Reef newb with questions about a nano reef tank.

[JoeyH08]

Hello everyone! Ive always wanted to have a saltwater tank but never knew anyone that had one so Id be jumping in blind. So I hesitated and never dived in. Then a couple weeks ago I happened upon a deal too good to be true. I got a 24g nano tank with a full setup for an unbelievable price. I couldnt pass it up so I jumped.

I set it up with live rock and sand a day day later and let it cycle for a few days. Met some people in local shops and they had advice and taught me how to speed up the cycling so I could get some clean up animals inside. Ive got some hermit crabs and starfish going right now. Ive taken my water in for testing every few days and so far it looks great.

My tank is the 24g nano by JBJ. Its one of the original series with the bulb lights. The two bulbs are both the 50/50 bulbs with one side 10k and the other acintic. This is my first question. My local shop owner assures me this light setup is perfectly fine for corals as long as I swap the bulbs out every 8 months. Is this accurate?

My second question pertains to filtration. I have three compartments in the back. I am building a DIY media basket to place in the side where the water exits the visible part of the aquarium. In this media basket I put chemi pure elite in the bottom, the middle Ive left empty and the top has a filter sponge to grab the little floaties. Should I leave middle empty? If not, what do people suggest?

Third question. A few people have recommended an algae scrubber for my middle compartment. These few people have then tried to get me to order ones that are several hundred dollars. After looking at them in the local shops, I quickly realized I could build one of these myself pretty cheaply. I hopped on youtube and saw that someone already has and it cost about 50 bucks total. I would install this algae scrubber in the middle compartment of my tank. Is this a good idea?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and Im glad to be here. Ive had my tank for a couple weeks and I already am hopping on craigslist looking for someone trying to dump a large tank to have a centerpiece for my living room. =)

 

[Natereef]

Hello everyone! Ive always wanted to have a saltwater tank but never knew anyone that had one so Id be jumping in blind. So I hesitated and never dived in. Then a couple weeks ago I happened upon a deal too good to be true. I got a 24g nano tank with a full setup for an unbelievable price. I couldnt pass it up so I jumped.

I set it up with live rock and sand a day day later and let it cycle for a few days. Met some people in local shops and they had advice and taught me how to speed up the cycling so I could get some clean up animals inside. Ive got some hermit crabs and starfish going right now. Ive taken my water in for testing every few days and so far it looks great.

My tank is the 24g nano by JBJ. Its one of the original series with the bulb lights. The two bulbs are both the 50/50 bulbs with one side 10k and the other acintic. This is my first question. My local shop owner assures me this light setup is perfectly fine for corals as long as I swap the bulbs out every 8 months. Is this accurate?

My second question pertains to filtration. I have three compartments in the back. I am building a DIY media basket to place in the side where the water exits the visible part of the aquarium. In this media basket I put chemi pure elite in the bottom, the middle Ive left empty and the top has a filter sponge to grab the little floaties. Should I leave middle empty? If not, what do people suggest?

Third question. A few people have recommended an algae scrubber for my middle compartment. These few people have then tried to get me to order ones that are several hundred dollars. After looking at them in the local shops, I quickly realized I could build one of these myself pretty cheaply. I hopped on youtube and saw that someone already has and it cost about 50 bucks total. I would install this algae scrubber in the middle compartment of my tank. Is this a good idea?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and Im glad to be here. Ive had my tank for a couple weeks and I already am hopping on craigslist looking for someone trying to dump a large tank to have a centerpiece for my living room. =)

Everything sounds about right except for the scrubber. Thats just adding clutter and complication to your tank. One piece of advice im gonna throw out there is keep it as simple as possible. You dont reallyneed anything more. Just do your refular water change and keeep.your feedings in check.

One equipment I would hihhly recommend though is an RoDi unit, whenever you can afford one. Let me tell you it will make yourlife 100x easier and youre not gonna be feeling lazy when it comes time for a water change.

 

[bigfruits]

I agree, don't bother with the algae scrubber. With a tank of that size, you don't even need a skimmer if you do regular water changes.

What kind of bulbs does it use? What coral do you plan on keeping?

 

[cougareyes]

Sounds like you got it going on. In the middle compartment of your media basket you could add some purigen, which is a great resin that does need to be put in a special bag because it's so fine, this is completely unnecessary but I use it and like it. And yes you will be able to grow alot of coral with the stock lighting and you do have to change them like your lfs suggested. I would suggest staying with the stock lighting while you learn, find out what you like and are good at, and kill things that are not that expensive yet.

 

[JoeyH08]

I agree, don't bother with the algae scrubber. With a tank of that size, you don't even need a skimmer if you do regular water changes.

What kind of bulbs does it use? What coral do you plan on keeping?

They are 50/50 36 watt, 10k day and 7100 acintic blue. As for what kind of coral Id like to keep? Is all of them a good answer? lol. I dont really know all the differences in corals, yet, but Im reading and learning. I dont really plan on keeping fish beyond maybe a clown or two for my wife. I really like coral.

Thanks for the replies!

:fish1::fish1:

 

[Natereef]

They are 50/50 36 watt, 10k day and 7100 acintic blue. As for what kind of coral Id like to keep? Is all of them a good answer? lol. I dont really know all the differences in corals, yet, but Im reading and learning. I dont really plan on keeping fish beyond maybe a clown or two for my wife. I really like coral.

Thanks for the replies!

:fish1::fish1:

Soft corals like zoanthids, mushrooms, star polyps, xenia are pretty much bullet proof, they also dont need high lighting. For lps look at blastomusa, and acans. If you want to keep sps ime the easiest are montipora like digitata and capricornis.

 

[bigfruits]

They are 50/50 36 watt, 10k day and 7100 acintic blue.

It sounds like they are power compact bulbs? If so, you might be a bit limited on the coral you can keep.