50 Litre Nano Tank

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Dillon

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Hi All,

I have set up a 50litre marine aquarium to learn all about keeping marine fish - I currently have an 80litre planted tropical aquarium and am in the process of building a 1300litre tropical corner fish only aquarium. My ultimate aim is a 3000l marine aquarium, I already know where it's going to be placed...

Anyway, I have just placed my first 2kg of live rock (I got it from that place in Boksburg central, really good quality stuff) in my nano tank after cycling it for 2 weeks, and will be leaving it for a couple of weeks again before I put in another 2kg. In the meantime, I am deciding what I would like to keep in the tank. Ideally I would like to keep a couple invertibrates, a few fish and a small cleanup crew.

Does anybody have any ideas as to what works well in a small tank?

Regards,
Dillon
 
Welcome to MASA Dillion!
Sounds great! How about some pics? In a small tank a pair of clowns should go well.
 
Welcome (again) Dillion.
Nice to hear that you starting with this tank to get your immagination and hands wet alittle first, but its that 3000l i wanna know about. Some guys here have built and are building some brilliant big tanks so read through threads carefully and you will find lots of information.


good to hear the cycle is on, and a few more kg of LR would go down well in there. DOnt u want to give us some idea on the filtration and lights and flow of the nano, that way we will have a far better idea as to what you maybe able to house with the current system, or suggest upgrades if there is something you really want. the more info you drop on the forum, the more the brains trust can help you along:)
 
Hi Dillon, is there any reason - other than financial :( - that you are waiting to add more live rock? if not get it all in as soon as poss to allow the cycle to finish quicker.
 
Mike said:
Hi Dillon, is there any reason - other than financial :( - that you are waiting to add more live rock? if not get it all in as soon as poss to allow the cycle to finish quicker.
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I only intend on putting in the first fish at end January, and I don't want to put undue stress on the rock. Also, I'm also very picky with the asthetics of the LR...
 
crispin said:
DOnt u want to give us some idea on the filtration and lights and flow of the nano, that way we will have a far better idea as to what you maybe able to house with the current system, or suggest upgrades if there is something you really want.
Click to expand...

The current setup is extremely basic, I have a resun SK-05 Protein Skimmer which seems to be working well now that I have figured out how it works.

The filtration is currently two medium sized hang on resun filters - one filter has the normal filter cartridge and a high surface area plate which has had filter wool shoved into it, and the other filter has the high surface area plate and as much filter wool as possible. I will probably drop the high surface area plate and run two filter cartridges in each filter and replace on every two weeks. Will gauage water quality over the next few weeks to decide whether I will get a better filtration system

I still have the standard light as per the original aquarium, but it looks as though the lights from those expensive nano tanks that are being sold everywhere will fit. I also have a 75watt heater.

The substrate is crushed coral and I currently have about 2kg live rock, am planing on getting about 5kg in total. I am currently using the Tetra marine salt, but will start using the Red Sea stuff once the tank is cycled.
 
crispin said:
Welcome (again) Dillion.
Nice to hear that you starting with this tank to get your immagination and hands wet alittle first, but its that 3000l i wanna know about. Some guys here have built and are building some brilliant big tanks so read through threads carefully and you will find lots of information.
Click to expand...

I will probably only start building the tank early 2010, perhaps later next year - I need to finish my 1200l tropical aquarium. Basically I have a wall between my dining room and tv room. The plan is to have the main tank in the dining room with two 1000mm x 700mm holes in the wall 1300mm apart to view this fish from my tv room. The tv would be in the middle of the two viewing areas. The main aquarium size will be 4000mm x 1000mm x 700mm. I will provide a 500l filtration system with another 500l system that will be used to prepare water before a water change. I'm contemplating having the filtration system in my garage.
 
Hi Dillon and welcome! I can allready tell you would make a success of the tank, just one thing- I think you must rethink your filter setup, here is some tips/ useless info
1) The skimmer are your primary method of filtering and would do most of the work.:p
2)The LR will be your biological filter so good quality is important.(I take you already bought good quality)
3)Rather than running the filters with the wool, run one filter with activated carbon and the other with some phosphate remover. The wool would be a detritus trap that would need to be replaced every 36 hrs to avoid tragedy(especially with such a small water volume)!
4)Avoid ALL traditional fw biological filtration like bio rings/balls, bioplates etc. as this will interfere with the effectivity of your LR!

