Nano noob build

[aztoza]

Getting to work on our first ever tank! There is so much to learn...first try at building the rock was not the best, but could have been worse

 

[aztoza]

Getting to work on our first ever tank! There is so much to learn...first try at building the rock was not the best, but could have been worse

This nail polish should have been called Coralline Algae

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[aztoza]

I have my kitchen table back! Got my coral wish list on sticky notes. The 3 fish will be a yellow watchman goby, longnose hawkfish, and clownfish. And a tuxedo urchin.

 

[aztoza]

Added the water, skimmed the dust out, began bacteria dosing, and ran a first batch of tests! Overfilled the tank slightly which has the salinity a tad high.

Gear (220V):
Eheim heater 100W--right now it is in the sump where the bubble sponge should be...will there be ill effects without the sponge? Otherwise the heater will have to be inside the display. The 100W may be a bit too big for this tank, as it is set to 25 degrees C but keeping the water 27 degrees.
Sun Sun Wave Maker with Magnet Holder, 4,000L/H--what an eyesore these are! On high they are just gently stirring the water, which may be ok for the softies we're planning. Our other option in wave maker is the $300 name brand...maybe someday we'll upgrade and leave these for salt mixing.
Thermometer with probe--just a basic one the LFS sells. It is 1.7 degrees off. Between the heater surpassing the set temp, and this thermometer being so far off, I'm having a hard time getting the temp right (though it does stabilize after an adjustment). I'm having to use our meat thermometer to check. Got a stick-on analog thermometer coming soon but not sure how reliable those are. Does anyone have a thermometer that works really well, besides having a whole controller?

Parameters:
Salinity: 1.026 Will this balance out with water changes, or do I need to add RO/DI?
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: .01
pH: 8.2

1 fish incoming in a couple days...as much as I wanted to do a fishless cycle, the bacteria products here are just not meant for it and you can't hardly even get plain ammonia. The products are designed to reduce ammonia in the tank though, in those first weeks before the biological filtration is ready, so hopefully the fish will still be happy. Will be testing daily to ensure all is healthy.

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

1.026 Salinity is a little bit on the high side, all depends on your corals tbh.

If i look at your wishlist i see a "mixed reef" wishlist, i have learned from my previous threads that this could prove difficult in a small tank like this, i would opt for a more coral specific kind of reef.

That wavemaker positioning is kinda weird, i have a similar tank & mine is placed on the back wall, i let my flow "bounce" downwards on the front glass, wich creates different flow zones, wich helps with different corals & placement.

How long is your tank running? Are you dosing bacteria to get it started? Because adding fish now would be a bad idea imo, but someone else with more expertise should give you an answer for this.

 

[aztoza]

1.026 Salinity is a little bit on the high side, all depends on your corals tbh.

If i look at your wishlist i see a "mixed reef" wishlist, i have learned from my previous threads that this could prove difficult in a small tank like this, i would opt for a more coral specific kind of reef.

That wavemaker positioning is kinda weird, i have a similar tank & mine is placed on the back wall, i let my flow "bounce" downwards on the front glass, wich creates different flow zones, wich helps with different corals & placement.

How long is your tank running? Are you dosing bacteria to get it started? Because adding fish now would be a bad idea imo, but someone else with more expertise should give you an answer for this.

Oh ok, thanks for posting! Yeah I'll go for mostly softies, maybe eventually try one or two that aren't, but if they can't live and I have just a softy tank that'll be fine with me. Don't want to shoot for the moon on the very first tank haha.

Hmmm ok, I was going for surface agitation with the wavemakers on the diagonal but you're right, it's not hitting any walls and there's probably dead spots. Not sure I can mount this magnet kind against the back wall, but will check it out. There's time to play with those I guess.

If salinity doesn't come down today maybe I'll calculate a fresh water dose, then. Thanks!
You got a thread or pics of your nano, btw? =)

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

Oh ok, thanks for posting! Yeah I'll go for mostly softies, maybe eventually try one or two that aren't, but if they can't live and I have just a softy tank that'll be fine with me. Don't want to shoot for the moon on the very first tank haha.

Hmmm ok, I was going for surface agitation with the wavemakers on the diagonal but you're right, it's not hitting any walls and there's probably dead spots. Not sure I can mount this magnet kind against the back wall, but will check it out. There's time to play with those I guess.

