New to this forum and nanos - would appreciate input

[texman]

After spending a couple of thousand on aquiring some really rare and beautful zooanthids for my 500g, and then having my 6" hippo tang suddenly decide that he likes to eat them, I decided to get into the nano game. I ordered a ClearForLife 12g desktop uniquarium today. It has some sort of trickle filter built in, with a small Rio pump for the return. I plan on installing a 2X32W PC retrofit kit into the hood. I also plan on installing a small powerhead for additional circulation. I would like to put what I can salvage of the rare zooanthids in there, in addition to some nice bright green clavularia. Maybe some other softies and mushrooms. Maybe an open brain or two. I also plan on one or two small fish. Has anyone had experience with this tank. What do you think of my plan. Do I have enough lighting. I am going from a tank with a total of over 2000W of lighting.

 

[LIverOcker1]

sounds good. load it up with FULLY CURED live rock then...WHAMMO! instant cycling(3 days at the most)
that lighting sounds just about right except maybe for the brain coral.if you decide on two fish MAKE SURE that they stay small,or you can get one big(3-4 inches)fish and a few inverts you dont want to distrupt your bioload.watch the temp THIS IS CRITICAL! i keep my nanos at 75-80 colder water=slower metabolism for fish which in turn eat less causing a very low chance of overfeeding,heck... i feed mine every other day.
and always top off your tank with ro di water every day or every other day to keep your salinity from going out of whack AND 20%water change once i week,be VERY religious about it! finally check out this sight www.nano-reef.com then youll be on your way.make sure to make good use of the search button before you post threads b cause youll find alot of newbies repeating the same questions over and over and some people might get irritated by it.anyways good lick welcome to the world of nanos. there is no turning back!

 

[Anonymous]

texman,
Welcome to the nano forum!

I think your lighting will probably be adequate. For comparison, I have a bright green open brain (Trachyphyllia geoffroyi ?) under a 65W and 13W PC. The coral is about 6 inches from the bulb in a 6 gallon tank, and it's never looked better. Zoanthids and mushrooms will thrive under that much lighting.

I've never seen or heard of that particular tank, but it sounds similar to the JBJ 12 gallon tank a lot of folks have. What's your plan for filling it up? Will you use water, sand and rock from your larger tank for an instant cycle? You can probably do away with the bioballs and any mechanical filtration.

What kind of fish were you thinking of?

Sorry to hear about your rogue hippo...

 

[brandon4291]

Hey TexMan,

I dont have any direct experience with that particular tank but your pre-plan is definately sound. With the experience of a 500g I think you'll have no troubles with the 12, and I also think you'll appreciate the Nano's ability to support much of the same life forms (minus the fish load) with much easier maintenance. Dosing is a cinch, reactors are nice but simply not needed on a setup where 5 mLs of calcium/alk couple times a week maintains deposition (from corals and coralline). Water changes are equally as easy due to the decreased volume, and lastly gadgets are usually restricted on Nanos. Yes these guys still build topoff systems and refugium plumbing setups which resemble an electrical schematic of the highest degree, but at least you have the flexibility to go bare bones and still not have to do that much additional upkeep work.

Nanos are forgiving of lighting for obvious reasons (tank dimension) and as Matt said we can make up for light intensity by stocking close to the light source. Even in a Nano this may mean leaving a brain on the bottom, because in a standard deep tank on the bottom might be too low if one had to skimp on the lighting. Your projected lighting description will surely run anything you put in there, especially zoanthids.

Definately get us pics when you can!
B