Setup and Cost questions - Introduction as well! (New here)

[Crabbs]

You're right that's a hassle – luckily that's not a great way to mix saltwater anyway.

• Your hand or a mixing paddle will work better than a pump for stirring.
• It only takes about 5 minutes for a bucket to be fully mixed and ready for use.
• I did it that way every day for about 7 months here A Water Change A Day...
• And I made videos to help! (Even one to show the best way to use a pump if you choose to do that.

So that's basically what I'm doing right now for my freshwater tanks. I just stir in minerals for a couple of minutes and it's good to go.

Question - If I WERE to do a 6 gallon, how often would I have to do a water change if it were only a few invertebrates and some live rocks / hardy coral? With the rate water evaporates, would I be able to just add some RO to the tank some days to level it off? Since salt doesn't dissipate as fast as water does..

Any good light suggestions for a long short tank like mine? Something LED and good enough for anemones / budget friendly.

 

[mcarroll]

Since salt doesn't dissipate as fast as water does..

Salt doesn't evaporate at all so pure RODI water is all you're want to use for evaporation top-off. (Common newb mistake is to top off with saltwater....I did it. )

Any good light suggestions for a long short tank like mine?

You can light a short tank with almost anything...probably even normal florescent tubes. So anything you find that will fit the tank AND your budget will be fine. A 50/50 mix of blue and white LED's will be fine too.

Something like a TrueLumen Pro LED Strip would be great...two or more would probably be best, tho one might do it on a tank that short. (I'd ask Current to be sure.)
Click for their PDF.

Or anything similar. Lots of options out there, though I would probably avoid using anything with lenses any stronger than 120º.

If you want a light with a controller that does sunrise/sunset then try out one of their Orbit Marine lights (not IC not Pro) – one will do it.
Orbit Marine LED Product Support has the doc with their PAR levels (unlike the True Lumen docs).....you can see one will do it there.

 

[mcarroll]

When I started out I did no water changes until either alk or nutrients demanded it.

Nutrients never demanded it thanks to the way I run my tank.

But alk did...about bi-weekly or monthly at first....then to weekly....then eventually to smaller daily water changes...until now when the tank has been on the back burner for a few years and I do no water changes again.

I do still auto-feed and auto-dose with Recipe 2 though.

 

[hart24601]

Just a heads up if doing a nano you will at least want an extra heater, doing a 100% waterchange with my basements 68 degree water wouldn't be a good thing!

 

[mcarroll]

Yep...if you're gonna replace all the water, then you're a special case and you have to do what you have to do. (You wanted to be special, right???)

A heater is not a good idea generally as it can/will cause mineral precipitation, reducing your Ca and alk levels.

 

[mcarroll]

@hart24601 BTW, what is reefedition.com?

 

[hart24601]

@hart24601 BTW, what is reefedition.com?

Reef2reef's online magazine. It's where the tank of the month articles are found.

100% w/c are not all that special, in the pico world they are almost a must especially with stony corals. Besides the water is heated with the tank heater and the time in a bucket is 1hr or less so it's not like it's going to drop levels via precipitation much in that time vs being in the tank.

 

[mcarroll]

Reef2reef's online magazine. It's where the tank of the month articles are found.

Interesting! Is it not promoted here on R2R for some reason? I'm here A LOT but I don't think I've ever heard of it. Nothing at the top, I don't remember getting email, etc. Interesting and strange!

100% w/c are not all that special

They're special in the larger context....normal in picos maybe as well as some planted freshwater tanks. Those are abnormal normals on a reef site though.

Not trying to fear monger or anything....I've done huge 50% water changes even on my 100 gallon system without heating the water or taking any special precautions and it only seemed to make everyone in the tank happy. I did two 50% changes on back to back days, BTW. No problem!

 

[Crabbs]

I'm assuming the only reason you'd want to do a full water change is if nitrates get too high. In my planted tanks, I'm used to doing like 25% water changes a week even though I sometimes feel that's not even necessary. I have a lot of plants that feed off the water column and reduce the nitrates on their own.

Just wanted to share a picture of the tank I'm considering breaking down - Only thing in it right now is a Scarlet Badis and a couple of Amano shrimp / Ramshorn snails. The tank looks pretty good, but for some reason it just hasn't gone the way I wanted it to. It seems like my other tanks that I put much less effort turn out better for whatever reason.

I'm going to the LFS today and I'm gonna get some price ideas on live rock and the see what kind of critters they have, invertebrate-wise and go from there. I'd do a bigger tank, but I just don't have the space right now. I'm pushing it with what I have - that and I don't have an RO filter at home. I'm constantly lugging 5 gallon buckets of water home from the store as it is.

 

[mcarroll]

BTW, that light looks pretty good. Consider just adding an all-blue True Lumen strip to that. Not sure if you know, but if that light is already high-kelvin (>10,000K) then if might even be just fine on its own.

 

[Crabbs]

The lights stats..

• 24" Pencil Thin Multi Color LED Fixture
• (27) 7000k + (5) Actinic Blue LEDs + (4) 660nm Red LEDs
• True 660nm RED High CRI Scoring LED Bulbs
• 13 Output Watts
• Tri-color Blend to Promote and Showcase Inhabitants

I think I need a little more so maybe adding another strip like you said would do the trick. This light cost $50 so replacing it would be a bummer since I have nowhere else to use it ATM.

 

[hart24601]

I'm assuming the only reason you'd want to do a full water change is if nitrates get too high.

Pico's are a different beast. If keeping stonys coral in one you want to do a 100% w/c not for nitrates, but to keep calcium, alk, mag and all the other elements in line. It's cheap and fast on Picos. Allows no dosing or testing. Sure it works with nitrates and phosphates too but those are secondary. It's a full chemistry reset every weekend. No need to worry about trace elements or ratios. In my experience it's one of the keys to a Stony coral pico and is what makes them easy. Now keeping soft corals and mushrooms it's not as important.

 

[mcarroll]

This light cost $50 so replacing it would be a bummer since I have nowhere else to use it ATM.

Definitely add to it....one blue strip ought to do it.