Nano Reefer experts

[MrMiggiDude]

I was told to come here. via another section on the website.


here's my story....


Well I work at an aquarium store. Pretty big, too. We have over 100 tanks. 30 or so are Salt. Our owner is a self proclaimed expert but i have learned not to trust him from other workers. I've read many books and I still am confused because of conflicting data.


My boss says to have a saltwater tank, I need a mud filter. I need Chalerpa in it, and need to spend over 500 dollars on a tank and lighting system+ the fish and corals i want. From books, i've read that wet/drys, canisters, the berlin system, etc are all good ways of maintaining a saltwater tank.

I haven't gotten a direct answer from anything and now i'm turning to you. I want to keep a 'nano' tank. 10-20 gallons. Maybe 7. I want to keep small fish like a red lip scooters, yellow head goby, maybe some perculas. I want to keep Soft corals such as Frogspawn, Hammers, Bubble Coral, Elegant Coral and things of that sort.


What kind of lighting system and filtration would i need to achieve that. The books i've read (the nano reef handbook, mostly) is not very clear and what is the best and what doesnt work. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[myakkareef]

A nice 20 gallon long makes a perfect little reef. If you put a set of PC's or T5'sover it you will be able to maintain any of the corals you listed. A tank can be very simple. The Nano cubes are a perfect exampe. Is there really a right or wrong?? I think with proper maintenance, a tank can be very simple on equipment. The less maintenance you want, then the more equipment. Most important for equipment for startup is probably lighting. Which is also one of the more costly initially...Not saying don't listen to your boss, maybe he has experience with the system he is telling you, but it is not the only way..Beauty of this hobby is there is not only one way...Setup a tank with a decent light and a filter and let the experience begin...

 

[chocolateblnt]

15 Gallon Long would be nice too However it might be a lil' crowded for that many fish ... I would go T5's ... here's a link to some really well priced T5's.

http://hellolights.com/24aqt5dolist.html

Filtration ... look into a small sump with skimmer. I'll check back in this post later ...

 

[phenom5]

i definately agree with what these guys have said...

i'd go 20g long if it were me, great tank. i'd only go 2 fish, but again that's a personal preference thing. i'd rather keep a really light load on the fish, and load up on a ton of corals. i'd go PC's or T5's...although there are some relatively cheap 70W & 150W HQI retros out there. it may be worth looking into, that way you have more options for corals down the road. with something like this i would keep it simple, maybe add a HOB refuge like the CPR aquafuge or you can DIY one. throw some macro algae in there, cheato would be my choice, and your good to go. so i'd go with the HOB fuge w/ macro, a couple of PH's for flow, which ever lights you choose, and throw in some live rock and your choice of substrate and you're good to go...we'll once the tank cycles of course.

HTH & GL :thumbsup:

 

[FishMachine]

I had a 10 gallon wity the coralife 96 watt and a rena xp3 filter but you dont need that kind of filter.

 

[MrMiggiDude]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7186951#post7186951 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chocolateblnt
15 Gallon Long would be nice too However it might be a lil' crowded for that many fish ... I would go T5's ... here's a link to some really well priced T5's.

http://hellolights.com/24aqt5dolist.html

Filtration ... look into a small sump with skimmer. I'll check back in this post later ...

Thanks so much for the replies! I was thinking about it and I might go with a 30 gallon. But still treat it as a nano, as in having small fish and caring about ever minute detail.


Picture this. 30 gallon. Live rock, Live sand. Frogspawn, Elegant, Bubble, hammers. Other softies. Anenomes maybe? Nudibranch, Hermits, Yellowhead Goby, Hi-fin goby, Red lip scooter, Clowns maybe, a few turbos. Some other things you guys can recommend. Power Compact lighting, as many watts as required (or maybe t-5 lights. recommend either one.) What else would i need?

 

[aural]

if you are going to do a 30g you are going to have to up your lighting to keep the LPS corals that you are wanting. Definitely look at T5 or Halides at that point.

As a newcomer i would say skip the anemone. not only do you want to have a well established and stable tank, you also want to have some basic skills under your belt before you attempt an anemone. (many people have found anemone's to be simple, but as a rule of thumb, they are not beginner animals)

Just say no to nudibranchs. Aquarists cannot keep their one and only food source - specific sponges - in enough quantity for them to live long. they are just one of those animals that is better off left in the wild. The only acception is the Lettuce Nudibranch that eats comon algaes from your tank.

other than that i would probably get yourself an aquaclear filter so you could run carbon or chemi-pure if you wanted and add a level of mechanical filtration. you also want to think about your water circulation... in a 30 gallon you would probably want to get yourself a couple MaxiJet 900s (or 1200s) and maybe put Hydor Flo rotating units on them.

 

[mr pink floyd]

THose corals you listed are LPS, nto softies, they need more light than softies. for a 30g tank i would reccomend at least 130 watts PC for LPS, on my 29 i have only 65 watts PC, but its softies.

im upgrading to halides soon though.

I will also recommend getting halides, because you will eventually get the SPS fever, liek ihave, with halides you can still get all the corals you listed, then when yo uwant to do more, you can easil just add the corawls and some flow!

this is just my $.02

 

[Cinderblock]

Your manager is part of the old school. For what you want stick with an all-in-one. A nanocube DX, aquapod, or the Finnex M-tank. Great set ups and perfect for what you are going to keep.