My first saltwater tank

T

TheWire

Members
I recently purchased a nano cube 12g from Michael (Discusnafricans). Here are my setup

nothing special.first time saltwater...not sure if I am doing it right...

I have finally gathered the necessary equipments that needed to setup this used Nano Cube 12g DX.

Equipments:
NC12g DX
Stock light n/a
50W heater n/a
Hydro Koralia Nano
Stock Pump n/a
surface skimmer n/a
Hemnes Stand

Back chambers:
carbon with filter floss + sponge for now to clean the dust storm -free
any suggestions?
Plan
1st chamber : floos + sponge
2nd chamber: some live rock rubble, cheatos when I have a led light
3rd chamber: pump, heater and temperature reader



15lb of LR
unknown quantities of dead sand... -free



Soaking tank in vinegar mix
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With stand......
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Just filled it up with rocks, sand, and water
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Sand Storm
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Stock hood
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first hitchhiker
Picture198.jpg



Bad hitchhikers
Gorilla Crab (caught and give it to someone for his fuge tank)
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Majano Anemone (massive kalking battle with them)
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Tank as of today 10/11/09
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any suggestion on rock work? and any suggestion at all? when should I do water change? It's definitely cycling now. What's the SG/salinity level should be? Currently it is on 1.023

thanks
 
Spine

Spine

Members
Sounds like everything is alright for now. I would do weekly water changes and feed the tank lightly.
 
T

TheWire

Members
Spine said:
Sounds like everything is alright for now. I would do weekly water changes and feed the tank lightly.
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nothing yet in there

but planning to add CUC this week. Should I add all once? I am planning to get it from ReefCleaner minus the hermit crab, which I will be getting locally

7 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners
2 Nassarius
3 Florida Ceriths
2 Blue Legs
2 Nerite

I am thinking also get 1-2 emerald crab....good?
 
Jumbie

Jumbie

Members
Dude the tank look great! I would do any water changes for a while after its cycled than I would do weekly water changes.
 
Jumbie

Jumbie

Members
Don't do any water changes for about 2-3 weeks. You are going to see a lot of change in your tank over the next few days. A brown algae bloom would probably happen soon, dont worry its a nromal stage.
 
T

TheWire

Members
Jumbie said:
Don't do any water changes for about 2-3 weeks. You are going to see a lot of change in your tank over the next few days. A brown algae bloom would probably happen soon, dont worry its a nromal stage.
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cool also i have been leaving light mostly off during my short cycle..
 
C

Cartel

Members
Sweet! Looks good cant wait to see how it progresses. I have been really looking into starting nano reef. At first I did not want anything to do with SW but it has grown on me. Mainly I want to get an ADA rimless tank with minimal equipment just a nice clean setup with very little life stock. We'll see how if it happens but im doing lots of reading.
 
T

TheWire

Members
Cartel said:
Sweet! Looks good cant wait to see how it progresses. I have been really looking into starting nano reef. At first I did not want anything to do with SW but it has grown on me. Mainly I want to get an ADA rimless tank with minimal equipment just a nice clean setup with very little life stock. We'll see how if it happens but im doing lots of reading.
Click to expand...


that how I was started lol.....never thought I would get into sw. When a tank up for sale, i couldn't pass up the deal...
 
Lively

Lively

Members
If you get it going right, you shouldn't have to do many water changes at all - mainly to add back used minerals. It's not impossible to get the complete nitrogen cycle going with a salt.
 
Lively

Lively

Members
Does it have two lights? I see it has two light bulbs - but it has two switches, right?

Spine is right - you need to have the light or lights on a day schedule - its the coraline (I think that is how you spell it) algae that you want to grow - it is crucial to the salt cycle.
 
T

TheWire

Members
10-4 on lights. I read conflicting info about the lights...until today lol

It has 2 24W 50/50 CF lights. The main light has one switch to turn both on unfortunately and also the moonlight switch. I am thinking switching to LED someday
 
Lively

Lively

Members
That's odd... does it have a built in timer? Not much point of a moon light if the "sun" light comes on with it... lol
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
cmcpart0422 said:
What fish are you going to put into it?
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I vote hippo tang. :)

Nah, honestly, looks great Kam. One thing that will make your life easier is setting up an auto-topoff. Built mine in the third chamber of my 6 gallon Biocube using parts from floatswitches.com, an old extension cord and an aqualifter pump. Think the whole thing ended up being somewhere around $25.

One less thing you need to worry about - salinity shifts from evaporation.
 
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