11 gal nano-reef

[mrfootball70]

ok...my GF got me a Viaaqua 11 gal tank..came with powerhead & helios 38 watt 10K & blue atinic PC bulbs...
as of yet I don't plan on running a skimmer or filter..substrate is (so far) 2" of aragonite & crushed coral...going to add 2 lbs of live sand, about 12lbs of live rock, a clean up crew (snails & hermit crabs) and possbily some macro algae to prevent any algae blooms...not sure of what corals & fish I'm going add yet...any suggestions????

[eseow]

As for SW tank, if you go no skimmer, then change water every 2 weeks (about 3 gallons). As for substrate, try to get a good detrivore kit (worms, pods, etc.,) for your live sand. You could use sugar size arogonite, mixed with some live sand (pre-bagged), and some GARF grunge  (has some rubble in it, you may want to sift out the large pieces)to make the live sand active. You'll probably want some 2 cerith, 2 nerite, and 2 astrea snails, 1-2 red legged and 1-2 blue legged hermits, and maybe a sally light foot (not really needed for such a small tank though). As for fish, you may want Damsels only at first, but you could put a Percula Clown (one), and maybe a neon goby and a 4 striped Damsel (not as aggresive as Blue Devil Damsel. Try maybe one fish at a time. Get a test kit to monitor your wtaer quality before adding more livestock. This way you'll know if your tank maintainence is up to snuff. If you want a skimmer, I would recommend a CPR Bak II Reef if your running live rock (high recommend it). It will go up a 60 gallon tank if you change out later, thirty gallon tank IMO though. Also, get tank up first with sand and live rock, get some detrivores next, add a fish of two, then get clean up crew about 2 weeks after. They snails and crabs won't have much eat in a new tank. Also make sand about 3 inches deep at least. The macro algae can help and hurt your tank with algae bloom or nuisance algae. IMO, your going to have an Algae cycle, about 2-4 months into the tank. It will probably be brown diatom algae, this should subside in about a month or two. Later ey*

[mrfootball70]

thank ya for the 411...my thinking with adding the clean up crew 1st is they can help "cycle" the tank...and i'll feed the crew lightly with regular food...not even going to bother with damsels...also won't the detrivores be in the live sand & live rock??...I'm running RO & Distilled water..will this help prevent the the brown algae?? and do you think the lighting is not adequate or tank size for that matter for an anenome (pacific or atlantic)??...wadda ya think??

[eseow]

As for lighting, is it two 38 watt bulbs or combined wattage? Anyway, at 11 gallons and 38 watts total your at 3.45 watts per gallon, which is good. If its more than 38 watts, you have more than enough. The other thing to is feed the Anemone, its eats also. Also, it needs clean water, so skimmer is better suited for this tank if thats being kept. Now, as for algae bloom, your main enemy is going to be Phosphates, which can come from food you feed (make sure if you feed flake or pellets, its marine food, which less likely have phosphates as like freshwater food), and Nitrates. Good efficient skimmers help to reduce or eliminate both by removing the wastes from the water before nitrifying bacteria can consume it and by adding a little Kalkwasser to keep PH and calcium up, it will bond to phosphates and remove it. But, if you change water out regularly and not overstock/feed tank, this will not be a problem. With damsels, they are hardy, and will be able to tolerate any mistakes or cycles your tank go through. Perculas Clowns are another alternative since you want anemone. As for live sand, are you purchasing it pre-packed in sealed bags, or actual real ocean live sand. It pre-packed sand has the bacteria cultures, but southdown sand or detrivore kits will make a much more diverse live sand. I've had good results with GARF's grunge. I used about 4 pounds sifted into my sand bed, added alot of microfauna to the sand. So far, i've seen flat worms, amphipods, copepods, spagetti worms and even snails growing from a 10 gallon "q" tank I seeded with only two pounds. You will get these in your live rock also, so thats another alternative. Also, test your RO & distilled water. I added a DI canister to my RO only unit. Small tanks can bloom if excess nutrients are added from make-up water or replacement water. Plas DI units last loger when feed RO water, since 95-98 percent of the impurities are removed already. You can ck it with a TDS meter. My RO produces 3 PPM's, and after the DI, 0 PPM (pure).  I would at least add one fish with the clean-up crew. This way what ever the fish doesn't eat, will be picked up by clean-up crew. Also, have the live rock in when they go in also. They eat off the live rock too. IMO, two clowns, maybe a neon goby, clean up crew, live rock, 2-3 inch live sand, BakPak II Reef skimmer, and if you can keep the water quality up and clean, then consider the Anemone. I would also add a little Macro Algae, but a little, because if you place a large amount and it dies back due to lack of nutrients or too drastic of a change in water quality, it will release all the absorbed nutrients into the water froo nuisance algae to grow off of! Also, run the tank fist and see how hot it gets, try to make sure it goes no higher than 80 deg F. Later, ey*

