1 feet nanocube

[nightdust]

guys i have a 1feet nanocube with lid.. i am actually concern about the bioload of my tank.. is there any skimmer that is small enough to put into one of the slots behind? or is there any other alternative to reduce bioload? my friend told me to do water change regularly will do..

would appreciate help

*pic edited for size*

[Maxstar81]

nano-reef.com got a mini skimmer built for nanocube.

Not very efficient. U can try if U like. I dun think singapore got

something so small leh ....

Oh..... IMO, take out the bio balls....

[nightdust]

take out bio balls? my friend told me to put it in wan..

actually i am super new to reefing so would welcome any advice.

what should i put instead of bio balls then?

and is the sponge a good option?

[Marinesavy]

right, the skimmer wasn't sold in Singapore, however.. you can order from US and shipment in weeks. Alternatively, others does is to remove the hood or cut the back of the hood and hang the skimmer at the back.

I have a 24g jbj for coming 5 months with hammer, jewel, zoo, button, octo, starburst poly, clam, elephant ear, frog spawn, plate and 5 fishes, all in good health. Perhap you can divide the scale in two.

Water change is very important weekly since no skimmer and also act an an nutrient to the corals.

Remove bioball, ceramic ring etc. Get better media such as "Red Biohome", "Purigen" and "Rowa".

[jervismun]

Hi Nightdust... I face the similar problem as you 2 months ago (although mine's a 24g NC). Extremely hard to add in new equipments with the hood on, so I go topless. Then u can fit in all sorts of nano equipments u can find out there.

Personally, I think an Aqua Medic BioStar Flotor (protein skimmer + trickle filter) will work perfectly for your tank. It's a but pricey ($300+) but u can hang it outside. Prob not behind thought as the pump that comes with it is quite large (cannot fit into ur back comparments). Go to Bro Hammy's thread (under Nano Tank section)... he is using one.

But if u r NOT thinking of major upgrading:

1. Yes, husbandry is very important for a Nano, no matter how good the filtration, u r still expected to change the water (10% to 15%) every week - by far the most effective method, but can be very "leceh".

2. How long has the bioballs be inside your tank? If not long, replace them with some other medias as suggested by some bros. If long, then replace them slowly, u do not want a sudden reduction in the amount of bacterias in your tank.

3. Sponge is good to remove deritus, but u must clean it always. Trapped deritus can rot/decay to cause nutrients build-up. Some bro do without a single sponge at all! For me, I still believe in removing them on the spot using reliable sponges, instead of relying on my live rocks to remove them. But I usually clean my sponges every 4 to 5 days.

4. Test ur water every 3 days... as the water volume is so small, u will find ur parameters fluctuate all the time. Even the day/night difference can be greater than larger tanks.

Sound very "leceh" right? It is... that's why I am now starting up a 3ft tank, Nano requires a lot of attention as the water volume is way too little = can get unstable easily. So husbandry must be top class.

If you own a Nano, u wanna go high bio load... then u must be a diligent reefkeeper. You can go to my thread (link below) to see how I turned my Nano upside-down to achieve what I desired... and the result is very promising...

Hope this helps

[nightdust]

how much will Red Biohome Purigen and Rowa cost? are they something like bio balls that i can place behind in the tank?

hmm thanks bros for all the advice.. i still have alot alot to learn bout reefing.

i actually want to keep th elid on cos i put my tank on my study table so i want it to look neat instead of equipments everywhere.

I will only buy those advance equipments when i am ready to change into a bigger tank.

so the water if i do like 20% every 2 weeks is it ok?

cos i have to go buy saltwater from pasir ris farm everytime like so mafan leh.. i know there is this salt mixture thing around but i heard its not that good. is it true?

advise advise pls haha thanks~!

[nightdust]

any just to share with ya guys.. MY TANK

any comments for improvement?

