Hi I just got the 12 gallon Nano cube for christmas. I went to my local salt store and they helped me out on setting the tank up. They started me out with some live sand and cured live rock. They also sold me Bio-Spira Marine to put one packet in the saltwater I bought from them which they mix with RO water. They told me to run the tank for 3 days and come back with a water sample. I did that went back my pH was low and they sent me home with some buffer. I added the buffer and went back later that night and my water was great no nitrates,nitrites or ammonia. They sold me a chromis and he has been in there since saturday. I have been testing my water and I still have no measurment of nitrates, nitrites, or ammonia. I hav notice that my rock in getting what I think everyone says is Diatoms. Brown all over my rock I know that comes from silica but should I get a clean up crew in there. Soon what do you think Thanks for your time.
12 gallon nano cube deluxe
- Thread starter Chas19
- Start date
Samman, crushed coral can cause nitrate issues later on, keep an eye out.
Chas, I would say you moved rather quickly from setup to fish. It might work out, it might not. It depends on how long the rock had been curing at the LFS. Mine cures the rock for weeks b4 selling it and I live close by, so not much die-off in transport. However, if they didn't cure it long and/or you live a ways away (ie. 15 min. plus drive) you might get significant die-off and/or ammonia.
Just test daily and be ready to bucket the fish in an emergency. I would keep a bucket of fresh SW going with a powerhead for a while.
Chas, I would say you moved rather quickly from setup to fish. It might work out, it might not. It depends on how long the rock had been curing at the LFS. Mine cures the rock for weeks b4 selling it and I live close by, so not much die-off in transport. However, if they didn't cure it long and/or you live a ways away (ie. 15 min. plus drive) you might get significant die-off and/or ammonia.
Just test daily and be ready to bucket the fish in an emergency. I would keep a bucket of fresh SW going with a powerhead for a while.
Nano93 wrote...
Why did they sell you a fish within a week of setting up your tank
? Big mistake on there and your behalf. I will be surprised if it stays alive...
That seems to be a common theme these days. Add a magic potion of one brand or another and poof! Instant tank cycle...so they claim. Some aspiring reefers get away with it narrowly escaping disaster, but often time results in 911 help threads later more times than not. Its amazing how many LFS push this stuff and then 3-5 days later sell you fish and corals. Just check out www.Nano-Reef.com, there are tons of threads in the beginner section show casing tanks that cycled in less than a week.
Luckily that Chromis is about as bullet proof as they come and most likely will survive the snafu none the less for wear. In a tank this small its still a bit of a roll of the dice!
Chas19, do yourself a favor...don't add any more fish or corals to that tank for about 4 weeks. Since said fish is already in the tank I would suggest testing the water frequently until the tank has been up and running for a good 4 weeks. Despite what the LFS may have told you there is no magic potion that is a substitute for cycling a tank. It may indeed help get the ball rolling and even shorten the cycle by a few days or so but rest assured that Mother Nature doesn't work in days when it comes to a reef tank. The Live Rock if it indeed was fully cured (I worked in a LFS for a while and help set one up and I can assure you that often times that so called "fully cured" live rock is most likely only partially cured) and the Live Sand was a great move on your part. This will go far in minimizing the severity of water parameter swings when cycling. While you waiting for the next 3 or so weeks to elapse, and while testing the water frequently, I would keep a 5 gallon bucket of already mixed water on hand for "emergency water changes" should your water parameters slip or take a dive on you, so that you can instantly do a water change and minimize the effects so as not to have a possible "tank crash". That was excellent advice that was provided by davenia7, that spare bucket of water has saved me more than a couple of times! I would also suggest not adding any live stock until your water has stabilized and the chance of a Ph, Alk, Ammonia, Nitrite or Nitrate swing is minimal. A stable tank is a happy tank which equals a happy Reefer.
This is a great hobby thats really cool to get into. Its also one that will require that you do some research on. Yeah its not as fun as messing around with the tank but you will learn an awful lot about the hobby and make fewer mistakes and most likely end up with a jaw dropping tank in 12 months or so. This is not a hobby thats conducive to impulse purchases or rapid changes. That being said type www.garf.org into your search engine and check out "Algae Central in the left hand menu. Once you click on it a drop down sub-menu will appear. Click on Reef Janitors. There you will find the answer to your question on the Diatom algae bloom you are possibly having. Scroll down a bit as you read and I bet the bank you will learn some other vital things about your tank too and avoid most of the problems many new reefers often experience. In this hobby a ounce of prevention is way easier than a ton of cure!!! Its not a hard hobby but it is an unforgiving one.
