12gal nano-cuber a bit confused now

[tah532]

Hi all, I just got my nano delivered yesterday. I made the mistake of reading a bunch of the past forums on the nanos and am all confused now. I would love to run the tank with just the stock items. I like the idea of taking out the filter material and adding the LR rubble, yet should I leave the sponge in or not, leave the ceramic or not, or what? Ive read so many different ideas. What is the best and most convenient way. I wont be setting her up till this spring or summer so I am definately reading everything and open to all ideas before I dive into it.

 

[reefann]

The ceramic material is to harbor bacteria. With the added live rock in its place, plus what you have in the tank, you should not need any. As for the sponge, you will get different schools of thought. My personal thought is this, keep it unless you are running a skimmer. I think if you frequently clean the sponge it will have no ill effect on the nano. It will remove suspended particles that are in the water column. A skimmer would do this job, but it sounds like you are not interested in one, which I understand.
Keep in mind I do not have a nano-cube tank. Many on this board do so they will be able to shed more light on the subject.
Good luck with it
JJ
_________________
Universal life insurance Forum

 

[Anonymous]

heh, yeah i don't know if more replies will actually clarify anything for you or just add more dissenting voices to the mix.

i guess rubble rock is cheap, so the point is moot, but what do you think the advantage of using LR rubble versus the ceramic rings is? bacteria and junk can attach to ceramic rings just as well as to rubble rock. I guess the only difference is with rubble rock you don't have to wait a week or so for bacteria culture to grow.

I removed the ceramic rings and added LR rubble simply because I wanted to

a) Kickstart the biology of my nano
b) Make room for heater and thermometer

 

[cain]

I left everything stock in my cube except the ceramic rings and charcoal. Put LR bits from my main tank in to help cycle faster. I left the sponges (just the two behind the intakes) in to help catch the floaters. I clean the sponges once a week when I do a 10% water change.

 

[reefann]

Even though the LR rubble is small it will harbor anaerobic bacteria. So that is another advantage of using LR rubble over ceramic rings, which as far as I know will not harbor this bacteria. And as Hwarang said, more LR added means more creatures introduced to the tank.
_________________
Mortgage life insurance Forum