Nick's Nano

[ngiovas]

After lurking for several months and reading as much as I can about starting up a reef tank, I decided it would be good to start my own build thread so I can track my progress and post questions. I was heavily into fresh water fish when I was very young up through my twenties, but took a break after having kids and moving across the country. I wanted to setup a fish tank again, but was finally ready to try salt water.

I will keep the first post up to date with my equipment list as I progress. I will also be posting questions as I go to help me make the right decisions for my build. I haven't set anything up yet, but have started researching and collecting equipment. I welcome any and all feedback.

Equipment list:

• Waterbox 20 All In One Nano Tank and stand (ordered, but not expected to ship until the end of June)
• Light: AI Prime 16 HD with rigid mount (purchased)
• Salt: Tropic Marin Pro-Reef Sea (purchased)
• Sand: CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Sand - 20 lbs (purchased)
• Heater: Build Reef Supply 100W Titanium Heater Element (purchased)
• Heater Controller: Ranco Temperature Controler (purchased)
• Return Pump: AI Axis 40 (planned) feedback?
• Rock: TBD
• Test Kits: Salifert
• Dual Deionization Canisters: Bulk Reef Supply
• Water Mixing Tank: TBD
• Auto Top Off: Considering Tunze Osmolator 3 (thoughts?)

Further updates to come as I purchase more equipment and start to setup my tank.

 

[ngiovas]

I will post some of my thought process on my equipment decisions here so I can keep track and so others who are searching will know.

I already purchased an AI Prime 16 HD LED Reef Light. I know that lights can get quite expensive. The AI Prime seemed like a good balance of quality, features and price, so I started looking at them used. I ended up finding one that was in great condition and included the rigid 90 degree mount for $105.00 on Facebook Marketplace. When I tested it out before buying it, it worked when controlled by the app, but the power switch wasn't working. I was hoping I could fix the switch and was willing to take the risk since the price of a new light without the mount is currently $265 online.

When I got the light home, I completely disassembled it and cleaned it up. Other than some dust on the filter screen, it was in great shape. I then went through the factory reset process a couple of times before I got the switch to start working. Now the light looks and operates like new. I feel like it was well worth the price I paid.

Of course, I will ask questions and provide feedback once I get the tank setup.

 

[CO2TLEY]

I have the same tank. Good choice, i would highly recommend going with live rock for the build. If i went back thats one thing i would change with mine

 

[ngiovas]

I ordered 20 pounds of the CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Sand from Amazon, but shipped from Petco because I couldn't find it in stock locally and it was only $25 delivered. It arrived yesterday, but it seemed like an awful lot of sand for a 20 gallon tank. It ends up that I received 40 pounds of Aragonite dry sand instead of 20 pounds of the Arag-Alive. I'm not sure if there is a major difference, but my understanding is that the Arag-Alive comes wet and includes beneficial bacteria. Amazon offered to replace it for free without shipping back the wrong item. I guess I will hang on to the original bag just in case someone local can use it.

I don't even have my tank yet, so there is no hurry to get everything together. I have decided this will be a slow methodical build to increase my chance of success.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[ngiovas]

Last night I was scanning Facebook Marketplace and came across a free 8 gallon all in one tank someone was giving away because it had some scratches on the acrylic. It was close by, so I picked it up thinking it might be a good quarantine tank. It came with a pump, LED light, heater and filter media.

The light flickers, so I will have to open it up and see if it can be repaired. I'm not sure that a light is critical for a fish quarantine tank. The pump is loud but seems to work fine. This will likely go in my basement, so noise isn't a concern. I may try to polish out the scratches, but I likely won't put a ton of effort into it. Since I will only have a 20 gallon nano display tank, I figured an 8 gallon quarantine tank will be fine to start with. I will only be adding one or two fish at a time.

 

[ngiovas]

I received my rock today. I didn't want to spend a fortune, so I decided to go with AF Rock Mix. It is normally $120 for 22 lbs, but it was on sale for $65 at BRS, plus I had a $15 credit from points, so it was only $50 shipped.

