Eric's Fluval Edge 12 Gallon Nano Reef. NEED ADVICE!

[egriesner]

Hi All,

I am new to Manhattan Reefs and new to saltwater aquariums. I've had successful freshwater tanks for years and have finally decided to take the plunge. I understand nanos are much harder to keep than larger aquariums but I am up for the challenge! I plan on posting pics on my tanks progress as I start my journey.

Heres my set up so far:

Hardware
Fluval Edge 12 gallon w/ stock filter and lights
Aqueon Pro Heater 50 - 50W
Koralia Nano 240 - 3.5W - 240 gph

Inside
12 lbs. tukani live rock cured
15 lbs. live sand
I also filled the tank with Nutri-seawater
I have not stocked the tank with anything yet but it has been up and running since 9/27/12. I will post pictures tonight. A couple of thoughts:

1) Can anyone give me advice on live rock placement. I am having alot of trouble with the live rock. Everytime I try and aquascape the tank gets so cloudy that I cant see what I am doing.

2) I would like to put together a tank that is relatively easy to manage. I plan on doing a 30% water change per week. Any recommendations?

3) Can anyone recommend what type of fish and coral to put in this tank? Right now I am thinking:

1x Orange clown
1x Black clown
1x Royal Gramma
1x Peppermint shrimp
1x tiger pistol shrimp
1x yellow watchman goby
& Clean up crew

Any Suggestions?

4) At what point can I start to put coral in the tank? What type of coral are hardy and will they work with my stock led lights? Please recommend corals!

Thanks Guys! I look forward to your feedback.

 

[sillysidewinder]

Hey there,

Sounds like you're off to a good start. It's a perfect time to join MR, so welcome! This has been said a million times by other people on here, but the best way to success is to take things slowly. It's going to be tempting to start filling up the tank, but you're going to have to take it slow in order to increase chances of survival for the creatures.

Have you done any reading on the cycle process? I would definitely start there. There's plenty of information in this forum on that topic. You're going to need to get some test kits, (calcium, alkalinity, pH, magnesium, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, etc. I may be forgetting a couple)

For rock placement, I would just keep moving things around until you get what you want. One of the things to keep in mind would be to allow for some space in between the rock and the surrounding walls. Also, try to get some spaces in between rocks to allow for the flow to circulate through.

30% water changes would be fine. What type of salt do you plan on using? I recently set up my own 12 gallon tank and do weekly water changes of 1 gallon and haven't had any problems. Granted that's probably a little low and I would be better off doing 2 or 3 gallon water changes, to each their own. Do you have an RO/DI unit? If you're mixing your own water, you're going to need a filter rather than using tap water. Or you could just use distilled water from the store like I do.

Keep an eye on how much water is evaporating out of your tank. You're going to need to "top off" the tank with fresh water daily in order to keep the salinity in check. The best way to check your salinity is with a refractometer rather than a hydrometer. It is much more exact and well worth the money.

Do you plan on keeping corals? If so, you're best bet is going to be LPS and soft corals. It's going to be a little while until you can get corals. But when your tank is ready, post cycling phase, you can start out with some easier stuff like mushrooms, zooanthids, palyzoas.

You're list of fish is too many right now. I would start out with your cleanup crew which you could probably get in a few weeks. (Get an opinion from someone else, I'm not sure how soon after you should add them.) However, they should definitely be first. An orange clownfish would be great for that tank, but other than that, I would probably only add 1 MAYBE 2 smaller fish. You might want to be careful putting 2 clowns in such a small tank, but once again, you should get someone elses opinion on that too.

I hope this helps. Keep doing your research and asking lots of questions. Also, when you need supplies check the marketplace on here and also check with the vendors. Most of them offer discounts to Manhattan Reefs members and are very helpful.

Josh

 

[egriesner]

Hi Josh,

Thanks for the reply. Yes I bought a DI unit for water changes. I will also treat the water with prime. I plan on having 5 gallons of fresh DI water treated with Prime available at all time. I bought a pump and thermometer for the water bucket to make sure the temp will be good and the water wont be stagnant. I also have another bucket for mixing the salt. I havent bought a refractometer yet. Can you recommend any good ones?

