New Reef
- Thread starter EmilyB
- Start date
Well, firstly I'm not getting a snake because I don't want one. Secondly, reptiles, birds and mammals can harbor diseases that would effectively make my work area a "Hot Zone" I helped pass laws in my state banning reptiles, birds and mammals from tattoo shops.
I'd love to get a bigger tank and keep it at home, but it would not be realistic as I leave home at 7 am and usually don't get back until 11 pm, sometimes later.
I'd love to get a bigger tank and keep it at home, but it would not be realistic as I leave home at 7 am and usually don't get back until 11 pm, sometimes later.
Try sea monkeys! Just kidding! Do you really want the extra responsibility at work? I'd love to have one also. Less fish, probably less work. I'm sure it would work, from listening (or reading) I'd do the sand bed w/lr to help filtration. What size are you looking at? I'd keep it simple
did I say that?? Since when is saltwater ever simple!
I saw a new nano type tank (similar to Eclispe? but glass tank w/pc lights) I'd go for completely enclosed for safety of inhabitants.
My 2 cents (since that's all I have left after reefing)
I don't think this will be simple, but I've been reading and surfing a lot. John Tullock's book is great.
There's enough down time at work for me to do regular maintenance. I'm having my LFS build a 10 gallon with PC Flourescents, hood, and we're going to use a lot of live rock and I think live sand. I want to start slowly, and small. I hope I can have a successful run of this and also hope I can stock this tank with mainly aquacultured coral and critters.
Does anyone have a list of hardy aquacultured corals? I'm reading a lot, but it sure would help if I could narrow some things down. Information overload. No tank till Friday, but I'm already throwing money in the hole on books books books.
There's enough down time at work for me to do regular maintenance. I'm having my LFS build a 10 gallon with PC Flourescents, hood, and we're going to use a lot of live rock and I think live sand. I want to start slowly, and small. I hope I can have a successful run of this and also hope I can stock this tank with mainly aquacultured coral and critters.
Does anyone have a list of hardy aquacultured corals? I'm reading a lot, but it sure would help if I could narrow some things down. Information overload. No tank till Friday, but I'm already throwing money in the hole on books books books.
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr> Tattoo artist reef tank....hmmmm
skip the tank and get a snake...
<hr></blockquote>
Hey man ive got tat's and a reef, i er.. also have a snake, well two snakes. Honduran Milk snakes.
But .....
1) I hate Rock
2) I dont have a mullet
3) I never wear leather
just incase you were leading up to accuse anyone of steriotypes.
skip the tank and get a snake...
<hr></blockquote>
Hey man ive got tat's and a reef, i er.. also have a snake, well two snakes. Honduran Milk snakes.
But .....
1) I hate Rock
2) I dont have a mullet
3) I never wear leather
just incase you were leading up to accuse anyone of steriotypes.
Hello! I'm a workaholic. I work a 40-hour week in the telco business (which is not panning out) and I'm a tattoo artist (12 years ) 30+ hours a week. I love the pets I have at home, but since I am not there enough to add another family member, I have decided to grow my own nano-reef.
I will do it in the tattoo shop where I work, 5 minutes from my house and enough free time to maintain it. I almost bought a system online, but diverted to my LFS after a long conversation.
My goal is to balance a Live Rock ecosystem to 0 ammonia, and then find a cleanup crew, and feed them as necessary. When (if) the aquarium stabilizes, I will add live coral. If it does well that way, I will add a fish or three (max)\
With regular water changes, and regular Ph, Nitrite, Ammonia checks,do I have a possibility of success?
I will do it in the tattoo shop where I work, 5 minutes from my house and enough free time to maintain it. I almost bought a system online, but diverted to my LFS after a long conversation.
My goal is to balance a Live Rock ecosystem to 0 ammonia, and then find a cleanup crew, and feed them as necessary. When (if) the aquarium stabilizes, I will add live coral. If it does well that way, I will add a fish or three (max)\
With regular water changes, and regular Ph, Nitrite, Ammonia checks,do I have a possibility of success?
Man you are way off base. Go check out my website, www.acidbaby.com I'm a well-paid custom artist, not a headbanging speed freak. I'm here looking for advice, not judgements about the way people choose to adorn themselves. I mention my job because it affords me time, and I neglected to mention that I thought it may help my clients relax. Having tattoos does not make somebody any less sophisticated than you.
albert,
i think you've got a good plan. with the mentioned Live Rock and maybe Live Sand, you shouldn't have to worry much about ammonia or nitrates after the tank cycles. you know, the only 2 things i could advise you to look into are 1) a sump underneath your tank 2) a Pinpoint Ph monitor.
[ December 11, 2001: Message edited by: pojohnny ]</p>
i think you've got a good plan. with the mentioned Live Rock and maybe Live Sand, you shouldn't have to worry much about ammonia or nitrates after the tank cycles. you know, the only 2 things i could advise you to look into are 1) a sump underneath your tank 2) a Pinpoint Ph monitor.
