Would Like To Go Nano But Need Some Details...

[fiskkeeperpro]

If u had an aqua clear freshwater filter, can i just stick with my juwel filter compact s, aswell as live rock. I getting my salt and sand 2moz 2 actually start my nano so not long now.

Also is this stocking alright
2 small clows
1 firefish
4 shrimp as cleaning crew(i dont know wot types)
1 starfish (i dont know wot type)

Before stocking i will definitely do my research and try and get help of here.

 

[kkyyllee]

your stoking sounds fine just remember to add the firefish first or else it will be killed, for cuc i would say get 5 blue leg hermits, 5 astrea snails, 3 nas**** snaills, starfish will starve in nanos tho.

 

[parker313]

I'm sorry, I don't know anything about that kind of filter. Does it have a biowheel? If so, then I would remove the biowheel as they can become nitrate factories.

I would skip the shrimp and starfish and stick with snails and hermit crabs for your cleanup crew. If you do want a shrimp, research them carefully b/c there are many that are not suited for a nano. I only had one shrimp and didn't have good luck with it, so I can't advise much on that.

 

[andywg]

If you have a limited budget, I would recommend against a nano.

I, on the other hand, would recommend on reading up on how to cut costs by creating your own LR from cement, and converting shop halide lighting, thus reducing some of the heaviest costs in marine keeping (like I did).

3 - Yes, of course you need salt in the water! It's a salt water tank! It's aquarium salt though, not table salt.

Not sure about where you are from, but in the UK the above is incorrect. Aquarium salt is repackaged table salt. You need Marine Salt for a salt water tank. Big difference there.

4 - You need live rock b/c in a s/w tank, the LR will contain the majority of your biological filtration.

You don't need live rock, just that it has many benefits over most other types of filtration when doing a reef. It's perfectly possible to do a salt water tank without LR.

 

[andywg]

I'm sorry, I don't know anything about that kind of filter. Does it have a biowheel? If so, then I would remove the biowheel as they can become nitrate factories.

A biowheel itself will not become a nitrate factory. It is only any sponges before it that can become a nitrate fctory (and even then only if you completely fail to doo any upkeep on them).

I hate the "This isn't live rock therefore it is a nitrate factory" approach to a reef. Reefkeepers seem so prepared to take on testing for minor nutrients in the water and topping up every day, but seem unable to accept someone might rinse a sponge out once every fortnight or so. I would bet you are more likely to get nitrates from poorly designed flow patterns in a tank full of LR than you are from having a bio-wheel.

Bio-wheels are a huge advantage in that they can help process ammonia and nitrite (far worse than nitrate) extremely quickly.