Ended up with a new hobby

J

james_007

New member
After thinking I was going to buy a desktop tank and a few goldfish for my three year old, my loving wife who has a hard time following a recipe for tea decided she wanted she wanted to re-create Nemo's home because the fish are prettier. The store owner smiled the whole time and sympathized with me as I held my head low and he walked me through the initial basics of my new hobby. Based on our preferences, he sent us home with a 26g glass bowfront, live-rock and a whole bunch of ocean water in containers for which he gladly charged me full retail and said to come back in a week with a water sample. Right...

Within a few hours, I had the stand assembled, the rinsed sand, my 100% official Caribbean sea live sand and the rocks arranged with little caves and good flow and the water circulating with the included cheap carbon filter hung over the back like you see in freshwater tanks - oh and the heater too!

I also bought a rather expensive LED dual-day-full-day-cycle-auto-programmed-blue-spectrum-complete-with-thunder-storm-mode-light-hood after expressing interest in a reef tank. This light is still in the box.

I spent the next 72 hours reading everything on everything and the next 36 hours reading everything on somethings and I've arrived at the conclusion that this is actually pretty cool so I'm in! I'm an Aquarist and now 10 days later... along with a few amazon orders I'm testing my own water and ready to ask for advice.

Let's recap, 26g bowfront, no livestock, ocean water, liverock, livesand (which was probably dead), heater at 79, ammonia level pretty low, nitrites are just now detectable after day 9, I'm not bothering to test nitrates. PH is a little low at 7.9 but I read that I can worry about that after I cycle. No light. No water changes duh, but the cycle feels a little slow, I'm not seeing an ammonia spike, so I'm pretty sure it's time to pee in the tank. Thoughts?

The other reason I'm here.. is about the skimmer.. I'm trying to avoid an internal if I can because it will take up so much of my precious and limited space. I don't have space for another tank or a ?sump? setup. I do have a little space in the cabinet (24"H, 10"x10") for external skimmer. I could also forget the skimmer and just do canister for filtration but seems like a bad trade-off and more work and water changes to maintain Nemo's home.

I've read a ton of reviews on this and that, I really like the Reef Octopus Classic EXT Recirculating Protein Skimmer but it might be too big to fit my cabinet. I'm some what interested in the KollerCraft TOM Rapids Pro RP3 Wet/Dry Filter System with Auto Fill System...

I want my setup it to be "right", but I'm limited in space. I'm prepared to do 5g change-outs weekly, but I'd really like to have some flexibility.

What I really need is a micro all-in-one unicorn unit that can do it all, fit in my cabinet, won't overflow ever and of course is semi-reasonable in price.

Thanks in advance for thoughts...
 
Maybe I missed it completely but most of the hanging ones appear to sit inside the tank - 7"X11"x3" for example. I could manage a hang on back if the internal parts don't take a lot of space. Do you have an example I could google?
 
Wow, you're right. I didn't realize that only the tubing comes over the top and back in to the water... The whole time I thought the unit sat in the tank... ouch...
 
Welcome to Reef Central. There is a great thread here called Setting up and its at the top of this newbie forum. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

This will answer most of your questions. Have fun and enjoy the hobby. Oh PS don't let your wife or kids talk you into a Dori (Hippo Tang) They get HUGE and are not right for your size tank. Please ask here for all of your stocking ideas before you do them. It will save you a lot of grief in the future.
 
Welcome to ReefCentral, your in the right place!

Have a read on the setting up stickies, even great for a quick brushup!

Yes most HOB(hang on back) skimmers actually go outside the tank. Most nano skimmers(also will fit your size tank) go in the tank. With that said and you looking into HOB options, the HOB1 is a beast of a skimmer for your size tank.
 
