New to the Nano reef

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hope this works

14gbiocube.jpg
 
Oh boy i did it! thanks for that thread colinadam.
still looks bare I think I will get another 6 LBS!
I need to upload more photos <got plenty but feel free to check out the few I have so far
 
I will try the photobucket thing and get some pix up tonight.

Did my third water test yesterday, Nitrate went from 2.5 to 5.0, I keep reading the lower the better for nitrate but what number are you guys normally at... does it stay at 0 or above? Nitrite is 0, ammonia is 0 and Ph i believe was 80 (have it written down at home)
 
Kingfisher - I really like that one piece of rock with the cave in it...is that real or aquacultured? Also, I would try to get some stuff to aquaculture a little more...try not to get a huge piece cause then you are limited with what you can do with the aquascaping...looks good though...
 
Greg - if you pH is at 8.0 you are a little on the low side...try to slowly bring it back up to like 8.2...as for the nitrate, you will ALWAYS have some detectable level of nitrate in your tank...this is a normal byproduct and there is no way to avoid it...just try to keep it down to a minimum, like 1 or 2 at the most...adding some chaeto and a light to compartment 2 will help eliminate the nitrates almost completely...
 
thanks for the quick reply reefer, how would I bring the PH up? do you think it will go up on its own once I add a fish in a week or 2?

As for the Nitrate, what is chaeto and how do I get a light in to chamber 2? thanks!!
 
Chaeto is a macroalgae that uses the nitrate to grow.

The main way to get light into that chamber is to scrape the black vinyl on the ack wall off.

Since it is already filled with water your better off going with Chemi-pure & Purigen both of which will knock that down.
 
colin,

i have the stealth heater. it is mostly submerged, but not all the way.

Also, going to test the water tonight. I will let you guys know whats up.

Looking good already Kingfisher. I have to post some pics tonight of my tank.
 
Here is a good look at a design someone used for a light on the back of a cube...like colin said, scrape off the black paint and attach this light to the cube with velcro...scrape off only enough paint to attach the light and velcro...light the refugium on a reverse cycle to the tank lights with about a 1 hr overlap...

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=59497

And this is a light that will fit inside the hood to light the refugium...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6261462#post6261462
 
Nice thanks for the help!! I think I am going to do 2 more tests, and see how things go from there. If Nitrate dosnt drop I will try some of these options. Hopefully its just cycling and will stabilize on its own.

I may pickup a little more Fiji rock tomorrow and build up a bit. I noticed some white stuff growning in the back of the tank on a rock... kind of a spongy lookin stuff. I will post some pics tonight to get opinions on that as well... scrape it off or let it go....
 
Greg - definitely get us some pics...if it appears alive, it could (unfortunately) be a mojano or aptasia anemone that hitchhiked in on your live rock...both of these are pest anemones and mojano is harder to kill than aptasia...get us some pics so we can see what you are speaking of...if it does turn out to be either of these you want them out of the tank ASAP! No fear though, just don't scrub them off cause they will come back because you will ultimately leave some small piece of their foot/base on the rock when you pull them off or scrub them...there is a good "How To Kill Aptasia" type thread pinned at the top of the New To Hobby forum...check it out if you have time...even if you don't have aptasia now, it is definitely a good piece of information to have in the back of your head...
 
I am actually thinking of putting a hand full of chaeto in the display behind that tall rock. It will definitely have enough light for good growth
and give the tank a flash of green or mabe some halmadia(did I spell that right?) I know it won't be much of a refuge for pods but it should export nitrates come pruning time!
 
kingfisher62 - just be careful putting it back there...couple of things can happen...

First and foremost, it can grow like a weed...will grow like crazy...if you don't prune it often you will end up with a forrest of macro in your display tank and not much else...

Second, you can have macro clog your overflow in to the back chambers causing a potential overflow...

Third, even if you don't end up with a jungle in your cube...the macro can still grow in such a way that it can choke out some of your corals or other light needing organisms...

If you are gonna put them in your tank, try this...get some eggcrate (light diffuser from HD or Lowes - sold with flourescent shop lighting)...cut a couple pieces to make a cage that will span the width of the tank and maybe like 3" or so high...you can hold it together with zip ties, throw your chaeto in there and it will stay contained...just make sure there is some flow over/through it so the chaeto can pull out some 'trates...you can then also use this as a new frag stand if your frags come on plugs...2 uses out of 1 item... :D
 
thanks reefer, I just looked at the post about aptasia... its possible thats what it is, maybe in the begining stages. I will get the pics up tonight...

I was thinking of getting a couple shrimp this weekend anyway, from what I read they may help with this too.
 
They may help with this but they are not a solution...look at it this way...

You get shrimp...they eat your aptasia...then, the aptasia overrun what your shrimp can eat and you have to get rid of the aptasia anyway...

Or, your shrimp live mainly off the aptasia for a while...then, one day the aptasia is all gone...what will they eat now?

Things like Copper Banded Butterflies and shrimps are good treatments for aptasia (and many people use them with great success) but the only true, sure-fire way of solving the problem of aptasia is to get rid of them early in the game...this is one game you definitely do not want to get behind the 8 ball in any way shape or form...if you lose the battle with aptasia early on you may not recover very easily...
 
That is of course if you have aptasia...it may not be and in which case this is just good info to have in the back of your mind for future reference... ;)
 
Thanks for the macro advice HR. ! was actually thinking of putting the chaeto in a plastic netting ,we will see!

young aptasia looks just like their adult s only smaller!Joes Juice works really well. I still have doubt about that stuff being aptasia though. If it is and you want to use shrimp I recommend peppermint shrimp.
 
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