Nano Tank Start - Step by Step Journey

[rhpmiller]

I’d say go for the CUC and a small simple softy frag, get a sense of how it’ll go and how things are shaping up. Looks good to me so far

Went with a handful of nassarius snails, a fire goby, and some small chunks of live rock. Fire goby has found a nice home for itself in an unintentional cave I guess I created while stacking the rock. Ha.

Will likely add some trochus snails or hermits next, but I don't really have any algae anywhere, so unsure if I need to have some of that growing.

Also hoping the small chunks of live rock will help seed coralline algae, but does this mean I should start turning my lights on, to promote that algae growth?

 

[MaxTremors]

Day 13 (10/1)
Tested my water and here's where we're at:

• Salinity: 1.027 (added some RODI to try to bring it down)
• Ammonia: 0.1 (Down from 0.2)
• Nitrite: 0.05 (Down from 0.3)
• Nitrate: ~20 (same)
• Phosphate: 0 (same)
• Alkalinity: 8.6 (down from 9.2)
• Calcium: 440 (first time measuring this)
• pH: 8 (same)

Since things are still looking decent and livestock seems happy and healthy, was debating my next step:

• Do nothing for another two weeks
• Add a small CUC—small number of snails and peppermint shrimp—for proactive measures? It's not like I have a ton of algae, aiptasia or anything, but hoping some snails and shrimp can help sift/clean the sand, prevent build up, etc.
• Add a small CUC + a fish? I was thinking of a blenny or a six-line wrasse. Again, something utilitarian, and also adds some more waste for the CUC.
• Add a single coral frag? I was thinking of a softy—toadstool or zoa—to see how it does and begin testing if my tank is ready for corals.

Any thoughts, opinions or recos on the above? Or combination of those?

Was also thinking of adding a small piece of live rock to help add some more diversity with bacteria. Yay or nay?

I would do none of the above. If you really want to add something, I would add some pods and if you think you’re ready a hardy soft coral or two. I would absolutely recommend you add a pound or so (or more) of some quality live rock (if you can find it, inspect for planaria and aiptasia). Cultured pods and phytoplankton aren’t going to get you a biodiverse reef (both bacterially and microfauna-wise).

I know you’re keeping the lights off to try to avoid the ugly phase, but the thing is, it’s going to happen regardless (the only real way to avoid it is if you started with quality cured live rock, with dry rock there’s no avoiding it). The surface of your rock and sand is going to be colonized by photosynthetic algae/organisms one way or the other, and unfortunately the less desirable algae grows faster than the desirable. So you might as well get it over with and get the uglies out of the way so coralline can start growing (it needs light to grow too).

I would hold off on buying a CuC until you have a substantial amount of algae for them to eat (turn on the lights!). I would also hold off on adding any more fish until you’ve kept the current ones alive for at least a month. Marine fish disease can wait a while to show up, so since you’re not QTing you want to at least make sure that your current fish are completely comfortable and eating well before and are stable before adding anything new (to both try to ensure they don’t have disease, but to also give them the best chance at surviving should the new fish have disease. You can absolutely try some soft corals, so long as temp, salinity, alkalinity and nutrients are stable/in range, you should be okay.

 

[Danroo]

Went with a handful of nassarius snails, a fire goby, and some small chunks of live rock. Fire goby has found a nice home for itself in an unintentional cave I guess I created while stacking the rock. Ha.

Will likely add some trochus snails or hermits next, but I don't really have any algae anywhere, so unsure if I need to have some of that growing.

Also hoping the small chunks of live rock will help seed coralline algae, but does this mean I should start turning my lights on, to promote that algae growth?

Don’t add snail right now wait for algae start showing up. You can turn on the light schedule I never closed mine anyways. Once you start seeing algae you’ll be able to get coralline. Coralline can be seeded through snails or hermit crabs, they have that in their shells. I’m not so lucky with coralline algae, I’m still at my slight ugly stage but my trochus are beast on keeping my rock clean not so much on sand. I would hold on the corals as well. Dry rock has a 50/50 chance on making corals thrive, when your rock turns live then is the best time to add corals.