Lol nemos tank.... Don't even bother

As far as live sand if it was live and you rinsed it consider it dead sand

A 28is tiny and you're going to have to be pretty religious with the husbandry if you want long term success, best you can do in that is a pair of clowns and a shrimp or two and you're done. Good luck to you, read the setting up sticky on here
 
The aquac remora is a good skimmer for the money. Hangs over the back and only the pump is in the tank. Your gonna have to read up on cycling to know the process and there are tons of posts on how to do it. You didn't say if you are using ro/di for the tank or not. If you plan on using tap water and dechlorinator, you might as well pull the plug now. Personally I don't reccomend anything smaller than a 40 to anyone who is new. Water parameter swings happen very fast in small tanks. Also, unless your Lfs is close to you is go to the glacier water vending machines out in front of grocery stores for water. It's a good source to use. If you just plan on a couple clowns/inverts with no coral, you can get away with just nitrate test kit, thermometer, and a reliable way of checking salinity. I use a refractometer and double check it against a hydrometer. You can get a small ro/di filter for around 100$ online. Good luck with the tank!
 
Thanks guys, very good insights, I'll check out the stickies tonight.

I am looking at the remora, the HOB1 and the BH1000, all on my list now, I hope to buy something that leaves me with an upgrade path to a 55g tank if the 26g proves too challenging.

Water wise, so I started with store-bought ocean water, the shop here pulls it from the ocean weekly and I'm also exploring the idea of store-bought r/o water for now but I'll definitely check out the r/o filters.

2 clowns + shrimp is what I've heard (3 maybe 4 small fish depending on my levels).
I'm not thinking about coral at all, instead I am interested in adding few anemones, but i just don't know if that's possible or reasonable, I still have to read more any insights on the demands of anemones?

If I were to keep up with water changes (I'm planning 5g every weekend) and I get one of the larger skimmers like the bh1000, will that be enough to increase my count? instead of 3-4, maybe 5-6? If added a canister would that be enough? I feel crazy doing all of this for a 26g tank but if it will make it easier to maintain and support a bigger bio load then I'll do it.
 
I currently have 6 small fish in my biocube with 0 issues. All are adults except my clowns and are considered nano fish. ORA electric neon dottyback, citron clown goby, warpaint goby, mated pair of snowflake clowns, flame angel, and a cleaner shrimp.

I know I'm HEAVILY stocked and most would look down upon my choice in flame angel in a 29G, but all are fat and happy. Quite a few of us keep flame angels in biocubes. Liveaquaria.com has great recommendations on tank sizes for fish, but are certainly not the book on the matter.

It all depends on the adult size of the fish, aggression levels, and whether your biofilter is up to the task of a large bioload. A sump(added water volume), or a large amount of live rock(I have roughly 45 pounds) can and does help.
 
Don't do anemones... Honestly I have a 150 and I don't dare put any anemones in there

Your tank is way too small for any of the anemones and don't get a 55 they're a pain,
Too skinny and not high enough for much of anything it's like a pencil tank, go for a 75g or a 90 if you want to upgrade, honestly if your fish store gets ocean water id avoid them... Ocean water is more trouble then mixing your own, you can crash a tank real easy that way.

Good luck with your nano tank, I honestly steered away from nanos since they are so unforgiving
 
homer1475 said:
I currently have 6 small fish in my biocube with 0 issues. All are adults except my clowns and are considered nano fish. ORA electric neon dottyback, citron clown goby, warpaint goby, mated pair of snowflake clowns, flame angel, and a cleaner shrimp.

I know I'm HEAVILY stocked and most would look down upon my choice in flame angel in a 29G, but all are fat and happy. Quite a few of us keep flame angels in biocubes. Liveaquaria.com has great recommendations on tank sizes for fish, but are certainly not the book on the matter.
Click to expand...

Wow if you saw these guys in the wild in the pacific you'd get a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach.... Angels are reef drifters constantly picking and eating. A biocube is not enough room for one alone....

Op Don't put a flame angel in your 28g even two clowns is cramped for a tank that size
 
e048 said:
Good luck with your nano tank, I honestly steered away from nanos since they are so unforgiving
Click to expand...

As I like to say, "nano's are for the ADD afflicted in the reefing hobby".

Their not hard, just require a lot more work to keep the same level of tanks as our big brothers. Nano's aren't for the "lazy" reefer for sure.
 
e048 said:
Don't do anemones... Honestly I have a 150 and I don't dare put any anemones in there

Your tank is way too small for any of the anemones and don't get a 55 they're a pain,
Too skinny and not high enough for much of anything it's like a pencil tank, go for a 75g or a 90 if you want to upgrade, honestly if your fish store gets ocean water id avoid them... Ocean water is more trouble then mixing your own, you can crash a tank real easy that way.

