Suggestions on build / approach (nano)

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Yes I am I’m from Rhode Island.

Texas here !

I’m not sure whether or not they 100% replenish the elements (I haven’t tested my water in over 4 years besides salinity) that being said they do replenish depleted levels.
I go with a 5 gallon water change for my 32 gallon biocube and it has always done the job!

I do have Hanna phosphate checker and Salifert nitrate. I don’t mind testing 3 things but after three I lose my patience

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

The tap water top off is crazy to me! @ChrisPPolys your TDS must be real clean coming out the faucet. I’m in Eastern Long Island and I get around 30-35 TDS. Pretty sure there’s some chloramines and other fun stuff in there. One thing I do want to try in the future is an NSW pico or nano since the Atlantic is right there.

I actually live in Houston so Galveston (the gulf) is nearby. The water is murky brown, I don’t know how clean that would be to use but that’s the gulf for ya

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

At this point I use more visual q’s than testing water. Seeing an over abundance of bristle worms? Cut back on the feeding. An exponential growth of algae on the glass? Light intensity may be too high. As The_Paradox mentioned acting too fast can often time get people in trouble. Stay calm cool and collective and enjoy the ride!

How long do you guys wait before acting. Would love to hear your guys’ practice

Also remember if you’re going to change something that change to your system will take time to adjust.

Agreed. Like you mentioned, giving adjustments time allows you to determine whether your attempts to solve issues has had effect

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

@Angel_V_the_reefer

I think you’ll experience very little or maybe even no crazy algae outbreaks with that LR start up you got in mind. FOWLRS are rewarding to keep.

I’m going FOWLR, I need something simple that water changes are able to maintain.

Maybe soon I’ll add soft corals. LPS are my favorite but still demanding. Honestly testing at the moment overwhelms me, as i like simple, but as time goes maybe I’ll give corals a shot

Won’t coralline algae still demand alk and a calcium ? Hmmm

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

However, you never want to turn a hobby into a chore! I found that to get annoying quick and then transitioned over to tap water where I’ve never experienced any issues.

I actually seem to become anxious and distracted thinking about my tank when I had calcifying coral

I actually debated whether to come back to the hobby. As a HS, money was an issue. I definitely have more cha ching in my pocket, at least more than what I had, but a complex system isn’t for me, at least not yet

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Any nano FOWLR / soft coral tank pics ?

 

[ChrisPPolys]

How long do you guys wait before acting. Would love to hear your guys’ practice


Agreed. Like you mentioned, giving adjustments time allows you to determine whether your attempts to solve issues has had effect

After 4 year my tank is more or less stable in my eyes. That being said if I notice a problem arising I’ll quickly take action. The bristle worms seeming abundant? I cut down feeding from once a day to once every other day.

Algae starting to grow on the glass faster than before? Try and limit the natural sunlight from reaching my tank. Keeping the blinds in the room closed.

In the past with stuff like hair algae I used my good ole 12” kitchen tweezers that have now become used for the tank only to remove it. Then during the weekly water change using those pared with the siphon to get rid of the unsightly hair algae.

Keeping on eye on it during the week to see if it comes back in force or if the physical remove does the job. If the physical removal did the job than just keep repeating until it’s gone. If it persists begin researching why I’m battling that type of algae and go from there. Whether it’s too much light, lack of flow, too much feeding etc. As mentioned it won’t spring up over night and become uncontrollable within a day or two. With patience and research you’ll figure out how to deal with it.

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

In the past with stuff like hair algae I used my good ole 12” kitchen tweezers that have now become used for the tank only to remove it. Then during the weekly water change using those pared with the siphon to get rid of the unsightly hair algae.

I heard when it comes to GHA, an algae scrubber grows algae in a contained box, outcompeting the GHA in your display

I’ve never experimented

If it persists begin researching why I’m battling that type of algae and go from there. Whether it’s too much light, lack of flow, too much feeding etc.

