400% Newbie

[PaoloPazzo]

Hi all, Im brand new here, and to SW in general. I am considering putting up a small SW aquarium in my bedroom this coming May (its now Mid-april-ish).
The tank will most probably be somewhere in the 10-20 gallon region. I believe this qualifies me as a NANO REEF.

Anyhoo, I've been reading about this for days now, and am ademant about starting up. Here are my questions I've got for y'all:

-Where does one find LS in CANADA? Is LS definetly needed?

-When do I add everything? The ingredients would be SALTWATER, LS, LR, PUMP, LIGHTING. In what sequence does this happen? I know all about cycling and stuff, and realise that any new item i add will most likely cause my tank to cycle. But when do I get to add individual things? Or do i simply add everything at once?

-Once i get my LS and LR going with the salt water (see previous question) and the thing has cycled (weeks later), do I need a skimmer? I was told on one of those ABOUT.com websites, that nanos could be run without skimmers by simply doing 10-20% water changes each week, and by having a pump used for water circulation, along with proper lighting and maybe a cleanup crew of sorts. Is this accurate?

-Lastly, presuming all of the above is accurate, and I can go ahead and start myself up as previously described, would I be able to add some clownfish? Like 2 or 3 of them at most.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to help me out!
I CANT WAIT TO GET STARTED!!!!
-Paolo

 

[birdman204]

LS can be had numerous places. It can be purchased on line if you ware so inclinded, but you can also simply allow your LR to "seed" your sand.
- Your adding order sounds right, SW, although I prefer to put LR in first, then put sand around it, that way the rock is stable on the bottom, and not moving if the sand moves..., then pumps, I would suggest leave it like this for a few days without lights, then slowly intorduce your lightnig so as not to cause an algae bloom due to the lack of cleanup.
Many nano's are run with only WC's, and successfully I might add... That info is pretty accurate.
Give your nano at least 45 - 90 days before adding ANY carnivorous fish so that your pod and plankton population can experience growth without the fish eating them all. HTH on your start... Ask away if you have more Q's.

 

[Anonymous]

Live Sand and Rock can be bought online alright, though I advise against such in most cases. If youre nowhere near an aquatics speacialty store that deals in reefs and SW, then I would try www.harboraquatics.com for live rock, and probably LS. The reason I say dont buy your rock online is cause no matter what they say about it being "cured", youre always gonna have die-back and ammonia spikes that would kill any beneficial hitchhiker if cured in your tank with just regualr filtration... Go to harboraquatics.com and read what you can on their site about how they cure their live rock for you and such. The other reason I say is that when you "cycle" live rock that you buy online--cured or not cured-- you also have to go through the curing process, which can take a good long while. If you buy LR that has little or no curing to be done, you can cycle the tank quickly, have your lights on while its doing so so it can get some coraline and other algaes going (diatoms are OK in the beginning), and add your cleaning crew much quicker, to keep algae and detritus problems low while everything goes through the motions.
Depending on what you get, a skimmer probably isnt necessary if you do one of two things: A, cycle your tank and do lots of water changes (as you mentioned exactly), or B, do a fair amount of water changes--though certainly less--and add Purigen to your filtration setup while everythings happening, from the start-up. Purigen absorbs a fair amount of organics--that which a skimmer is intended to remove--and keeps ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates at an umperceptible level.
I would definitely use LS and LR, though using an aragonite/live sand mix is also pretty much perfect. I would do what birdman says, and put the rocks in first; the stability will become a factor in your aquascaping.
I would add the pump in with the live rock and sand, right when you do it, and make sure it has a nice-sized foam prefilter pad thing on its intake. Point it onto the rocks and make sure its blowing all the crap on the rocks (if you even have any, this presuming you buy LR online and uncured) and into that filter and your main filter for atleast 2 weeks.
I would also turn the lights on only a week after starting the tank up; diatoms and that other garbage is good eatin' if your a snail or hermit crab, or even a starfish!

Finally, make sure and get yourself some good, high-wattage lights for a reef setup; its what really counts in reef tanks.
I would only add one or two, max, false perculas, or maybe even sebae clownfish to a tank that small; even a clownfish likes to have some space to breathe without having to many of its own kind to crowd it! Add the clowns after about 2 weeks of having your LR in and cycling as per said advice above.

Hope that helps, as its just my opinion on how to do things!

Oh, and welcome to Reefs.org!

 

[danmhippo]

However, if you intend to seed your "dead" sand with Mail Ordered LR, as previously suggested, I would cure it myself and transfer into the display tank.