If salinity doesn't come down today maybe I'll calculate a fresh water dose, then. Thanks!
You got a thread or pics of your nano, btw? =)

I just tried adding a video, but no succes...
I don't have a thread, simply because i know i don't have the willpower for it lol.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Added the water, skimmed the dust out, began bacteria dosing, and ran a first batch of tests! Overfilled the tank slightly which has the salinity a tad high.

Gear (220V):
Eheim heater 100W--right now it is in the sump where the bubble sponge should be...will there be ill effects without the sponge? Otherwise the heater will have to be inside the display. The 100W may be a bit too big for this tank, as it is set to 25 degrees C but keeping the water 27 degrees.
Sun Sun Wave Maker with Magnet Holder, 4,000L/H--what an eyesore these are! On high they are just gently stirring the water, which may be ok for the softies we're planning. Our other option in wave maker is the $300 name brand...maybe someday we'll upgrade and leave these for salt mixing.
Thermometer with probe--just a basic one the LFS sells. It is 1.7 degrees off. Between the heater surpassing the set temp, and this thermometer being so far off, I'm having a hard time getting the temp right (though it does stabilize after an adjustment). I'm having to use our meat thermometer to check. Got a stick-on analog thermometer coming soon but not sure how reliable those are. Does anyone have a thermometer that works really well, besides having a whole controller?

Parameters:
Salinity: 1.026 Will this balance out with water changes, or do I need to add RO/DI?
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: .01
pH: 8.2

1 fish incoming in a couple days...as much as I wanted to do a fishless cycle, the bacteria products here are just not meant for it and you can't hardly even get plain ammonia. The products are designed to reduce ammonia in the tank though, in those first weeks before the biological filtration is ready, so hopefully the fish will still be happy. Will be testing daily to ensure all is healthy.

Nice looking aquascape!

 

[aztoza]

Nice looking aquascape!

Thanks!

 

[aztoza]

I just tried adding a video, but no succes...
I don't have a thread, simply because i know i don't have the willpower for it lol.

Haha no judgment

 

[aztoza]

Technical update:

• The Eheim 100W heater has balanced out and is keeping the tank a nice 79.7 degrees. It's not in the instructions, but I found other threads describing the need to calibrate this heater and now all is well. Cooking and warming my house are not affecting temperature as I had wondered earlier.
• An ice bath confirmed the tank thermometer is accurate!
• Cycle products being used are Aquavitro Seed and Remediation. If you've got experience with these products please let me know how it turned out and what you learned!
• I am enjoying keeping Salinity at 1.026, because I'm learning it's much easier to decrease it than increase it. The water taken out of the tank for daily testing, and any disturbance of the ATO does slowly bring Salinity down to the 1.025. Maybe this will change later when the tank is matured and everything runs smoothly.
• First water change was a snap. This is definitely the right size tank for us right now. Need more filter socks though.
• Gangster ATO--after 1.5 weeks we got tired of filling the Red Sea float valve ATO twice a day. It is so tiny, and even being willing to accept that as a daily chore, we realized we cannot even leave for a couple days' vacation that way. Red Sea does make a better ATO...but it's only compatible with larger tanks. AAAARRRGH. So we added a Hygger ATO, but guess what it cannot install onto the side glass--it HAS to fill into the back chamber because of the design of this tank. So...*drumroll* we now have the Hygger ATO attached to the original ATO to keep it full. (Yo dog, heard you like ATO's...) I'm probably an idiot but don't care as long as I can fill this once a week instead of twice a day.

 

[aztoza]

Say hello to Squirtle! (named by my daughter =) ) He is a diamond sandsifting goby and has been in the tank for a week. He got straight to work building a cave and giant trench along the back wall. He'll sit and stare at us a lot too. He is so fun and has a great personality, I hope he lives long-term.

He went carpet surfing immediately upon transfer to the acclimation bucket, but we got him right back in and he was ok. We now cover it with a bacon splatter screen thing lol. Our jump net comes next week, so hoping he continues to be happy scooting around the sand and doesn't jump out. He was not eating yet at the LFS--he has been accepting spot-feeds of frozen brine shrimp, and even snatches it from floating in the water. Now he can eat pellets too. He doesn't quite have the pellets figured out yet, but we do see him sucking them up from the sand. I am so relieved to see him gobble up food as I know there is no nutrition in the sand bed yet.

