UNS 7g Nano Reef Build Thread

[leroytheboi]

My first saltwater tank, 7g UNS AIO tank. After creeping around the forums and watching Lord knows how many youtube videos, I decided to pull the trigger. I didn't have space for a bigger tank so I decided to go Nano. Any opinions, thoughts, words of advice, as well as suggestions for types of corals to add when the time comes is greatly appreciated.

Equipment
UNS 30A 7g tank AIO
Dymax ph400
Kessil A80 Tuna Blue
Kessil mini gooseneck mount
Aquatop 100w heater
Caribsea Liferock
Caribsea Fiji Pink sand
I don't have a wave maker, not sure if I need one as the dymax pump kicks out a good amount of water movement

6/27/22
Rockscaped and began my cycle using the Dr. Tim's one and only/Ammonium Chloride. The tank holds ~4.75g with all the rock.
Added entire bottle of Dr. TIm's one and only solution (for 30gal tank)
18 drops of Ammonium chloride. Not running any media besides the stock sponge block that comes with it.
I am not using any lights during the cycle (only for the picture lol), I was told to leave it off for the entire cycling process to prevent algae from growing? Not sure how accurate this is.


I do not have any test kits although I should, I trust the expert reefer at my local shop. He said to just let it cycle for 2-3 weeks and then bring in a sample of the water for them to test all the parameters. Once the nitrogen cycle is complete I am Debating on doing the whole "4 month cycle" mentioned by BRSTV to avoid the ugly stage which involves getting some utilitarian fish to eat algae and coral parasites (any recommendations?) and spending weeks dosing microbial bright well. Not sure how many of you followed the 4 month cycle, I am wondering if it's all that necessary once the tank is fully cycled. Really, this is my first tank I just want to do it right. Please provide any insight advice on what you guys have done.


I’ve attached two pictures of the tank. The first being my initial configuration of the rocks and the second being how it is siting right now. The rocks do not touch any walls but they do sit pretty close to it. Not sure if this will be a problem down the road? Let me know which setup you guys like better! That’s all I have for now, so far it’s been really fun setting everything up I can’t wait to add life to it. I'll continue to update the thread with my build.

 

[blaxsun]

So what's going in the tank for wildlife?

 

[shakacuz]

love the second scape!

 

[Hairyteeth]

Great start! Excited to follow along, I would recommend a heater controller to back up your heater from running wild

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I like your scape! Btw, I probably wouldn't do the 4 month cycle thing personally...I haven't read it over but it sounds a little excessive and I'm not sure exactly what you would gain from it

 

[ReeferSB]

I have a UNS 20 AIO as a freshwater tank, excellent choice. I'm looking forward to seeing how this system works for marine.

Just got a IM Nuvo 10, welcome to the nano club!

 

[Sumo Reef]

Welcome to R2R and the hobby! A great start to a wonderful lifetime addiction!

As for the 4-month cycle - you are already approaching it with a great attitude. The first ~4-6 months are ugly. Let the tank just do its thing while you maintain stability in params and practice good husbandry. Don't panic when you see it - it happens to all new tanks.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Welcome to R2R and the hobby! A great start to a wonderful lifetime addiction!

As for the 4-month cycle - you are already approaching it with a great attitude. The first ~4-6 months are ugly. Let the tank just do its thing while you maintain stability in params and practice good husbandry. Don't panic when you see it - it happens to all new tanks.

What would he gain from a 4 month cycle as opposed to a typical cycle?

 

[Coral Your World]

I would take out 3/4 of that sand out now while you can before you stock it

 

[Sumo Reef]

What would he gain from a 4 month cycle as opposed to a typical cycle?

Let me start by asking you what is your idea of a typical cycle?

The 4-month cycle that OP is referring to promotes patience for new hobbyists who generally want to add coral as soon as ammonia drops. The 4-month asks to wait for dinos and cyano stage to pass before adding corals. By no means is this method saying let the tank sit for 4 months or anything.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Let me start by asking you what is your idea of a typical cycle?

The 4-month cycle that OP is referring to promotes patience for new hobbyists who generally want to add coral as soon as ammonia drops. The 4-month asks to wait for dinos and cyano stage to pass before adding corals. By no means is this method saying let the tank sit for 4 months or anything.

My idea of a typical cycle (if using dry rock) is dosing ammonia to 2ppm and then adding bottled bac and waiting until your ammonia and nitrites both reach 0 which usually takes around 3-4 weeks.

Oh ok! I hadn't heard of this before which is why I asked...he mentioned adding Brightwells bacteria for weeks even though his tank would have already been cycled with Dr. Tim's...I wasn't sure why you would dose weeks after the cycle was completed instead of dosing it together at the beginning of the cycle. Also, why would you need to add fish to eat coral parasites if the tank was started with dry rock and bottled bac?

 

[leroytheboi]

So what's going in the tank for wildlife?

I would like 2 clown fish one ying and one yang lol, a yellow tang, a couple snails and a shrimp. Do you think that's suffice for the size of the tank?

As for coral, I'd like to go all softies initially. I plan to make a Zoa farm in one of the corners of the tank. Some green star polyp and mushrooms planted on the rocks. Once I get the hang of things, I plan to add som LPS. I've read that SPSs are the hardest to maintain so that wouldn't be until later down the line.

 

[leroytheboi]

love the second scape!

Thank you!

 

[leroytheboi]

Great start! Excited to follow along, I would recommend a heater controller to back up your heater from running wild

Thank you! By controller do you mean something different than what comes with the heater? There's a little control box where I set my desired temp already

 

[leroytheboi]

I have a UNS 20 AIO as a freshwater tank, excellent choice. I'm looking forward to seeing how this system works for marine.