*pic edited for size*

[nightdust]

what program can i use to resize my pic ah

[nightdust]

a clearer pic of my tank

[nightdust]

a clearer pic of my tank

[colinsoon]

my opinion:

you got some corals inside that are like quite temperature sensitive. gonipora (jewel) is quite sensitive to temp, anything above 28.5 you are risking of it melting away. with your lid and your lights on, you will be definitely risking having the temperature shoot up up up.... i have a 20G tank now, which used to shoot up to 31 when i on my lights a little over an hour. and its open topped with a fan blowing over the lights... definitely not a wise idea to keep on the hood, unless you on aircon...

and your plate seems quite stressed... your zoos at the bottom right not opening also. not very good sign...

water change. 20% a week is definitely more than enuff considering the amount of swimming LS you have in your tank. yes corals do produce waste also, but IMO fishes shit more than corals do. use a good salt mix, which will replenish the trace elements and stuff lost... the use of a skimmer is to remove the minute, sometimes invisible bio-material suspended in water, which canot be removed by filter wool. this will reduce the opportunity of it breaking down and increasing the ANN. one way i have tot about is to, after changing water every week, add like a cap of live-bacteria that bro jervismun is using (sorry bro, i no idea wat its called), will help to speed up the ANN a bit, since for smaller tanks everything fluctuates more, i guess this might help to reduce the ANN fluctuations a nit.

back compartments: put the filter wool at the first compartment instead of the second. detritus will definitely flow in from the overflow, and without the wool to trap dirt first, the bioballs might trap them, and since the purpose of them is to encourage bacteria growth, its not advisable to wash them. so, the point is, with dirt trapped there and you not supposed to wash it ===> nitrate factory in 2 months max.

btw, a very nice scaping you done there. i really like it.

[nightdust]

my opinion:

you got some corals inside that are like quite temperature sensitive. gonipora (jewel) is quite sensitive to temp, anything above 28.5 you are risking of it melting away. with your lid and your lights on, you will be definitely risking having the temperature shoot up up up.... i have a 20G tank now, which used to shoot up to 31 when i on my lights a little over an hour. and its open topped with a fan blowing over the lights... definitely not a wise idea to keep on the hood, unless you on aircon...

and your plate seems quite stressed... your zoos at the bottom right not opening also. not very good sign...

water change. 20% a week is definitely more than enuff considering the amount of swimming LS you have in your tank. yes corals do produce waste also, but IMO fishes shit more than corals do. use a good salt mix, which will replenish the trace elements and stuff lost... the use of a skimmer is to remove the minute, sometimes invisible bio-material suspended in water, which canot be removed by filter wool. this will reduce the opportunity of it breaking down and increasing the ANN. one way i have tot about is to, after changing water every week, add like a cap of live-bacteria that bro jervismun is using (sorry bro, i no idea wat its called), will help to speed up the ANN a bit, since for smaller tanks everything fluctuates more, i guess this might help to reduce the ANN fluctuations a nit.

back compartments: put the filter wool at the first compartment instead of the second. detritus will definitely flow in from the overflow, and without the wool to trap dirt first, the bioballs might trap them, and since the purpose of them is to encourage bacteria growth, its not advisable to wash them. so, the point is, with dirt trapped there and you not supposed to wash it ===> nitrate factory in 2 months max.

btw, a very nice scaping you done there. i really like it.

i dunno whats my temperature but my friend(bro raydiative) told me its should be ard 26 cos i on my air-con at night till morning and the tank feels cold even during afternoon time... anyway i chose to put my jewel in the top centre cos i wanted it to be the main attraction in the tank so what do ya think?

guess i will be removing my bioballs and put the spone in the first compartment.. so what do u suggest i put in my second compartment?

my tank is actually only bout coming to 2 months old..

currently the LS i have is

1 firegoby

1 maroon clown

1 chromis

1 lemon goby

1 cardinal

my zoos actually have been doing fine, opening almost fully but for the past two days it is partially opened only.. btw my tank was rescaped only last night... think it could have stressted em considering i move them in and out of the tank..

i feed all my corals aquapharm 5 in 1 once every 2 days

i think i will do water change later cos got quite a few particles floating on my water surface..

is there anything i can add to make my zoos open more?

btw: the bacteria you mentioned that i should add one cap full.. is it the same as the bacteria people use when starting their tank?

so its actually okie to add it even though my tank is up and running re?

sorry ah.. i know i got alot of questions but i really new here so need to learn alot from ya guys..