It is more rock than I will need for a 20 gallon cube, but it gives me options. below is one of the layouts I am considering. Note that there is a blue line on the cardboard on the right side and behind the rock. that is the edge of the tank. I may knock off a couple of small bits of rock to give me more room between the rock and the glass for cleaning. The highest point on the rocks is 10" and the top of the tank is at 15". Is 5" enough clearance? I welcome feedback as I have no idea what I am doing .

 

[ngiovas]

It has been a while since I last posted. I have been traveling for work and haven't had much time to post, but I did make some progress on the tank setup. Some mistakes were made, but hopefully I will learn from them.

I got my rocks in the tank and also put the in the sand. Mistake one was that I think my sand may be too thick. I figured 20 lbs would be just right for a 20 gallon tank, but with the amount of space my rocks take up, the sand ended up being thicker than anticipated. I probably should remove some. My understanding is the the sand should be about an inch thick, but it is more like 3 inches thick.

The second issue was after filling the tank with water, I decided to shift the rocks a bit, but I didn't glue them very well and they came apart. I tried to re-glue them while in the water and they didn't end up like I had hoped. The other issue is that most of the archway under the rocks was filled with sand.

As far as cycling the tank, it has been running with no filter for about 6 weeks. I added some Fritz Turbo Start 900 after putting in the water. My ammonia is at 0 and my Nitrates are around 40. I assume I need to do a water change to bring them down.

I feel like I am ready to get some fish, so I went ahead and set up a 10 gallon quarantine tank with a HOB filter and a sponge filter. I am running no carbon in the filter - only floss and some ceramic media. I plan to add some fritz to the tank and let it run for a couple of weeks. Then I should be ready for a couple of clown fish.

I am open to any and all feedback.

 

[Tactical Reefkeeping]

Cool tank can’t wait to it up and running with corals.

 

[aliceb]

After lurking for several months and reading as much as I can about starting up a reef tank, I decided it would be good to start my own build thread so I can track my progress and post questions. I was heavily into fresh water fish when I was very young up through my twenties, but took a break after having kids and moving across the country. I wanted to setup a fish tank again, but was finally ready to try salt water.

I will keep the first post up to date with my equipment list as I progress. I will also be posting questions as I go to help me make the right decisions for my build. I haven't set anything up yet, but have started researching and collecting equipment. I welcome any and all feedback.

Equipment list:

• Waterbox 20 All In One Nano Tank and stand (ordered, but not expected to ship until the end of June)
• Light: AI Prime 16 HD with rigid mount (purchased)
• Salt: Tropic Marin Pro-Reef Sea (purchased)
• Sand: CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Sand - 20 lbs (purchased)
• Heater: Build Reef Supply 100W Titanium Heater Element (purchased)
• Heater Controller: Ranco Temperature Controler (purchased)
• Return Pump: AI Axis 40 (planned) feedback?
• Rock: TBD
• Test Kits: Salifert
• Dual Deionization Canisters: Bulk Reef Supply
• Water Mixing Tank: TBD
• Auto Top Off: Considering Tunze Osmolator 3 (thoughts?)

Further updates to come as I purchase more equipment and start to setup my tank.

I’ve heard good things about the axis 40 especially when in tight chambers. I’m upgrading to it in my 25 waterbox.

 

[ngiovas]

A quick update on my tank. The display tank is still running, but with no fish yet. I did do a 25% water change to get the nitrates down below 40. I have also been running a quarantine tank with no sand or rocks for several weeks. It has a hang on back filter and a large foam filter. I was hoping the foam filter would allow some bacteria to grow to help keep the ammonia down slightly during quarantine.

I put in some Turbostart 900 and ran it for a few weeks. I then did a water change and added two very small clownfish last Tuesday. I hav done a couple of water changes to keep the ammonia down, but after doing a 100% water change this morning, the ammonia levels were back up at 0.09ppm 4 hours later. This seems to be really high for having just done a large water change. Is the residual water in the filters enough to keep the ammonia up that much? Is the foam filter really helping with beneficial bacteria? I was hoping to be able to go 4 days between water changes and maintaining an acceptable ammonia level.

Does anyone have any suggestions?