 

[rhpmiller]

Day 15 (10/3)
Got a toadstool leather from my LFS this morning—dipped it, acclimated it, and it seems to be doing well—and also got some scrapings of coralline algae to help seed my tank. Then tested the water this afternoon, and here's what i've got:

• Salinity: 1.026
• Ammonia: 0.05 (Down from 0.1)
• Nitrite: <0.05 (Down from 0.05)
• Nitrate: 10 (Down from 20)
• Phosphate: 0 (same)
• Alkalinity: 9.7 (down from 8.6)
• Calcium: 405
• pH: 8 (same)

However, I have a question about what came with this—is this an aiptasia? It's not clear and small, so I'm not sure, but maybe it's another type of tank pest or something that I don't want in there? Should i take some tweezers and just remove it?

 

[Danroo]

That’s a lovely looking toadstool, but yeah that’s aiptasia if you can gently take the plug out and gently use the tweezers removing it nice and slow if it breaks and falls off in the tank I’ll multiply.

 

[rhpmiller]

That’s a lovely looking toadstool, but yeah that’s aiptasia if you can gently take the plug out and gently use the tweezers removing it nice and slow if it breaks and falls off in the tank I’ll multiply.

Thank you! Took the plug out of the tank, removed it with tweezers, and tried to scrape/brush as much away as possible. It broke outside of the tank—probably should've given it a quick dip in Coral Rx—but hoping it's not too bad, now that it's back in the tank.

 

[Danroo]

Thank you! Took the plug out of the tank, removed it with tweezers, and tried to scrape/brush as much away as possible. It broke outside of the tank—probably should've given it a quick dip in Coral Rx—but hoping it's not too bad, now that it's back in the tank.

Hopefully nothing fall off the plug. Don’t worry about dipping it doesn’t really work on aiptasia.

 

[MaxTremors]

Day 15 (10/3)
Got a toadstool leather from my LFS this morning—dipped it, acclimated it, and it seems to be doing well—and also got some scrapings of coralline algae to help seed my tank. Then tested the water this afternoon, and here's what i've got:

• Salinity: 1.026
• Ammonia: 0.05 (Down from 0.1)
• Nitrite: <0.05 (Down from 0.05)
• Nitrate: 10 (Down from 20)
• Phosphate: 0 (same)
• Alkalinity: 9.7 (down from 8.6)
• Calcium: 405
• pH: 8 (same)

However, I have a question about what came with this—is this an aiptasia? It's not clear and small, so I'm not sure, but maybe it's another type of tank pest or something that I don't want in there? Should i take some tweezers and just remove it?

Awesome! And good job getting rid of the aiptasia. Don’t be surprised if it ends up sulking and looking kind of sad for a while (they can even do it for months), they can take a while to get comfortable again (even when parameters are good). They can shed their skin fairly often, so if you see a transparent film coming off it, don’t panic, they just do this periodically. They like a good amount of flow (will also help when the slough of skin) and can take quite a bit of light (I would do a 10-12 hour photoperiod). Not a difficult coral but maybe not the best first coral either, but I’m sure it’ll be fine, you seem like you’re on top of everything. Since your lights will be on now, be prepared for an ugly phase. The worst of it usually only lasts 2-3 weeks if you keep up with water quality, but the first year is kind of an ugly phase, your tank will go through phases until it matures. Once you get a good amount of algae going, get a CuC (I would start with 0.5 snails hermits per gallon, with 65% being a variety of snails and 35% hermits, and as your tank matures you can go up to 1 or more per gallon if needed, also get a fighting conch, it’ll keep your sand looking nice). Anyway, congrats!

 

[rhpmiller]

Day 16 (10/4)
Normal feeding, lights now running at the schedule below, with 55% intensity for white and 45% intensity for blue. Found a whole lot of different suggestions for lighting, but figure i'll ease into it, as the toadstool seems to be reacting well to this, and can always dial it up, if needed.

Day 17 (10/5)
A snail died. Might have been on its last legs anyway, since the other four nassarius snails are thriving. Normal feeding and dosed the Brightwell Coralline Accelerator—will do this every few days over the next couple weeks to see how it goes and affects any water parameters. Know that patience is something that is essential for coralline growth, so will just have to wait a while and see.

Day 18 (10/6)
Did a water test, and will feed later.

• Salinity: 1.026
• Ammonia: 0.05 (Unchanged)
• Nitrite: <0.05 (Unchanged)
• Nitrate: 15 (Up from 10)
• Phosphate: 0.02 (up from 0)
• Alkalinity: 9.8 (up from 9.7)
• Calcium: 491 (up from 405) **Assuming this is from the coralline accelerator**
• pH: 7.8 (down from 8)

The crew

I think i'll start testing weekly now, since most things seem to be stable, but will likely take it slow on the coralline accelerator (unless elevated calcium is ok?). Might try and up the pH a bit, if it stays there at my next test.

