Newbie here with a Nano tank (or Pico, not sure)

[DebraLV]

Hi, I recently started a 7.5 gallon Aqueon cube tank. It's only 2 days up. I have Caribsea (20 lbs) of live sand and some skeleton coral, about 50 years old. I have an Aqueon Pro 10 pump and an air stone running. Also an Aqueon preset 78 degree heater. I plan on in a couple of months to put just a clownfish, a damsel in and a crab as a clean up guy.

My issue is all water chemistry tests safe, except for hardness. It's at the 300 GH zone. I used 7 gallons of Arrowhead Spring Water w/Instant Ocean Salt and a gallon of salt treated distilled water. I am just using an Instant Ocean Hydrometer for now and test strips for water chemistry. My salinity is currently at 1.026.

I do not plan on putting fish in this for a couple months while it cycles. My question is will the hardness disappear as time goes on or should I do a water change of half with salt treated distilled water. Also, is my equipment enough to sustain 2 fish and a salt water crab. Thanks so much for any advice as I'm new with a marine tank but an expert with my 29 gallon tropical.

 

[lapin]

Welcome.
Hardness is a measure of certain minerals in your water.
I would not go by GH (general hardness).
I would find a text kit that measures alkalinity. (dkh)
You want that to be between 8 and 10.

 

[Rtaylor]

Agree with lapin, you need an alkalinity test at some point. You don’t need to worry about it at all though until you start to add coral. Even then, with such a small tank, water changes should keep the alkalinity where it needs to be. I would recommend more rock in your tank. The rock provides surface area for bacteria which will be your primary source of filtration (biological filtration). It should be reef rock that is highly porous not smooth freshwater style rock. Having enough rock will make the tank much more stable and easy to care for. No need for the air stone, a very small wave maker would be better. Air stones aren’t harmful but they do cause salt creep. Most people using hob filtration go with a size designed for at least double their tank volume. Once your cycle is complete, adding Chemipure elite can help keep nutrient levels low. Good luck on your first tank! (The rock is the most important thing, the general rule of thumb is 1-2 lbs per gallon.)

 

[DebraLV]

Welcome.
Hardness is a measure of certain minerals in your water.
I would not go by GH (general hardness).
I would find a text kit that measures alkalinity. (dkh)
You want that to be between 8 and 10.

I will look into that kind of kit. It will be just a home office tank to look at during the day. Do you think a small clownfish, a damsel and a clean up crab will suffice for a couple of years? Thank you for the tip on the HOB filter. I will upgrade to an HOB 20 gallon Aqueon filter. I plan on trading in the fish for small ones again when they get about 2". Thanks for all your help guys and I will look into a couple pounds of live rock!

 

[DebraLV]

Hi Guys, This is all I'm putting in my 8 1/2 gallon pico tank. I know it's piddly to you hard core reefers, but I'm just starting out. Imma virgin reefer I know I won't upgrade, it's just for my home office. There's only about 3 lbs of rock plus the coral. I never realized calcium carbonate was so lightweight.

I wanted to ask if I put in one more rock to hide the intake tube, would that block the suction? Lastly, once done cycling, I wanted to just put in two small, yellow tail damsels.

Do you think this small tank will accomodate them once full grown? My LFS guy said he will always take them back when that time comes and trade for smaller ones.

 

[shadow1013]

I just set up our IM30 with 20 lbs of Carbisea Fiji Pink live sand and 17ish lbs of rock, half of it live, and use Microbactor Start XLM and had it cycled in 4 days. Make sure to test for Ammonia and Nitrites, when they go up then back down to 0 and then you test for Nitrates and when you have them you are cycled. I had clowns in our tank in a week from start up.

 

[DebraLV]

I just set up our IM30 with 20 lbs of Carbisea Fiji Pink live sand and 17ish lbs of rock, half of it live, and use Microbactor Start XLM and had it cycled in 4 days. Make sure to test for Ammonia and Nitrites, when they go up then back down to 0 and then you test for Nitrates and when you have them you are cycled. I had clowns in our tank in a week from start up.

I have 20 lbs in of Caribsea Fiji Pink in, but your tank is 3 times plus the size. On the 27th, I will remove 25% of water, scrub the walls, replace the cartridges and top off. I'll then do an API master test 5 days later. I was told on here if everything checks out copacetic then, I'm good to go with a couple fish.

I'm getting them small, I just wonder if two adult damsels will be cool for a small tank as they grow.