Newbie with 12g NanoCube - Help Please!

C

costello303

New member
Hi everyone, im new to this site and new to the hobbie!!

Last week i purchased a Nano Cube, 12g, with the idea of setting up a nice little mini reef with some fish.

In the back of the tank is three chambers, the sponge filter, bio balls, creamic rings and carbon bag, and the pump. I have my heater the the pump chamber, just wondering what level the water should be in here, couple of inches or up to the top?!

Any tips would be great!!

Tom
 
All 3 chambers will be different. The chamber on the left will always be full, the middle chamber will have a little less and the chamber where the return pump is will have less than the middle.

Try to fill it up as much as possible. Do you have the surface skimmer that goes over the intake grill installed?
 
im new!

im new!

just like this my friend.
a>

did your nano look like this after 3 months?
a>
 
reply

reply

colinadam, you tank looks amazing! how long have you been doing in and how much have you spent!? do you use that nano part a/b stuff? hopefully i'll get there............... one day.................. maybe.
 
cool. did you start out getting the horrible blooms like im getting? im thinking of getting an aqua remorer skimmer. i've heard the trick with nanos is to get a lot of corals in there quicky?
 
Last edited:
Just about everyone gets the algae blooms. It ugly but a good thing in that your tank is maturing. Your clean up crew will take care of it. Check out the Sapphire Aquatics skimmers at nanotuners.com They fit in the back chamber and you can still close the hood. I dont think anything in the Nano world should be added quickly. Do a little at a time. A large part of nano reefing is PATIENTS. If you have the stock lights try some mushrooms, ricordia, xenia, frogspawn, zoanthids to start with. Turning the middle chamber into a fuge is a good idea too. There are several threads about how to do it. Good Luck
 
Looks like you have some diatoms.

Questions-

What kind of cleaning crew do you have (hermits/snails)?

How often do you do water changes, how many gallons and is it RO water?

How long are you lights on?

What is in your back 3 chambers?


If you want to see my build check it out here:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=942829

and if you have the time to read this thread it may help, plus you can join me and like 3 or 4 others with the same tanks and get idea's. Feel free to join in this thread :) :
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=999069
 
i change 20 liters weeky using ro and kent salt (soon to be changed to red sea salt)
2 cleaner shrimp, few turbos, blue legged hermits, sand sifting starfish.
my lights are coming on from 5pm till 2am at the moment because when i had them on from 8am till 8pm the diatoms grew like mad but if i have them on from 5pm till 2am they dont seem to grow, (
figure that one out)!?
intake chamber (chamber 1) 2 big black sponges with a piece of polly wool at the top. middle chamber, starting at the bottom: bio balls, ceramic rings black sponge, rowa phos, carbon, polly filter, purigen and more polly wool. 3rd chamber: pump.
 
thanks for the pics!! looks really good!! :)

Ive got a outside thermometer, with the sensor in the tank ~(if that makes sense, not sure how to describe it) the sensor is placed beside the skimmer, near the top, should i lower it ?

Also when adding the first bit of live rock, do you do parcial water changes or just let it cycle?
 
ive just set my tank up also, got the temp to 26-26.5 but the sg is around 1.024, i know the ideal for a mini reef is 1.025-26.

My question is, im out of salt so have to go buy some to get the sg up, but should i buy the LR when im there instead of making two trips?

If i get the rock, how long cant it stay in 'transport' or can i add it to the 1.024 and keep adding salt when the rock is in there?!

Help please!!!
 
adding rock.

adding rock.

cant really help you with that as im a beginner too! when i bought my tank i got ready mixed water from the shops system and put my rocks, sand and water in, in one day.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8993868#post8993868 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by costello303
thanks for the pics!! looks really good!! :)

Ive got a outside thermometer, with the sensor in the tank ~(if that makes sense, not sure how to describe it) the sensor is placed beside the skimmer, near the top, should i lower it ?

Also when adding the first bit of live rock, do you do parcial water changes or just let it cycle?
Click to expand...

I have my temp probe in the same spot.

Just add the rock and let it cycle, you can do a water change after the cycle and before adding the cleanup crew.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8993687#post8993687 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stephen sykes
i change 20 liters weeky using ro and kent salt (soon to be changed to red sea salt)
2 cleaner shrimp, few turbos, blue legged hermits, sand sifting starfish.
my lights are coming on from 5pm till 2am at the moment because when i had them on from 8am till 8pm the diatoms grew like mad but if i have them on from 5pm till 2am they dont seem to grow, (
figure that one out)!?
intake chamber (chamber 1) 2 big black sponges with a piece of polly wool at the top. middle chamber, starting at the bottom: bio balls, ceramic rings black sponge, rowa phos, carbon, polly filter, purigen and more polly wool. 3rd chamber: pump.
Click to expand...

You cut the light cycle down in hours from 12 to 8, that helped the algae problem, you could have your lights on for 8 hours a day during the day when you can enjoy it and get the same results.

Most people toss the media (rings and bioballs) that come with the nanocube. They are good for fish only tanks and were the way to go before recent advances. Basically bioballs and ceramic rings trap the good bacteria and they act like live rock. You can think of them as "fake live rock". They also trap nitrates which can also cause problems (excessive algae is one).

Some people add live rock rubble to the back chambers which gives you the extra good bacteria host without the nitrate trap. I don't do this because if you have enough live rock in your display the little bit in the back chambers won't do a bit of good.


I have my chambers setup like this (Not saying my way is the best or to do mine like it)-

Chamber 1: Chemi-Pure on bottom, Filter Floss on top

Chamber 2: Purigen, phosban as needed

Chamber 3: MaxiJet 1200 return pump



Also no snails? Get like 3 Cernith, 3 Nerite and a few Nassarius.

How often are you cleaning the sponges? That's another nitrate trap which is why I use filter floss and dispose of it weekly.

Do a nitrate test and see where they are.
 
nitrate is reading zero. should i get rid of my rings and bio balls? i've got 12 lbs of live rock in the tank.
 
Last edited:
I would toss the bioballs and the rings. Do a little every day, not all at once.

if you can add some more cured rock to your tank, you should have between 25 and 30 lbs. If you can't fit it all in the main display chuck some little ones in the back where the rings and balls are.
Ditch the carbon and start using a product called chemi-pure. Carbon takes to many good things out of your water along with the bad.
 
reply

reply

i've taken half the balls out and i'll take the rest out tomorrow then the rings on thursday right?
have you stil got black sponges in your 1st and 2nd chambers?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
filter roller install help
Replies
3
Views
449
Vinny Kreyling
Vinny Kreyling
BuckeyeFish
Nitrate control: 24g nano
Replies
6
Views
811
BuckeyeFish
BuckeyeFish
BuckeyeFish
AIO 24g refugium?
Replies
1
Views
451
griss
griss
C
RSM Max Nano XL Plan / Build
2
Replies
21
Views
1K
griss
griss
Dogs442
NEED HELP WITH RO/DI SYSTEM
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
griss
griss
Back
Top