 

[brandon429]

What did you use for fish disease prep protocol

 

[rhpmiller]

What did you use for fish disease prep protocol

Nothing, really. I don't have enough space for a quarantine tank, so I asked a few different LFS what they're quarantine protocols were, checked the cleanliness of the tanks at the LFS I chose, and picked the fish that seemed best-looking.

 

[brandon429]

Having to start all over, velvet killed my fish

agreed. if i had a big tank in the works it'd be all kp aquatics or TBS rock fallowed out 90 days but only after most corals in place, so quite a while after setup. months. then fish from only the trusted online qt sources. I bet I wouldnt add fish for the first year, that's coral massing +...

www.reef2reef.com

the challenge is often delayed months, watch for symptoms, have a quarantine tank handy for quick cycling. It will be good for the study of cycling to see if those same fish are alive this coming March


the fish disease forum is packed to the hilt daily in skip prep setups we’d covered extensively. Aquarists kill fish by the bucketload, then buy more, then those die, as a noted trend to anyone who reads in prep here below

you can catch yours before it becomes a cascading loss just take action right when the first fish dies if that occurs. it won’t be param issues.
Don’t search for param issues when a fish dies, fallow prep the tank

Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis

A forum for discussing treatment and diagnosing saltwater reef fish.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[rhpmiller]

Day 19 (10/7)
Was going on a long weekend trip, so fed fish early in the AM and then caught a flight.

Day 20 (10/8)
(Nothing, just light cycle)

Day 21 (10/9)
(Nothing, just light cycle)

Day 22 (10/10)
Got back late in the PM and fed my fish, and found out I've officially started my ugly stage, as i'm seeing hair algae around the tank. I think i'm going to go to the LFS and get some hermits and/or trochus snails (I only have nassarius, currently). Was also thinking about maybe adding some pods...yay? Nay?

Otherwise, the rest of the tank looks happy and healthy, with my fish and coral looking good.

 

[rhpmiller]

Day 23 (10/11)
Did a water test this morning and saw some significant fluctuation in couple places—Alkalinity and Calcium—but most was stable.

• Salinity: 1.028 (Up from 1.026, added some RODI to level it out)
• Ammonia: 0.05 (Unchanged)
• Nitrite: <0.05 (Unchanged)
• Nitrate: 15 (Unchanged)
• Phosphate: 0.00 (Down from 0.02)
• Alkalinity: 7.6 (Drop from 9.8, so might do a water change)
• Calcium: 567 (up from 491) **Was at 405 a little over a week ago**
• pH: 8.1 (up from 7.8)

I think i'm going to do a 20-25% water change tomorrow and hope that helps with Alkalinity and Calcium. Otherwise, i've heard dosing alkalinity can help bring calcium down, as they have impacts on each other.

 

[Danroo]

Looking great. If you’re gonna add pods add them when the lights are off and the ones who will bread in your tank. I got pods through my coral frags did A rookie mistake on not buying the dip beforehand. Lucky didn’t got anything dangerous.

 

[MaxTremors]

Day 23 (10/11)
Did a water test this morning and saw some significant fluctuation in couple places—Alkalinity and Calcium—but most was stable.

• Salinity: 1.028 (Up from 1.026, added some RODI to level it out)
• Ammonia: 0.05 (Unchanged)
• Nitrite: <0.05 (Unchanged)
• Nitrate: 15 (Unchanged)
• Phosphate: 0.00 (Down from 0.02)
• Alkalinity: 7.6 (Drop from 9.8, so might do a water change)
• Calcium: 567 (up from 491) **Was at 405 a little over a week ago**
• pH: 8.1 (up from 7.8)

I think i'm going to do a 20-25% water change tomorrow and hope that helps with Alkalinity and Calcium. Otherwise, i've heard dosing alkalinity can help bring calcium down, as they have impacts on each other.

Dosing alkalinity won’t lower your calcium. I would just do a water change to even things out. At this point, you don’t have anything really consuming Alk or Cal, so water changes should be enough to keep things stable. In new tanks Alk can do weird things and fluctuate, but again, since you don’t have any stony corals, I would just stick with weekly water changes for now.

I would also recommend you stop dosing the coralline supplement. It’s basically just calcium, and your calcium is already high. If you have something with coralline on it (like a hermit shell or rock), coralline will grow when conditions are right. If you haven’t introduced anything with coralline, then you’ll need to to get it growing. Most people don’t see coralline growth until well past the ugly phase, like months 4-8.

