Nano questions...

[broadwave]

I have decided to start a nano-reef. The tank will be a 15g Pefecto 24Lx12wx12h. It will probably hold 2 fish and misc inverts. The filtration will consist of live rock and a Prizm skimmer. Water flow will be from 2 hagen 301's in the corners pointed towards the center for max watermotion as well as the return from the skimmer.

I want it to be mostly SPS. So here's my dillema...lighting.

I have been looking at different pendants from PC's to MH to PC/MH combos...Am I getting you confused because I sure am. Since I am aware that SPS corals mostly require MH I am leaning that way. However with a tank that is only 12" deep should I use 175w or 250w or is MH overkill on a tank of that depth.

The other question is about the sand bed. The standard for a DSB is 4" so in a 12" deep tank I have a sandbed tank instead of reef which is what I would rather have. So...if I have a 2" DSB will that suffice? I am starting to wonder if the DSB thing is relative to the size of the system? I will also be adding IPSF live sand activator as well.

Thanks for your help...

[Zack]

Hi
First like to say glad you want to start one, I added you to my nano user group were much of the skimmer, light issue, and dsb are being talked about. First the skimmer may be the best idea due to the size of the tank imo nano tanks should have a smaller dsb then regular tanks so with this being said yes 2" should be fine. So far good ideas on your lighting, I think the 175 watt mh along with a actinic pc will be just fine for 12" deep tank. The one problem is HEAT. You will need fans and lights will need to be a nice distance away. Once again come on down to the user group and check out many of these topics!! Thanks a lot
ZACK

[Pineapple House]

I would use the skimmer, esspecielly when keeping SPS corals, which will require top of the line water quality. The prizm would actually be much of a help to you, lowering the water changes you will be doing. I disagree that they will pull out 'the good stuff,' which would be Fish waste (pee+poo), any other organic matter, and most other compounds in the water column. When added products such as Plankton, Leave the skimmer off for 24hrs after adding this, so the plankton has a change to be consumed by as much as posible before it goes to waste.

Since we are only talking 15 gallons, the 175wt Halide would be in your best interest. Iwsaki MH's seem to be most used today. Since MH alone will give you a yellowish glow, best if you supplied some actinic lighting with it, not only for the colour of the tank, but also for the color of the corals. Corals will respond to this, usually opening up much more to get the rays, and also will bring out those florecent colors, usually in the greens, reds, and yellows.

As Zack said, 2 inches of live sand will be significant. Nano tanks will have less room to stock rocks, and lay down live sand. 2" will be more than enough.

Also, I would try to keep your biological load as low as posible, esspecielly when keeping more sensitive species of hard corals, esspecielly corals in the acopora genus. When you say "2 fish" it would really help to know which fish you have in mind. IMO, and only IMO, one fish would be enough, again depending on the species. I would go with one hardy, small, yet beautiful fish to go in your tank. Grammas/Basslets fit this discription perfectly. Clowns, esspecielly percula clowns will also fit this. Although remember, if you are looking for two fish, try to keep them small, and less agressive. Two percula clowns might be good to have in there :-)

PH =)

[HoopsGuru]

IMO, 2" is too deep. Since you aren't going for a full DSB, you should stay 1" or less. You will get NO benefit from making it any deeper, however you will be creating an area not very efficient at nitrifying yet also not deep enough to denitrify. The 1" or less will actually give you more viewing area as well.

I am also one of those people that question why anyone would want to put a skimmer on such a small tank. Prism's and other small scale skimmers aren't that efficient anyway....so great water quality can be achieved by doing simple small water changes (10%) weekly or biweekly (15%). Not only will you remove more organics, but you will also get the extra benefit of replacing trace elements. Not to mention this is a lot easier than trying to tweak an ineffecient contraption constantly just to pull out a light amount of brown gunk.

My last concern is that from my experience, the Hagen powerheads do not have an attachment that allows you to direct the water flow towards the surface for surface disturbance/gas exchange....they only direct straight or downward....you may have to modify.

[Zack]

Boy hoops I think you said you skimmer thing like a million times lol I am starting to see it everywhere hahaha :D

[broadwave]

Zack, Thanks for adding me to the usergroup!!

The 2 fish I was thinking about was either 2 perc clowns

Or a strawberry psudochromis maybe even a neon dottyback or royal gamma. Obviously these 3 are not compatible and I would keep only 1 of them.

The reason i am going with the skimmer is bacause I travel ALLOT and it's pretty inconveinent to accomplish weekly or even bi-weekly water changes.
Also, I am going with the prism skimmer because there really aren't many HO skimmers on the market that fit on a nano and a skilter is out of the question. I have used the Hagen PH for a while on my other tanks and they seem to work fine.

I will have to experiment with the 2" sandbed vs. the 1" or less.

I have also been contemplating the CustomSealife Prism pendant with PC's only.

[HoopsGuru]

Zack, I see my opinion a bit less than I see "put on a skimmer" thrown around! :wink:

Hmmm, traveling does make maintaining a 15g a bit difficult. But, I think you may be disappointed with the Prism if convenience is what you are looking for. I used one for about 5 months before getting sick of the fact that I had to keep adjusting it to try and get it to pull out gunk on a consistent basis. There were even a few times when it was fine in the morning and when I got back from appointments it would be close or overflowing because it suddenly thinned out. I think this is something you should consider, I timed my 1 gallon water change this weekend and it took roughly 3 minutes (not including the 2 minutes the day before to make the water)....it really is that quick and easy. :)

With your hectic schedule, do you have a plan in order for automatic top-off, etc? As I'm sure you know, salinity swings in a small tank can happen rapidly with just a small amount of evaporation. With keeping your schedule in mind....are you going to have a "caretaker" of this tank for your seemingly lengthy absences....I would think this may be necessary with your plans to keep moderately difficult corals.

Different ideas and thoughts, hope they at least give you extra angles to help you plan a successful tank.

[Zack]

Overall I think with all these opinions and such that you should really experiment around and see what is good for you. Good luck!

[broadwave]

I think I have a pretty good idea on what I need to do here.

Going from a 75G mixed reef to a Nano I look for teh challenge.

As for water top off, i will be using peristalic pump from a 5 gallon resivoir.

I guess I am confused about what there is to adjust on a prism skimmer?? i thought they were "plug & Play" similar to the remora. Are we talking about the same skimmer??

http://www.thatpetplace.com/images/p25626B.JPG

[HoopsGuru]

Are we talking about the same skimmer

Yep, that's the one....its currently resting comfortably in a bucket in the garage....oddly enough, it does about as much there. :shock:

Unfortunately, plugging it in does not make it perform....there is a flow control knob you have to tweak to try to get it to pull the "dry" foam you are looking for. As I said earlier, this required several daily adjustments and paid me back for this attention with a few wet floors. When it did work (I don't want it to sound terrible, just a big PITA) it did pull out some gunk but this never lasted long and was not the thick dark gunk you want out of a skimmer. I quickly realized that the tanks appeared better after a simple water change instead.

[Jollymon]

I purchased a Prizm Deluxe. It has the surface skimming attachment and the 18 blade impeller. I don't adjust or mess with it much. Maybe the newer design works better than the old, or I just got lucky. But that being said,I don't think it would work well on anything larger than a 10-15 gallon tank. I think it is wimpy in that regard. I am a skimmer advocate, but any system can be maintained without one, if you provide a pathway for nutrient removal. :D

[Zack]

Ah yes the new skimmers should be good heard good things about them. Good luck JollyMon with them and let us know how it goes.