Totally new to this and need you to basically hold my hand and walk me through it

Clown_Loach_Kid

Clown_Loach_Kid

Large Fish
#1
Apr 22, 2004
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#1
Ok, I've done great with freshwater aquariums*celebrate and now I want to try a nano tank:eek: I've got a spare ten gallon I've had sitting around and it's in fine condition:cool: now being that I know nothing about taking care of saltwater fish or living rock and corals and stuff:D I need all the help I can get, so I would really appreciate some replies and some links to reliable sites, I registered at the http://www.nano-reef.com forum but am still waiting for my account to be activated:eek: so please help me:)
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#6
Oct 22, 2002
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#6
"Totally new to this and need you to basically hold my hand and walk me through it "

I mean, nobody can do it without writing a book...

as I stated, a ten is a small tank to start with, i didn't say it was "to(o) small" i just said it was small...i would reccomend something bigger (what happened to your parents 55?)

as far as what to do, maybe you should start by reading your book, it might help you get started...and if your parents kept SW fish maybe you should ask them too...it is just a lot of information to type out (AGAIN) when it has already been coverd copiously...plus i am old and crotchety
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#7
Oct 22, 2002
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#7
I too am old and crotchety, and I've already talked thro' building a 30. my honest advice is go read the books - it's hard work for us to walk you thro it, and you're in a better position yourself if you know why you're doing things.
The brightside is that it's not that difficult if you can figure out how live rock works, what lighting you really need for a shallow tank, what to do with evaporation problems and maintenance
 

Clown_Loach_Kid

Clown_Loach_Kid

Large Fish
#8
Apr 22, 2004
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#8
Ok, my parents gave their tank away before I was even born, and they gave it to my uncle who sold it to somebody and who the heck knows were it is now, my other preoblem is I can't afford another 55 gallon since I not to long ago bought one and I have it all set up with freshwater fish and fully planted so that ruled that one out, I really don't care if it's much work to maintain a 10 gallon instead of a 55 gallon but I don't have the money or the room for the tank that big. I'm responsible with my fish and I'm sure once I've figured out the whole Live rock live samd corals thing I'll be fine but I need help with it. And the book I have from my parents WAS probably a great book at the time but I'm totally iggnorant to saltwater fish and even I see stuff that is outdated and stuff. Like when this book was writen like the only saltwater fish ever spawned was the comman clownfish. And some guy in Japan or China or whatever just had a breakthrough having a tank without filters except for live rock and live sand and all that stuff. And almost all the fish for saltwater aquariums are wild caught. And it really doesn't tell you ANYTHING about nano tanks except it has never been done.
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#9
Oct 22, 2002
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#9
OK then first of all have you read the New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paletta? This is a very nice starter book explaining what you are going to do. It is not nano specific, but does have a 'cookbook' for a 10 or 15 gallon that is very good.
This is quite a cheap book. If you think this book is too much money you are horribly wrong as pretty soon your nano will start eating money, especially if you screw up a few times.
This advice will sound harsh, but you are better off doing this reading rather than not.
Or - what's on your shopping list for a nano now, and why. What are you going to do for filtration?
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#11
Oct 22, 2002
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#11
OK, that's a decent start. For a 10 try to see and buy the best rock you can. This isn't the cheapest way to do it, but will likely work best. For a 10 I wouldn't bother mucking around with mail order or mixing live with base - you are going to buy that much anyway.
Is there any chance you can get a 15 or a 15 high or are you really locked to 10. You are at a size there where you should try to scrape in every 2 or 3 extra gallons you can.
What do you plan to keep in the tank. This controls the lighting.

For me the real killer for nanos is evaporation. You can easily evaporate a couple of pints plus a day and that wil possibly be fatal in that size tank. That's why you don't see many opentop nanos. You really need a hood, else you're going to need daily maintenance or an autotopup (pricey). I travel routinely for up to a week at a time - that makes nanos a nono for me.

