Kelton's 28g Nano Cube

[Ftfunnative]

Kelton is my 7month old son and I just got him a tank for his room.....and for daddy! This is my first saltwater tank and I've had it for about four weeks now. I have been video taping along the way and I hope you enjoy them.

I want to make it very clear that I am not an expert, so what i say and do on the videos may be completely wrong. Please dont bash me, but if you got some good suggestions to help me along, I would appreciate that.

My goal is to have a small reef tank with about 4-5 small fish. I have 30lbs of sand about 35lbs of rock. I have a jbj nano Skimmer as well.

My tank cycled in about three weeks. At four weeks I added my cleaning cure and in week five I am going to add my first fish.

Please follow along with me and enjoy.

These pics are week one to week four.

 

[Ftfunnative]

Video's to see the progress.....

 

[Ftfunnative]

The cleaning crew added....

 

[Ftfunnative]

A water changing stand that I built...

Ok, I now know that having an RO system may save you money in the long run after doing some more calculations. It is something I just don't have a desire to do.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions on the stand to help. I already had to shorten the hose by two feet, other than that, it works great.

 

[Qube]

Looks good so far! My only suggestion would be to open up your rock work a little more even if that means you have to remove some pieces. I had a similar setup and a few months into it, I had to re-work it all. I didn't account for the rock that the coral would come on and it wasn't fun being 3 months into it... Totally up to you though. Also, do you have any additional powerheads in the tank other than the stock returns? If not, you may look at adding 1 or 2 to help with the flow so you don't get any dead spots.

Later down the line, if you decide to look into RODI units, check eBay. They have units on there that are around 50 bucks which work great. Tank looks great and looking forward to tagging along!!

 

[Jlsardina]

What fish are you considering stocking? I would think three might be a good number.

 

[Ftfunnative]

I was thinking four....

Thx Qube. Are the extra power heads in addition to the stocked?

Also, do you turn off the power heads when you feed? I know silly question...

 

[Qube]

Yeah, should be in addition to the stock return pumps. Take a look at the Hydor Koralia Nano power heads. They have them in two different sizes, 240gph and 420gph (I believe). I wouldn't waste your time with the 240, as I found the larger one offered more of what I wanted.

 

[Qube]

Sorry for the second post, I don't shut mine, but some people do. It's up to you.

 

[carey]

I also would suggest the koralia 425, I have one in my 29g cube.

I only shut my flow down for feeding cause I have spazzy fish that can't catch the food with the pumps on. LOL But yep, typically you leave the filter and powerhead going for feeding.

 

[Ftfunnative]

Ok, so will add one of those as well.

Did you both cut a hole in the back hood to run the cord out?

 

[Ftfunnative]

Another question, do you ever run both stock powerheads at the same time?

 

[Qube]

Yup, just notch the hood with a pair of snips. I'm not a fan of running both returns at the same time due to heat from the pumps.

 

[Ftfunnative]

Ok Qube, I rearranged the rock like you suggested. I like the way it turned out. Thanks for the suggestion. Let me know what you think.

 

[Qube]

Ok Qube, I rearranged the rock like you suggested. I like the way it turned out. Thanks for the suggestion. Let me know what you think.

Looking good!! The more flow you get blowing through the rocks the better. Keeps stuff from building up and causing nitrate issues down the road.

 

[Jlsardina]

Ok Qube, I rearranged the rock like you suggested. I like the way it turned out. Thanks for the suggestion. Let me know what you think.

Looks great!

 

[Ftfunnative]

This is Kelton! Getting him his first fish this weekend.

 

[Qube]

Congrats!!

 

[Ftfunnative]

Update on the tank:
Week 8 and things are going good. Added a six line and corals. Hammer, frogspawn, acapora, mushrooms, toadstool, Xenia, star burst, and zoas. Cuc is going strong and keeping the algae in check.

I am now doing weekly water changes, 5 gallons. Updated my filter rack with a InTank. It is awesome and works so much better.

Planning on adding a yellow watchman on Friday.

 

[Mr. rY]

How much did it cost u ur frog n hammer i like those kinda corals