Hi from a newbie, planning my nano

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nemo-nano

New Member
Hi,

I am a brand new member to the forum. I have viewed it briefly over
the last few days, and it looks really good, and I hope I can benefit
from all your knowledge/experience, and then maybe one day I can
help others in the same way.

Anyway, my history, I have kept aquariums for about 16 years now,
mainly coldwater, but have kept tropicals.
My main interest/knowledge is Koi Carp.

I have kept a marine tank before, although it was a brief encounter,
about 4 months, and then I moved house and had to close it. On the
whole, it did OK, but I am no expert in this field, infact I'm not even
an amateur, I'm a total novice.


I have a small alcove in my living room, which I am going to put a nano
in. My space is very restricted, so I have had to order a custom made
tank to fit in to it.

It will be 22.5 inch length, 21 inch in height(water level about 19 inch),
and the depth will be..... only 9 inch.

It will probably hold around 60 litres/around 13 UK gallons.
I will be fitting a Juwel filter and power head in it(600l/ph).

I have had conflicting advice about using any sort of filter media
in the filter OR NOT???? (help???)

I plan to use a sand bed, and a good stock of Live Rock.
I have bought a T5 light canopy, with 2 x 24 watt bulbs.

My 'long term' intention is to have 2 clownfish, and maybe one other
small fish, some shrimps, and a couple of corals/anemones.

I will carry out weekly water changes.

SORRY, I know I have gone on a bit!!!
ANY ADVICE or instruction with my plans would be greatly appreciated,
re what stage to add live rock, fish, corals, anemones, etc.

Thank you, and I look forward to any replies, if anyone actually
reads this post to the end!!!

I should have the tank by the end of the week, and I will try and
post a series of pics., to follow my progress with my new 'nano'.

Thanks :stonight
 
F

funkngroovy

New Member
Sound like this tank is well planned.

here is some reading you might be interested in.

http://www.ronshimek.com/deep_sand_beds.html

www.asira.org

You may also want to search for articles on keeping anemones in aquariums.

They can thrive, but the long term success rate is poor and they should only be added to a very established tank.

You are probably familiar with the nitrate cylce, you could do a search on that if you have not already.

The t5's are a great choice for that tank. I think you will have success if you take is slow and be patient.

Look forward to some more posts.

PS. you may also want to start a thread in the nano forum topic and then you can track your tank from the start.

Welcome to nanotank.com
 
N

nemo-nano

New Member
Geoff,

Thanks for the quick reply, and the welcome to the forum. :)

I do hope my planning pays off, time will tell.

Today I was advised that I should wait 'at least' 9 months,
before adding any anemones, so your advice sounds similar
to this.

( I 'WILL' read the links you have posted soon, just
not got the time tonight, I am sure that they will be very
helpful, thank you)

As you have said, I am aware of the nitrate cycle, but I am
perhaps not aware of the time scales involved in the marine
systems. From what I can remember, it will take about 4 weeks
from the Live rock being introduced. Obviously, I will be careful,
and test the water before I move on to the next stage.

Can you add any corals earlier than anemones???

Once again, thanks for the quick reply and advice :)
 
F

funkngroovy

New Member
You can certainly add corals before anemones.

You can start putting some corals in there as soon as the cycle is complete.

I have only learnt from my mistakes and lots of reading after the mistakes, but if I was going to start again, I would run my first lot of live rock and sand for 3 weeks with small water changes daily 5%, add some Clean up Crew after 3 weeks and let them do their work for another 3 weeks before adding a fish IF the cycle looks complete.

You can feed you system lightly during this time to assist the stocking of de-nitrifying bacteria.

I would have also left much more room for corals, ie, I bought too much live rock at the start and then couldn't fit corals in easily.

This is only my opionion and you should do your own research as well
 
N

nemo-nano

New Member
Thanks Geoff,

ALL advice is greatly appreciated.

I have had a brief look at the first of the links you provided,
basically, I think it is suggesting to have a fairly deep sand bed,
but then to mkae sure you do not disturb too much, as there
can be toxins at the lower levels.

Sorry if I am wrong, I have had a lot on today, and I will try and
have a more in depth look in the next few days. I promise you, it
is NOT a lack of interest.

How much Live Rock do you think I will need for around 50-60 litres
of water????

Thanks again,
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
:welcome to Nanotank.com!

Seems Geoff has you off to a great start! My thoughts though are for 50-60 liters I don't think I would any more than just the two clowns. (Mine were pigs and I don't know if the tank will handle the third fish in the beginning) Once your tank is more established you could probably add another later on.

Deep sand beds have their benefits but in a tank that shallow you may lose quite a bit as a deep sand bed is normally 6 inches deep.

For that much water I'd say 5-6 kg should do just fine.
 
N

nemo-nano

New Member
Tim,

thanks for the welcome mate, and yes Geoff has already
been offering some valued advice.

I was thinking of a sand bed around 2 to 3 inches.
I think I will start with 5kg of Live Rock. Geoff made a good point
about leaving some space in there, for other things, and also to
give the fish some space.

I was thinking I would need to wait a while before adding a 3rd fish.
That being said, I am planning to buy very young/small Clownfish.

Next question - I have been given conflicting advice by local
aquatic shops.
One of them said, use purely powerheads and Live Rock, and
occasionally run a small filter with carbon in it for 24 hours,
but he said do not use any mechanical filtration for such a small tank.
The next one said, to use a mechanical filter, preferably an external
filter, with mechanical and biological media.

I have a Juwel internal filter, I do not know if you know of these
aquarium systems or not. They are the closest thing to an external filter,
but with it still being an internal filter, if that makes sense :roll:

Anyway, as usual, I have gone on and on, but I would really appreciate
any advice on the points I have spoken about above.

Thanks again for your advice :)
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
The power head and rock approach is a more *pure* approach and works just fine. Less things to clean and maintain. Mechanical filtration is pretty common in tanks to help clean up excess detritus in the water column. The thing we have to watch out for is when all that detritus is in the mechanical filtration it can start to decay and foul up the water pretty quickly. I have a sponge as a mechanical filter in most of my tanks at some point in time even if it's just for a day or so to *scrub* the water clean. If I have a sponge I clean or swap it out every 3 or 4 days.

Something I'm sure you've seen is there are more ways to keep fish and we all think our way is the best. Take the advice and go with works for you. Most of the time we are all right, it's just for our particular situations what we do works best for us. (until something goes wrong :shock: )
 
N

nemo-nano

New Member
Tim,

Thanks, I will probably just put a sponge in for 1 day, now and again,
and otherwise I will just use the power head and rock approach.

Unfortunately, there has been a delay in getting the tank made. :sad:
I had hoped to have collected it yesterday, but it looks like it
will be another 2 or 3 days yet.

But patience seems to be the best approach to this hobby ;-)

Andy
 
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