Other than that your plans sound awesome! How about two black Clowns with a red bubbletip anemone(adding the nemmie after 6 months' maturing of course!) or two paired Purple firefish?:thumbup:
 
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Everything sounds good but you will not be stressing your LR if you put it in now.
I would also try start using the salt you intend to use, the less you change the better it will be.
 
What do you use for flow in the tank?
 
Mtroboer said:
Rather than running the filters with the wool, run one filter with activated carbon and the other with some phosphate remover.
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Bought some Fluval phosphate remover on my way home, but it says I must pay special attention to the dosage if I am going to have any invertabrates. Why? There is currently twice the amount of phosphate remover in the tank as required, is this bad?

I also bought 2.1kg of Fluval Zeo-Carb, stuck it in the other filter. I am also using it in my Tropical Aquarium now as I'm slowly increasing the stock levels.
 
Hi Dillon, I don't believe it would be necessarily bad for your system but believe it best to stick to the recommended doses and replacing intervals. This is the Lab Series by Hagen right? If it is it's good quality products that you bought!:thumbup: As for the safety regarding invertabrates, maybe there's other members that will be able to elaborate but imo just stick to the recommended doses and you'll be fine!
 
Mtroboer said:
This is the Lab Series by Hagen right? If it is it's good quality products that you bought!:thumbup:
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No, it's not the lab series - it's just their "normal" stuff. But it is awesome, I stuck some Zeo-Carb into my tropical aquarium where I have been struggling with my driftwood staining the water - 12 hours and the water looks as though I have done a 20% water change :thumbup:

The nano is also looking much better with the Zeo-Carb and Phosphate remover.
 
Cool man, I would never again run a system without carbon, the tank is healthier and just display much better! Now just to add some more rock and stare at it for a month or two...:biggrin:
 
Hey bud. Petmasters in Northrand Rd....I think thats the name, its next to FloraFarm. There live rock is good quality but u get sum nasty critters with sumtimes....but there marine stock is minimal. Nice range of accessories though.

Exotic Pets and Aquariums in Cason rd...in boksburg is the better place to go to for quality marine livestock and liverock. They have a wide variety, slightly more pricey but quality and their liverock is superb. Their aquariums are also locally produced, hence cheaper and easier to repair ( should an accident happen ) than the imported stuff from petmasters.
 
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Wetty said:
Hey bud. Petmasters in Northrand Rd....I think thats the name, its next to FloraFarm. There live rock is good quality but u get sum nasty critters with sumtimes....but there marine stock is minimal. Nice range of accessories though.

Exotic Pets and Aquariums in Cason rd...in boksburg is the better place to go to for quality marine livestock and liverock. They have a wide variety, slightly more pricey but quality and their liverock is superb. Their aquariums are also locally produced, hence cheaper and easier to repair ( should an accident happen ) than the imported stuff from petmasters.
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I use PetMasters for equipment, food and medication as the have a wide variety at really good prices All my livestock comes from Running Waters Aquarium (Lollilocs Koi Farm) or Exotics Pets and Aquariums - you can't compare the quality (read healthy) of livestock from these places to anywhere else I have been.
 
Dillon said:
I use PetMasters for equipment, food and medication as the have a wide variety at really good prices All my livestock comes from Running Waters Aquarium (Lollilocs Koi Farm) or Exotics Pets and Aquariums - you can't compare the quality (read healthy) of livestock from these places to anywhere else I have been.
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does Lollilocs stock marine fish and livestock?
 
No, they don't.
I have three aquariums, so I do a fair amount of (window) shopping.
 
Ok, so here are a few pics.
I got a clean up crew today, 2 hermit crabs and an algae eating snail (I guess you get man eating snails too :p)

Here is the front view of the aquarium. I'm going to get a blue background to neaten things up a little;

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Here is a view from the side

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Here is one of the crabs, yes the glass is a little scratched but it's fine for now.

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