In my previous tank, changing filter floss often reduced my nutrients. At the end of the tank, I relied on that and weekly water changes to keep my nutrients very stable

As mentioned it won’t spring up over night and become uncontrollable within a day or two. With patience and research you’ll figure out how to deal with it.

i try to opt for natural solutions rather than chemicals. People say ‘there’s nothing natural about a reef’. That is true but cmon , I believe chemicals aren’t necessary

 

[ChrisPPolys]

I heard when it comes to GHA, an algae scrubber grows algae in a contained box, outcompeting the GHA in your display

I’ve never experimented


In my previous tank, changing filter floss often reduced my nutrients. At the end of the tank, I relied on that and weekly water changes to keep my nutrients very stable

As mentioned it won’t spring up over night and become uncontrollable within a day or two. With patience and research you’ll figure out how to deal with it.

i try to opt for natural solutions rather than chemicals. People say ‘there’s nothing natural about a reef’. That is true but cmon , I believe chemicals aren’t necessary

I really can’t tell you or comment on algae scrubbers or all that brother I’ve never used them and really don’t know how they work lol. At this point and time my reef is algae free and has been for a while. It’s reached that stable state after a couple years and has been algae free ever since

As for the chemicals and acting too fast, I’ve heard horror stories of people posting their tanks levels, dosing and quickly crashing the system as whatever they added was overkill or unnecessary.

I like the natural way of looking at things. There’s predators for any parasites, hitch hikers etc as seen in a natural ecosystem. Like using file fish, nudibranch, or peppermint shrimp to eat aiptasia as opposed to using aiptasia X. Like using bumble bee snails to eat vermited snails. Wrasse to eat flat worms etc.
aside from invasive species haha but you get the point.

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

I really can’t tell you or comment on algae scrubbers or all that brother I’ve never used them and really don’t know how they work lol. At this point and time my reef is algae free and has been for a while. It’s reached that stable state after a couple years and has been algae free ever since

Honestly algae doesn’t scare me as long as it’s not completely killing off my coral

As for the chemicals and acting too fast, I’ve heard horror stories of people posting their tanks levels, dosing and quickly crashing the system as whatever they added was overkill or unnecessary

I hate chemicals

I like the natural way of looking at things. There’s predators for any parasites, hitch hikers etc as seen in a natural ecosystem. Like using file fish, nudibranch, or peppermint shrimp to eat aiptasia as opposed to using aiptasia X. Like using bumble bee snails to eat vermited snails. Wrasse to eat flat worms etc.
aside from invasive species haha but you get the point.

i agree. It’s not like there’s fluconizal or however you spell that in the ocean

 

[lil sumpin]

I only use polishing pads and floss in an Aquaclear 50 and also rely on a limewood, air driven Reef Glass skimmer for nutrient export. Pads and floss get tossed 1-2 times a week and the skimmate cup fills halfway in a week or two.

I try to aim for 40-50% water changes and dose about 2-3ml AFR in the week between changes. I'm pretty sure I have dinoflagellates but I vacuum every time I WC in hopes of taking out all the nitrates and phosphates I can; they are usually always around 20ppm and .2 - .25ppm.

Having started with liferock, I first saw diatoms and then green filamentous algae and now I have a very tough kind of green algae that doesn't come off easy. Not sure but I dont think it's filamentous or GHA, it doesn't scrub or brush off without a lotta effort so I think it must be crustose. Finally also seeing purple and pink CCA specks alongside the green.

I think this thread might intrigue you!

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

I only use polishing pads and floss in an Aquaclear 50 and also rely on a limewood, air driven Reef Glass skimmer for nutrient export. Pads and floss get tossed 1-2 times a week and the skimmate cup fills halfway in a week or two.

I think mechanical filtration is simple and works well especially if tossing the floss out often

I try to aim for 40-50% water changes and dose about 2-3ml AFR in the week between changes. I'm pretty sure I have dinoflagellates but I vacuum every time I WC in hopes of taking out all the nitrates and phosphates I can; they are usually always around 20ppm and .2 - .25ppm.

Do you test for dosing or are you dosing by instinct ?

Having started with liferock, I first saw diatoms and then green filamentous algae and now I have a very tough kind of green algae that doesn't come off easy. Not sure but I dont think it's filamentous or GHA, it doesn't scrub or brush off without a lotta effort so I think it must be crustose. Finally also seeing purple and pink CCA specks alongside the green.

Yes I had that when I had Marco rock. Personally I had lots of algal and nutrient issues when I started with dry rock.