Ill leave you with one other piece of advice...take very little advice your given for face value without first researching and confirming it to be true or a fact. This is doubly so with LFS staff. LFS's are in the business to make money. As such most have their bottom line in mind more than your best interest. This is not the case with all LFS's as some do have a morale compass and some do have great and knowledgable staff, but this isn't always the case. I spent over a year helping Nathan Schumer set up Under The Sea in Mt Vernon Washington and make it profitable. We lost a lot of potential sales because we refused to sell a product a customer wanted. If we knew the customer had just set up a tank and wanted to buy fish a week later we wouldn't sell to them. We wouldn't sell a 6 inch Clown Trigger to a customer that we knew for a fact only had a 20 gallon tank. Not many LFS's have that high a level of ethics.
BTW...Welcome to the hobby and the forum!!!
Why did they sell you a fish within a week of setting up your tank
? Big mistake on there and your behalf. I will be surprised if it stays alive...
That seems to be a common theme these days. Add a magic potion of one brand or another and poof! Instant tank cycle...so they claim. Some aspiring reefers get away with it narrowly escaping disaster, but often time results in 911 help threads later more times than not. Its amazing how many LFS push this stuff and then 3-5 days later sell you fish and corals. Just check out www.Nano-Reef.com, there are tons of threads in the beginner section show casing tanks that cycled in less than a week.
Luckily that Chromis is about as bullet proof as they come and most likely will survive the snafu none the less for wear. In a tank this small its still a bit of a roll of the dice!
Chas19, do yourself a favor...don't add any more fish or corals to that tank for about 4 weeks. Since said fish is already in the tank I would suggest testing the water frequently until the tank has been up and running for a good 4 weeks. Despite what the LFS may have told you there is no magic potion that is a substitute for cycling a tank. It may indeed help get the ball rolling and even shorten the cycle by a few days or so but rest assured that Mother Nature doesn't work in days when it comes to a reef tank. The Live Rock if it indeed was fully cured (I worked in a LFS for a while and help set one up and I can assure you that often times that so called "fully cured" live rock is most likely only partially cured) and the Live Sand was a great move on your part. This will go far in minimizing the severity of water parameter swings when cycling. While you waiting for the next 3 or so weeks to elapse, and while testing the water frequently, I would keep a 5 gallon bucket of already mixed water on hand for "emergency water changes" should your water parameters slip or take a dive on you, so that you can instantly do a water change and minimize the effects so as not to have a possible "tank crash". That was excellent advice that was provided by davenia7, that spare bucket of water has saved me more than a couple of times! I would also suggest not adding any live stock until your water has stabilized and the chance of a Ph, Alk, Ammonia, Nitrite or Nitrate swing is minimal. A stable tank is a happy tank which equals a happy Reefer.
This is a great hobby thats really cool to get into. Its also one that will require that you do some research on. Yeah its not as fun as messing around with the tank but you will learn an awful lot about the hobby and make fewer mistakes and most likely end up with a jaw dropping tank in 12 months or so. This is not a hobby thats conducive to impulse purchases or rapid changes. That being said type www.garf.org into your search engine and check out "Algae Central in the left hand menu. Once you click on it a drop down sub-menu will appear. Click on Reef Janitors. There you will find the answer to your question on the Diatom algae bloom you are possibly having. Scroll down a bit as you read and I bet the bank you will learn some other vital things about your tank too and avoid most of the problems many new reefers often experience. In this hobby a ounce of prevention is way easier than a ton of cure!!! Its not a hard hobby but it is an unforgiving one.
Ill leave you with one other piece of advice...take very little advice your given for face value without first researching and confirming it to be true or a fact. This is doubly so with LFS staff. LFS's are in the business to make money. As such most have their bottom line in mind more than your best interest. This is not the case with all LFS's as some do have a morale compass and some do have great and knowledgable staff, but this isn't always the case. I spent over a year helping Nathan Schumer set up Under The Sea in Mt Vernon Washington and make it profitable. We lost a lot of potential sales because we refused to sell a product a customer wanted. If we knew the customer had just set up a tank and wanted to buy fish a week later we wouldn't sell to them. We wouldn't sell a 6 inch Clown Trigger to a customer that we knew for a fact only had a 20 gallon tank. Not many LFS's have that high a level of ethics.
BTW...Welcome to the hobby and the forum!!!