Instructions for a 10-Gallon Nano-Reef
Set the tank on a level surface (when filled with water, the tank will weigh a good 120lbs at least), away from direct sunlight, drafts, and heater/AC vents. Rinse your sand in water (do NOT rinse live sand in freshwater because it will kill the good critters in it) and place on the bottom of your tank to create a surface about 1-2 inches deep. Place your power filter in the tank according to the manufacturers instructions. Do not plug in yet. Place your power head in as well on the opposite side of the tank from the filter. Do not plug in yet. Place your heater in the tank according to the manufacturers instructions and don’t plug it in yet. Place your thermometer opposite of the heater. Fill your 5-gallon bucket with water. Use the de-chlorinator according to the directions on the container. Add salt according to the manufacturers instructions (usually ½ cup per gallon of water) and test your water with the hydrometer. The specific gravity should be between 1.023 and 1.025. Adjust as needed (by adding more salt or more water). Do this (mix water in this way) until your aquarium is full (close to the rim of the tank). Install your protein skimmer (if you are using one) now according to the manufacturers instructions but do not plug in yet. Add your live rock making sure that it is stable and can’t fall. Try to create ledges for corals and leave room on the sand. Place the light bulbs in the hood and place on top of the aquarium. Plug all equipment into a GFCI outlet or power strip. Turn on your lighting. Allow the system to stabilize for 24 hours and then test the ammonia, pH, nitrite, and nitrate. When the test results show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, pH of 8.0-8.4 and nitrates are detectable (but low), you can add your first creatures (just a few). Once you add creatures, begin testing your tank once a week and whenever the nitrates get to about 30 ppm, change about half the water (Do this anytime you see 30 ppm). The first creatures you should add are some snails and hermit crabs to help with algae that the aquarium is about to get. Let these creatures be in the tank for 2-3 weeks so the system can stabilize again. Once the system is stable, you can start adding a few hardy corals. Add two or three colonies of polyps and/or mushrooms. Once the aquarium has stabilized again (2-3 weeks) you can add some more corals. At this time, you can add some soft tree corals and leather corals. Allow the system to stabilize again (2-3 more weeks) and you can add more soft corals, a few at a time waiting 2-3 weeks between every addition of creatures. Once the aquarium has been set up with creatures in it for 3 months, you can add a fish or two. Some of the best fish to add to a nano-reef are, clownfish, damselfish, and gobies. Let the tank stabilize for at least 2-3 weeks. At this point, you can add some LPS corals to the tank. Some LPS that will do well in this type of tank are open brain coral (Trachyphyllia), candy cane coral, and bubble coral. Only add one or two at a time and let the system stabilize for 2-3 weeks between the additions. Once you get to this point, you will have a thriving reef with some corals, fish, and a few invertebrates for cleaning up. Now, if you want to, you can add some more sensitive invertebrates such as feather dusters, and shrimp. Only add a few at a time and wait 2-3 weeks before adding more. Some shrimp that do well in a nano-reef (not at the same time) are peppermint shrimp, and cleaner shrimp (if you have seen Finding Nemo, you know about cleaner shrimp). Remember to go slow, and enjoy your nano-reef!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Setting up a Nano-Reef Part 1: The Cost of Setting up a Nano-Reef
Cost of Supplies for a 10-gallon Nano-Reef
10-gallon glass aquarium $12
Hood $10
Light bulbs for hood $24 minimum (2 @ $12 each. I paid more like $32 for mine)
Filter $15
Power head $15
Heater $15
Sand $10
Live rock $50 (10# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
Salt $10-12 (for a box that treats 25 gallons)
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket (Dedicated to AQUARIUM USE ONLY)$5
Thermometer $2
Hydrometer $10
Test kit (For pH, nitrite, and nitrate)$10
Ammonia test kit $10
Protein skimmer (BioCube skimmer)$30
A protein skimmer is not absolutely needed but it is useful.
