James’s 29g Nano Build

[F i s h y]

Never mind, I’m going to run up and get the test kit first.

Yup.... ive got ADHD... haven't had a single day of cohesive thoughts since.... 1990.... I was 7... maybe before. I bought ce all the time... so I'm feeling ya right now james.

 

[LRT]

Hey James wish I would have caught that you made calcium kit a priority.
Tbh with softies i think regular water changes will handle all your needs on calcium.
I'm feeling like I've only checked calcium maybe twice in last year and a half as softies dont really use it. And I only spot checked to see if levels where in range to help establish stable nutrient levels the pros pass down.
Id stick to getting salinity, temp, ph, nitrates and phosphates locked in as tight as you can maintain them.
I'm only seeing shrooms and zoas in there. I can tell you both will thrive with those params locked in stable.

As Frank or Fishy said go slow in adding anymore corals until you get flow, your lamp, and those major params in check. Diligently. Once you have that locked down it makes everything so much easier.
Also your going to want to be removing cyano, detritus, algae religously. Id reccomend getting a small 5 micron sock and siphon out into bucket and put that water back in tank.
How religiously is up to you and how clean you want it to be. Id plan on religiously cleaning it as long as it took for things to get out of hand.
There is no overnight win with the war. Its hard work and dedication but when you start winning the battles its serious gratification.
Persistence and patience pays off heavy in this hobby.
So does having obsessive nightmares over reefing problems until you find solutions lol

 

[James_O]

Hey James wish I would have caught that you made calcium kit a priority.
Tbh with softies i think regular water changes will handle all your needs on calcium.
I'm feeling like I've only checked calcium maybe twice in last year and a half as softies dont really use it. And I only spot checked to see if levels where in range to help establish stable nutrient levels the pros pass down.
Id stick to getting salinity, temp, ph, nitrates and phosphates locked in as tight as you can maintain them.
I'm only seeing shrooms and zoas in there. I can tell you both will thrive with those params locked in stable.

Oh, I got it because I wanted to start keeping LPS, specifically hammers and torches. (I thought the 3 main ones to look out for when keeping those corals, are calcium, alkalinity, and phosphates?)

Maybe I was told wrong, I’m pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff.;Bucktooth;Panda

As Frank or Fishy said go slow in adding anymore corals until you get flow, your lamp, and those major params in check. Diligently. Once you have that locked down it makes everything so much easier.

I definitely won’t be adding any more corals soon. I only wanted to get the big ricordea before someone else bought it.

Also your going to want to be removing cyano, detritus, algae religously. Id reccomend getting a small 5 micron sock and siphon out into bucket and put that water back in tank.
How religiously is up to you and how clean you want it to be. Id plan on religiously cleaning it as long as it took for things to get out of hand.
There is no overnight win with the war. Its hard work and dedication but when you start winning the battles its serious gratification.

I will do another “deep clean” like I did before.

Is it ok to siphon out quite a lot of sand, clean it of cyano, and then add it back to the tank?

Persistence and patience pays off heavy in this hobby.

I am learning that the hard way! ;Facepalm;Nailbiting;Dead

 

[James_O]

Oohh, a box? What could it be?;Troll

 

[James_O]

BOOM!

Now for the hard part - deciphering these instructions. ;Shifty

 

[F i s h y]

Oh, I got it because I wanted to start keeping LPS, specifically hammers and torches. (I thought the 3 main ones to look out for when keeping those corals, are calcium, alkalinity, and phosphates?)

Maybe I was told wrong, I’m pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff.;Bucktooth;Panda



I definitely won’t be adding any more corals soon. I only wanted to get the big ricordea before someone else bought it.





I will do another “deep clean” like I did before.

Is it ok to siphon out quite a lot of sand, clean it of cyano, and then add it back to the tank?



I am learning that the hard way! ;Facepalm;Nailbiting;Dead

Yes siphon sand rinse with tap then rinse with RO.
Then make sure to check salinity after adding it back. I've seen salinity drift down after this treatment.

 

[James_O]

Yes siphon sand rinse with tap then rinse with RO.
Then make sure to check salinity after adding it back. I've seen salinity drift down after this treatment.

Gotcha, thanks!

I’ll do a deep clean after I test for calcium.

Hey James wish I would have caught that you made calcium kit a priority.
Tbh with softies i think regular water changes will handle all your needs on calcium.
I'm feeling like I've only checked calcium maybe twice in last year and a half as softies dont really use it. And I only spot checked to see if levels where in range to help establish stable nutrient levels the pros pass down.
Id stick to getting salinity, temp, ph, nitrates and phosphates locked in as tight as you can maintain them.
I'm only seeing shrooms and zoas in there. I can tell you both will thrive with those params locked in stable.

I’m sure I’m wrong with the tests... will someone please explain to me what exactly I need to figure out before getting LPS?

 

[LRT]

Oh, I got it because I wanted to start keeping LPS, specifically hammers and torches. (I thought the 3 main ones to look out for when keeping those corals, are calcium, alkalinity, and phosphates?)

Maybe I was told wrong, I’m pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff.;Bucktooth;Panda



I definitely won’t be adding any more corals soon. I only wanted to get the big ricordea before someone else bought it.





I will do another “deep clean” like I did before.

Is it ok to siphon out quite a lot of sand, clean it of cyano, and then add it back to the tank?