 

[sillysidewinder]

What is prime? Also, which salt do you plan on using? Every person on here is going to have a different opinion on what is the best salt. However, my personal opinion is ESV salt. It's a little more complicated than other salt in how you mix it, but to me it's been well worth it. The refractometer that I have is from Saltwater Critters. Russ, the owner is a great guy and will take good care of you.

http://www.saltwatercritters.com/inc/sdetail/964/967

That's about as good a price as you'll find on one of those. It's definitely a good idea to have a separate bucket to mix the salt, you don't want to do it in the tank.

 

[egriesner]

Prime is a chemical conditioner for water. It came highly recommended from a friend. Description says "Destroy all chlorine, chloramines and ammonia in your aquarium's water system with this powerful solution. Provides a complete water conditioner as well as promotes fishes' beneficial slime coatings. Effective in freshwater or saltwater tanks."



The salt I am planning on using is:

Red Sea Coral Pro Salt - 55 gal. Bucket

Is this any good?

 

[sillysidewinder]

I don't think you need the prime conditioner stuff. Once again, get someone elses opinion on this, but in my opinion the less chemicals you use with the tank, the better.

I've never used Red Sea salt, so I can't give an opinion on that.

 

[egriesner]

Thanks. I just bought that refractor.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

If you are keeping coral, you will need to upgrade the light for sure. The original light cannot even support low light plants in freshwater.

Aquacape and/or remove items from the tank is going to be painful because of the tall tank and narrow opening, so try to research compatibility of live stock before you put them in after cycling.

It's too soon to stock anything. Read up the aquarium cycling from About.com

 

[jeffvmd]

Welcome to MR and to reefkeeping.
The edge is a nice nano tank.
I had the 6 gallon before as my first reef tank.
One of the first things you need to do is upgrade the lights as the stock won't be able to keep corals alive.
I you are going fowlr then that would do but keeping corals will be another thing.
There is very little option on prefab lights for the tank if you want to keep the stock look of the edge.
Right now your options are the ai sol nano, wingo's savior and the nanocustoms edge light(if you can find one as the company is now defunct).
The stock filter will do though some go for the next bigger aquaclear filter.
It would be beneficial to add sone chemipure elite media for this one.
For flow the koralia nano may do but the nano 400+ gph might be better suited for that.

As others have mentioned, proper cycling is a must. Do not rush things in doing this.
Patience and knowledge is key to success in reefkeeping.

 

[egriesner]

I would be willing to upgrade my lighting but I want to keep the stock look of the fluval edge 12. I am not really that handy and would not know how to custom fit my current edge top. Any suggestions? Does anyone fir the top with custom lighting? I am also on a budget and want to spend if I dont have to. Thanks

 

[egriesner]

Hi Wingo,

I tried calling you. I send you an e-mail. I am interested in purchasing on of your savior lights for the fluval edge. I live in Bayside NY so I am only a few minutes from flushing. Please e-mail me at [email protected]. Thank you.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Hi Wingo,

I tried calling you. I send you an e-mail. I am interested in purchasing on of your savior lights for the fluval edge. I live in Bayside NY so I am only a few minutes from flushing. Please e-mail me at [email protected]. Thank you.

Just came back from the retail and AT&T has almost zero reception in the store. I just left a voice message at your answering too. Will go thru the email to find out what questions you need answers.

Call me again if you want to.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Also since you are probably interested in the Savior, please do spend some time in this thread:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/wingo-led/110776-fluval-edge-tank-led-savior.html

I will explain further, what the newest model do, after I go thru the email you and get a basic understanding of my lighting solution.

 

[egriesner]

Hi,

I have been looking at the seneye reef software for monitoring my tank. Does anyone use it? Are there any alternatives?

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Hi,

I have been looking at the seneye reef software for monitoring my tank. Does anyone use it? Are there any alternatives?

isn't that a hardware software and hardware combination?

If so, there are couple reef controller, people use for that and monitor their tanks online, such as Apex, Reef Angel and Profilux.

 

[egriesner]

Tank is almost cycled

So it looks like my tank is almost fully cycled. I expect to start putting livestock within a few days. Can anyone recommend if I should put the fish first and then clean up crew? Or is it the other way around? I dont really know the protocol. Thanks.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Do you have algae on the glass or on the rock?

 

[egriesner]

 

[egriesner]

 

[egriesner]

Thats what it looks like so far . I think it will be ready this weekend.