Curing the LR is pretty simple and straight forward. All you need is just a bucket, saltwater, a small power head to keep circulation going, a small submersible heater if the bucket will not be kept indoor, and the usual test kits to keep chemistry in check.

 

[PaoloPazzo]

8O Okay.
So I've now got the steps down. Thanks.
But the equipment is still a lil confusing to me.
These filters, and things are what bother me. Im used to the hanging filters on the freswater tanks...is this okay for SW?
Also, by powerheads, im guessing u mean those pump things that circulate the water around for currents?

So, to resume:
-LR and LS should be found at specialty stores in Montreal (sounds ok)
- Lighting is key
- WC? HTH? Sorry, im all confused...spankin newbie to forums too
- I've got the order down...sounds good.
- Fish last, and hopefully not too many (im gettin a 20 gallon tho)

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

You got it, chum!
Those hang-on-back (HOB) filters are fine for SW, but their not the best filters you can get. Filtration is obviously often a trivial and debated issue amongst these reefer guys (and girls!). I say, get good freakin filtration, so youll never have to worry about it, and it can save your aZZ in certain instances.
Yep, powerheads are pumps for water--not air. They can either be the kind that has to be submerged in the tank to work (or else dire consequences [dont let this kind of pump run dry!]), or they can be either submerged or out of the tank.
Again, buying LR and LS from a store thats been keeping it clean and alive in the perfect (read mostly) conditions from which you can tote it home in a bag of water is THE best you can do. I still recomend harboraquatics.com, especially after readin about how they cure their LR on their site, if you cant do the LFS (Local Fish Store) thing, or their deals or products suck...
Lighting = Very Key!
WC= Water Changes
HTH= Hope That Helps
Order of importance or hierarchy is good.
Corals last; you want those messy fish to go through their cycles before you stick in the sensitive corals.
A 20 gallon is perfect for a pair of clowns (Perculas or False Perculas [Ocellaris]), or maybe a Jawfish and a clown, or a blenny, or even a goby! Just stay away from fish with that long, torpedo-shaped body style if youre not going to have a rockin', well sealed-off (not COMPLETELY sealed, although Brandon could teach you the ways of the ultra-nano and that kind of sealing) lid or canopy. Fish are more inclined to jump out of the tank on an exponential scale/continuum the smaller the tank gets. Jawfish like to burrow though, so they may not be so inclined as others, so Ive read...
Dont forget a skimmer somewhere in there if youre not gonna do 20% water changes (WCs) every week! Oh, and dont forget the Purigen regardless!
HTH ( :mrgreen: ) and good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

damnhippo, how the hell are you gonna "keep chemistry in check" when you curing in a bucket?! I mean, the only filtration is a powerhead, hopefully with some sort of sponge filter on it, and the only light is what comes in through the top of the bucket... That sounds like a recipe to kill more than try and save what you have. I dont think even super chemical filtration can keep up with the ammonia surges and collosal nitrogenous and organic wastes being put out by the rocks! The amount of water needed for water changes instantly places the notion into the impossible range, not even noting the fact it would require a constant, large amount of fresh saltwater to make a difference. No, Id rather cure in the display tank, if Im gonna have to cure it much at all; more room and real filtration (including, hopefully, a skimmer), along with some decent light would help save the life thats on the rock already... Maybe, if you wanted to cure in-the-bucket style, you could constantly pour in Amquel Plus or Prime and huge bottles of Cycle, and do like two water changes per day, you *might* be able to keep the ammonia down at like 7 or 8 ppm... I never tried it though, but thats kinda what I did for my rock in my display tank.

 

[danmhippo]

Depending on the quality of the LR, if ammonia or nitrite gets to a dangerously high level while curing, would you still leave it and let the toxicity of ammonia or nitrite killing off more polyps remaining on the LR?

I would do a few small WC to keep the toxicity in tolerable range. I have never use "real filtration" while curing LR. No, not even skimmer. hat's "real filtration" anyway?

One benefit of curing it out side of display tank is unwanted hitchhiker can be easily removed by renting an octopus from your LFS a couple of days before you transfer them into the display tank. Another benefit is it is much easier to dump away that nutrient rich water in the bucket (Usually I cure in multiple 32Gal trashcan....), than drain your display tank dry after the curing process.

 

[sokol1312]

check Big Al's for all supplies, LR LS,depends where you are in canada
there should be one in your area,check their site www.aquariumservices.com