Your average nano reef tank

[thetrackside]

Hey everyone, just recently go into the hobby. I’ve been wanting to set up a tank for years but due to my current living situation, space is very limited. After cleaning and throwing away anything I wasn’t using in my room, I had enough space for a nano tank. My 2 friends are super into planted fresh water tanks with shrimp and nano fish, so I’ve been watching them set up and build tanks for a few years and wanted to join in. The only thing being that I wanted saltwater fish so I took the plunge and bought a fluval evo sea 13.5 on sale for $143. I watched a ton of YouTube videos in preparation to make sure I set up the tank correctly and began the cycle. I didn’t do everything correctly lol at first I was using lava rock not live rock, i misheard someone in a video saying “ya gotta use lava rock” well they said live, so after a switcheroo, I got live rock in my tank. I used dr Tim’s one and only, live rock, live sand, and Carib sea sea water and was good to let it do its thing. After 13 days my cycle completed and I was testing 0 for amonia and nitrite. So I got 2 clown fish and threw them in Friday morning. They were shook at first of course but have been warming up nicely to their new tank, eating well and they seem happy to me so that’s good. I did water tests yesterday and read out a .25 amonia and .25 nitrite, which had me like what the heck since the night before I added fish they were zero, nitrate was almost 40 ppm, I did a 50% water change and got the nitrate down a lot. I went to my LFS and got a water conditioner like seachem prime and some 8.4 to increase my ph, it was around 7.8. They seem to be happy but I’ll keep my eye on the levels and do water changes as necessary to keep them in good water. So far I’ve been really enjoying watching them swim around exploring and watching them eat is also very enjoyable. I just want my 2 clowns to be happy and healthy before I add anything else to the tank. I do have the idea to add a shrimp and maybe a crab, as well as some general cuc like some snails.

 

[lapin]

Nice
I would not worry about your Ph too much. 7.8 is fine.
Trying to keep it at a certain level by adding something usually leads to problems over time

 

[thetrackside]

Good to note, I definitely appreciate any and all advice. I wasn’t gonna go crazy but figured I’d try and get it a bit higher.

 

[thetrackside]

Got home from work, checked on the clowns , and they were sooo active, going crazy, so I decided to feed them and they were soooo hyped, they ate everything in about 30 seconds, I gave them a small second helping and they ate all of that just as fast. The breeder I purchased from said he fed multiple times a day, I’d like to switch to once a day ideally, but I don’t wanna starve them out either.

 

[HomebroodExotics]

Got home from work, checked on the clowns , and they were sooo active, going crazy, so I decided to feed them and they were soooo hyped, they ate everything in about 30 seconds, I gave them a small second helping and they ate all of that just as fast. The breeder I purchased from said he fed multiple times a day, I’d like to switch to once a day ideally, but I don’t wanna starve them out either.

Younger fish typically eat a lot more often than when they mature. As they get older it’ll be easier to feed them less often.

 

[thetrackside]

I think I’ll feed them once in the morning and once in the evening, I leave for work at 5:30 am and don’t get home til 5:30 pm, so a sprinkle before and after should hold them over. They’re definitely very hungry and finish every bit of food so that’s good.

 

[thetrackside]

I believe I’m experiencing diatoms, what’s the procedure to make sure they don’t get out of control?

 

[Zer0]

Nice tank! The diatoms will go away on their own, wouldn’t worry about it.

 

[ChaosAquaculture]

Your tank is coming together really nice. Don’t worry about your diatoms, the tank is just stabilizing and it will go away.

 

[srobertb]

I believe I’m experiencing diatoms, what’s the procedure to make sure they don’t get out of control?

Let them do their thing. You can stir them up but they’ll come and go (assuming you’re RO/DI water on point).

 

[thetrackside]

Diatoms got a little worse, I figure I’ll leave the light off for a day or two so they don’t go crazy lol my clowns still seem happy

 

[WilyGuy]

Diatoms got a little worse, I figure I’ll leave the light off for a day or two so they don’t go crazy lol my clowns still seem happy

All part of the cycle. Any time someone says "speed up the cycle" there is likely a trade-off. It will be ugly before it is pretty. Diatoms are just a part. Cyano is another part. At some point, you'll likely have Hair Algae. Patience is always the key and not making dramatic changes if you can avoid them.

 

[Gedxin]

Newbie reefer here as well. Is there a reason you're using lights much at all without any corals?

 

[thetrackside]

All part of the cycle. Any time someone says "speed up the cycle" there is likely a trade-off. It will be ugly before it is pretty. Diatoms are just a part. Cyano is another part. At some point, you'll likely have Hair Algae. Patience is always the key and not making dramatic changes if you can avoid them.

And I got home today and I have hair algae lol is there anything I should do? Or just let it rock?

 

[thetrackside]

Newbie reefer here as well. Is there a reason you're using lights much at all without any corals?

I have one frag in there

 

[WilyGuy]

And I got home today and I have hair algae lol is there anything I should do? Or just let it rock?

Take a picture. Normally hair algae isn’t an “immediate” algae. My guess is maybe Cyano.