[mrfootball70]

actually two 16 watt bulbs 10k & blue atinic =36 watts (math used to be my strong point)...real live sand 2lbs & about 12lbs of rock...hoping this will contain enough detrivores...getting everything tomorrow..sand, rock & clean up crew...running 100-watt ebo jager heater (overkill, but using it to stabilize temps)... zoo med oscillating power head(200 gph), running with "regular" viaaqua (100 gph??)powerhead that came with tank...going too see how long I can avoid using a skimmer     ( i'm good about lightly feeding my tanks & will keep stocking levels low) haven't tested the RO water - buying it from very knowledgable LFS so I trust quality - distilled is from wally world and I thought that distilled is as pure as water could get?? and if they have a detrivore kit, i'll get it with the clean up crew...let this run for a couple weeks and the get some fish and some coral....THANK YA for the info...I'll keep ya posted!!!

[mrfootball70]

wow..seems longer than a month that my nano has been up & running...lots of time and money later...seems to ok...if I can give any advice for fellow nano rookies -DON'T RUSH!!!- lost some nice fish because of my impatience....here's what I have going right now -
hardware:
36 watts of pc light (may add another 13 watts)
aquaclear 150 (occasional mech. filtration & running some chemipure right now)
1 powersweep &  1 aqua clear powerheads
100 watt ebo (has turned on maybe twice)

wetware:
15 lbs live rock (will add more as I get more corals)
4 lbs live sand (on top of aragonite & crushed coral)
1 pj cardinal
1 yellow goby
1 cleaner shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
corals are: yellow polyp, xenia, star polyp, red mushrooms, green mushrooms, colt coral & two other misc polyps
clean up crew: 3 hermits & 3 bumble bee snails

maintenance:
weekly 2 gal H20 change (RO & dist)
alteranting daily additives (try to use all seachem prods)
reef calcium
reef complete (their version of kalk?)
reef trace
reef plus
top off H20 = RO + reef buffer or RO + reef carbonate

whew!

[eseow]

I always go slow and monitor the tank. Anyway, sound like you have your hands full like I did. Sounds quite crowded on the shrimp though. I've run ViaAqua VA80 power heads with no heat or impeller problems with a Red Sea wave maker. There 80 gph adjustable and very small units. You can probably give those a try also. Helps me circulate phytoplankton and food throughout the tank. Be somewhat careful on nutrient dosing in small tanks. It don't take much to get unwanted growth in these tanks. Anyway, good luck. ey*

[mrfootball70]

good point on the powerheads...i know the powersweep runs warm..could be the cause of my tank runnin @ 80 degs...the
shrimps are defense..pepps for aiptasia (had a big out break upon tank start up) and cleaner shrimp for when I try and add a couple more fish (heard they will help with/prevent ich)..add i do dose a bit heavy/variety and just started with some phyto as well, but I am very good about H20 changes...how much was your wave maker??

[eseow]

Red Sea Wave Master Pro was $109 @ BigAl's when I got it. Its now $129. I bought it also because I later plan on a bigger tank anyway. It works great. I think www.aquatictech.com/electronics.html has them cheaper than BigAl's for $115. They've been pretty good on pricing lately. The VA80's were 7.95 from www.ffexpress.com/drygoods/powerheads.htm but now are $5.99 on closeout!. I think I'll pick some more pumps from them. I like the low wattage use. The VA80 is only 2.7 watts. Very low for 79 gph pump!