Khuligirl93
Aquarium Advice Addict
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2013
- Messages
- 1,945
Hey everyone, I know there's a lot of threads about this out there, but I'm hoping my prior knowledge and research can allow us to skip the cycling/ stocking talk and get to the good stuff I have been keeping freshwater planted tanks for about 7 years, and have recently become captivated by the personality and color of SW fish, inverts, and corals after getting a job at a local specialty aquarium shop.
My plan is to set up a 10g nano reef, and from what I have read, the necessary equipment is as follows:
-AC70
-2 koralia 240 power heads
-heater (already have)
-light (Tao panel): Evergrow Dimmable Full Spectrum D120 120W LED Light for Reef Saltwater Aquarium | eBay
-live aragonite sand (~2" deep)
-live rock (~2lbs for every gallon?) mostly base rock with a small amount of live.
-Ca, Alk, and Magnesium text kits (already have phosphate).
So my questions are:
1) Even though I've read that this is optimum filtration, I'm envisioning fish being unable to swim, and frags toppling over because the current is so strong. Will this be an issue?
2) At my work, I frequently clean out the SW protein skimmer cups. I'm not knowledgeable about how they function and what exactly they remove from the water (but it smells like dirt, like good nitrifying bacteria does) so would emptying the nasty contents into a bag to dump into my filter media be a good way to seed my filter? I wouldn't really be comfortable with asking to take apart the sumps and squeeze out the media, but I'm sure I can also get a scoop of sand and a small piece of live rock no problem.
3) will the light be too strong? I like the idea of it being able to support anything I'd want to grow, but I'm also not knowledgeable about the potential problems that could arise from too much light. Is it similar to freshwater in that with high lighting, having a balance between light, carbon and nutrients is essential to not having an algae explosion? If it is too much, is there a light with a similar appearance and lower price that would be more fitting?
Thanks for all your help in advance I'm excited to dive over into the salty side!
Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
My plan is to set up a 10g nano reef, and from what I have read, the necessary equipment is as follows:
-AC70
-2 koralia 240 power heads
-heater (already have)
-light (Tao panel): Evergrow Dimmable Full Spectrum D120 120W LED Light for Reef Saltwater Aquarium | eBay
-live aragonite sand (~2" deep)
-live rock (~2lbs for every gallon?) mostly base rock with a small amount of live.
-Ca, Alk, and Magnesium text kits (already have phosphate).
So my questions are:
1) Even though I've read that this is optimum filtration, I'm envisioning fish being unable to swim, and frags toppling over because the current is so strong. Will this be an issue?
2) At my work, I frequently clean out the SW protein skimmer cups. I'm not knowledgeable about how they function and what exactly they remove from the water (but it smells like dirt, like good nitrifying bacteria does) so would emptying the nasty contents into a bag to dump into my filter media be a good way to seed my filter? I wouldn't really be comfortable with asking to take apart the sumps and squeeze out the media, but I'm sure I can also get a scoop of sand and a small piece of live rock no problem.
3) will the light be too strong? I like the idea of it being able to support anything I'd want to grow, but I'm also not knowledgeable about the potential problems that could arise from too much light. Is it similar to freshwater in that with high lighting, having a balance between light, carbon and nutrients is essential to not having an algae explosion? If it is too much, is there a light with a similar appearance and lower price that would be more fitting?
Thanks for all your help in advance I'm excited to dive over into the salty side!
Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice