12g AquaNano Tank

Lochinvar

Member
image.jpeg Hi everyone,
I decided to create a chronicle of my newly setup (first time ever) nano reef tank.

The tank was setup on friday and filled with saltwater this morning

Setup:
12g/50l Aquaone Nano tank
Aquaone return pump
Aquaone 55w heater
Fluwal cp1 powerhead
AI Prime HD+ Led

In the tank:
12lbs/6kg of Dry coral rock
Red Sea Argonite sand (2")
Red Sea Coral Pro Salt mixed with Ro/di water
Used 1 inner cup of Aquavitro Seed bacteria

In the evening i did my first test:
Temp 26deg / 79.2deg
Salinity 1.026
PH 8.4
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

image.jpeg

The return pump is runing, powerhead is off, light are off, heater on

If i should do anything else pls comment,

Thank heaps
 

Lochinvar

Member
Here is an update, nothing visible happening in the tank. I did some new measurements:

Since the last measuring 2 days ago

PH dropped to 8.0
Salinity stable 1.026
Ammonia is now 1.0 ppm
Nitrite 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm

Is that looking how it should ?

Ta
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
I think so...

Cycling tank:

Watch for the ammonia to soar then fall to zero, then the nitrites soar & then fall to zero, then the nitrates soar, once this happens, do water changes to get rid of the nitrates - tank cycled

Depending on the state of your LR (how cured it was & how much die off it had), in general it will look something like this...


CyclingGraph.gif
 

Lochinvar

Member
I think so...

Cycling tank:

Watch for the ammonia to soar then fall to zero, then the nitrites soar & then fall to zero, then the nitrates soar, once this happens, do water changes to get rid of the nitrates - tank cycled

Depending on the state of your LR (how cured it was & how much die off it had), in general it will look something like this...


CyclingGraph.gif
thanks heaps , is it normal that the water has very light yellow tint?
 

mr_tap_water

Well-Known Member
Hi there,
Great looking tank by the way,
First of all I would not do water change until after your cycle has finished otherwise you are just dilating ammonia and slowing up the cycle, also I would have flow pumps and the lighting on as well which may help to speed things up IMO.[emoji846]


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Lochinvar

Member
Hi there,
Great looking tank by the way,
First of all I would not do water change until after your cycle has finished otherwise you are just dilating ammonia and slowing up the cycle, also I would have flow pumps and the lighting on as well which may help to speed things up IMO.[emoji846]


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All right i will set the lights up to go on during a day
 

Lochinvar

Member
image.jpeg Ok, here is an update. After a week since the tank was filled with water here are the parameters as it is now.

Temp: 24.7 *C / 76.5 *F
Salinity: 1.025
PH: 8.0
Ammonia: 2.0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.25 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

Nothing is hapenning in the tank, no algae, nothing

I have a deli shrimp ready if you guys think it is necessary. I was dosing the whole week Aquavitro Seed bacteria (1 inner cup every day)
 

Lochinvar

Member
Yellow tint is gone, water is crystal clear thats about all it has changed in the tank. Once ammonia is 0 and nitrite too would be that a good time to put some snail or shrimp as a cleanup crew? There is no algae whatsoever though, does it mean the cuc will need to be fed? Ta
 

Lochinvar

Member
Hi, did another test today

Ammonia is droping back to 1.0ppm nitrite still only 0.25ppm

Is it possible that because there is not much decay on dryrock my bacterias are dying? Should i throw the deli shrimp in ? Or smthg else?

Appreciate any advise please
image.jpeg
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
adding a deli shrimp would not hurt... I would

once the cycle completes & you do your wc, you can add a cuc, they will have enough to eat if you start small, they will also dispatch any remnant of the shrimp, by then you should start to see some glass algae too
 

mr_tap_water

Well-Known Member
Hi there
In my opinion I believe that if you've had ammonia in there and then drop to 0 and then came back a bit ,when you introduce some critters it's quite common to show traces of ammonia it's just where things are settling down I don't believe you need to add any more prawns instead I would just do another water change say 50% and just let it settle until you see zero again it May It may not take up to a few more weeks before you see zero again but would not worry about this also just be careful how much food you are feeding your critters keep it to a bare minimum. If you have not added any critters when it goes back to zero I believe it is better to choose your first fish first rather than at any critters, going just based on my own experience and my own opinion good luck which ever you choose to do.[emoji846]


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Lochinvar

Member
Hi there
In my opinion I believe that if you've had ammonia in there and then drop to 0 and then came back a bit ,when you introduce some critters it's quite common to show traces of ammonia it's just where things are settling down I don't believe you need to add any more prawns instead I would just do another water change say 50% and just let it settle until you see zero again it May It may not take up to a few more weeks before you see zero again but would not worry about this also just be careful how much food you are feeding your critters keep it to a bare minimum. If you have not added any critters when it goes back to zero I believe it is better to choose your first fish first rather than at any critters, going just based on my own experience and my own opinion good luck which ever you choose to do.[emoji846]


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Hi, the ammonia dropped from 2.0 to 1.0ppm so max ammonia was 2.0ppm which does not seem high enough to finish the cycle, after i have put the shrimp to rot, now ut is back to 2.0, i will do more measuring in 3 days.
 

mr_tap_water

Well-Known Member
Hi, the ammonia dropped from 2.0 to 1.0ppm so max ammonia was 2.0ppm which does not seem high enough to finish the cycle, after i have put the shrimp to rot, now ut is back to 2.0, i will do more measuring in 3 days.
Once you see nitrite and then Nitrate The cycle is complete there is no set level of ammonia as long as you see the other two stages after The ammonia The good bacteria is then present in your system And will grow bigger as more live stock gets added .


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nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
one thing to remember... is after a tank is cycled - adding a deli shrimp would be just like a fish died back in the rockwork, your cycled tank will handle this bio-load without the ammonia (deadly) rising to levels that will harm your livestock.

If interested... read this great post - it's by RS member prow and the best I have ever read on the subject - hope this helps ! It's a long read... and one I have read many times to get it in my head, but a great read !

Newbies, a little something on cycling/breaking in a new reef tank.
 
Last edited:

Lochinvar

Member
I have sourced a Dymax XP-30 skimmer, here is the issue i have, there is really only one space i can fit the skimmer in and that is the last chambre of the back filtration partition where is the return pump. My worry is that the pump is now bellow the skimmer so its pumping water back to the dt before it will effectively gets to skimmer. Is there any point to have the skimmer when it is located after the return pump? Also it is a little noise any idea how to quiet it down? How much submerge should be the skimmer ? See the pics please and comment.

image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
 

Lochinvar

Member
image.jpeg Wehey finally ammonia kicking in.

Did some testing today

Temp 26.2
Salinity 1.025
Ph 8.2
Ammonia 8.0 ppm
Nitrite 0.0 ppm
Nitrate 0.0 ppm

Skimmer pullout some stuff too, not sure where from as there is not a single visible soul in the tank apart from rotting shrimp.
 
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