Neptune Aquatics

Newbie Nano Tank

Ahruk

Ahruk

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Hello Everyone, I'm new to the hobby and just setting up a 12 gallon Nano reef tank. Its currently cycling and don't plan to add anything for at least three weeks. . I'm very excited and very nervous (I REALLY don't want to accidentally kill anything). I already splurged (oops >,<) and accidentally bought 3 coral (a torch, favia and acan) which are currently living in my boyfriends 40 gallon. I'm hoping that they will be happy in my small tank with low flow and crappy fluorescent lighting (which likely won't change until at least Christmas). Eventually I'd like to add mushrooms (not sure what kind yet), zoas and 1 to 2 fish (although I'm not really even thinking about that for at least 6 months) as well as sea cucumber although again not for a long while. In the meantime, as my tank cycles, I'm gonna try to add a fan. I'm also planning on getting one or two more pieces of live rock and adding sand soon.
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Wow that torch is beautiful! Where didja pick it up? It's gonna look nice in your nano. I see you went barebottom too..it looks really clean!

You will find lots of helpful aquarists here at BAR. I've not been here very long at all myself, and have been pleasantly surprised with the amount of supportive and friendliness of BAR members. You'll find the same too. Oh.. And welcome!
 
I am concerned with a few things. If your tank has already started it cycle, anything you add after the fact may prolong the cycle. Adding more LR (live rock) and sand (either dry or live) can add more time to the cycle or if the tank cycles before you add it can cause a whole new cycle or mini cycle depending on where the rock and sand comes from and in what form.

PC lighting will probably sustain the corals you listed that you purchased but they will most likely lose a lot of their coloring. There are a LOT of cool options for the "biocube" tanks. Kessil A150 or a DIY kit from say Rapid LED or other types of DIY kits are pretty rad for those tanks. I would just start googling biocube mods and just spend lots of time reading those forums ;)

Flow in a tank that small can be easily upgraded with a small power head or upgraded return pump.

As for that sea cucumber, some species can get up to a foot long. I am not sure that is a good choice for that size tank. They will quickly eradicate the algae in the tank and will likely starve unless fed with supplemental algae.

This hobby is definitely all about research, asking questions and most of all, patience. Again, Welcome to BAR! :D
 
Welcome! Its nice to see another new member! Feel free to ask plenty of questions and you're getting started and figuring it all out. The BAR members are definitely a very helpful bunch with plenty of great advice!
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys :) I Got my torch from reef raft and I love him, I feel like pictures don't really do him justice.

I am going to add some sand and live rock (willing to wait for new cycle, already not planning on putting anything in for AT LEAST 3 weeks) I want a yellow sea cucumber which only grow to 2-3" and am planning on feeding him daily to supplement whatever he can grab (yes, I really sea cucumbers and am willing to do the research/work to try and keep one). Unfortunately upgrading the lights at this time is WAY out of my price range. If any coral aren't doing good I'll put them back into the bigger tank until I can afford to upgrade the lighting.
 
Her corals are living in my tank! I need to get my tank journal going.

The problem with putting a kessil over it is that you have to take the lid off which increases evaporation rapidly in that small of a tank
 
Hey, quick question. Just finished doing API tests. My nitrates, nitrites and ammonia all looked good (potentially going down although hard to tell since it was always under the second color bar) But my ph dropped from ~8 to 7.8/9. Any ideas as to why this would happen? Is this normal? Is there something I should be doing differently?
 
I suspect the aprox. 0.2 pH swing is about as accurate and repeatable as you could get with the API test. pH does vary day/night.

Also little tanks are harder to keep stable.
 
0.2 is nothing in the full spectrum of things. The tank can swing as much as 0.4 in a day from 7.8 to 8.2 depending on the time of day.
 
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