Just got a IM Nuvo 10, welcome to the nano club!

Nice! I wanted to grab the NUVO 10 too but for a third of the price for the tank and pump at my lfs, I couldn't pass up.

 

[leroytheboi]

Welcome to R2R and the hobby! A great start to a wonderful lifetime addiction!

As for the 4-month cycle - you are already approaching it with a great attitude. The first ~4-6 months are ugly. Let the tank just do its thing while you maintain stability in params and practice good husbandry. Don't panic when you see it - it happens to all new tanks.

Thanks! I plan to treat it like a baby. I don't want to rush anything, which I'm usually known for lol I want to do it right. Thought I could swiggle past the ugly stage

 

[leroytheboi]

I would take out 3/4 of that sand out now while you can before you stock it

I want to looking at it now I have a ton of sand, I don't even know if my rocks are touching bottom. How would I go about doing that now?

 

[leroytheboi]

My idea of a typical cycle (if using dry rock) is dosing ammonia to 2ppm and then adding bottled bac and waiting until your ammonia and nitrites both reach 0 which usually takes around 3-4 weeks.

Oh ok! I hadn't heard of this before which is why I asked...he mentioned adding Brightwells bacteria for weeks even though his tank would have already been cycled with Dr. Tim's...I wasn't sure why you would dose weeks after the cycle was completed instead of dosing it together at the beginning of the cycle. Also, why would you need to add fish to eat coral parasites if the tank was started with dry rock and bottled bac?

Thats what I did. Added a bottle of Dr. Tim's Bac and dosed to 2ppm per the ammonium chloride solution instructions based on how much water is in the tank.

Thank God, I didn't want to just let it sit alone for 4 months just looking at rock. So once, Ammonium and Nitrites hit 0 (which should be in 2-3 weeks). I can proceed with adding fish and coral or just fish for a while?

 

[Sumo Reef]

My idea of a typical cycle (if using dry rock) is dosing ammonia to 2ppm and then adding bottled bac and waiting until your ammonia and nitrites both reach 0 which usually takes around 3-4 weeks.

Oh ok! I hadn't heard of this before which is why I asked...he mentioned adding Brightwells bacteria for weeks even though his tank would have already been cycled with Dr. Tim's...I wasn't sure why you would dose weeks after the cycle was completed instead of dosing it together at the beginning of the cycle. Also, why would you need to add fish to eat coral parasites if the tank was started with dry rock and bottled bac?

Oh gosh, no, I did not interpret that from the BRS series on that at all lol. The ones I saw regarding this method were back when they did the BRS/WWC hybrid tanks. Some obscure advice in that series.

@leroytheboi, with a tank that small, I would do something like this:

Week 1 - 3
- lights off
- no corals
- no fish
- continue as you are doing
- grab a small piece of live rock from your LFS to add some beneficial critters to the tank. - golf ball size is fine

Week 4
- lights off
- no corals
- no fish
- bring a water sample to LFS or test yourself with a kit. I recommend the Salifert kit for NO3 (nitrate) to start.

If your LFS says good to go or your Salifert test is dark purple:
- do a 50-60% water change
- add a damsel or two (some cheap fish to keep some nutrients and poop in the tank)
- start feeding damsel a small amount daily

Week 5-7
- lights on at a low level for a photoperiod of 1-hour ramp up > 7 hours at 10-20% > 1-hour ramp down
- no corals
- say hi to damsel every day
- also, cry because your tank is ugly, and you have either algae, dinos, or cyano
- start doing 1-gallon water changes every week and practicing good husbandry like scrubbing algae/dino/cyano off rock and substrate etc.

Week 8-12
- lights on at a medium level for a photoperiod of 1-hour ramp up > 7 hours at 30-50% > 1-hour ramp down
- no corals
- sing to damsel every day
- cry a little less because you are past one of the algae/dino/cyano stages, and you finally have some confidence in yourself
- keep doing 1-gallon water changes every week and practicing good husbandry like scrubbing algae off rock and substrate etc.

Week 13-16
- hopefully, by this point, cyano is gone just from you having excellent habits of weekly water changes and testing
- net the damsel(s) and return to LFS - sing them a goodbye song
- get a few cheap corals
- get a clownfish to replace the damsel
- lights on at a medium level for a photoperiod of 1-hour ramp up > 7 hours at 30-50% > 1-hour ramp down
- monitor the tanks levels to make sure you aren't adding too much at once
- start aiming for a stable alkalinity, something matching your salt of choice
- keep doing 1-gallon water changes every week and practicing good husbandry like scrubbing algae off rock and substrate etc.
- if all is well at this point, its about stability in your parameters

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Thats what I did. Added a bottle of Dr. Tim's Bac and dosed to 2ppm per the ammonium chloride solution instructions based on how much water is in the tank.

Thank God, I didn't want to just let it sit alone for 4 months just looking at rock. So once, Ammonium and Nitrites hit 0 (which should be in 2-3 weeks). I can proceed with adding fish and coral or just fish for a while?

You can add fish after your ammonia and nitrites both reach 0 along with a couple hardy soft corals like zoa's...you asked exactly "how necessary" the 4 month cycle is and my opinion is that not many people do that and if I were you I'd add a fish and couple zoa's or something like that after the "typical" cycle that i mentioned which you also seem to be on track for. Imo when you use all dry rock the "ugly stage" will just come and go like it does for mostly everyone. If you'd still like to try to surpass it with this 4 month cycle technique that's up to you but it not really necessary