Just bought 24Gal Nano Cube..!!

[Jack.pe]

Hey Guys,

Have always loved the ocean and when saw my neighbour's Nano Cube last week and I was absolutely blown away by how good it looked... never thought these kinds of environments could be created at home.. I knew I also had to have one.

Went down to the local shop today and came back with a 24G Nano.
I have added the salt water (from the shop) and 7KG of live rock and am now waiting for the cyle.

My neighbour helped me set it up but predictably I have a few questions..

1. He took out all the standard filter medium that came with the tank and replaced it like this: In the first chamber a special little sock with about 3 teaspoons of Rowa PHOS, under that he put in a net of Sera SIPORAX (little ceramic cilinders). In the second chamber he chucked in some small pieces of live rock. In the third just the heater and pump. Is this ok? the tank came with some nets of carbon, he did not pt those back in, or the bioballs that also came with it, is it worth putting them on top of the live rock in chamber 2?

2. I have some live sand but the shop keeper said not to put it in untill about 2 weeks from when the tank is started, is this right??

3. The live rock has some coralline algae on it, lovely purples, pinks and oranges.. does it die if not on the top of the rock? i.e does it need tobe facing the light to survive and can I encourage it to grow in any way?

4. Was hoping to get a couple of snails and a cleaner shrimp in there straight away but been told better to wait for 3 weeks before putting even these in the tank.. does this sound right?

Not sure what fish or corals to go for yet, will research it and then decide.. I know they are probably a bit common but I love clown fish so one or two of these may feature..would love an anemone as well so the clown can do their thing but understand these are not easy to keep..

Any imput greatly appreciated!

 

[drty811]

welcome to nanotank

1. youll want to pull the ceramic rings out and replace the carbon. IMO i just run LR rubble in the two chambers and carbon in with your heater and pump. i have been running this way for years and have had very good success. other ppl run it differently, no right or wrong way.

2.you can put the sand in now, the sooner the better.

3.the coralline will grow on top of the rock, where the light hits it. setting up your rock work is key. make sure it is stable so pieces dont fall down. the algae will grow back soon enough.

4. correct

research and patience is your best friend in this hobby. good luck and happy reefing

 

[Jack.pe]

Thanks Erik, can you jsut elaborate a little on point 1? There is currently no carbon in my tank it was all taken out and are you saying I should remove all the ceramic cylinders and replace them just with live rock?

Cheers... Jack

 

[drty811]

the ceramic rings will cause nitrate blooms, so most reefers take them out. sorry i meant to say put the carbon back in and replace it every month or so. carbon will pull out most toxins that corals release and it will keep your water clear and smelling clean. the ROWA PHOS will be fine for now but i would take it out at the end of the cycle but dont use it unless you have algae problems. regular tank maintence and water changes will keep algaes from over growing in your tank.

 

[djconn]

Welcome to the site Jack. You are going to love your NC.

You are doing everything right. Patience is the key with new tanks. Do not rush it. :mrgreen:

 

[Nippy]

Message to Jack

Hey Jack, You have already got lots of good advice on here. my tips to you: make sure you sort your rock out before adding the sand, gets a bit tricky otherwise. I have same tank and in the back left i have the heater, polyfilter (looks like sponge -i use this to help remove toxins, ammonia etc) and floss, middle one some live rock, end one just has the pump. Its been going over a year like this and no probs at all.

Good idea to test your water from early on to keep an eye on ammonia, nitrite, etc so that you can see the changes as the tank cycles, i learnt a lot about water and water quality from doing this, and kept all the readings noted down.

Lastly get a big magnifying glass! You will have goggle eyes looking in the tank at everything in the next few weeks, i found this really entertaining watching the bugs that appeared, tiny crabs and tiny shrimps, and things growing on the rocks. I even had a strippy snail and a small round one (which is now over 1 inch across), so you may already have snails in there. Its kind of scary looking at all the bugs all magnified, but real fun.
Even better is to get a little torch and look at whats out after dark!
I probably sound real sad!!

Your going to have a great time! Enjoy!

 

[djconn]

I like the magnifying glass idea!