I am learning that the hard way! ;Facepalm;Nailbiting;Dead

You dont want to do alot of water changes in a nano unless your params are out of whack.
Biweekly 25% should do you perfectly good.
If possible I'd go in with turkey baster and snatch out whatever cyano you can and just replace that water until you can filter it out.
I cant speak on the sand part. No matter what I do it gets dirty but thats natural I guess I just can't stand looking at it thats why I removed mine.
You can take sand out and do deep clean rinse and it would probably pay dividends here.
But I wouldn't reccomend doing that often unless you can rinse it in water change water when your doing water changes. Sand stirring critters would be your best solution for long run.
Yeah I forgot seeing you wanted to keep hard corals and such. Braver man than me im just barely getting the guts to try them myself.
I wouldnt even think about it though until you get your params we discussed in check. After 15 years out of hobby and a yr and half back in im barely starting to get mine figured out haha.
Its huge when you get the major params sorted. Ph, aeration, Stable salinity, temp, nitrates and phosphates is key right now. With that in check its def making the rest of it feel doable and giving the confidence I could actually do it right without doing more harm than good I guess.

 

[James_O]

You dont want to do alot of water changes in a nano unless your params are out of whack.
Biweekly 25% should do you perfectly good.
If possible I'd go in with turkey baster and snatch out whatever cyano you can and just replace that water until you can filter it out.
I cant speak on the sand part. No matter what I do it gets dirty but thats natural I guess I just can't stand looking at it thats why I removed mine.
You can take sand out and do deep clean rinse and it would probably pay dividends here.
But I wouldn't reccomend doing that often unless you can rinse it in water change water when your doing water changes. Sand stirring critters would be your best solution for long run.
Yeah I forgot seeing you wanted to keep hard corals and such. Braver man than me im just barely getting the guts to try them myself.
I wouldnt even think about it though until you get your params we discussed in check. After 15 years out of hobby and a yr and half back in im barely starting to get mine figured out haha.
Its huge when you get the major params sorted. Ph, aeration, Stable salinity, temp, nitrates and phosphates is key right now. With that in check its def making the rest of it feel doable and giving the confidence I could actually do it right without doing more harm than good I guess.

Thanks man! Good advice.

I guess I should be asking my torch/hammer related questions to the king of torches/hammers, @MERKEY?

——

According to the test, my calcium level is 400ppm-410ppm.

Is this good?

 

[LRT]

Gotcha, thanks!

I’ll do a deep clean after I test for calcium.



I’m sure I’m wrong with the tests... will someone please explain to me what exactly I need to figure out before getting LPS?

Lol ill let someone thats knows what they are talking about with hard corals answer this one.

 

[LRT]

Thanks man! Good advice.

I guess I should be asking my torch/hammer related questions to the king of torches/hammers, @MERKEY?

——

According to the test, my calcium level is 400ppm-410ppm.

Is this good?

Yup anyone other than me haha

 

[James_O]

Lol ill let someone thats knows what they are talking about with hard corals answer this one.

Didn’t mean to sound rude - you did give me good advice! ;Joyful

 

[LRT]

Didn’t mean to sound rude - you did give me good advice! ;Joyful

No you actually read my internet mind haha seriously I can't give any advice on torches and hammers so I'll learn with you on that one.

 

[James_O]

After researching some, it looks like torches/hammers do best in water that has a calcium level of 400ppm-450ppm.

I guess I’m good as far as that goes?

I’m saving for the alkalinity kit right now, because that’s the next one I need to know.

——

My biggest issue right now, is my lighting and my flow.

 

[MaxTremors]

After researching some, it looks like torches/hammers do best in water that has a calcium level of 400ppm-450ppm.

I guess I’m good as far as that goes?

I’m saving for the alkalinity kit right now, because that’s the next one I need to know.

——

My biggest issue right now, is my lighting and my flow.

All corals do well with 400-450ppm, but more important is stability. And calcium is secondary to alkalinity, your alk and cal (and mag) go hand in hand and effect each other. Its more than I can really explain in a single comment, so I suggest doing a deep dive into the relationship between these three parameters. I’m sure if you searched here @Randy Holmes-Farley has probably a few articles about it.

 

[James_O]

All corals do well with 400-450ppm, but more important is stability. And calcium is secondary to alkalinity, your alk and cal (and mag) go hand in hand and effect each other. Its more than I can really explain in a single comment, so I suggest doing a deep dive into the relationship between these three parameters. I’m sure if you searched here @Randy Holmes-Farley has probably a few articles about it.

Well, people keep saying that when my tank grows coralline algae, then it’s mature enough.

This can’t be accurate, because the coralline algae has to be introduced to the tank - it can’t just spontaneously grow.

I could go get a piece of rock with coralline algae from my LFS, and seed my whole tank.

Does that mean my tank is ready for anything?

——

All of this is very confusing.

 

[James_O]

Got the powerhead in:

I honestly think these powerheads are too overpowered, especially since they aren’t adjustable.

The flow from the second one is hitting the top right of the front panel.

—-

Should I just return these two and save up for the Hygger?

 

[fishguy242]

Got the powerhead in:

I honestly think these powerheads are too overpowered, especially since they aren’t adjustable.

The flow from the second one is hitting the top right of the front panel.

—-

Should I just return these two and save up for the Hygger?

try up to same level in both corners ,point at each other ,see if you can get a random flow out of that..

 

[James_O]

try up to same level in both corners ,point at each other ,see if you can get a random flow out of that..

Will do!

I’m seriously considering returning the pack of 2 and saving up for the Hygger. There is just to much power, and they aren’t adjustable.

My LFS has used powerhead for sale, similar to the Hygger. But I don’t know how much or what brand it is.

 

[shadow_k]

do you guys think this would work for his tank ?