Total (without skimmer): $203
Total (with skimmer): $233
Cost of a BioCube 8 Setup
BioCube8 $138
Heater $15
Sand $10
Live rock $40 (8# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
Salt $10-12 for a box that treats 25 gallons
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket (Dedicated to AQUARIUM USE ONLY)$5
Thermometer $2
Hydrometer $10
Test kit (For pH, nitrite, and nitrate)$10
Ammonia test kit $10
Protein skimmer (Optional) $30
Total (without skimmer): $255
Total (with skimmer): $285
Note about BioCube 8: It appears that Oceanic may have stopped making the 8 gallon BioCube. However, they still make the 14 gallon and the 29 gallon (not covered in this blog post).
Cost of a BioCube 14 Setup
BioCube 14 $169
Heater $15
Sand $10
Live rock $70 (14# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
Salt $10-12 for a box that treats 25 gallons
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket (Dedicated to AQUARIUM USE ONLY)$5
Thermometer $2
Hydrometer $10
Test kit (For pH, nitrite, and nitrate)$10
Ammonia test kit $10
Protein skimmer (optional) $30
Total (without skimmer): $316
Total (with skimmer): $346
All three of these systems will let you grow any soft coral and most LPS corals (large polyp stony) but NOT SPS. If you are NOT interested in growing any stony corals (LPS or SPS) than you can go with a Nano Cube 6-gallon which is slightly cheaper than the other all in one systems (not cheaper than the 10-gallon though). Price of setting one up is below…
Cost of a Nano Cube 6 Setup
Nano Cube 6 $120
Heater $15
Sand $10
Live rock $30 (6# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
Salt $10-12
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket (Dedicated to AQUARIUM USE ONLY)$5
Thermometer $2
Hydrometer $10
Test kit (For pH, nitrite, and nitrate)$10
Ammonia test kit $10
Protein skimmer (optional) $30
Total (without skimmer): $227
Total (with skimmer): $257
If you are willing to go all out and spend a lot of money, and are a beginner, the tanks listed below would be a better choice for a beginner reef (because they contain everything you need). All of these can support soft coral, LPS, and SPS as well as some clams.
Cost of a RedSea Max 130D (34 gallon system)
RedSea Max 130D: $850
Live Rock $190 (34# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket $5
(Dedicated to AQUARIUM USE ONLY)
Total cost (with skimmer because it comes with system): $1,050
Cost of a RedSea Max 250 (65 gallon system)
RedSea Max 250 $1,650
Live Rock $325 (65# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket $5
Total cost (with skimmer because it comes with system): $1,985
Keep in mind, these are the MINIMUM costs associated with having a reef tank. The cost of keeping the tank up won’t be as high as setting it up but is still expensive.
10-gallon glass aquarium $12
Hood $10
Light bulbs for hood $24 minimum (2 @ $12 each. I paid more like $32 for mine)
Filter $15
Power head $15
Heater $15
Sand $10
Live rock $50 (10# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
Salt $10-12 (for a box that treats 25 gallons)
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket (Dedicated to AQUARIUM USE ONLY)$5
Thermometer $2
Hydrometer $10
Test kit (For pH, nitrite, and nitrate)$10
Ammonia test kit $10
Protein skimmer (BioCube skimmer)$30
A protein skimmer is not absolutely needed but it is useful.
Total (without skimmer): $203
Total (with skimmer): $233
Cost of a BioCube 8 Setup
BioCube8 $138
Heater $15
Sand $10
Live rock $40 (8# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
Salt $10-12 for a box that treats 25 gallons
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket (Dedicated to AQUARIUM USE ONLY)$5
Thermometer $2
Hydrometer $10
Test kit (For pH, nitrite, and nitrate)$10
Ammonia test kit $10
Protein skimmer (Optional) $30
Total (without skimmer): $255
Total (with skimmer): $285
Note about BioCube 8: It appears that Oceanic may have stopped making the 8 gallon BioCube. However, they still make the 14 gallon and the 29 gallon (not covered in this blog post).
