CrazyInside Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 As the title states i'm new to SW, and this forum! So i'll start off with a little about myself . My name is Matt, i'm 22 and went to MHCC for computer science, I now work at Image Graphics in Portland. I've always kept fresh water tanks, mostly fish that tend to kill others. I had arrowana, piranha and many other predator fish tanks. I started this nano tank about 3/4 months ago and sense then all of my freshwater tanks are gone except a 10g with a puffer that my gf said was to cute to get rid of . Tank specs: 24g jbj nano cube/ with stand 150w k2 viper lamp 14k bulb MJ 1200 pump Only running sponge in first bay, live rock in bay 2, heater/pump in 3 I've changed my live rock set up in the tank 3 times sense I started and I finally like what I have so here are the pictures! (cell phone pictures, kinda suck) Scooter blenny in the cave he claimed.. blurry :( So that's how it sits now, has clean up crew, 1 clown, 1 scooter blenny. Also i'd like a bulb that is more blue so if someone could reconmend one for me My next steps are going to be a soap dish in tank refuge to keep up the pod population for the blenny and I'm thinking a zoa garden on the rock in the front in the "court yard" area.(rocks left in the picture of the close up on clown, 3 pictures up) I'll keep this thread updated as I move on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 Welcome aboard Matt, glad to have ya. Couple of suggestions in the terms of gear: first, on the lights, I'd pick up the Phoenix 14k bulb, it's one of the nicest bulbs on the market and will really make your tank POP!!!!. second, I'd install at least one powerhead, and if you want to do just one, I'd highly recommend the Vortech MP-10ES, it's absolutely perfect for your tank and you will love all of its options, plus, it won't add more heat to the tank, which is always a plus. Other than that, I'm sure there's several of us around here who can hook you up with some nice zoos, I've got some nice greenish/blue PE's that I'm looking at selling and I know Alex n Jamie(grassi) and Beth n Kim(Emerald525 and tanktop74) have a lot more for sale than I do LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 might want to get a sifting watchman goby to aerate the substrate. I also upgraded my circulation pump to a RIO and added one of those wave maker attachments to the supply nozzle. You don't need halides if your just doing soft corals. They are nice but pretty darn expensive for a nano cube and add tons of heat to the water. I run my 29g cube on the stock power compacts and i get pretty good results. You may find yourself running a fan alot or having to get a chiller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyInside Posted May 31, 2010 Author Share Posted May 31, 2010 Welcome aboard Matt, glad to have ya. Couple of suggestions in the terms of gear: first, on the lights, I'd pick up the Phoenix 14k bulb, it's one of the nicest bulbs on the market and will really make your tank POP!!!!. second, I'd install at least one powerhead, and if you want to do just one, I'd highly recommend the Vortech MP-10ES, it's absolutely perfect for your tank and you will love all of its options, plus, it won't add more heat to the tank, which is always a plus. Other than that, I'm sure there's several of us around here who can hook you up with some nice zoos, I've got some nice greenish/blue PE's that I'm looking at selling and I know Alex n Jamie(grassi) and Beth n Kim(Emerald525 and tanktop74) have a lot more for sale than I do LOL. I actually have koralina that just isn't in the tank yet, I don't have any corals yet and the maxi 1200 is being split across the rocks and around the front so I figured this would be good for now, should I add it now? And if so where should I put it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 Yes yes you should LOL You want to keep the circulation in a SW tank 20x+ per hour turnover, I run mine at almost 50x if not more, and I know people who run their's even higher LOL. The Koralia's are nice, but the Vortechs are so much nicer, and you don't have to worry about heat exchange at all LOL. As long as you're keeping that open top, you should be ok on the heat, you may have to run a fan, but you shouldn't have to run a heater, I ran a 175w halide over my 20L, and it's only 12" deep, and never had a heating problem with it, even in the dead of summer when it get's hot as hell in my house LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 Yes, you can probably keep the heat down be fan only, it depends on the room temp of the house. You will get alot more evaporation with a fan and i agree, no heater will ever be needed. I have been from an 8G to a 15G to a 29G and i've had problems with to much heat up until i got the 29G, it finally buffers the heat enough that i don't have to do any cooling. I agree, more flow is better. That live rock is going to assist in your filtration and it won't work that well if its not getting good flow. Flow also helps prevent algae growth on the glass, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyInside Posted May 31, 2010 Author Share Posted May 31, 2010 Yes' date=' you can probably keep the heat down be fan only, it depends on the room temp of the house. You will get alot more evaporation with a fan and i agree, no heater will ever be needed. I have been from an 8G to a 15G to a 29G and i've had problems with to much heat up until i got the 29G, it finally buffers the heat enough that i don't have to do any cooling. I agree, more flow is better. That live rock is going to assist in your filtration and it won't work that well if its not getting good flow. Flow also helps prevent algae growth on the glass, etc.