Getting back into it...A tad nervous

[haslip]

Hi all. I am getting back into the saltwater world. I tore down my last tank about 10 months ago and have been missing it since. I had it for about 6 years. Things have changed and going to give the NANO world a try. I got the Innovative Marine 15 on the way. Due to my location, I don't have a LFS within 6 hours. Just Petco. I may be able to get a few pieces of live rock from another reefer but will have to source some other rock. I feel like my best option is Caribsea liferock. I see mixed info on it, but would you use it? Also, it is an AIO with a sock in the first chamber, I was wondering if you would suggest putting some Chemipure Blue in the bottom of that and the second chamber some bioballs and 3rd chamber floss? Not 100% sure if I will use a skimmer yet. Just planning on a pair of clowns and CUC. Maybe a few softies after the first year. I would appreciate your thoughts.
Happy to be here, very excited and appreciate all of the information on this site.

Have a great day!
J

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family!

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Good luck with your new nano build!

 

[Extremeengineer]

Welcome, lots of good info here. I like the IM tanks. If you like the liferock, another option is the cycled rock from Dinkins that is a sponsor here, I bought a couple of pieces and it is a great option to ocean rock.

I started my tank with ChemiPure blue as well, I am not sure that it was necessary out of the gate, but I figured it wasn't going to hurt anything and gave me peace of mind.

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R and back to the salty world.

 

[Uncle99]

I used all Carbi-sea rock, love how it looks right out of the box, matured up well, 5 years ago, very happy, zero complaints.

Ever fish I have came from big box stores.

Welcome to R2R!

 

[CO2TLEY]

 

[RichWise73]

Hi all. I am getting back into the saltwater world. I tore down my last tank about 10 months ago and have been missing it since. I had it for about 6 years. Things have changed and going to give the NANO world a try. I got the Innovative Marine 15 on the way. Due to my location, I don't have a LFS within 6 hours. Just Petco. I may be able to get a few pieces of live rock from another reefer but will have to source some other rock. I feel like my best option is Caribsea liferock. I see mixed info on it, but would you use it? Also, it is an AIO with a sock in the first chamber, I was wondering if you would suggest putting some Chemipure Blue in the bottom of that and the second chamber some bioballs and 3rd chamber floss? Not 100% sure if I will use a skimmer yet. Just planning on a pair of clowns and CUC. Maybe a few softies after the first year. I would appreciate your thoughts.
Happy to be here, very excited and appreciate all of the information on this site.

Have a great day!
J

Welcome back to the hobby and welcome to R2R. For a small nano, I would recommend getting some live rock and live sand from Tampa Bay Saltwater. I used it when I set up my Fluval Evo 13.5 and the rock and sand has incredible diversity and that tank never went through the "ugly" stage. The only drawback is the shipping is air freight and you'd have to pick up at your closest major airport. Another potential drawback is the price, but it was well worth it for me.

 

[kvansloo]

Hello, and welcome.

 

[DDenny]

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Welcome to Reef2reef!

 

[KrisReef]

Hi all. I am getting back into the saltwater world. I tore down my last tank about 10 months ago and have been missing it since. I had it for about 6 years. Things have changed and going to give the NANO world a try. I got the Innovative Marine 15 on the way. Due to my location, I don't have a LFS within 6 hours. Just Petco. I may be able to get a few pieces of live rock from another reefer but will have to source some other rock. I feel like my best option is Caribsea liferock. I see mixed info on it, but would you use it? Also, it is an AIO with a sock in the first chamber, I was wondering if you would suggest putting some Chemipure Blue in the bottom of that and the second chamber some bioballs and 3rd chamber floss? Not 100% sure if I will use a skimmer yet. Just planning on a pair of clowns and CUC. Maybe a few softies after the first year. I would appreciate your thoughts.
Happy to be here, very excited and appreciate all of the information on this site.

Have a great day!
J

Chamber AIo's, first is for mechanical filtration (sox) and others for a skimmer and carbon, GFO, or other chemical (dissolved removal) filters. Floss in the last is just something else to clean. Some folks put live rock chips or bioballs for filtering in the 2nd and 3rd chamber.

With live rock the AIO can function anyway you like, as the pump serves to keep the water in motion and possibly to get air in and CO2 out.

Welcome to Reef2Reef.

 

[haslip]

I used all Carbi-sea rock, love how it looks right out of the box, matured up well, 5 years ago, very happy, zero complaints.

Ever fish I have came from big box stores.

Welcome to R2R!

THAT IS AN AMAZING TANK. GOALS HAVE BEEN SET NOW. APPRECIATE THE INFO.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Greetings and Welcome to our collective obsession!!!!

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Dragen Fiend]

Welcome to R2R!

I used Caribsea liferock on my very first tank. Yup you guess it. IM 15 as well. I had no issues.

You could use any type of filtration system you want. Just ensure its in bags so you can easily pull it out of the chamber. Otherwise I'd splurge a bit more and get the caddy filters. The filter sock works just fine but I found it clogged far too often vs caddy.

As for using Petco. You be the judge based how well they maintain their tanks. Its a hit or miss. I personally don't go to any but one because I know the person who runs the saltwater section.

I'd buy online if possible. For the price of shipping. Your paying in gas anyway.

 

[gnarlydudecory]

Welcome!

 

[DaddyDaughterNano]

It might be interesting to see if InTank makes a media basket for your tank. They let you stack things within compartments in your chambers so can have floss, ChemiPure, and bio balls all in chamber one, for example.

I use Life Rock. They talk about it being seeded with bacteria, etc, but I cycled my tank following Dr. Tim’s fishless cycle recipe, and dose bacteria (Waste Away, MicroBacter 7, or MicroBacter Clean) with my regular maintenance. Kind of cool to hear about some of the new (to me at least) options mentioned above.

 

[1112-425XL]

 

[Shnetts]

Welcome to R2R!!!