New to the hobby

thegrilledcheesus · Dec 3, 2012

Got some nice purple algae going on now as well as a lot of bad algae, my tests are nitrate: 10ppm Ph: 8.3 salinity: 1.0025 clean up crew in 2 weeks? also does anyone have any input on covers for my nano, because right now I'm stuck topping off every day.

fireman23 · Dec 3, 2012

Ato... I made a diy ato for cheap. Its been working well for over a year now. No problems with it

Dowtish · Dec 3, 2012

thegrilledcheesus said:
Got some nice purple algae going on now as well as a lot of bad algae, my tests are nitrate: 10ppm Ph: 8.3 salinity: 1.0025 clean up crew in 2 weeks? also does anyone have any input on covers for my nano, because right now I'm stuck topping off every day.

Putting a lid on the tank will help a little with evaporation. I wouldnt put a glass lid on the tank but you are more than welcome to. But you will still need to top off your tank daily. You should look into some options for an Automatic Top Off (ATO).

autotopoff.com

JBJ ATO Auto Top Off System JBJ ATO Auto Top Off System

Tunze Osmolator NANO, Water Level Regulation System - AquaCave.com

thejoshdavis · Dec 3, 2012

fireman23 said:
Ato... I made a diy ato for cheap. Its been working well for over a year now. No problems with it

do you have any links or info on how you did this?

fireman23 · Dec 3, 2012

DIY Auto top off system...CHEAP!! - The Reef Tank

fireman23 · Dec 3, 2012

Melevsreef.com - Automatic Top Off System

This is the one i made. Has worked great for me

thegrilledcheesus · Dec 3, 2012

Gonna make a DIY top off...

schooleyosis · Dec 3, 2012

Good idea. Just remember to have some redundancy to give yourself a little extra peace to be able to sleep at night. Either an extra float switch or a the switch on a timer. Example: I have my float switch hooked directly to my RO/DI filter. This means if the float switch fails or sticks on there would be an endless supply of water to fill my sump. Luckily the RO unit is only 90 gallons per day so if it flooded it wouldn't be THAT bad. LOL But, I only allow the solenoid from the float switch to run twice a day for 30 minutes per on time due to it being run on a timer. If the switch were to fail, the solenoid is only powered for 60 minutes per day.... Hope that makes sense. People still think I'm nuts for running my ATO directly to a water source rather than to pull water from a bucket or storage bin of water....

fireman23 · Dec 4, 2012

Yeah that is nuts. Lol. I have enough room in my sump that if it were to pump all water from ATO container and then say power went out i would still have room left in sump for the tank to drain down.

schooleyosis · Dec 4, 2012

There is a plan to change this later on. More important upgrades to come first...

thegrilledcheesus · Dec 4, 2012

So I'm coming along with the cycling, I saw this weird looking thing, I think it's a coral its really shriveled up and purple wish I could get pics, but when do you guys think a clean up crew should be put in?

Dowtish · Dec 4, 2012

CUC should go in after the tank finishes it cycle.

gmoney243 · Dec 4, 2012

yea ammonia is highly toxic in small ammounts. nitrite suprisingly isnt to fish at least in saltwater untill very very high levels that you would never hit. not sure about inverts but i assume the same. but in freshwater nitrite is highly toxic to fish in small ammounts.

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/middle-tennessee-reef-club/97526-truth-about-nitrites.html

to backup my claims read here

NaClWater72756 · Dec 4, 2012

Dowtish said:
Xenia was my credit line at Aquatic Critter for over a year. Close to $1,000. Seriously, And I still have it growing like mad in my 10 gallon nano. So i am proud to say that I had herpes:tongue:

I need some STD in my tank. Wanna share? :wink:

thegrilledcheesus · Dec 4, 2012

I'm trying to figure out what needs to go in there though for the CUC so far i think 6x ceriths 4x nassarius 1x scarlet reef hermit and shrimps and crabs later

NaClWater72756 · Dec 5, 2012

thegrilledcheesus said:
I'm trying to figure out what needs to go in there though for the CUC so far i think 6x ceriths 4x nassarius 1x scarlet reef hermit and shrimps and crabs later

I waited about 3-4 weeks before adding anything and then it was a few astrea snails. It is HARD to wait, but SO worth it.

A fellow reefer has used www.reefcleaners.org and had a great experience. There is a calculator based on tank size and options for creating custom crews. Plus they support R2R!

Welcome to the board!

gmoney243 · Dec 5, 2012

we just did a group buy with reefcleaners. i think their cuc packages are to big. and i dont like hermits. blue legs kill eachother and other snails a lot. and red legs will eat some anemones like condylactis.

schooleyosis · Dec 5, 2012

Agreed. the online calculators are wayyyyyy to big for the amount of critters the recommend. Start off with half of your list that you posted above and see how it goes for a few weeks. Better to have less of a CUC to keep them eating and alive than to have too large of a CUC and have them starve and die.

You're off to a good start. Keep asking questions and try and get pictures of that critter you are questioning. Might be aptasia which is a nuisance pest. Try looking up Aptasia online and see if it compares to what you are seeing. If it is Aptasia, try and rid your tank of it ASAP