Another Ongoing Nano Reef Build Thread

[andycore]

Hey there!

Yet another long time reader of the forums here. This place has been so fantastic in information and planning before I went ahead and purchased anything, I figured it would be the least I could do to join up and share my journey with you all, and to get input and hopefully corrections on mistakes I make in planning before I actually go out and make them.
This will be my first foray into non freshwater fish keeping. I've kept tropical fish for a long time without any real research or care beyond the standard pH/ammonia/nitrate tests and somehow managed to succeed (now with further reading, I'm shocked that it worked at all!), and will eventually like to set this up as a reef tank, so I'm trying to make my decisions and purchases with that in mind way down the line. I got the idea first at a LFS (well, local to a friend of mine, an hour from me) where there was a beautiful nano reef setup in the exact tank I had at the time, a 70L AquaOne AR510. I had to wait until I moved out to do it, but here we are, and I've just picked up two new tanks (one freshy and currently cycling, one salt water and ready to be worked on, also the reason I'm here).

I managed to score an AquaOne AR620 and it's stand off the net for AUD$100... It's a 90L tank with the added bonus of having a 24" hood, which luckily for me came with 24" "Bio-Lux" T8 lights rather than the compact fluoros, so I'm going to upgrade to a T5HO system when I'm further along the setup process.

For now, the tank is filled with SW and basically doing nothing. I can't measure my SG just yet as I'm still waiting for my refractometer to arrive, hopefully Monday or Tuesday. I've hooked up a heater set for 24 deg, but haven't seen it on yet, as it's summer here and quite warm up where I live, my 70L freshwater tank sits about 25 deg on it's own without the heater even running on a warm day.

I'm still using the stock filtration system for now, the AR620 has a power head and spray bar combo that fills one compartment in the hood, which overflows into another, and finally overflows again into a down pipe back into the tank, somewhat similar to how I'd imagine a proper sump system would work. At present the filter compartments contain volcanic rock in the first compartment and ceramic noodles in the second, and the powerhead is turning over 440L/hr. I've also got a side hanging Rio Nano Skimmer that I'm planning on running for a few hours a week, after being advised that it doesn't have to run permanently on a tank once there is stock... If this is wrong, let me know, as it was LFS advice and I've learnt that it's not always the best advice!

I haven't got substrate or live rock just yet, however I'm about to put through an online order for AragAlive "Special Grade Reef", and I'm going to try to source a shopfront supplier for Live Rock tomorrow. I'm also ordering a Hydor Koralia Nano 900, as I've been reading that home mixed salt water needs to be agitated. Also on the list is the "master test kit" for salt water, the one that tests pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. There's a Reef kit available also, but I think I can get away with not having it until I'm well and truly set up and the tank is ready to have corals added to it?

In the mean time I'm going to keep reading, researching, and probably spending money to get things started... Mostly because the sooner things start up, the sooner the cycling period will be over

 

[GrayScale]

Sweet find and deal.

Personally, i'm not a fan of the hoods with built in filtration since its not quite as customizable but, I will say it helps remove clutter from the display and can be slightly modified.

First off, I would say remove the cermic noodles and im not too sure about that volcanic rocks but it might be a good idea to remove that too. Things loke this can collect detritus and larger food particles which can create a nitrate factory. Consider running some phosphate remover in one of those chambers. You might also be able to DIY a way to run chaetomorph(a type of macroalgae) for extra nutrient export in the other chamber.

What kind of tank are you looking for, live rock with just a couple fish and CUC(fowlr) or are you looking at going with a reef with corals etc..?

 

[andycore]

*snip*
First off, I would say remove the cermic noodles and im not too sure about that volcanic rocks but it might be a good idea to remove that too. Things loke this can collect detritus and larger food particles which can create a nitrate factory. Consider running some phosphate remover in one of those chambers. You might also be able to DIY a way to run chaetomorph(a type of macroalgae) for extra nutrient export in the other chamber.

What kind of tank are you looking for, live rock with just a couple fish and CUC(fowlr) or are you looking at going with a reef with corals etc..?

I've read lots about hoods not being the way to go, but as you said it does look a little bit nicer, so I'll put up with having to DIY it all. I'm pretty handy, and my dad's good with electrics so between us I don't think there's much we can't do

I only put the noodles and rocks in because it's what I had on hand, that's a very good point. I didn't have any foam to put over it to collect the larger particles either, what do you think about that? As for phosphate removers, a quick google search has yielded products like the "Octopus Bio Spheres", the description claims to reduce phosphate and nitrate, is that the sort of filter media you mean? I had some problems with the rocks floating and being sucked into the return pipe, as there is no mesh over it, which is also on my "modification to the filter box" list.

Just for an idea, that's what the filter area looks like. The foam in the third compartment is just to stop the loose rocks from being sucked back into the tank.

I'll look into the algae, perhaps for the first chamber, as I haven't heard of that before and would be worried about its growth into the downpipe area? You've given me a bit to research and look into though, so thanks for your input

I'm planning on going for a reef setup. It's going to be a lot of work and I'm not afraid of that, but it's my long term goal especially after seeing it successfully done in a smaller all-in-one tank.

 

[GrayScale]

For a phosphate remover, look into something like rowaphos or gfo. If you run chaeto in a chamber of the filter, between that and water changes, nitrates should be in check.

 

[steelhealr]

Personally, I don't like ceramic beads or bioballs. JMO. SH

 

[andycore]

Personally, I don't like ceramic beads or bioballs. JMO. SH

That's completely in line with the feeling I get about them from research. I've never actually used them in a live tank to be honest, the noodle things I have were just what was in the tank when I bought it. Best to trust the people in the know on this one and replace them

I picked up some Rowaphos at another fish store yesterday, I'd like to get the filter system set up before I add anything to the tank. As per the instructions I've installed it in the second filter chamber. I also noticed the "volcanic rock" I mentioned in an earlier post (it looks and feels like pumice) is a product called "Matrix"

Running Chaeto seems to be easier said than done, it doesn't seem so readily available here in Sydney, but I'm looking through a local forum for any more information. The reading I've been doing says that it needs light to grow well though, is that true? The biggest issue I'm having with research at the moment is all the conflicting information. If it needs the light I could look into waterproof LED's that I could rig up in the filter box to help it grow, provided the technology exists in the bulbs.