Hi, I’m TurtleDude!!

[TurtleDude]

I’ve been in the underwater hobby for nearly two years. My friendly fish and friends keep me happy while staring through the glass sometimes for hours. I’m preparing to enter corals and would like some advice.

my first step I plan to invest in a RO/DI system and start exchanging old salt water into the nano tank. I imagine this could be a relatively quick process considering the size of the tank.

I have a good looking clean up crew (snails, crabs, and a sand conch) all doing their part to eat away at that algae. My lighting is good and filtration decent with an appropriately sized power head.

what do you folks suppose is necessary before the first coral goes in. (I have had an Anemone in the tank for nearly four months).

 

[LeannaBanana]

Welcome to R2R! Sounds like if you have a nem that's happy and thriving in the tank, you could have a wide variety of corals that would be happy, as well. But parameters and lighting info could help folks advise, as mentioned above. I almost always start my tanks with a zoa or softie of some sort, let it/them live/thrive for a bit, and start adding what I like from there based on nutrients, lighting, and flow needs.

 

[MischiefReef]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[steveschuerger]

Welcome to the R2R community!

 

[Spicy Reef]

Hello TurtleDude!
Welcome aboard, ur in the right place just keep searching and reading
I'm a huge nem lover. 2 me nems are like my teenagers, love them no matter what and be prepared for anything! never know where they're going to end up just have to prepare their environment as best we can.
I have one that planted itself right on top of my redplanet (gone, although I could have tried to move it) and another that mowed down some clove polyps (they recovered)
I have 9 others that never move, but You Never Know.
Start a build thread and keep us posted I'm interested in how things evolve

 

[TurtleDude]

Thanks for the responses and welcoming me to the reef.

I’ve gathered the following info about my nano let me know what you think.

lighting: Coralife Marine Aquarium Clip on Light 12 hours per day 8:30-20:30

Parameters:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10-20ppm
Calcium 340
KH 9
Phosphate 0ppm

pH 8.2
Temp 82f

Tank age >2 years

I’ve struggled for years to really interpret the colors for PH and Nitrate levels using API and Fluval test kits. These are my best numbers using conditioned tap water.

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R

 

[findingsimple]

G’day and welcome!

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !!!

 

[Adolfo]

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[Fish Styx]

Greetings and welcome to the reef!

 

[jimk60]

You want to get your calcium up

Greetings and welcome to the reef!

to at least 380 for hard corals. Need to test mag as well. Probably should consider some better test kit as well like salifert or hanna

 

[GatorGreg]

Need some phosphates in there. I’d vote against tap water also. You’re also running at the high end of the acceptable temperature. Any reason why? If something goes wrong you have no cushion. You’ll go right into unsafe ranges

 

[JZ199]

Welcome!!