[ December 11, 2001: Message edited by: pojohnny ]</p>
Albert,
I have set up a 7 gallon Bow-front nano for my wife. She does not know a thing about reefing, but I thought I would keep an eye on her, and if anything looked bad I could transfer livestock into my 400 Gal system. Well, if her tank can do as awesome as it does, with as little attention as it get's, well...
I will give you a brief description of the set-up. 7 gallon AGA bow-front, CustomSeaLife 15232 fixture (15" ABS fixture with (2)32 watt PC bulbs - one 6,500K and one Actinic with a fan), 50w submersible heater, and a minijet powerhead. That's it!
For Livestock, I started with 2" Southdown and 1 to 1.5" live sand. I then placed about 15# of fully cured live rock in. Critters - 2 scarlet hermits, 2 blue leg, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 turbo snail, 7 nassarius(sp?) snails, 1 bristle star, and put in about 20 mini-stars(for detrius).
Corals & Stuff - Green Star Polyps, Many other types of polyps & mushrooms, a small hammer coral, & misc other small frags.
Maintainence - 1 gallon water change every week or two (preferably 1/week), add ESV B-ionic calcium supplement daily, scrape corraline off glass, test water parameters monthly (would suggest daily until the thing is stable in 2-3 months). After the tank is stable, you will know by watching the livestock how the tank is doing. She feeds frozen brine shrimp once a week and about 4 shrimp pellets daily.
I think the key is using a quality RO/DI water and keep up with the water changes. We have not added fish yet, but would need an airstone if we did (not sure about a skimmer).
I will send you a photo if you like, this thing is incredible! I spend 15 minutes a day watching this thing as I am so amazed at the progress as it matures.
I have set up a 7 gallon Bow-front nano for my wife. She does not know a thing about reefing, but I thought I would keep an eye on her, and if anything looked bad I could transfer livestock into my 400 Gal system. Well, if her tank can do as awesome as it does, with as little attention as it get's, well...
I will give you a brief description of the set-up. 7 gallon AGA bow-front, CustomSeaLife 15232 fixture (15" ABS fixture with (2)32 watt PC bulbs - one 6,500K and one Actinic with a fan), 50w submersible heater, and a minijet powerhead. That's it!
For Livestock, I started with 2" Southdown and 1 to 1.5" live sand. I then placed about 15# of fully cured live rock in. Critters - 2 scarlet hermits, 2 blue leg, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 turbo snail, 7 nassarius(sp?) snails, 1 bristle star, and put in about 20 mini-stars(for detrius).
Corals & Stuff - Green Star Polyps, Many other types of polyps & mushrooms, a small hammer coral, & misc other small frags.
Maintainence - 1 gallon water change every week or two (preferably 1/week), add ESV B-ionic calcium supplement daily, scrape corraline off glass, test water parameters monthly (would suggest daily until the thing is stable in 2-3 months). After the tank is stable, you will know by watching the livestock how the tank is doing. She feeds frozen brine shrimp once a week and about 4 shrimp pellets daily.
I think the key is using a quality RO/DI water and keep up with the water changes. We have not added fish yet, but would need an airstone if we did (not sure about a skimmer).
I will send you a photo if you like, this thing is incredible! I spend 15 minutes a day watching this thing as I am so amazed at the progress as it matures.
I'd love to see a photo. When I first came upon this subject, I saw many people suggested I do not use a skimmer. The guy at my LFS says a skilter would be a good idea in a reef this small. Assuming my tank would initially be outfitted with a skilter, should I keep it, or eventually get rid of it and try a different method? Also, should I populate the tank with a cleanup crew before anything else? Is this the standard procedure? Cleanup crew first, then a fish or two, and coral last? I know I'm getting ahead of my self here, I do not plan to add any critters until I have had the tank running and happy for a month, and I will keep posting as I make progress. This seems like the best place for me to get advice. I like the person who runs my local LFS, but do not fully trust them (lots of gasping fish in the store, Ich and cataracts) I know no LFS can be perfect, and like the advice of people who are not driven by the dollars.
- Location
- Virginia
One problem I can foresee with your set up is that a smaller system is harder to maintain as well. In a 10 gallon tank, you will have a lot of evaporation, and this will lead to instability in your SG. This can cause problems in your tank depending on how large a swing you have on a daily basis. Also, I don't know how many hours you spend in the store daily, but if you work 30 hours on top of 40 hours at another job, I'm assuming you'll have a day off somewhere, and that can lead to disaster. I'm imagining your shop on a day when you don't open up losing a lot of water to evaporation (especially with the addition of a skilter or a skimmer of any sort) and resulting in a huge spike in SG over the period of your store being closed. If you can't go bigger, then I would avoid the skimmer for now. You can serve the same purpose by doing water changes. Anyway, good luck, and I don't think that people here are making fun of you or criticizing your profession, we're all just used to each other and like to poke fun at one another all the time. I used to get offended at some comments, but you'll know when someone is being a jerk versus realizing that most people here are just smart asses, myself included.