Good luck with your nano tank, I honestly steered away from nanos since they are so unforgiving
Click to expand...

Anemones are not a problem in smaller aquariums. Where did you get this idea from. :hammer: IT is best to study up on which anemone you want if you want one. Also not all clowns will be hosted by all anemones. Decide what clown you want and go from there, or pick the anemone and then pick the clowns. Either way works and we have a great clown and anemone forum a few forums down from this one. Make sure you ask lots of questions after you've decided on what you want.

IMO and IME the 40b is probably the best of the small tanks, and yes even better than the 55 because of what you said about it being too skinny. :thumbsup:
 
e048 said:
Wow if you saw these guys in the wild in the pacific you'd get a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach.... Angels are reef drifters constantly picking and eating. A biocube is not enough room for one alone....

Op Don't put a flame angel in your 28g even two clowns is cramped for a tank that size
Click to expand...


And a Tang of any kind would love hundreds of miles to swim in every day, but 150G is enough, can't have it both ways. And any dog would love 150+ acres to run in every day, but sadly most are chained up with no more then 10 feet to run in. No I wouldn't get bad feeling in my stomach, there's a reason their called pets. But this is for another section of the forum at a different time.
 
e048 said:
Don't do anemones... Honestly I have a 150 and I don't dare put any anemones in there

Your tank is way too small for any of the anemones and don't get a 55 they're a pain,
Too skinny and not high enough for much of anything it's like a pencil tank, go for a 75g or a 90 if you want to upgrade, honestly if your fish store gets ocean water id avoid them... Ocean water is more trouble then mixing your own, you can crash a tank real easy that way.

Good luck with your nano tank, I honestly steered away from nanos since they are so unforgiving
Click to expand...

Once the tank is well established (not just the inital cycle) there is no good reason to not keep an anemone. I would not risk overstocking it though because nems need much better water quality than fish or soft coral.

What is your reasoning for not keeping one in a 150?
 
OP, what is the brand and model of your lights. I work in an lfs and many of the lights available in stores are usually not gonna be that great, especially if you end up with corals. And most times you can get much better light for the same or just a little more money
 
Exactly my thinking, a flame angel in a biocube is borderline animal cruelty

So I guess a zoo keeping a lion in a cage is your idea of family fun....


Sorry your fish are not happy....


Op research anemones and as stated above they need near perfect water and if you're a beginner and your tank is small I would not do an anemome they also need good lights and they move and sting stuff not a beginner animal an anemome dying in a 28g tank would crash it too.... Not for someone who's new to the hobby
 
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

Looks like you already have the right attitude and retain info well, and being practical minded.
You'll get a lot of opinions, sometimes it's tricky to know which are best.
I'll give you mine.
I normally highly recommend a good skimmer but honestly in that size tank you could go w/out one if you keep bioload low, like it looks like you plan to do, and stay dilligent on water changes(WC's)
Yeah, people can and do keep anemone's in that size tank, but it's a little difficult if you are not familiar, params need to be pretty stable, we do not advise trying a nem before about 6mo usually for that reason.
Keep in mind if they get sucked into intakes or pumps they will nuke your tank, and in that size tank they will always be near pumps and intakes.
Frogspawn or hammer corals look very similar, but easier to keep, and they do not move around like nems do.
Clowns often take to them as a host alternative to a nem.
I don't like the lightning feature on that light, it can spook fish, so if I had it I would just not turn that feature on, but does not mean ditch the light, most likely it's a good light.
Storebought water is ok, and your amount is doable easily, but keep an eye out for your own RO/DI down the road, and get one w/ a bypass so you can also filter your own drinking water to multi purpose that purchase.
Not all fish stores know how to guide you properly, so check here first before buying or doing anything, as we are not looking for sales as much as wanting to help be responsible and help you achieve success.
Welcome to the hobby, keep reading, a lot, it's well worth it!
 
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