Nano reef - Helpful tips?

[Islandfisher]

Hello everyone I have a question. I'm new to saltwater and thinking about doing a nano reef aquarium. I've seen a few and think their unique and beautiful. Any helpful tips on them. I have a 12 I was planning on using for it but I can go bigger if I need. Any help and hints is greatly appreciated!

[Darbex]

Bigger is always better. Makes keeping the parameters stable. Check out some of the tank threads in the SW section.

[cichlid1409]

bigger is always better, but a 12g tank is big enough. use plenty of live rock to assist with filtration, keep your fish stock low and water change weekly and you should be good.

[snookfish]

1) no more than 2 fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No matter how small they are!!!!!!!! 2) get either a sump or better yet a hang on refugium that you can put macroalgae in. the refugium does 2 things a. it increases water capacity and b. with macroalgae you can probably go skimmerless. and as a bonus, thats the best place to do freshwater top offs. I've had several nano's and they are alot of fun and far less expensive than a full size reef tank. 3) go ahead and get enough lighting to keep soft corals. if you start with zoos, kenya tree, mushrooms and xenia you can have a very cool tank with corals that are very forgiving. 4) do weekly water changes!!! in a small system all the micronutrients get used up quickly and phosphate can build up even faster, the good news is that a good water change for a 12 gallon is 3-5 gallons, so thats supper easy. 5) finally get a full 10-15 pounds of liverock. this will help you scape easily and it's cheap if you buy some used here or on MARSH.

[Islandfisher]

Marsh? Thanks for the advice!! I'm cleaning up the tank tonight and going to add live rock this weekend. What about invertebrates like crab or shrimp? How do they do? What about starfish? I hear their hard to take care of but I've seen them in a nano reef before. Once again thank you all for the advice!

[soymilk]

https://www.marshreef.com

Another good site is www.nano-reef.com



Nice. But resist the temptation to stock your tank before it finishes cycling. What are you planning on keeping?

[Islandfisher]

All right thanks for the sites. How long do I need to let it cycle? I let my freshwater ones cycle for 3 weeks what about saltwater? Actually just coral and maybe some shrimp and an emerald crab. I was looking at captive bred seahorses but I rather wait till I get more experience even though they will take the flake food and don't need room.

[soymilk]

Idealy you wanna let it cycle until it reads 0 ammonia 0 nitrites. But if you get good established live rock from a tank that's already set up, you could reduce the cycle to a week or a few days.

You prob don't wanna do seahorses right off the bat like that. Certain corals could sting them, they are messy eaters and require slow flow. Read up on what type of corals you wanna keep.

The probably biggest problem you're going to have in a small tank is consistency. Keeping salinity levels correct. Dealing with nitrate and phosphate removal. The less fish you have the less problems you'll have with excess nutrients in the water. What kinda light are you planning on using? Lighting will dictate what kind corals you'll be able to keep.



My last tank cycled in about a week.

[Islandfisher]

All right and yeah thats what i had heard about sea horses. I was thinking of Kenya tree and maybe zoos. Its a built in light its a 27w Dual Daylight. Starfish how difficult are they?

[soymilk]

I think most starfish should only be kept in larger well established systems so they can find enough food. Some will eat corals, all are very sensitive to water conditions. So I'd probably hold off on starfishes.

I'm not sure about your light. It's the wrong spectrum light first of all and it might not be strong enough. Is this the eclipse 12gallon?

[Islandfisher]

You are correct it is. I have a 20 gallon as well i could use instead of the 12. what type of light would i need?

[soymilk]

I think in the long run the 20gallon will be easier to take care of.

My suggestion would be to sit down and read some beginner forums. So you can get an idea of what you wanna keep, and also helps you plan. I'd hate to suggest a light, and then you wanna try some other corals and have to upgrade and spend more money. So plan first and buy once. There's one guy on marsh that's selling a 24gallon cube system for 150, livestock and liverock. Everything.

[Islandfisher]

Thank you. I'm still thinking and deciding. Thank you for the help!

[black_knight]

All right thanks for the sites. How long do I need to let it cycle? I let my freshwater ones cycle for 3 weeks what about saltwater? Actually just coral and maybe some shrimp and an emerald crab. I was looking at captive bred seahorses but I rather wait till I get more experience even though they will take the flake food and don't need room.

Except for dwarf seahorses, most of them are gonna need at least 30 gallons. They usually need 2-3x day feedings (they don't store nutrients well, like other fish, and quickly starve). The feedings will tax the bio-load of a small tank. Dwarf seahorses may be harmed by various corals, and you will need to hatch brine shrimp every 2-3 days to feed them. They will not eat frozen foods. Tanks will foul up, due to the feeding density you must have for food and dwarf seahorses. Other seahorses if captive bred will take frozen enriched foods (not flaked), such a PE or Hakari Mysis. Again, tough on the bioload. Other than feeding, seahorses are tough little boogers as a whole. Seahorse.org is a great site to learn about them.

[snookfish]

Your probably going to have to get the correct light. 27 watts doesn't sound like enough, unless it's an LED. Stick with shrimp or crabs. stay away from the harlequin shrimp as they require a steady diet of starfish. But almost all of the other ornamentals are scavengers and will eat any fishfood you give them. just be sure of compatability issues becasue in saltwater, it's a eat or be eaten, territorial day to day exsistance and you can drop $20 on a shrimp or fish and have another one eat it by the first night.

as far as cycling, if you get the typical uncured LR from the store then it's going to take a month to cycle (approx). if you buy someones LR from Marsh or here then you can cut that down into days. especially if you buy some live sand along with it.