Thinking about starting a Nano Reef.....

[sunkenmetal]

So I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank with a ghost shrimp in it (I love to ask the people at petsmart for one ghost shrimp lol). I am thinking about converting it into a Nano Reef. I have no experience with salt water setups and was trying to put together a list and budget of what I need to decide if I want to do it or not.


What I have now is:



1. A standard 20 gallon glass rectangular tank with a hood.


2. Two Marineland penguin 150 HOB filters (Probably not useful)


3. A Heater.


4. Marineland Maxi-Jet Pro power head. Not on the tank but I have it…



I know I am going to need some live rock and live sand not sure about the cost and how much.
So any advice if this is a good idea or not and or what all I need and general price range would be greatly appreciated.

[myjohnson]

Sounds like a good start dude! You can use everything you listed.

The true nanoreef only needs very little. LR is used as the filter media. All you need in addition to LR is water moving in the tank. You can use both the HOB and PH for this.

You do not need LS. I would recommend just new clean sand. You want to aim for about .5-1" of sand.

Most import in an reef system is the lights. The corals you want to keep will determine the light you need. I recommend softies only for now. And CF/PC light will work.

Water: RODI is a must. Add salt. Done. Doing a small water change weekly is also a must.

You don't really need anything else. Hope the advice was helpful.

Try to look over the links that are in the sticky threads. Feel free to post up any question but try to be more specific. I find that you will benefit the most from this process.

Also, read over some of the nano reef journals we have here. Post questions on those threads and you will get even better feed back from the OP.

Good luck and welcome to the darkside! :)

[sunkenmetal]

Thanks for the info.

I have been reading the nano reef journals and nano-reef.com. So far the only thing i am not understanding is the Lighting. so I am not sure what a CF/PC light is lol.

Already have a RODI so I am set there....

[semper]

Let me know I have live rock

[myjohnson]

lol, ok let me try to help you on the lighting issue. But before that, read the threads we have here on the BOX. People on the BOX are way more helpful to new people asking questions then nanoreef.

Summary of lighting in SW reefs:

There are certain lights we commonly use in reefing. The most important number to really look at is a lights PAR value at certain dept in the tank. PAR value, in short, is the amount of usable lights for corals.

1) CF or PC: CF stands for compact fluorescent and PC stands for power compact.

CF/PC use to be consider the best light source for nano reefs. They were small for their time, and they produce decent power. Compared to normal fluorescent lamps CF/PC punks them badly! :)

2) T5 HO: HO stands for high output. These lights have taken over CF/PC in the reefing world. They have a long thin design where independent reflectors can be added which greatly decrease the lost of PAR values.

3) MH/HQI: MH stands for metal halides. This has been the go to work horse for big time reef keepers due to the wide spread and high PAR outputs. You can keep any type of corals with this light. This is my personal favorite for big tanks. I have this over my 375g and its a beast. Main con is it produces A LOT of heat! It produces light like the sun but it is not like one too.

4) LED: LED means Light Emitting Diode. This is the new kid on the block and my person favorite for nano reefs. Strong but controllable lighting so you can set it at lower lighting levels to get lower PAR or increase the lighting to get higher PAR. I currently have a maxspect 160w over my 18g and I think it's a perfect fit for what I want to do. The other main benefit to this type of lighting is less heat. heat is a big problem for nano tanks and LEDs run the coolest of any of these lights mention.

Let me know if any of the above is unclear and I'll try to add some more feed back.

p.s. i got off work early today so the drunk posting has begun!

[sunkenmetal]

lol, ok let me try to help you on the lighting issue. But before that, read the threads we have here on the BOX. People on the BOX are way more helpful to new people asking questions then nanoreef.

Summary of lighting in SW reefs:

There are certain lights we commonly use in reefing. The most important number to really look at is a lights PAR value at certain dept in the tank. PAR value, in short, is the amount of usable lights for corals.

1) CF or PC: CF stands for compact fluorescent and PC stands for power compact.

CF/PC use to be consider the best light source for nano reefs. They were small for their time, and they produce decent power. Compared to normal fluorescent lamps CF/PC punks them badly! :)

2) T5 HO: HO stands for high output. These lights have taken over CF/PC in the reefing world. They have a long thin design where independent reflectors can be added which greatly decrease the lost of PAR values.

3) MH/HQI: MH stands for metal halides. This has been the go to work horse for big time reef keepers due to the wide spread and high PAR outputs. You can keep any type of corals with this light. This is my personal favorite for big tanks. I have this over my 375g and its a beast. Main con is it produces A LOT of heat! It produces light like the sun but it is not like one too.

4) LED: LED means Light Emitting Diode. This is the new kid on the block and my person favorite for nano reefs. Strong but controllable lighting so you can set it at lower lighting levels to get lower PAR or increase the lighting to get higher PAR. I currently have a maxspect 160w over my 18g and I think it's a perfect fit for what I want to do. The other main benefit to this type of lighting is less heat. heat is a big problem for nano tanks and LEDs run the coolest of any of these lights mention.

Let me know if any of the above is unclear and I'll try to add some more feed back.

p.s. i got off work early today so the drunk posting has begun!

That clears it up for me thanks .... I am thinking that LED might be the way to go... Time to research the LED setup I need

Let me know I have live rock

Sweet Man how much do yall think i will need 10 pounds or more. How much for the live rock?

If I can get this 20 Gallon up and running I will have to convert My 56 gallon to LOL

[semper]

$3 per lb

[sunkenmetal]

$3 per lb

Cool

How many pounds do you reckon I will need?

[myjohnson]

Depends on what scape you want to do.

A normal reef scape is just a wall of rocks.

New school style seem to prefer two rock piles.

Even newer style is to scape using as little rocks as needed, like a bonsai scape.

[sunkenmetal]

Depends on what scape you want to do.

A normal reef scape is just a wall of rocks.

New school style seem to prefer two rock piles.

Even newer style is to scape using as little rocks as needed, like a bonsai scape.

LOL sounds like I have alot more reading and searching to do :)

[myjohnson]

Here is a sample.

Not mine but I'm thinking about this for my next scape.

[sunkenmetal]

that is pretty sweet...

I am going to to take my time and plan this out the best i can.....

[soymilk]

Here is a sample.

Not mine but I'm thinking about this for my next scape.

Someone jacked my idea! Gsp carpet!