PS: my tank scaping is actually done by bro raydiative so credits to him

[jervismun]

IMO this is a good product. Comes in tablet form. Just throw in 1 tablet everytime u do water change. I use it for my Nano. Not costly, $8 to $10 a bottle. Bought from RB.

[Marinesavy]

bro,

350g biohome cost about $17, the "red" version better as it contain trace element.

a small bottle of purigen cost $17

rowa cost about $37 depend of the gram enquire.

Wah... you leave the airon on at night, what about daytime... don't tell me you on the aircon as well ??? and i think the hottest period of Singapore is coming, with the lit close and light on... definitely is going to hit above 30 degree. Alternatively i suggest you to get the resun CL85 chiller which design for cube like their.

Two months still too early to judge your thank. The small the tank, more difficult to control interms of water perimeter, algae etc.

Biohome can be use to replace ceramic ring

Purigen to replace carbon

Rowa to reduce PO4 highly recommended and no regret using it as early as possible, otherwise once hairy algae start to grow on your rock, corals.. sure to regret. I one of the example, unless you use DI water instead of normal tap water.

[jervismun]

Personally, I think 10% once a week is better than 20% fortnightly. If buying salt water is too troublesome, use Salt Mix. In terms of brand... u gotto ask other bros as I am still trying to figure out the best salt to use.

Second compartment can use for putting Biohomme (or similar product). Don't fill up all coz u still need to leave some room (on top of Biohomme) for your Active Carbon. I will not change all bioball at once as ur tank will loose a large amount of bacterias in one shot. Replace 1/3 every 3 days... that will do the trick. Yes, u can throw away the bioballs, lol.

Active carbon is essential in any biotope. So remember to add a pack. Some go for cosstly products such as Chemipure and PUR-II. If you do not want to spend so much $$$, just get a large bottle of activated carbon, fill up a medium size stocking bag... throw into ur second compartment (on top of Biohomme). This will allow u to change it easily.

If water flow is not strong in your tank... u may want to add another pump for improved circulation. A lot of time, a tank fails because of insufficient water flow. Do not let any part of the tank uncirculated as those are danger zones. You can add a very tiny Tunze pump ($20 only), very low power consumption and very low heat emission. You can hide it inside ur rock works.

[colinsoon]

bro, u bought the mini tunze arh?

aiyo, me and bro maxstar wanted to get it with you so we can save on the 4 bucks delivery fee.. hahha..

[colinsoon]

bro nightdust:

with regards to the tank, the human touch is relative. if the weather is hot outside, or you yourself is hot, any water you touch is relatively cooler, even though the temp of the water is at 29-30 degrees. There are times in the night when i stick my hand into my tank which is at 26 degrees, and i seriously think my dipstick and chiller is not working, cos it feels soo hot... but then, i got 3 dipsticks....

the zoos, if they are not opening for the nxt 3-5 days, do a FW dip. might be nudibranches.

the second compartment, you can put the bioballs in there temporarily first, till you get biohome to put it in there. biohome for me is quite ex to get, so i would juz get a few smaller LR and put it in there. serves the same purpose as bioballs...

anyway it is fine to add bacteria into the tank even after the tank matures. bacteria helps to break down stuff. no harm having more banglas to throw rubbish and cart the debris away from the roadside rite...?

