Im brand new to saltwater and this is my first sw tank. Im attempting to keep a simple saltwater tank and challenge myself for a year. If I can maintain a nano tank then once I get a new home, hopefully in a years time, I will be upgrading to a larger tank Red Sea. So, this is my budget build re-using equipment from my freshwater community tank.
My gameplan so far:
Day 0-14 - Do nothing but add dry rock and live sand. I picked up 45 lbs of Caribsea "life" rock (not live rock but its the fake purple dry rock) and 40 lbs of caribsea Arag-alive special grade.
Note: I labeled Day - 0 fail because idk why I thought I would have enough LFS saltwater to fill a 36g. I thought the water displacement of 45 lbs of rock would get me under 30 gallons of SW but apparently not.
I am using a 407 cannister (think budget friendly) since I am re-using it from my previous community tank and I have 2x Hydra 32 HDs from my high light planted tank. FYI, I only took the picture with lights on to see what it looks with lights and during the cycle, I am keeping all lights off.
Question#1 - During this time, what should I keep my temperature at? Im reading 78-86 but also reading that I can keep it in the 90s to improve bacteria growth. Im not dosing anything right now because Im hoping the live sand will give it a small kick start.
Day 15-30 - I want to start dosing bacteria and adding in a couple of clowns. I prefer the fish-in cycling with hardy fish.
Month 2 - Once all parameters are NH3, NO2, and NO3 are 0 (NO3 probably may never get to 0 but at least <.5) then I will add corals and CUC.
Month 3 - I want to add utility fish, algae eaters and pest eaters, and add more corals.
Question#2 - Where do/should I post the beginner reef builder thread? Is it in this forum or a different one?
Question#3 - Algae eating fish? What is recommended for a nano-tank? From what I understand, a yellow tang can "get" too big but if I get a smaller one from the beginning, will it really outgrow a 36g in a year? Plus, I think yellow tangs are pretty expensive right now so Im looking for alternatives? Im also wanting to get a Lawnmower blenny and six-line wrasses for pest eating.
Question#4 - I plan to use the lighting profile from BRS series. I am keeping this low budget so I dont plan to get expensive corals and will focus on getting <$50 corals like softies.
Question#5 - I will be purchasing 2x Nero 5 (mainly because I have AI lights and I like the compactness of them) and a RODI unit. Is the 2nd Nero5 way overkill?
My gameplan so far:
Day 0-14 - Do nothing but add dry rock and live sand. I picked up 45 lbs of Caribsea "life" rock (not live rock but its the fake purple dry rock) and 40 lbs of caribsea Arag-alive special grade.
Note: I labeled Day - 0 fail because idk why I thought I would have enough LFS saltwater to fill a 36g. I thought the water displacement of 45 lbs of rock would get me under 30 gallons of SW but apparently not.
I am using a 407 cannister (think budget friendly) since I am re-using it from my previous community tank and I have 2x Hydra 32 HDs from my high light planted tank. FYI, I only took the picture with lights on to see what it looks with lights and during the cycle, I am keeping all lights off.
Question#1 - During this time, what should I keep my temperature at? Im reading 78-86 but also reading that I can keep it in the 90s to improve bacteria growth. Im not dosing anything right now because Im hoping the live sand will give it a small kick start.
Day 15-30 - I want to start dosing bacteria and adding in a couple of clowns. I prefer the fish-in cycling with hardy fish.
Month 2 - Once all parameters are NH3, NO2, and NO3 are 0 (NO3 probably may never get to 0 but at least <.5) then I will add corals and CUC.
Month 3 - I want to add utility fish, algae eaters and pest eaters, and add more corals.
Question#2 - Where do/should I post the beginner reef builder thread? Is it in this forum or a different one?
Question#3 - Algae eating fish? What is recommended for a nano-tank? From what I understand, a yellow tang can "get" too big but if I get a smaller one from the beginning, will it really outgrow a 36g in a year? Plus, I think yellow tangs are pretty expensive right now so Im looking for alternatives? Im also wanting to get a Lawnmower blenny and six-line wrasses for pest eating.
Question#4 - I plan to use the lighting profile from BRS series. I am keeping this low budget so I dont plan to get expensive corals and will focus on getting <$50 corals like softies.
Question#5 - I will be purchasing 2x Nero 5 (mainly because I have AI lights and I like the compactness of them) and a RODI unit. Is the 2nd Nero5 way overkill?