand sifting star would PROBABLY work ok, but they have the nasty habit of eliminating all fauna from your sandbed (because they're loving pigs). They're usually only recommended for like 50G tanks and larger. A group of nassarius snails would be fine. BUT - I will mention that for keeping your substrate churned, nothing works better than your hand and a turkey baster, hitting it every two weeks right before you do a water change. quote:I was thinking something like a jawfish but they seem to be kind of hard to find. Behold! Psim's Jawfish!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b3ejmMGahU (Note - they don't stir sand. At all. They build a hole in it, and live there. It's actually a bad thing if you have a bunch of poo poo stirring the sand with a Jawfish in the tank. They constantly have to re-build their homes) quote:My firefish has hes couple caves he likes and keeps the sand stirred up in those caves, but everything else needs some help. Any suggestions? Thanks! Well, your best bet is to get a bunch of snails for MAINTENANCE. I always have a shitload of snails. If you have a LOT of algae, try to pick up 1-2 mexican turbo snails (or mexican bulldozers as I like to call them). They'll plow through algae (and your rock structure) like it's nothing. But like I said - snails are maintenance. It's up to you to scrape your glass every once in a while. Don't feel bad about not scraping it every day - I usually only do it every week or so 'cause my Angelfish likes to eat the microalgae that grows on the glass.
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Jun 18, 2008 15:12
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 07:17 |
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fanaglethebagle posted:hermit crabs are good I'm a fan of crabs myself. I have a ton in my 90G. But avoid them like the plague if you want to keep your firefish. Firefish seem to be the prey of just about anything even slightly carnivorous (I've even heard of cleaner shrimp killing and eating them).
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Jun 18, 2008 15:14
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