First nano tank.

[ahoDMV]

here is a link to how mine is going..

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f101/newbie-jbj-12-gallon-nano-build-210293.html

 

[Audiew]

So I just received my API test kit and here are the readings.

Temp 80
Ammonia- .50 ppm
Nitrite- 1.0 ppm
Nitrate-20 ppm
Salinity was at about 1.29 and I'm working on bringing it down at the moment.

Any comments??

 

[22engine]

So I just received my API test kit and here are the readings.

Temp 80
Ammonia- .50 ppm
Nitrite- 1.0 ppm
Nitrate-20 ppm
Salinity was at about 1.29 and I'm working on bringing it down at the moment.

Any comments??

Getting there with the cycle. Def wanna get that salinity down. But it's looking good

 

[Audiew]

Yea I took a little over a gallon out a few hours ago and put some new in. Figure I will check it before I hit the hay.

 

[Audiew]

I checked it before I left at this morning and it is setting at 1.025 so everything seems to be going good

 

[22engine]

I checked it before I left at this morning and it is setting at 1.025 so everything seems to be going good

Nice. Did u check it right after u mixed it and put it in the tank. Maybe some hadn't completely dissolved yet so it read higher.

 

[Audiew]

When I had first mixed it and put it in I didn't have a refractometer and the hydrometer I bought was junk so just had to wait for it to come in but all is good now. I'm having quite a bit of evaporation though and it has to be from the pump do as soon as I get back I'm buying a mp1200

 

[Audiew]

Here is a picture with the moonlights finally. I'm really surprised how well they work

 

[Bettafanatic]

Interesting thread, and those are some nice moonlights. Did you pick any fish or corals yet?

 

[Audiew]

Yes I have! Although as eager as I am to get them I know I shouldn't haha.

2 clowns
1 goby , probably a clown goby.
Although I haven't put a whole lot of thought into a CUC I will probably go with a pistol shrimp and various snails.
For coral I will probably go with ricordea mushrooms and various types of zoa's. Since it is my first saltwater tank I want to keep it simple and not overload it! Thanks for following along btw!

 

[Bettafanatic]

Sounds good. What type of clowns and what type of goby do you plan? You can probably fit another fish or two in there, five being the absolute maximum.

For inverts, may I recommend getting a couple of scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp? They are my favorite creatures in my own tank, I adore them. They will help improve the cleanliness of your tank and fish also. You could probably also have some nassarius snails for sand sifting, turbo snails for algae, some other types of shrimp, hermit crabs, whatever you want, really.

Corals sound good. If memory serves, you're getting LED lighting so you can have anything you want. SPS aren't very good beginner corals. You can look around for some other softies and maybe a few LPS. The more variety of corals you have, the more colorful and diverse reef you'll have.

 

[Audiew]

For clowns I'm going with ocellaris because orange is my favorite color! I really like the green or orange clown goby's so one of those. For now I will stick with those but may add a small fish in the future. That CUC sounds good! I'm just waiting on the Cycle to finish and then the first diatom bloom. I have the HQI version of the biocube so I am going to stick with it. It has a 14k lightbulb so I will just work around that.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Awesome. I love ocellaris clowns! They're my favorite type of clownfish. Clown gobies are nice fish too, I'm getting a yellow one soon. Did you pick what zoanthids you want to get? I've always loved button polyps. They are good beginner corals.

 

[Audiew]

No I sure haven't. I know a lot of people like the eagle eye. However I seen some on one website that were a real bright yellow with black in the middle that looked really cool. Have any advice on wether to add fish or coral first? I see a lot of people say fish because you can get that out of the way with upping the bioload on the tank.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Definitely fish first. Corals need established tanks to thrive. Only add softies after 1-3 months and LPS after 5-7 months. However, by then you'll already have done some good fish and invert stocking.

 

[Ibrahim]

Definitely fish first. Corals need established tanks to thrive. Only add softies after 1-3 months and LPS after 5-7 months. However, by then you'll already have done some good fish and invert stocking.

You could add LPS within the first month. It's SPS you need to wait a few months for I'd say add a fish then coral then fish then coral and so forth.

 

[Bettafanatic]

You could add LPS within the first month. It's SPS you need to wait a few months for

Oh I'm probably getting them mixed up. Curse my terrible memory!

 

[Ibrahim]

Oh I'm probably getting them mixed up. Curse my terrible memory!

It's np. It happens!

 

[Bettafanatic]

Anyways, this is how I'd slowly add my stock:
Add crabs and snails first. After three weeks, add the first type of shrimp you want. After three weeks, add the second type of shrimp and so on until you have all your shrimp. After another three weeks, add any other inverts you want in the same kind of three week intervals. After another three weeks after invert stocking is complete, add the goby. After another three weeks, add the clowns. I'd start adding corals when you add your second shrimp species. I don't know what your set list of inverts are, so the schedule may not be totally accurate to you personally, but I'm sure you get what I'm saying.

 

[Audiew]

Anyways, this is how I'd slowly add my stock:
Add crabs and snails first. After three weeks, add the first type of shrimp you want. After three weeks, add the second type of shrimp and so on until you have all your shrimp. After another three weeks, add any other inverts you want in the same kind of three week intervals. After another three weeks after invert stocking is complete, add the goby. After another three weeks, add the clowns. I'd start adding corals when you add your second shrimp species. I don't know what your set list of inverts are, so the schedule may not be totally accurate to you personally, but I'm sure you get what I'm saying.

How many shrimp would you suggest for a 29? One or two?