7.5g 1st Nano Reef Build!

[mjzuverink]

Well I bought this equipment about a year ago, time to use it! This will be my first saltwater aquarium. I want to do a reef style, starting with only (softies) and most likely a pair of clowns, which I have not decided on (please recommend

). I wont be using any mechanical filtration so I will only have a koralia for water movement.

tank: 7.5 gallon rimless cube from Mr. Aqua, 12"x12"x12"
pump: Koralia Nano, 240gph
Heater: 25w
lighting: ecoxotic ecopico LED arm light 12,000K white x6 and 453nm blue x3 (http://www.ecoxotic.com/led-arm-light.html)

Rock: 7lbs of dry live rock rubble from Bulk Reef Supply
Sand: CaribSea Arag-Alive, Figi pink

Any thoughts or recommendation are appreciated, I will update with pictures when I begin setting up this week

!

 

[mjzuverink]

[attachment=63453:name]
wet test.
[attachment=63454:name]
Dry rock. the plan is to build a rock formation with acrylic rods
[attachment=63455:name]

 

[Dbarnes]

Re: 7.5g 1st Nano Reef Build!

That wet test pic looks really sckethy on that table!! Its cheaper to use fiber glass rods from hd... they are around .50 cents for a 48" rod. Looks good though!

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[Bajamike]

I would recomend a hang on the back filter (HOB). But thats just me. Even the 1.5 gallon tank at elite reef has a HOB. But I have been eyeballing those tanks too nice tank

 

[jahmic]

I would recomend a hang on the back filter (HOB). But thats just me. Even the 1.5 gallon tank at elite reef has a HOB. But I have been eyeballing those tanks too nice tank

+1...even a little aquaclear 20 will help collect sediment and detritus floating around in the water column without being too obstructive.

Great little tank, following along.

 

[mjzuverink]

Thanks for the responses. The reason I am trying to stay away from the hob filter is that with such a small tank I'm doing my best not to clutter it up with equipment. I think I'll see how things go without one and add it if necessary. My only plan for mechanical filtration is hanging poly-filter pads into the tank for a few hours twice a week. This was recommended to me by a friend in MI who has a similar setup and it has done wonders for him as far as clearing up the tank. thank you for the recommendations though I will definitely keep it in mind, and I may pick one up today just to have it on hand. more pictures to come on the rock structure!

 

[kmellon]

You can also turn an AC70 in to a mini-fuge.

 

[mjzuverink]

here are some quick pics of the dry rock structure so far
[attachment=63458:name]
I'm trying to go for a "bonsai tree" sort of look.

 

[Bajamike]

Thats cool!

 

[mjzuverink]

[attachment=63462:name]
Making sure it fits in the tank!

 

[mjzuverink]

Set the tank up today! its very cloudy right now so not too appealing but I'm excited. I went to Great White Aquatics in Foco for pre-mixed salt water and RO. They were also willing to give me about a cup of live sand from an established tank. I also got a few quarter- golf ball size pieces of cultured live rock from D&G to help seed my dry rock. Sadly, once i got home I threw about half the rock out because of aptasia. Parameters about two hours after setting up:
pH- 8.1
Specific Gravity- 1.024
Ammonia- .25ppm
Nitrites- 0.0ppm
Nitrates- 0.00ppm
Temp- 75 F
I'd like it to be at ~78-79 while cycling but my current heater seems to not want keep up right now, so I may have to get a new one. Now the waiting begins, time for livestock planning. I would love to hear some ideas.
[attachment=63520:name]

 

[MartinsReef]

Re: 7.5g 1st Nano Reef Build!

That a cool little tank!

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[Cake_Boss]

Re: 7.5g 1st Nano Reef Build!

Sweet, keep the updates rolling

 

[Suzanne Lynn]

wow that's going to look great!!!!!! *Drool*

 

[mjzuverink]

levels today:
pH-8.0
ammonia-2.0ppm
nitrites-1.0ppm
Nitrates-0.0ppm
SG-1.0255
Salinity-34

Here are some pictures of the tank clearing up the last two days. I'm loving how it is looking better every day
[attachment=63552:name]

 

[mjzuverink]

Hey all, I have some "newbie" questions about cycling. I have been trying to research whether or not to have a normal light cycle while cycling the tank, and I have been getting mixed answers. some say leave them completely off during cycle so you don't get a large algae bloom without your clean up crew. But, I also read to keep a normal light cycle to promote coralline growth on the rocks. I don't have much coralline so I do want to promote that asap, but don't want huge diatoms and algae blooms, so I'd love to hear some opinions. currently I have the lights on for 3-4 hrs a day just because I like to see the tank with lights:emmersed:. The second question I have trouble finding answers for is water changes while cycling. do you do them or not? I can understand why you wouldn't, because you want the tank to be able to handle a large ammonia and nitrite spike, but i'm also reading that you can kill of your rock if you get too high of spikes in your cycle. so again, I would love to hear your opinions!

 

[Walkpraz]

IMO I would keep a normal light cycle, I would be surprised if doing this would creat very large diatom blooms. After all Diatoms are a totally natural occurance and are a sign of maturity within your tank. In addition they disappear on their own. On water changes I would say unless your ammonia is extremely high to just wait until you are fully cycled.

 

[bubbarockies]

IMO I would keep a normal light cycle, I would be surprised if doing this would creat very large diatom blooms. After all Diatoms are a totally natural occurance and are a sign of maturity within your tank. In addition they disappear on their own. On water changes I would say unless your ammonia is extremely high to just wait until you are fully cycled.

+1

 

[mjzuverink]

thanks for the input! I have bumped my lights to 8 hrs a day, and this is were I am at in the cycle

pH-8.0
Ammonia-1.5ppm
Nitrites-5.0ppm
Nitrates-0.0ppm
SG-1.024
Salinity-32
Had a big spike in nitrites today, last night they were still at 1.0 and tonight they are 5.0ppm. ammonia has dropped from 3.0ppm yesterday to 1.5ppm tonight.
Another question for everyone, I would like to hear your opinions of ocellaris vs. percula. I think I'm going to decide between those two. Also, for those of you in NOCO, I am heading to greeley this week to have a look at there selection and would love to hear about some great stores I should check out there as I am clueless to what LFS are in greeley

 

[Cake_Boss]

Re: 7.5g 1st Nano Reef Build!

Gonzo (contact him) and Animal Attractions (11th Ave and 25th St, across from Pitchers). Besides Gonzo I'd stay away, but that's just because I feel AA employees have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to salt. They are awesome with reptiles though.

I don't like having light during cycle, I feel it promotes unnecessary algae growth. That said, I loved having the lights on when my first tank was cycling (so I could see my 3 rocks).

As far as w/c or not, that's the question you must answer yourself. Lookup the info and decide what camp you are siding with, both work fine. I did the no w/c, there's R2R that nearly shunned me for telling someone not to change their water.

There's those that add bacterial additives and ammonia to jump start the cycle.

I think as long as you keep the ammonia and nitrites below 5ppm, you won't stall the cycle. Not sure on the 5ppm, maybe it was 4ppm, I'll have to look it up again.