[colinsoon]

oh yeah bro. dun do water changes too often for the smaller tanks. might fluctuate the parameters even more. unless you are like me, who cant be bothered bout the parameters, and do the changes with my gut feelings and 6th sense... ( i think i am so gonna be flamed again... muhahahahaha)

[jervismun]

bro, u bought the mini tunze arh?

aiyo, me and bro maxstar wanted to get it with you so we can save on the 4 bucks delivery fee.. hahha..

Lol... just let me know when u guys planning to get it... I think I'm gonna have another round of shopping at RD... soon...

[colinsoon]

i need mine really soon.. cos my pico tank is like stillwaters... no water movement inside at all.. haiz. cant put anything inside without the mini, and my girl keeps calling that the desert....

[nightdust]

bro,

350g biohome cost about $17, the "red" version better as it contain trace element.

a small bottle of purigen cost $17

rowa cost about $37 depend of the gram enquire.

Wah... you leave the airon on at night, what about daytime... don't tell me you on the aircon as well ??? and i think the hottest period of Singapore is coming, with the lit close and light on... definitely is going to hit above 30 degree. Alternatively i suggest you to get the resun CL85 chiller which design for cube like their.

Two months still too early to judge your thank. The small the tank, more difficult to control interms of water perimeter, algae etc.

Biohome can be use to replace ceramic ring

Purigen to replace carbon

Rowa to reduce PO4 highly recommended and no regret using it as early as possible, otherwise once hairy algae start to grow on your rock, corals.. sure to regret. I one of the example, unless you use DI water instead of normal tap water.

sorry if this sounds stupid but biohome, purigen and rowa.. are they things like bioballs as in a piece of thing or powder or liquid form? and as ya suggest, i put all these three things together in my second compartment?

[colinsoon]

biohome, they look like ceramic sticks.

[nightdust]

Personally, I think 10% once a week is better than 20% fortnightly. If buying salt water is too troublesome, use Salt Mix. In terms of brand... u gotto ask other bros as I am still trying to figure out the best salt to use.

Second compartment can use for putting Biohomme (or similar product). Don't fill up all coz u still need to leave some room (on top of Biohomme) for your Active Carbon. I will not change all bioball at once as ur tank will loose a large amount of bacterias in one shot. Replace 1/3 every 3 days... that will do the trick. Yes, u can throw away the bioballs, lol.

Active carbon is essential in any biotope. So remember to add a pack. Some go for cosstly products such as Chemipure and PUR-II. If you do not want to spend so much $$$, just get a large bottle of activated carbon, fill up a medium size stocking bag... throw into ur second compartment (on top of Biohomme). This will allow u to change it easily.

If water flow is not strong in your tank... u may want to add another pump for improved circulation. A lot of time, a tank fails because of insufficient water flow. Do not let any part of the tank uncirculated as those are danger zones. You can add a very tiny Tunze pump ($20 only), very low power consumption and very low heat emission. You can hide it inside ur rock works.

think i will go to RB and try asking them to recommend me what salt to use..

btw: whats a biotope?

didnt know carbon is essential at all ...

so i should start removing my bio balls 1/3 by 1/3 everyday and replace it with biohome,rowa and purigen into the 2nd compartment rite

Btw: what the size of the tunze? care to share the measurements cos bro raydiative wanted to get one..and me 2!

[jervismun]

As suggested by bro Colin earlier... if u do not intend to spend so much money, then some small pieces of live rocks can also do the job. I reckon 1 pack of Biohome is sufficient for ur 2nd compartment, so $37... ka ching.

But if u intend to put stocking bags on top of live rocks... then be careful as the bags tend to get torn off by the sharp edges... then u will have lots of cleaning up to do

If budget is a concern, just get normal Activated Carbon for marine aquarium. Since u need to change them quite regularly... ka ching... ka ching... ka ching...

I will also invest in a in-tank termometer. Here's what I've been using... cost me $10 by JBJ, bought it from PR. It's scary not to know the exact temperature of your water as it is one of the most important parameters in fish keeping.

[nightdust]

biohome, they look like ceramic sticks.

caramic sticks? wats that

hope i dun get on anyone's nerves