12 gallon nano reef, help needed please

[spanner28]

hi, can someone please answer these questions for me.

do i use live rock as well as live sand or can you just use live rock and coral sand ?

how many watts of lighting would i need to grow some of the easier corals ?

whats the minimum amount of living rock i could get away with in this tank because im trying to do it as cheaply as possible ?

do i need to use a protein skimmer or not ?

would a red scooter blennie be suitable for this set up ?

i would appreciate any answer because im am trying to work out the rough cost of setting up a tank as a nano reef

thanks

[crimsontsavo]

Go to www.nano-reef.com

There are alot of people there that know a whole lot about nanos.
Read the pinned posts first though. HTH's!

[crimsontsavo]

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/373934.html

Red Scooter Blenny

[Integracer]

Live sand will help your tank cycle faster (so you can add fish sooner). If you mail order rock, definatly try to get live sand locally. If you get rock locally, then live sand is not as necesarry. Eventually dead sand will become live. If you have a friend with a reef(or a fish store), get a pound or two of their sand and mix it with dead sand for a cheap alternative. You should try to do about 1 lb/gal of rock. I have 1.8 lbs/gal. You could get away with 1/2 lb/gal but don't add to many fish. More rock means you can add more fish and do fewer water changes. You can always add more rock in the future, but you must make sure it is cured!!(meaning you get it from a running reef and put it in your in a matter of an hour or two)

Try to do at least 3-4 wtts/gal. I have 6.5 watts/gal and my soft corals grow quite fast. Hard corals seem to do ok closer to lights. PowerCompact lights are usually the way to go. Check Ebay for them.

As for the Blenny, they usually eat little live criters that live in your tank called amphipods and copepods. The critters take months to populate the tank, so you could try the Blenny in 8 months. In a 12 gallon, there is a chance the Blenny would eat all the critters in a short period of time, so a refuge would probably be nesesary. If you find one that eats prepared food, your all set. Make sure the store feeds him infront of you.

Check out Nano-reef.com!!! Look for me (Integracer)

[S.Reef]

I would personally add a small layer of live sand to the bottom. Just enough to cover about half an inch. As for live rock, I would shoot for about 10lbs. in a 12 gallon tank. I also strongly recommend a protein skimmer. As for lighting I would say 3-4 watts of light. This should probably come from compact fluorescents. Finally I believe you could add a scooter blenny to the system after it has matured for about 4 weeks.

Sam