First saltwater nano tank

[Jlhalljr]

Started my first tank and has come along very nice for me so far. 2 weeks in and couldn’t be happier. I’m running a biocube 32 with about 30lbs of dry rock, about a 2lbs pice of live to help seed the tank, 30lbs of live sand, filter floss,phosgaurd, purigen, and about 2lbs of ceramic. Started with biospira also. Water test are showing 8.2 for ph. .25 ammonia. 0 nitrite. 5ppm of nitrate, 0 phosphate. I have two clown fish, a lawnmower blenny, two emerald crabs, two peperment shrimp, and a hand full of blue and red leg hermit crabs. I also have 3 zoas, a purple and green hammer coral and two mushrooms.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Nice !

You should probaly het a bottle of Bacteria in there. Biospira or Dr Tim’s one and only.
Your ammonia really should be zero before adding fish.

 

[Comic_Reef]

Was going to say the same thing. Be careful about the ammonia because it can snowball into high nitrates fast. Besides congrats on the tank and welcome.

Are those Green Star Polyps I see?

 

[Jlhalljr]

Was going to say the same thing. Be careful about the ammonia because it can snowball into high nitrates fast. Besides congrats on the tank and welcome.

Are those Green Star Polyps I see?

Yes they are. And my ammonia had been zero till today. I also did add biospiral and also had some ceramic from an established tank added to it. Going to do a water change tomorrow and see if that helps.

 

[Jlhalljr]

Ammonia is back to zero now not sure what made it be .25 earlier I did add some reef roids so not sure if it was that or what. I also added arcs purple helix when I started the tank. I was just looking and see a couple purplish pink spots starting on my rock not much bigger then a pinhead. Hope that’s coralline starting.

 

[savetheocean]

Looking REALLY good!

Its good that you added some bacteria, that should help. Just keep testing your water and doing water changes. It can turn around very fast so stay on top of it!

 

[Comic_Reef]

Yes they are. And my ammonia had been zero till today. I also did add biospiral and also had some ceramic from an established tank added to it. Going to do a water change tomorrow and see if that helps.

Pretty coral but I would move it to a rock by itself or put it on the outside edge where you can use high sting corals like hammers, frogs and torches to keep it at bay. I was told they were quick growers when I first started. Didn't know what quick really was until it started to take over my entire main rock. My solution was putting a large frogspawn on one side, a torch on the other and an octopawn behind. They keep it under control and it doesn't spread much anymore but yeah keep an eye on it, it has a high sting of its own and will kill most other coal.

 

[Reefer Deez]

Hi and welcome to R2R! Looks good so far just be safe and test a lot nano tanks can turn on you fast!

 

[Jlhalljr]

Pretty coral but I would move it to a rock by itself or put it on the outside edge where you can use high sting corals like hammers, frogs and torches to keep it at bay. I was told they were quick growers when I first started. Didn't know what quick really was until it started to take over my entire main rock. My solution was putting a large frogspawn on one side, a torch on the other and an octopawn behind. They keep it under control and it doesn't spread much anymore but yeah keep an eye on it, it has a high sting of its own and will kill most other coal.

It’s hard to tell in the pic but I actually have them on their own rock and it doesn’t touch my main structure. I was worried they would spread to quick. They already have been taking off. The frag only had about 10 of them on it a week ago and it’s already covered the drag and is starting to grow on the rock.

 

[Comic_Reef]

It’s hard to tell in the pic but I actually have them on their own rock and it doesn’t touch my main structure. I was worried they would spread to quick. They already have been taking off. The frag only had about 10 of them on it a week ago and it’s already covered the drag and is starting to grow on the rock.

Good call. Yeah they are beautiful but can become a pest coral quick if not setup properly.

 

[Jlhalljr]

I’ve also been keeping 20 gallons of di water premixed and matching salinity just in case. I really want to get a ro system but not in the finances yet.

 

[Comic_Reef]

For a tank your size you don't need anything fancy and big for Rodi. I am running a Biocube 29 and simply use an RO Buddie. It's $50 plus a $20 DI resin attachment. Then simply buy di resin and refill it yourself and save a bunch of $$. Plugs right into your faucet.

 

[Jlhalljr]

For a tank your size you don't need anything fancy and big for Rodi. I am running a Biocube 29 and simply use an RO Buddie. It's $50 plus a $20 DI resin attachment. Then simply buy di resin and refill it yourself and save a bunch of $$. Plugs right into your faucet.

Thank you I will look that up

 

[Comic_Reef]

Thank you I will look that up

You won't regret getting yourself a DI unit.

 

[Jesterrace]

Definitely should not have ammonia at all in a properly cycled tank, my guess is you jumped the gun and added stuff way too early. 2 weeks is pretty early for a mostly dry rock setup since it takes longer for it to establish a solid healthy bacteria population.