Cost of a BioCube 14 Setup
BioCube 14 $169
Heater $15
Sand $10
Live rock $70 (14# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
Salt $10-12 for a box that treats 25 gallons
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket (Dedicated to AQUARIUM USE ONLY)$5
Thermometer $2
Hydrometer $10
Test kit (For pH, nitrite, and nitrate)$10
Ammonia test kit $10
Protein skimmer (optional) $30
Total (without skimmer): $316
Total (with skimmer): $346
All three of these systems will let you grow any soft coral and most LPS corals (large polyp stony) but NOT SPS. If you are NOT interested in growing any stony corals (LPS or SPS) than you can go with a Nano Cube 6-gallon which is slightly cheaper than the other all in one systems (not cheaper than the 10-gallon though). Price of setting one up is below…
Cost of a Nano Cube 6 Setup
Nano Cube 6 $120
Heater $15
Sand $10
Live rock $30 (6# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
Salt $10-12
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket (Dedicated to AQUARIUM USE ONLY)$5
Thermometer $2
Hydrometer $10
Test kit (For pH, nitrite, and nitrate)$10
Ammonia test kit $10
Protein skimmer (optional) $30
Total (without skimmer): $227
Total (with skimmer): $257
If you are willing to go all out and spend a lot of money, and are a beginner, the tanks listed below would be a better choice for a beginner reef (because they contain everything you need). All of these can support soft coral, LPS, and SPS as well as some clams.
Cost of a RedSea Max 130D (34 gallon system)
RedSea Max 130D: $850
Live Rock $190 (34# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket $5
(Dedicated to AQUARIUM USE ONLY)
Total cost (with skimmer because it comes with system): $1,050
Cost of a RedSea Max 250 (65 gallon system)
RedSea Max 250 $1,650
Live Rock $325 (65# at $5 a pound. May be more or less)
De-chlorinator $5
5-gallon bucket $5
Total cost (with skimmer because it comes with system): $1,985
Keep in mind, these are the MINIMUM costs associated with having a reef tank. The cost of keeping the tank up won’t be as high as setting it up but is still expensive.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Dreary Saturday
Greetings to all on this wet and dreary Saturday! (Well, at least where I am it is). It has been REALLY cold lately and I am ready for a warm day or two! Smokey and Sunny have a new cat tree and they LOVE it! It has multiple condo parts and many perches and is a favorite spot already for them. I am teaching both Smokey and Sunny some “tricks” for mental stimulation (because they are indoor ONLY cats) and they seem to like it (or at least the treats that they get when they do something right!). My gerbil Clark is doing GREAT and makes lots of noise at night on the squeaky wheel in his cage. Fiona is doing great also and has decided that she likes running around my room when I let her out (she used to be too scared unless she was in a playpen) so I have to watch her to make sure she doesn’t chew on stuff or get somewhere I don’t want her to be. Gex and Seze (my African fat tailed gecko and leopard gecko) are doing great, although, since it has been cold, I’ve had to use Seze’s heat lamp a LOT lately. Seze’s cage is fixed up with rocks and wood and she likes to climb to the highest perch in her cage at night. This is a bit strange because leopard geckos are not normally climbers. This just goes to show, however, that you should probably provide climbing opportunities even if whatever animal you are getting is not normally a climber.
The fish tanks seem to be doing well although I did lose a guppy (my female) after she got a bacterial infection. I cured the infection, but then, she wouldn’t eat enough and eventually died a few days later. The marine community tank had to be restarted because of high nitrates (caused by crushed coral substrate and an under-gravel filter) and hair algae (caused by the high nitrates) but is now doing well. The reef tank is doing well and has a new coral in it that I added a week ago. It is a Kenya tree coral and is very cool! I am also going to be getting a green clown goby for the reef on Thursday of next week.
