Nano Reef Start-Up

[bcarl77]

Hi all,

I am wanting to start up a large reef aquarium (Red Sea 425XL) in a few months after spending about 5 years in high tech planted tanks. I am thinking of using all of the extra equipment laying around from the planted tanks to set up a small nano tank in order to start learning about reefing by having a clown pair with softies. I would like to spend as little as possible and get some thoughts on if this is possible or even a good idea or worth the time. Here is the list of equipment I have laying around that I can use:

-Aquamaxx 17 gallon rimless aquarium
-2 Hydor Korlia Nano 240
-AquaClear HOB 30
-BML Dutch Planted (6300K) (Very strong light, wrong spectrum) or Current Sat Plus (not sure if this will work)
-BRS Dosing Pumps
-Heaters
-Canister Filter (probably use the HOB)
-RO/DI Unit

Things I would buy (excluding livestock)
-Salt Mix
-Live Rock
-Sand

 

[crystalseatexas]

It can be a strange transition going from fresh to salt... firstly, filtration as it exists in fw systems is not needed and can be detrimental. Rather, live rock is your filter, and a tank needs good nutrient management. Most people use protein skimmers to remove organics before they break down, and a beneficial algae to soak up nitrates before the pest algaes can take over. Secondly, flow is really important in sw while it is not in fw... gas exchange works much differently in sw, and tanks require enough water movement to discourage dead spots and keep up with gas exchange. Another thing to get used to is water. Lots of fw folks use tap with water conditioners. Sw is unforgiving with water impurities, encouraging nasty algae blooms and weird problems. Minerals in tap water can interfere with salt mixes too. In the Sw world, reverse osmosis, deionized water (RO/DI) is king.

You can use your hob as a refugium/algae scrubber a remove all media and put a bit of algae and/or rubble in it instead (Chaeto is great for this-very effective but not pretty in the display). If you use your canister, do so only for flow. Remove all media. It will convert organics to nitrate too quickly, which will breed nuisance algae and if left unchecked, can push the nitrogen Chae backward into nitrite, and harm your creatures. Lots of people do keep their canister filters, but I have not met a long term reefer who uses them. Maybe someone else can speak to that if anyone disagrees.

I am not familiar with the lighting you are bringing over, hopefully someone else can speak to that too... though at the least you probably want to supplement with something on the blue spectrum.

Good luck! Watch Mr. Saltwater Aquarium on YouTube too

Oh one more thing. Depending on where you are, live rock may be pretty pathetic. At some point after 9/11 it started getting shipped by barge instead of plane... is virtually dead, and most products to seed your tank have very little diversity. I seed my new tanks with good rock from online (I like live rock n reef, rock from Indonesia or the Maldives), air shipped rock that still has a lot of life on it, and better bacteria diversity... people are paranoid about pests but there are ways to deal with that, and to me the risk of pests is far, far outweighed by tank stability due to biological diversity. Besides most pests are introduced with new coral additions...

 

[bcarl77]

Thank you for all the info. I have been researching a ton on saltwater and getting an understanding of the differences between the two sides of the hobby. I just know that the best way to get my hands wet (pun intended) is to start a tank and learn.

I would not run the canister and only run the Aquaclear 30 and use the Hydors for water movement.

Lighting seems to be the only issue so far, would be open to something VERY cheap to use as well if I had to.

The other thing I am thinking about is rigging up a DIY top-off with a aqualifter and digital timer. I know it isn't ideal but it would work.

I am located in Central FL, so I have a ton of great LFS at my disposal, another benefit of switching to salt.

 

[crystalseatexas]

Nice I will have to visit the stores in Florida one of these days! Yeah I am not a lighting guru but there may be affordable diy options.

Careful with the topoff, when they fail it is usually catastrophic for your tank. but for a big tank I totally see the need.