[/quote'] My house is 60-65 degrees year round so I ended up adding a heater to the tank just to keep it up haha, I had it with no heater for the first month and it was all over the place. I'm glad you mentioned something about the algae on the glass is due to flow.. I have to clean mine every day! I'm very anal about a clean tank because saltwater tanks are suppose to look good not have algae all over the glass.. I always thought it was my MH lamp that made it.. but if it's the flow i'll def add that koralina right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 What size Koralia is it? a nano or a 1, 2, 3, or 4? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 It will definitely help reduce the growth rate, but there are many factors to algae growth. One is a new tank is going to get algae growth from the first series of cycling, but it will disappear over time. High levels of nitrates (usually from overfeeding) and long light cycles will cause rapid algae growth. There are other causes as well but those are the main sources for beginning tanks. If your halides run for a long time then it will increase your algae growth rates. my daylights only run for 5-6 hours and my actinics run about 12 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 I used to have to scrub my glass every day from algae growth. i readjusted my flow towards the glass and now its more like once every 4 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyInside Posted May 31, 2010 Author Share Posted May 31, 2010 What size Koralia is it? a nano or a 1' date=' 2, 3, or 4? lol[/quote'] it is a 2 It will definitely help reduce the growth rate' date=' but there are many factors to algae growth. One is a new tank is going to get algae growth from the first series of cycling, but it will disappear over time. High levels of nitrates (usually from overfeeding) and long light cycles will cause rapid algae growth. There are other causes as well but those are the main sources for beginning tanks. If your halides run for a long time then it will increase your algae growth rates. my daylights only run for 5-6 hours and my actinics run about 12 hours.[/quote'] I run my lamp from 6 am tell 10pm.. I don't have any other lamps though.. I had a big algae growth about 6 weeks after tank was set up(added clean up crew) and now I Just get a little bit every now and then.. so looks pretty good in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 Wow dude, that's a LOT of light for a LONG time. You need to seriously cut that back, 10 hours is about the max you want to run your halides for. I would definitely start running your lights from 11am to 9-10pm at the very most. You may still need to add another powerhead, thats why I recommend the Vortech, one mp10 in that tank, and you wont have any dead spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 A K2 is perfect for that tank, anything more and you will be blowing things over. Nice looking tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 16 hours is too long to be running your lights. Try to stick with something closer to 12 or under. Your corals will get plenty of light to grow, your algae won't get as much, and you won't need to replace those spendy lights nearly as often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyInside Posted May 31, 2010 Author Share Posted May 31, 2010 I'd really like to find a led moon light that will attach to back of the tank like the k2 lamp and bend over the tank.. do they make those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 They make Halide pendants that have moonlights built in, check out Ebay for one and then look around some too, you'll find one no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyInside Posted June 1, 2010 Author Share Posted June 1, 2010 Okay so today I added my koralina like everyone suggested.. and I made my refugium box ... now I just need a few pieces of rubble LR and buy some cheato off of someone A few pictures: The glass looks dirty in two of the pictures because I just wiped it with a towel... you can see in the third picture it's clean again (anal) My camera takes crappy pictures.. this tank is actually blue looking :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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