People say dry rock leaches phosphates

People also say dry rock is free real estate for good and bad stuff

I think this thread might intrigue you!

I’ll check it out !

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Ah yes the minimalist reefer. I love the idea.

To me I try to approach reefing simply. I get very impatient but it’s a skill I need to learn.

 

[lil sumpin]

I think mechanical filtration is simple and works well especially if tossing the floss out often

Do you test for dosing or are you dosing by instinct ?

Yes I had that when I had Marco rock. Personally I had lots of algal and nutrient issues when I started with dry rock.

People say dry rock leaches phosphates

People also say dry rock is free real estate for good and bad stuff



I’ll check it out !

Yep, mechanical filtration is easy to swap out and keeps the water polished enough for me. I have not noticed a significant change in nutrient levels yet, and while my levels are considered high, I'm cool with them not fluctuating at least. I have a bunch of softies and some LPS, they are not demanding and seem to be preferring the 'dirtier' water. I am a little concerned with what phosphates will look like in another going forward though. I actually did the opposite of what you plan to do, inverts and corals in first and then fish in after 6 months.

I wanna say I test fairly frequently? Normally every other day, so about 3-4 times a week at least. This has helped me to understand the alkalinity consumption. I see about .5 dKh sometimes one whole degree dropping in the 7-10 days btwn water changes and with 13 gallons volume, it's recommended to dose 2.5ml AFR daily. I don't follow this and end up pipetting in about 1ml every other day. So yes, some instinct but not entirely cowboy chemistry!

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

I wanna say I test fairly frequently? Normally every other day, so about 3-4 times a week at least. This has helped me to understand the alkalinity consumption. I see about .5 dKh sometimes one whole degree dropping in the 7-10 days btwn water changes and with 13 gallons volume, it's recommended to dose 2.5ml AFR daily.

I’ve heard AFR is a hit or miss with some systems as some reefs uptake elements differently

I don't follow this and end up pipetting in about 1ml every other day. So yes, some instinct but not entirely cowboy chemistry!

I’m still relatively a beginner. My Jedi instincts are quite week. May the force be with me soon

Question, how does one simply begin dosing when going with stonies ? In my head, my idea would be to test one element, starting with Alkalinity and dosing alk and eventually calcium and dosing cal.

Would this be a ‘taking it one step at a time, in a responsible way’ approach or a ‘cmon dude just test both’ situation

 

[lil sumpin]

Step at a time is fine, impatience coupled with hasty reaction will not take you far! Outta the three or four times I'm testing weekly, it's always alk and salinity. Calcium I'll check once a week and mag I havent tested in months. Am considering doing my first ICP test soon

 

[KC2020]

I have a 14 gallon Nuvo. I currently have a Kessil a160 with an arm mount. I also have a Tunze ato. The tank itself comes with a 326 GPH return pump

I want to start a set up with live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. I hope to start and stay FOWL with a pair of clowns for at least a year

You should have great success with TBS rock. They also have started kits that include sand, highly recommended.

I haven’t tested my water in about 3 years aside from salinity and I use strictly tap water.

Have you ever wondered how much better your reef would be with just a little more effort ? Use RODI for top off and to mix your SW. You'll never know unless you try it.

 

[ChrisPPolys]

You should have great success with TBS rock. They also have started kits that include sand, highly recommended.


Have you ever wondered how much better your reef would be with just a little more effort ? Use RODI for top off and to mix your SW. You'll never know unless you try it.

Read my replies, I saw no difference and found it to be a waste of money.

 

[KC2020]

Read my replies, I saw no difference and found it to be a waste of money.

I did read your replies and I'm suggesting that after several years of tap water now there would be a difference.

I'm just putting the idea out there. Not trying to give you a hard time.

 

[VintageReefer]

y’all should check my build thread
I haven’t done a water change in 30 months, I have a home water filtration system - it’s a sediment filter and scuba tank size carbon filter. So I can use tap for everything. It’s not as good as rodi but it’s filtered. My only filtration on my tank is an algae turf scrubber. Santa Monica makes Nano size ones if you’re interested

My biggest regret in 23 years was not using a scrubber from the start

Pic of my two systems - no water changes or dosing. 75g and a 1.1g pico

Corals are easy just pick the right ones and there’s nothing to do except give good light and stability