My New 10 gallon Nano.

[Anonymous]

You aren't going to add a mandarin are you?

Not only will it starve to death, fuge or not, but the damsels will stress it out to the point of killing it.

If you add a mandarin, it won't last more than a couple of months. Trust me.

 

[MiniPigg]

You aren't going to add a mandarin are you?

Not only will it starve to death, fuge or not, but the damsels will stress it out to the point of killing it.

If you add a mandarin, it won't last more than a couple of months. Trust me.

nope.... wasnt going to after the first time someone said dont add one.

 

[Anonymous]

You aren't going to add a mandarin are you?

Not only will it starve to death, fuge or not, but the damsels will stress it out to the point of killing it.

If you add a mandarin, it won't last more than a couple of months. Trust me.

nope.... wasnt going to after the first time someone said dont add one.

 

[Meloco14]

Good job on getting advice and actually listening to it about the mandarin. That definitely would not have worked out. As far as your other fish, as you may have noticed by now damsels are very tough and scrappy. If you are keeping the 2 damsels in your tank I don't think you'd be able to add anything else. If you are taking them out, the cinnamon clown would be fine for a while. But they can get fairly large. Adding 2 domino damsels would also prevent you from adding much else. They too are scrappy and territorial. If I were you I would go with just the cinnamon, or a pair of tank raised percula or ocellaris clowns. The cleaner shrimp and a couple peppermints would be fine. Since it is a small tank, you could also go with some sexy shrimp, some perimenicles (sp?) anemone shrimp, or some other cool little shrimp that you wouldnt normally see in a large tank. Not sure if these little shrimp would survive with damsels though. Just some suggestions. Great start and good luck.

 

[MiniPigg]

Good job on getting advice and actually listening to it about the mandarin. That definitely would not have worked out.

Thanks... thats what Im here for... asking Q's and following good feedback. Last thing I want to do is make a huge mistake.

As far as your other fish, as you may have noticed by now damsels are very tough and scrappy. If you are keeping the 2 damsels in your tank I don't think you'd be able to add anything else.

YES! I noticed the day I introduced the yellowtail Damsel into the tank. The Blue Neon Damsel is half the size of the yellowtail. At first he chased the yellowtail around and the yellowtail continued to hide in the mist of the rocky caves. Things changed the following day. The yellowtail now dominates the tank. I had to bring the blue one back for some fish credit as I was afraid he would be killed.

If you are taking them out, the cinnamon clown would be fine for a while. But they can get fairly large.

I thought about using some sorta clown... that would remain small.. I like the way they swim.. but not sure any would work with the yellowtail in the tank.

Adding 2 domino damsels would also prevent you from adding much else. They too are scrappy and territorial.

I like the way domino's look and swim. Infact now that I think of it the yellowtail shared a tank with a domino...hmm?

The cleaner shrimp and a couple peppermints would be fine. .

I have the cleaner shrimp on the list as soon as the tank is ready. Not sure what to do about the peppermint as advice given so far is to only have the cleaner.

thanks for the feedback.... look forward to hearing more. Oh and sorry for no pics as of yet. I just havent remembered to buy batteries for the digi.

Today I tested the water again. Ammonia was up to 0.5. Nitrites and Nitrates still safe and the ph is good. I did a 20% water change and checked the salinity... all seems within parameters so far.

Midweek my 20lbs of black agra livesand is supposed to be in. I am thinking about adding it the same day. The LFS told me not to add it until the cycle has completed. So Im not sure when to add it. I also have 20lbs of LR on hold for when the livesand comes in.

 

[MiniPigg]

Test my water today.

pH 7.4
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0.25
Ammonia 0.25
sg 1.023

I am on day three of using an additive to help speed things along. Seachem's Stability. So far the brown algae has started to spread along the substrate surface and there is much more of it on the rock. Before there was very little on the rock and zero on the substrate surface. The green algae is starting to go away. Much of it is turning yellowish. Is that good or bad?

I'm still designing my refug. Maybe this weekend I will have it going.
I also took a few pics... lets see if I can get them loaded onto the site.

 

[Anonymous]

Test my water today.

pH 7.4
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0.25
Ammonia 0.25
sg 1.023

I am on day three of using an additive to help speed things along. Seachem's Stability. So far the brown algae has started to spread along the substrate surface and there is much more of it on the rock. Before there was very little on the rock and zero on the substrate surface. The green algae is starting to go away. Much of it is turning yellowish. Is that good or bad?

