Advice Needed On First Nano-Marine Setup!

[RobGoldsmith]

Guys

I want to spruce up my desk a little so I thought I would put a small reef on it (Ideally an All-In-One), obviously it cant take much weight but I am not overly interested in fish, just something bright and living! It needs to be small and as simple as possible! This will be my first go at a marine setup after years of freshwater so I am slightly scared after reading how hard it can be!

I have been researching solidly all week and have narrowed my choices down to something along the lines of these. I know this might be asking for trouble but the smallest aquarium size the better for me! (Get in less trouble)

TMC MicroHabitat 15

15 litres
£100
Video

Or

ORCA MT30 Nano

25 litres
£71.95
Video

I really am starting from scratch with this!
-Can someone please let me know if these will come with everything I need to run a small reef?
-Are any of these missing anything I would require?
-Have you heard of any issues with them?

I will be eternally grateful if someone could offer me some advice on either of these.

The reef will go in my bedroom, will these be noisier than my freshwater setup?

I know smaller tanks are meant to be harder and need more work but I am an avid fan and I know I will want to be playing with it so a few hours every week will be part of the hobby for me, not a problem!

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your replies! IF anyone has a better setup for a small desk then please share!

Thanks again!

Rob

 

[seffieuk]

to the salty side

Must admit to having toyed with the idea of one of those tmc tanks for my office, would look great with a shrimp, hermit and snail along with a zoa garden and some swaying xenia.

I dont believe salt tanks are any more diffiuclt than fresh water as long as you know the basics and keep up the maintance


Seffie x

 

[Harry1996]

My dad wants one of those TMC tanks for is office

I would get the tmc one as its comes with every thing.
Salt water tanks are noisy but that tmc one will be pretty quiet as its all powered by an air pump. But tbh you dont need a skimmer on a tank that small (most noisy part of a marine tank) so if it is loud then you could mod it

 

[DigitalStorm]

Aqua medic yasha?

 

[RobGoldsmith]

I have since got http/www.oceandisplays.co.uk/ to build me a custom setup 8" 10" 10" Pico reef.

Here is a list of what I am getting in the kit:
-Full built in filter system with 3 filter chambers and heater chamber.
-Hydor Theo 50w heater
-Eheim compact 300L
-Dymax robot led light
-Filter bags for the chambers.

Got a four week wait while it gets built Anyone care to keep me sane through the month by recommending any livestock that I might get in to a 13l (2.5gal) tank?

Rob

 

[MrLiam]

I don't think theres an awful lot of livestock you can add but maybe a small goby of some description.

Have you thought about starting a journal when it arrives.

 

[RobGoldsmith]

I was thinking shrimp or hermit crabs or something? What about star fish?

Yes I will keep a diary for sure, day one will read "Got tank, havent a club what to do with it, put it on desk and admire until tomorrow" haha

I am sure the excitement will lead to me having a rather in depth diary

 

[MrLiam]

Starfish generally need LARGE tanks so that probably wouldn't work as they will slowly starve.

 

[RobGoldsmith]

Here is my "to add" list"


1) TMC Sand 4KG - £6.19
2) Living Rock 1kg? - £12
3) D-D Refractometer? - £35
4) Chemi Pure Elite? - £4.99
5) RO Unit - £50ish (Prob get water from shop to start)
6) Thermometer - £2
7) Tetra Marine Salt 2kg - £7
8) API Liquid Saltwater Master Test Kit - £28.99

Tank ready in 4 weeks, looks like I will need that time to learn how to do everything! Am i missing anything? Would anyone recommend a digital thermometer over a stick on tank one?

 

[MrLiam]

Here is my "to add" list"


1) TMC Sand 4KG - £6.19 Good
2) Living Rock 1kg? - £12 Possibly 1.5 kg but 1kg is OK
3) D-D Refractometer? - £35 Good
4) Chemi Pure Elite? - £4.99 Unsure what it is im still a beginner
5) RO Unit - £50ish (Prob get water from shop to start) Ive got a 60l tank and 25 litres of RO (2.50)will last me about 4 weeks with 10% weekly water change.
6) Thermometer - £2 Good
7) Tetra Marine Salt 2kg - £7 Try and get D-D if possible as it is a popular brand.
8) API Liquid Saltwater Master Test Kit - £28.99 Thats quite expensive try ebay they go for £22 roughly.

Tank ready in 4 weeks, looks like I will need that time to learn how to do everything! Am i missing anything? Would anyone recommend a digital thermometer over a stick on tank one?

 

[RobGoldsmith]

Thanks I will stay away from the RO unit for now then! Will RO water be ok if i just poor in what i need every weekend? then leave the rest in the bottle for the coming weeks?

Thanks

 

[MrLiam]

Yes as long as it is covered when not in the tank. When going into the tank salty and warm.

 

[DigitalStorm]

Add to and salt to mix at startup, as no livestock in should be ok. Keep residual water in dark.

The salt question is personal, read up on it. There's a few sites out there that compare the main and not so main brands. It's interesting reading!

Chemi pure elite is fine, very similar to purigen, except purigen can be 'recharged'.


It's got good reviews, considering adding a bag to my setup.

 

[RobGoldsmith]

Just to clarify then

If I buy 25 l of RO water, I then add the salt mix to the 25l? The it can be used say 5L at a time over five weeks?
Rather than buy 25L and take out 5L at a time making the mix every time

Lastly, here is the super newb questions!
How hard is it to get the salt levels right when you top up?
And lastly how do you get it to the right temp?

Thanks
Rob

 

[MrLiam]

With the RO thats what im doing I mixed it all up with salt and just heat it up for the water changes.

When you say top up do you mean when it evaporates if so then you just use plain RO and the salinity is quite easy to get.