I don't have any tanks that small, but here's my 2 cents. Temp and salinity swings will be your biggest concern. Is your shop air conditioned? Will you run it 24/7 to maintain a stable climate outside of your tank? The evaporation rate is an easy one to maintain as long as you plan a reliable water topoff device into your reef system. Since you're already planning a 10 gal, I would add a sump of equal or greater size, just to have a place for a heater, carbon, etc. and for more overall water volume.
BTW checked out your site, nice art
.
[ December 11, 2001: Message edited by: fishfarmer ]
[ December 11, 2001: Message edited by: fishfarmer ]</p>
BTW checked out your site, nice art
[ December 11, 2001: Message edited by: fishfarmer ]
[ December 11, 2001: Message edited by: fishfarmer ]</p>
Thanks Fishfarmer, glad you liked the site! I'm worried more about cooling than heating. I'm in South Florida. When I open the shop, it's about 80-82 degrees, and that does not change much as we have a Northern exposure. With the A/C on 12 hours a day at about 75 hmmmm. Do I need a chiller or a heater?
I'm getting some awesome advice here, thanks. I plan to install two fans in my hoo, one in one out. One thing I was wondering about the fans is how to power them. Should I tap into the lamp ballast if it's a 12 volt? A 120 Volt AC fan seems like a bit much when all I really have to cool is the lamp and ballast.
Hi Albert,
Neat idea to have a tank where you work. I wish I could but I guess keeping several at home will have to do!
Heat will be an issue, as already pointed out...you will need to have some way to ventilate the tank; an exhaust fan in the light hood would help as well as vents in the hood itself. I use a Radio Shack 3" fan in one canopy. Yes, you do need a heater, even in Fla!
....set it for ~80 and it will kick in only when the temp drops..I use Ebo-Jagers (have 8 running right now, some over 7 yrs. old.)
As for your plan, I would reverse the order somewhat:
1) Cycle the tank;
2) Add clean up crew of variety of snails (I recommend skipping Hermits.) See: http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/library/articleview2.asp?Section=&RecordNo=166
3) Wait several weeks til you get temp and water parameters stable, then you can add your first fish. Only add 1 at a time and wait a few weeks in between.
4) When satisfied that tank is stable and water conditions good, you can begin to add corals.
I would recommend buying and reading Eric Borneman's Aquarium Coralsbefore you decide on which corals to keep. Not an expensive book but invaluable to anyone keeping a reef tank.
Here are some excellent sites that will give you ideas and tips for keeping a Nano ree and how othes have done it successfully:
http://www.geocities.com/ktchinn/
http://www.nano-reef.com/
http://home1.gte.net/rhe1/nanoreef/frindex.htm
http://www.carlosreef.com/nano.htm
And this one by J. Charles Delbeek about fish suitable for Nano's:
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/library/articleview.asp?Section=&RecordNo=267
Always keep in mind that there are many different ways to set up a successful aquarium. Opinions do vary so reading as many different sources as possible will help you make your own informed choices.
Enjoy!
Dick
Neat idea to have a tank where you work. I wish I could but I guess keeping several at home will have to do!
Heat will be an issue, as already pointed out...you will need to have some way to ventilate the tank; an exhaust fan in the light hood would help as well as vents in the hood itself. I use a Radio Shack 3" fan in one canopy. Yes, you do need a heater, even in Fla!
As for your plan, I would reverse the order somewhat:
1) Cycle the tank;
2) Add clean up crew of variety of snails (I recommend skipping Hermits.) See: http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/library/articleview2.asp?Section=&RecordNo=166
3) Wait several weeks til you get temp and water parameters stable, then you can add your first fish. Only add 1 at a time and wait a few weeks in between.
4) When satisfied that tank is stable and water conditions good, you can begin to add corals.
I would recommend buying and reading Eric Borneman's Aquarium Coralsbefore you decide on which corals to keep. Not an expensive book but invaluable to anyone keeping a reef tank.
Here are some excellent sites that will give you ideas and tips for keeping a Nano ree and how othes have done it successfully:
http://www.geocities.com/ktchinn/
http://www.nano-reef.com/
http://home1.gte.net/rhe1/nanoreef/frindex.htm
http://www.carlosreef.com/nano.htm
And this one by J. Charles Delbeek about fish suitable for Nano's:
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/library/articleview.asp?Section=&RecordNo=267
Always keep in mind that there are many different ways to set up a successful aquarium. Opinions do vary so reading as many different sources as possible will help you make your own informed choices.
Enjoy!
Dick
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