I'm still designing my refug. Maybe this weekend I will have it going.
I also took a few pics... lets see if I can get them loaded onto the site.

Your pH seems pretty low. You should try to bring it up slowly over the course of a week. Use something like sea chem marine buffer...take it slow.

 

[Anonymous]

I keep my tank at 1.025.

Your Ammonia seems high, it should be reading 0, but I just looked back and saw that its a very new tank. I would hold off on adding any more creatures until Ammonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are stable. Its fairly easy to see if you have an imbalance with a couple weeks of testing nitrates. If they keep going up then something is out of wack.

Have you decided on a skimmer yet?

 

[MiniPigg]

I havent decided on a skimmer yet. Im going to be doing a water change this weekend. Maybe another 50% change. I only have the one Damsel now and ofcourse the bacteria doses Ive been adding.

When is a good time to start a clean up crew? And what should I add first?

 

[Anonymous]

You shouldn't add anything living to the tank until you do the following first.
Lower ammonia to 0 and keep it there
Lower Nitrite to 0 and keep it there
Make sure Nitrate is not above 10-20ppm and keep it low
Bring pH up to around 8.3


After you do that, and it will take some time, you will have some algae growing to feed some hermits and snails.

 

[MiniPigg]

what about the diy cassette skimmers?

 

[MiniPigg]

Have another Q.... just had a family member stop by the house to give me a few things for my tank. She knows I'm starting a nano tank and wanted to help out. Not sure if any of this stuff is usable. Few shells that hermit crabs can use and some old fan corral that was used as decorative item in her house. Only thing Im interested in is the chunk fan corral. Do you think its ok to use in the tank after cleaning? Maybe soak in bleach solution and then rinse with and then let soak in DI water?

 

[Anonymous]

Have another Q.... just had a family member stop by the house to give me a few things for my tank. She knows I'm starting a nano tank and wanted to help out. Not sure if any of this stuff is usable. Few shells that hermit crabs can use and some old fan corral that was used as decorative item in her house. Only thing Im interested in is the chunk fan corral. Do you think its ok to use in the tank after cleaning? Maybe soak in bleach solution and then rinse with and then let soak in DI water?

what does the fan coral look like?

I put in limestone from rock pits in my tank without a problem. I also put in brain coral shells and a large montipora shell that had been decoration in my mom's house. I just soak in water for a couple of weeks. I figure anything bad will leach out in water with enough time. All that stuff I mentioned is covered purple, so it must have worked.

 

[MiniPigg]

Well.. im not really sure its fan coral..... but its in the tank now. I went ahead and washed it.... soaked it in a bleach solution, and then rinsed it and soaked it in a stronger solution of dechlor.... rinsed, soaked... and then placed it in the tank. Its been in there a good 12 hours now.

Today I tested the tank

Temp- 78
pH 7.8
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Amm 0.25
sg 1.023

Then I did a 10% water change.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks better. Keep trying to get the pH up closer to 8.3 and don't put any new animals in until you get the ammonia to zero and you fix the pH.

You might want to tweak your salinity up a click or two also, as Knuck said.

 

[MiniPigg]

Just got home from work. Decided to test the tank.


Temp- 80
pH 7.8-8.0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Amm 0.25-0.50
sg 1.023


I dicided to do another water change. This time I did a 60% water change. Going to test my sg after the tank settles some and see where I am and adjust for 1.025.

 

[MiniPigg]

Today:

Temp- 78
pH 8.0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Amm 0.0-0.25
sg 1.025


My ammonia level was harder to read today... looked like zero but also looked like it might be 0.25. I did another big water change anyway.... 40%. The rock is starting to look covered on the tops. Little mossy in some places.

 

[Anonymous]

Getting better.

Some algae growth on the rocks is a good sign that things are going as planned.

Pretty soon you can start thinking about adding stuff.

Your pH is almost up to normal, your ammonia is almost unreadable.

The only thing that worries me is that you aren't seeing any nitrates. That is a good thing of course, but it's strange because if your ammonia is being processed and you don't see nitrites, you should see some nitrates starting to build up. :?

 

[MiniPigg]

pH went back down to 7.8 today and my amonnia was up a little to 0.25. Im going to be adding a Berlin skimmer soon. Everything else was good.
Will the skimmer have any effect on the pH and ammonia levels?

Lots of brown and some green algae forming on the rock, substrate, tank walls, etc. When I am ready to add something new.... what should be my first consideration and why? I was thinking about adding some livesand.

 

[MiniPigg]

anyone?