I would definitely add pods, as mentioned above, make sure to get a species that will reproduce at tropical temps, and add them at night so the fish won’t eat them all. I would try to add a variety of species (you can usually buy a mixture).

Overall, the tank looks great considering its age. I would hold off on buying anymore fish for a few months, make sure the ones you have are thriving and healthy. I would wait a couple weeks to add any more coral, just to let things stabilize, but otherwise everything looks great, you’re on the right track.

 

[rhpmiller]

Day 24 (10/12)
Went to the LFS to get some RODI water for a change, and also picked up a few trochus snails and blue-legged hermits to try and help with the algae. Did a 20% (4g) water change.

Day 25 (10/13)
Surprising how much work those snails and hermits can put in. By no means is my algae issue solved, but they're keeping it under control. Tank looks healthy and good otherwise, so I couldn't resist grabbing a little Duncan coral frag (I know, I know).

 

[rhpmiller]

Ok, so quite a bit has happened—nothing bad—since my last update...

Day 26 (10/14)
I purchased a couple of zoa frags (Eye of Rah and Rising Sun) and a tiger conch—help with sand and algae—and acclimated them.

Day 27 (10/15)
Added some RODI water to balance out evaporation and bring down salinity a bit (from 1.027 to 1.026).

Algae almost completely gone now. Man, those snails, conch, and hermits are crushing it.

Day 28 (10/16)
Went to go get some RODI from the LFS, and they've been super nice and cool with me every time I go, asking for pics of my tank, asking for updates, etc.

They got a new shipment of coral frags earlier in the week and asked if I wanted some at a discount. Was hesitant at first, since I was thinking the worst (i.e. are these damaged, sick, etc.?), but they assured me not and I've gotten inverts, fish, and my toadstool leather from them, and all have been healthy and done well. So, I got a favia frag (maybe favites, but too soon to really tell—it's small) and what I thought was an unopened, unique-looking trumpet. However, it turned out to be a sun coral—ugh—which I'll do my best to try and keep alive. Link to another thread I posted about this below.

Trumpet or Candy Cane? Do you know which this is?

I know they're both Caulastreas and cared for similarly, but not sure which I got. Any ideas? Bonus points if you know what this encrusting one is too. Ha. (sorry for the image quality). I'm thinking Favia?

www.reef2reef.com

Fed some LPS food to the corals and tried to get the sun coral to eat some mysis.

Day 29 (10/17)
So, I know I've broken a few rules with adding of livestock relatively unspaced. Luckily, I'm going away for a trip in mid-November, so I'm using that as something to keep me in check and make sure all is well and consistent going into that.

Tested water this AM and things are looking relatively stable since the last time I tested (10/11):

• Salinity: 1.026 (down from 1.027)
• Ammonia: 0.05 (Unchanged)
• Nitrite: 0.1 (Up from 0.05)
• Nitrate: 15 (Unchanged)
• Phosphate: 0.00 (Unchanged)
• Alkalinity: 8.3 (Up from 7.6)
• Calcium: 531 (Down from 567) *Still a little concerned about this*
• pH: 8.0 (down from 8.1)

I

 

[Evo R]

Tank is coming along nicely.

I'm not going to say anything about waiting and not adding to much stuff(Remember the tribe had spoken....) And that you should never impulse buy something without research even if its a quick google search on your phone in the LFS.

But ill leave you with three things to consider;

1. You are going away soon, make sure your tank sitter does not over feed and or if manually adding RO to add too much.
2. Your Po4 is at 0.00 ..... you are asking for trouble with your corals!!!!
3. You are not testing for Mg, and when things go south with lps, Mg is always my number one suspect.

 

[rhpmiller]

Tank is coming along nicely.

I'm not going to say anything about waiting and not adding to much stuff(Remember the tribe had spoken....) And that you should never impulse buy something without research even if its a quick google search on your phone in the LFS.

But ill leave you with three things to consider;

1. You are going away soon, make sure your tank sitter does not over feed and or if manually adding RO to add too much.
2. Your Po4 is at 0.00 ..... you are asking for trouble with your corals!!!!
3. You are not testing for Mg, and when things go south with lps, Mg is always my number one suspect.

1) Yep, have strict instructions on what to do for feeding, how often, etc. And I have an ATO, so that should help with salinity, etc.
2) My Phosphates have always been at 0, so should I start dosing? I have some NeoPhos from Brightwell.
3) Will definitely get a test kit for Mg and start testing that too.

Thanks!