12g Nano- Newbie! (1 Viewer)

[Melissa_Anne]

I have been watching (and helping) my boyfriend manage his 300g aquarium for about a year now. For my birthday he got me a 12g Nano.

Just a preface: He's got an unconventional approach to reef aquariums- no dosing, nothing fancy- just a protein skimmer and some engineering plumbing (He's a water/wastewater engineer). So my education in this world has been pretty "by the seat of your pants." Meaning, I don't know any of the terms, but I saw his tank go from empty to gorgeous reef in less than a year.

It's the out-of-the-box setup. And it's been set up for a couple of months. I just recently began adding to it.

A couple of VERY newbie questions (and forgive me if they've been addressed elsewhere in this forum)
1. To have a reef set-up in this tank do I need a protein skimmer?
2. I have a surface skimmer, which is supposed to stay attached simply by water pressure, but doesn't. Should it really?
3. What's the best approach for attaching corals to rocks?

Thanks in advance!

 

[NanoCubeKid]

1. skimmers are great and useful but... they only help delay the need for water changes. With your 12g you should be good by changing out 2 gal a week or two.
2. Yes the suck of the pump should keep it up against the back wall. I am not sure of the success people have in this regard.
3. water proof epoxy 2 part puddy and/or super glue gel

 

[Guest]

I agree with nanocubekid, you probably can get by without a skimmer on a 12g because weekly water change is so easy and relatively inexpensive.

Normal super glue is typically sufficient for attaching corals to rocks. The epoxy I would consider for large corals only.

 

[itstonyyy]

i use aquastick from home depot. its in a blueish tube. it comes out gray at first but over time it turns purple. I have a 24g without a skimmer and do bi-weekly 25% water changes.

 

[Rotarymagic]

could probably get away without a skimmer provided you did pretty significant weekly water changes (If it was my tank and stocked well, it'd get at least 5gallons a week depending on the consumption), but I'm definitely a phosban reactor fanboi.

 

[Melissa_Anne]

Thank you for the feedback!

I will be doing a weekly water change of 2 gallons, in lieu of buying a protein skimmer.

I had been using epoxy, but I was having difficulty with things sticking. I didn't want to take the corals out of the water too long to dry them off, so I guess they were a bit too wet to stick.

I'll have to experiment with the surface skimmer as the water pressure just doesn't seem to be doing.

Thanks, all!

 

[cichlidtx]

I have the same tank as you that has been running for 7 months without the use of a skimmer and all my corals are growing well. I do a gallon water change every two weeks as well. I use Aquamend epoxy from Home depot and super glue gel from the dollar store to attach my corals. I was never successful using only super glue gel.

They way I do it is:
1. Dry the coral and super glue it to a frag plug or piece of rubble and cure in small container of tank water.
2. Mix the epoxy.
3. Dry the frag plug and glue the epoxy to the plug and cure in a small container of tank water.
4. Dry the epoxy and apply glue to it.
5. Place it in the tank and twist a little bit.

Its like a sandwhich plug, super glue, epoxy, superglue, place in tank. I have had good success doing it like this. You can take a look at my tank in New 12 Nanocube post below. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Rotarymagic]

I will be doing a weekly water change of 2 gallons, in lieu of buying a protein skimmer.

Best of luck....

 

[theyammieguy]

Just wanted to add my $.03, I have the 12g as well and I do 5g water changes weekly. Its stocked pretty well though.

If you put the surface skimmer on the back wall then raise it up as high as it will go, it should stay.

Also you might want to replace the stock pump with a maxi jet 900. Best thing I ever did.

I will be adding a skimmer to mine within a month.

 

[Melissa_Anne]

Just wanted to post some pictures updating my thread. All taken by my iPhone, so apologies for the quality.


This was the day I got it (10.28.09)

This was a few weeks later (11.19.09)

This is the most recent picture! (03.07.10)

 

[theyammieguy]

Why so brown?

 

[Melissa_Anne]

I think that's more of a product of my iPhone camera. Though there has been a bit of an algae bloom since I put new rock in there.

 

[goby1kanobi]

Welcome ....fellow Nano owner.....
24 gallon nano here....
Keep us posted