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My first saltwater tank

T

TheWire

Members
I recently purchased a nano cube 12g from Michael (Discusnafricans). Here are my setup

nothing special.first time saltwater...not sure if I am doing it right...

I have finally gathered the necessary equipments that needed to setup this used Nano Cube 12g DX.

Equipments:
NC12g DX
Stock light n/a
50W heater n/a
Hydro Koralia Nano
Stock Pump n/a
surface skimmer n/a
Hemnes Stand

Back chambers:
carbon with filter floss + sponge for now to clean the dust storm -free
any suggestions?
Plan
1st chamber : floos + sponge
2nd chamber: some live rock rubble, cheatos when I have a led light
3rd chamber: pump, heater and temperature reader



15lb of LR
unknown quantities of dead sand... -free



Soaking tank in vinegar mix
Picture170.jpg


With stand......
Picture173.jpg


Just filled it up with rocks, sand, and water
Picture188.jpg


Sand Storm
Picture191.jpg


Stock hood
Picture193.jpg


first hitchhiker
Picture198.jpg



Bad hitchhikers
Gorilla Crab (caught and give it to someone for his fuge tank)
Picture212.jpg

Majano Anemone (massive kalking battle with them)
Picture217.jpg


Tank as of today 10/11/09
Picture227.jpg

any suggestion on rock work? and any suggestion at all? when should I do water change? It's definitely cycling now. What's the SG/salinity level should be? Currently it is on 1.023

thanks
 
Spine

Spine

Members
Sounds like everything is alright for now. I would do weekly water changes and feed the tank lightly.
 
T

TheWire

Members
Spine said:
Sounds like everything is alright for now. I would do weekly water changes and feed the tank lightly.
Click to expand...


nothing yet in there

but planning to add CUC this week. Should I add all once? I am planning to get it from ReefCleaner minus the hermit crab, which I will be getting locally

7 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners
2 Nassarius
3 Florida Ceriths
2 Blue Legs
2 Nerite

I am thinking also get 1-2 emerald crab....good?
 
Jumbie

Jumbie

Members
Dude the tank look great! I would do any water changes for a while after its cycled than I would do weekly water changes.
 
Jumbie

Jumbie

Members
Don't do any water changes for about 2-3 weeks. You are going to see a lot of change in your tank over the next few days. A brown algae bloom would probably happen soon, dont worry its a nromal stage.
 
T

TheWire

Members
Jumbie said:
Don't do any water changes for about 2-3 weeks. You are going to see a lot of change in your tank over the next few days. A brown algae bloom would probably happen soon, dont worry its a nromal stage.
Click to expand...


cool also i have been leaving light mostly off during my short cycle..
 
C

Cartel

Members
Sweet! Looks good cant wait to see how it progresses. I have been really looking into starting nano reef. At first I did not want anything to do with SW but it has grown on me. Mainly I want to get an ADA rimless tank with minimal equipment just a nice clean setup with very little life stock. We'll see how if it happens but im doing lots of reading.
 
T

TheWire

Members
Cartel said:
Sweet! Looks good cant wait to see how it progresses. I have been really looking into starting nano reef. At first I did not want anything to do with SW but it has grown on me. Mainly I want to get an ADA rimless tank with minimal equipment just a nice clean setup with very little life stock. We'll see how if it happens but im doing lots of reading.
Click to expand...


that how I was started lol.....never thought I would get into sw. When a tank up for sale, i couldn't pass up the deal...
 
Lively

Lively

Members
If you get it going right, you shouldn't have to do many water changes at all - mainly to add back used minerals. It's not impossible to get the complete nitrogen cycle going with a salt.
 
Lively

Lively

Members
Does it have two lights? I see it has two light bulbs - but it has two switches, right?

Spine is right - you need to have the light or lights on a day schedule - its the coraline (I think that is how you spell it) algae that you want to grow - it is crucial to the salt cycle.
 
T

TheWire

Members
10-4 on lights. I read conflicting info about the lights...until today lol

It has 2 24W 50/50 CF lights. The main light has one switch to turn both on unfortunately and also the moonlight switch. I am thinking switching to LED someday
 
Lively

Lively

Members
That's odd... does it have a built in timer? Not much point of a moon light if the "sun" light comes on with it... lol
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
cmcpart0422 said:
What fish are you going to put into it?
Click to expand...

I vote hippo tang. :)

Nah, honestly, looks great Kam. One thing that will make your life easier is setting up an auto-topoff. Built mine in the third chamber of my 6 gallon Biocube using parts from floatswitches.com, an old extension cord and an aqualifter pump. Think the whole thing ended up being somewhere around $25.

One less thing you need to worry about - salinity shifts from evaporation.
 
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