BUT...eating has led to pooping. Lol go figure. After a few days and some good meals there's been a bit of an ammonia spike. Fairly certain it's not extra food floating around--we are careful to see that he eats it or it gets sucked into the sump. Did a 10% water change right away, cleaned equipment and did not see better numbers (may need a better test kit than API?). Since then ammonia has not kept spiking but has remained at that slightly elevated level. Nitrites are also gradually increasing, which seems like a good thing. Will reduce feedings especially now that he's eating well, and continue dosing bacteria. (He is salty at me for the moment, he misses those brine shrimp!) As soon as the tank is cycled I'd also like to dose pods and phyto to help get that sand bed healthy. It may just be a delicate balance between good nutrition and managing the parameters for now.

I am aware that this fish is not the best choice to place in a new tank...but I feel it was one of my only good choices, as stocks have been low at both LFS we frequent. Nobody even had a regular ocellaris/true perc clown just designers. He seems healthy and active so far, but I know it's possible Squirtle will not live. We have done the research and will take the best possible care of him in the meantime and enjoy him.

Please excuse the video is set to Paw Patrol music XD

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Say hello to Squirtle! (named by my daughter =) ) He is a diamond sandsifting goby and has been in the tank for a week. He got straight to work building a cave and giant trench along the back wall. He'll sit and stare at us a lot too. He is so fun and has a great personality, I hope he lives long-term.

He went carpet surfing immediately upon transfer to the acclimation bucket, but we got him right back in and he was ok. We now cover it with a bacon splatter screen thing lol. Our jump net comes next week, so hoping he continues to be happy scooting around the sand and doesn't jump out. He was not eating yet at the LFS--he has been accepting spot-feeds of frozen brine shrimp, and even snatches it from floating in the water. Now he can eat pellets too. He doesn't quite have the pellets figured out yet, but we do see him sucking them up from the sand. I am so relieved to see him gobble up food as I know there is no nutrition in the sand bed yet.

BUT...eating has led to pooping. Lol go figure. After a few days and some good meals there's been a bit of an ammonia spike. Fairly certain it's not extra food floating around--we are careful to see that he eats it or it gets sucked into the sump. Did a 10% water change right away, cleaned equipment and did not see better numbers (may need a better test kit than API?). Since then ammonia has not kept spiking but has remained at that slightly elevated level. Nitrites are also gradually increasing, which seems like a good thing. Will reduce feedings especially now that he's eating well, and continue dosing bacteria. (He is salty at me for the moment, he misses those brine shrimp!) As soon as the tank is cycled I'd also like to dose pods and phyto to help get that sand bed healthy. It may just be a delicate balance between good nutrition and managing the parameters for now.

I am aware that this fish is not the best choice to place in a new tank...but I feel it was one of my only good choices, as stocks have been low at both LFS we frequent. Nobody even had a regular ocellaris/true perc clown just designers. He seems healthy and active so far, but I know it's possible Squirtle will not live. We have done the research and will take the best possible care of him in the meantime and enjoy him.

Please excuse the video is set to Paw Patrol music XD

Nice looking goby!

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Everything looks great! I also have a Red Sea Max Nano, and I love mine—it's my second one. I see you've now got a little guy in there...When are you adding some coral?

 

[aztoza]

Everything looks great! I also have a Red Sea Max Nano, and I love mine—it's my second one. I see you've now got a little guy in there...When are you adding some coral?

Thanks! It is a nice piece of furniture for sure. I think maybe after 2 more months I’ll try a cheap softy like Xenia or gsp and see what happens!

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

I’m waiting for things to stabilize on my current setup still, but I’m planning on a goby as well! It’s so cute to see them in their little burrows under the rock.

 

[aztoza]

I’m waiting for things to stabilize on my current setup still, but I’m planning on a goby as well! It’s so cute to see them in their little burrows under the rock.

Your rockwork would be great for a goby!

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

It's been over a week- how're things going on that ammonia spike?

 

[aztoza]

Ammonia is finally starting to be manageable, since yesterday! Nitrites were off the charts a few days ago, now they’ve come back down a little! That means we’re getting there and the cycle is going.

I may have stalled the cycle with water changes and running the skimmer…

Squirtle out for some breakfast. He’s still eating well and very active =)