I don't think you need a skimmer on this size tank , but weekly or twice weekly 1 gallon changes are going to be more than helpful
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#13
Oct 22, 2002
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#13
Oh, a 20 is just a ton more stable than a 10 so that's a very, very good move. It's not just stability, but typically even the most peaceful easy marines are still pretty chippy to similar fish.
Water circulation? (2 *100 gallons per hour powerhead)
Lighting? (Read what do you realistically want)
Live rock - can you get it locally?
Substrate
Test kits? Which freshwater ones do you have, can use in marine. You need functioning pH, ammonia, kH and nitrate. Nitrite is pretty much nontoxic in marine conds.
Hydrometer
Salt

Possible others - shrimp?
Feather dusters?
Banana wrass, 6 line (how long is your 20?)
Small blennies, gobies?
Real easy polyps?
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#14
Oct 22, 2002
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#14
if you get a twenty i would pay the extra $20 and get a twenty long over a standard twenty...i got a standard twenty simply because i could not find a 20 long locally and i would much prefer the 20L (which naturally showed up a month after I got started on the 20S)

i think your plan sounds pretty good. Those test kits will be critical, and as wayne mentioned, dont skimp on live rock. On a somewhat related note, to save a little cash, if you have an old HOB filter you can use it as a quasi-powerhead. Just remove the filter media and run it empty...does the same thing as a powerhead. Furthermore, you can add some LR rubble to the cartridge box and thus increase the amount in your display tank without cluttering the tank

as far as your hood, is this the standard black plastic one which comes with many tanks? if this is the case, depending on how you do your lighting, this may not work out for you. I know that on a 20 this is not a feasable option. You simply cannot get enough light through the one strip of glass on a 20. Maybe on a ten you could use a single 55w PC which should be sufficient for softies...all things to consider

What I would do is create an excell file (or something similar) with a shopping list of items you need, their prices, and the order you need to purchase them, and use that as reference. Will help you stay organized. Also, that way, if you have more than one option for how you think you will set the tank up you can compare them side by side
 

Purple

Purple

Superstar Fish
#15
Oct 31, 2003
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#15
Nice to see how this thread is turning around. I agree completely with the initial reaction that the subject is way too complicated to talk someone through every stage of it - writing the book in effect. And yet more and more advice has come into effect without any posturing or criticism.

We do have some very competent SW people here - some of them have previously given me excellent advice on FW too.

It just serves to remind me of how lucky we are to have this particular forum - a place where no-one is ignored or excluded - a team effort if you will.......

Nice one guys.....
 

Clown_Loach_Kid

Clown_Loach_Kid

Large Fish
#16
Apr 22, 2004
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shadowawsome.proboards28.com
#16
I've figured out a bunch of stuff on http://www.nano-reef.com/forums and I'm working on finding the supplies. I'm planning on getting another test kit for my SW because I am going to have the tanks at basically seperate ends of the house, and it will just make my life easier. The don't sell 20L around here, the barely sell the normal 20s. I'm going to put the water and the live sand in it and cycle it for a month, then put a cleaning crew of 1 snail per gallon (not turbo because they have been known for knocking stuff over) and mabey a few more peaceful crabs that won't pick away at the coral that I will be putting in later on. This is weird, I actually sound like I know what I'm doing :-D
 

Chriss

Chriss

New Fish
#20
Jun 13, 2004
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#20
Glad you started this thread

Originally posted by Clown_Loach_Kid
It's a old FW tanks so it already has the hood so that's no worry. I'm thinking about getting a 20 just so I can have more elbow room :-D . Oh and I plan on keeping a pair of Amphiprion ocellaris clown fish (basically the common type).
Click to expand...
I'm really glad you started this thread. My LFS is keeping a clown fish and blood shrimp in a 5 gal. bow front with some nice rock. It's a intriguing concept and way to branch into saltwater. We've currently got a 2-10 gal and 55 gal freshwater community tanks and a 29 gal cichlid tank.
I've wanted to ask about nano reefs and just hadn't. I'd like to hear more about your experience when you get your setup going.
 

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