new to hobby and 28 nanocube help

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millersteve383

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hello there!
so i decided that this looked like a fun hobby as i love learning and challenging myself. i also just love looking at coral and cool looking fish! so my wife and i just purchased a 28 gallon nano cube and would like suggestions. i am not sure how many different models there are but mine has two wave-makers and led moonlights but not leds for daytime. i would like a lot of coral and just want everything to go smooth and take my time at it. Does anyone have any suggestions on what and how much of everything and when to add it. my friend is going to help me make ro water until i buy my own setup. any help would greatly be appreciated! thanks! -steve
 
First of all, welcome to the club Steve, I'm sure you will find lot of people that will be more than willing to walk you through the process step by step.
The key to your success would by go slow and lots of research.
Welcome again and happy reefing.
 
Welcome Steve. Good luck with your set up. The first thing you should do is learn what a fish less cycle is if you don't already have a good understanding of it. Many people jump in before learning that key element, putting livestock at risk and causing themselves a lot of headache.
 
Ok great. I will most definitely take it slow. I am going to buy some live sand and rock today. My little nano has quad 100 compact fluorescent lights and blue LEDs for moonlight. I am wondering, is this going to be enough to have a nice reef and grow some decent coral or will I need to upgrade to some stronger less? Thanks!
 
Those lights will support soft corals, but you won't be getting any highlight corals with those. I have a 28gal with the hqi, but upgraded to LED because the heat the halides put off. I use one of the 165w Chinese LEDS, couldn't be happier. If you decide to go that route you wont have a lid, but I like it a lot more without the lid.

In my filtration I run (from top to bottom) - Filter floss, Chaeto, carbon, purigen, and phosban. I'm probably over doing it with the media, but I like it to keep down algae and have a higher bio-load.

I'd be happy to help you anyway I can with your set up. The nanocubes are great little tanks.
 
Welcome to ARC!

My advice would be to get your feet wet (figuratively and literally) with the setup you have, but I would caution against spending much on upgrades to that system right away.

You can keep a wide variety of corals in that system - good beginner to intermediate stuff.

If you decide to get into the more advanced stuff, I guarantee you will want a larger system. The 'upgrade' money is better spent on the larger system. :)

Unless you love to spend money for the fun of it... then disregard :)

Take your time, research before you buy, and have a blast!

Jenn
 
jennm;1051002 wrote: welcome to arc!

My advice would be to get your feet wet (figuratively and literally) with the setup you have, but i would caution against spending much on upgrades to that system right away.

You can keep a wide variety of corals in that system - good beginner to intermediate stuff.

If you decide to get into the more advanced stuff, i guarantee you will want a larger system. The 'upgrade' money is better spent on the larger system. :)

unless you love to spend money for the fun of it... Then disregard :)

take your time, research before you buy, and have a blast!

Jenn
Click to expand...

100% +1
 
Welcome to the ARC saltwater addicts club :)

As mentioned, you need to let your tank "cycle" before adding live stock.
Pick up a cheap API test kit to test your water so you know when your cycle is complete. Expect to see some nasty diatoms (normal) before the cycle is over.
Have fun!
 
Wow thanks everyone! The tank is coming alone very nice. I have a couple clowns, and a yellow watchman and pistol shrimp. i just put in a rose bubble tip for the clowns but it is very small. Will it grow very much? It seems too small right now to host them. Maby 2" diameter
 
Hello all... Well the tank is doing well and I have learned a lot already. #1 don't trust a LFS I took it slow ( as I thought) I got a pair of clowns and a fox face. I waited about 2 weeks and the LFS said that a flame angel would be fine. Well he was okay for about 3 weeks and then just stopped eating. Not sure what happened but a friend suggested i didn't have enough live rock? I have about #30 In a 28g. Everything else is going good. I am trying to get my clowns to host in my rose bubble tip but they have chosen to host the power head. Any ideas? I have them in a floating basket as of now. Thanks!
 
Wow thats a lot of livestock in that tank so quickly, did the tank cycle? Share your water parameters, its possible something might be off. Most likely you have enough rock. Curious about what lighting and if its enough for the bubble tip, they can get quite large.
 
Foxface gets way too big for a 28-gallon tank.

You DO know its spines are venomous, right?

Don't force a clown/anemone pairing. What kind of anemone do you have?

Is the angel picking at the rocks? If so, it's eating so I wouldn't worry too much about prepared foods at the moment, but it's possible that the Foxface is stressing it.

Having a Foxface in such a small tank puts YOU at risk. They wig out so easily and then swim wildly all over the place, that's just a recipe for you getting tagged.

You really do need to research what you buy, before you buy it. Not all LFS types are out to take your money, but even if they were, as the end-user, it's your responsibility to choose wisely.

You have a great resource here to help you with choices - read before you buy.

Jenn
 
Ok so here are my water results. Ammonia,nitrate,nitrite all 0. Salinity .25. Calcium is 450. I haven't checked alkalinity but will this am. I do a 5 gallon water change once a week with Red Sea coral pro salt. Yes I do know about the fox face and plan to relocate him when he gets bigger. I have 100 watt CF lights. The anemone is really not looking good...I am taking him back to Atl aquariums so that he will hopefully live. Also thinking about switching to LEDs. My water has had a lot of crap floating all around and am trying to figure that problem out as well. I vacuum my sand when I do water changes and am also running puragin in my filter.
 
The flame angel died btw.. He had been picking at rocks and eating everything I fed him. He seemed to be the boss of the tank and seemed to get along with the fox face
 
Welcome. I'm pretty new myself. I know it's hard to follow advice and wait but you really need to wait. I was sure my tank was ready. The params were "good" and so I added two Bangaii Cardinals. They slowly languished and eventually died. I felt terrible about it. I waited longer and was able to successfully add fish, an anemone, etc.

Good luck and rely on the good advice here on this board. It's a great group of knowledgeable people.
 
Yes. My tank did a heavy cycle before any fish were introduced. I had it empty for at least a month and introduced only the clowns at first.
 
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