My sister’s cat Sox (named after, you guessed it, the Boston Red Sox) has been pretty sick lately but is getting better. She had eosinophilic granuloma complex, which is caused by an allergy to something. It all started back in August or September when Sox was scratching herself so much that she tore up her neck and was put into a dog sweater (dubbed the “Sweater of Shame”) to stop her from doing this. Then in January, we noticed the granuloma (ulcer) on her lip and thought at first that it was just a cleft that we had not noticed but upon closer examination (and, surprisingly, no scratches) we determined what we were pretty sure was the cause (the eosiniphilic granuloma complex). After doing some more research, we discovered that the reason Sox had been scratching her neck a lot was also a symptom of the complex and so we took her to the vet on the next Monday. Sure enough, it was eosinophilic granuloma complex and she was given a corticosteriod injection and was put on antibiotics for about a week. This made the ulcer get better but also (on the last day of antibiotics) made her start bleeding. My sister (concerned about her cat) called me at 1:00AM and told me her cat was sneezing blood and asked me what I thought she should do. I asked her the usual (was the cat eating, drinking, acting mostly normal, etc) and we decided that it was not extremely serious but would need to be seen about. The next day, I watched Sox while my sister was busy and discovered that she was not sneezing blood but that her sore (where the ulcer had been) was what was bleeding and her sneezing was just making it “come out”. We called the vet again. He was not too concerned about it and told us that she might have to get another corticosteroid injection but advised us to go and get some Benadryl and give it to her. Well, it just made her bleed worse because she didn’t like the taste and spat it out (which irritated the sore). So for about three days, Sox couldn’t eat much (canned irritated it worse than dry interestingly enough) and continued to bleed periodically. All this time I did some research and found that she likely had a minor blood vessel (because the blood coming out of the area was pulsing and was opaque red) in the area that had been damaged and was causing the bleeding. It has gotten well now but she is back to scratching so it is likely that she will have to go back to the vet soon.
So, hope everyone has a fantastic Saturday and that all stay well in this cold and wet season!
The fish tanks seem to be doing well although I did lose a guppy (my female) after she got a bacterial infection. I cured the infection, but then, she wouldn’t eat enough and eventually died a few days later. The marine community tank had to be restarted because of high nitrates (caused by crushed coral substrate and an under-gravel filter) and hair algae (caused by the high nitrates) but is now doing well. The reef tank is doing well and has a new coral in it that I added a week ago. It is a Kenya tree coral and is very cool! I am also going to be getting a green clown goby for the reef on Thursday of next week.
My sister’s cat Sox (named after, you guessed it, the Boston Red Sox) has been pretty sick lately but is getting better. She had eosinophilic granuloma complex, which is caused by an allergy to something. It all started back in August or September when Sox was scratching herself so much that she tore up her neck and was put into a dog sweater (dubbed the “Sweater of Shame”) to stop her from doing this. Then in January, we noticed the granuloma (ulcer) on her lip and thought at first that it was just a cleft that we had not noticed but upon closer examination (and, surprisingly, no scratches) we determined what we were pretty sure was the cause (the eosiniphilic granuloma complex). After doing some more research, we discovered that the reason Sox had been scratching her neck a lot was also a symptom of the complex and so we took her to the vet on the next Monday. Sure enough, it was eosinophilic granuloma complex and she was given a corticosteriod injection and was put on antibiotics for about a week. This made the ulcer get better but also (on the last day of antibiotics) made her start bleeding. My sister (concerned about her cat) called me at 1:00AM and told me her cat was sneezing blood and asked me what I thought she should do. I asked her the usual (was the cat eating, drinking, acting mostly normal, etc) and we decided that it was not extremely serious but would need to be seen about. The next day, I watched Sox while my sister was busy and discovered that she was not sneezing blood but that her sore (where the ulcer had been) was what was bleeding and her sneezing was just making it “come out”. We called the vet again. He was not too concerned about it and told us that she might have to get another corticosteroid injection but advised us to go and get some Benadryl and give it to her. Well, it just made her bleed worse because she didn’t like the taste and spat it out (which irritated the sore). So for about three days, Sox couldn’t eat much (canned irritated it worse than dry interestingly enough) and continued to bleed periodically. All this time I did some research and found that she likely had a minor blood vessel (because the blood coming out of the area was pulsing and was opaque red) in the area that had been damaged and was causing the bleeding. It has gotten well now but she is back to scratching so it is likely that she will have to go back to the vet soon.
So, hope everyone has a fantastic Saturday and that all stay well in this cold and wet season!
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