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View Full Version : Opinions on redoing my nano


Ross
Sun, 21st May 2006, 10:05 PM
Hey guys

My 12g nanocube has not been doing well lately. Acros and now even montis are STN'ing, zoos are not showing the growth they have before, and pretty much everything about the tank is a little off. I'm thinking about tearing the whole thing down, drilling it, and adding a sump. Right now i have a MJ 900 and a MJ 1200 for filtration, so there's more than enough flow. The tank has about 1/2in sand, and about 15lbs tonga branch (which always has some hair algae). The only fish is a tiny algae blenny which i never feed, a couple snails and hermits, and a cleaner shrimp. I literally never feed the tank, maybe a little flake for the shrimp once a month. Other than that i guess everything eats the algae which seems so happy :roll . So what do you guys think, tear down the tank and add a sump? Any ideas that will help me out here are more than welcome. PS if anyone remembers Seans cube its almost identically set up to that, just with a little more live rock and i think a little more flow. Any ideas welcome here to help me get my corals doing better!
gjuarez
Sun, 21st May 2006, 11:06 PM
We need parameters to see whats killing your corals. Its possible that your tank could have too little nutrients. Give us some more info so that we can determine possible factors.
Ross
Mon, 22nd May 2006, 07:15 AM
ammonia, nitrite are 0, nitrate less than 10, i'll have to test others later.
TexasTodd
Mon, 22nd May 2006, 08:04 AM
How often and how large are your water changes?

RO/DI?

What salt.

Temp?

TT
Ross
Mon, 22nd May 2006, 11:23 AM
5g waterchanges w/RO once a week, instant ocean salt. I dont even know what the temp i guess i should, its not too hot though. I do top off with tap water though, and the tank evaporates about 1/2-3/4g a day.
cpreefguy
Mon, 22nd May 2006, 12:27 PM
Hey Ross,
I was having problems with my cube a few months in. I went to PetCo and got that Catalina Natural Ocean water. It comes in 5gal "boxes" and is about $10 per 5 gal. I did two 5 gal water changes over a weeks period and everything perked up. How much are you evaporating per day?
I guess Ive been really lucky with mine because it is overstocked and overfed and I do a waterchange maybe once every 3 months.
cpreefguy
Mon, 22nd May 2006, 12:29 PM
oh, and you should stop toping off with tap, way too high TDS plus you get chlorine and the heavy metals in it too, get some RO
TexasTodd
Mon, 22nd May 2006, 01:54 PM
Agree....don't top off with tap water.

Find out what your temp is.

:)

T
alton
Mon, 22nd May 2006, 04:55 PM
How old are your lamps? For what ever reason we never think about our lighting when things go bad, and I am the worst. Especially if the lamps are installed over water with no protection from moisture. I have changed lamps in two of my four tanks with lamps coming in for the third this week. The change in my corals was almost over night with changing to new lamps.
Ross
Mon, 22nd May 2006, 06:42 PM
Yeah, topping off with tap is my huge problem, especially since i'm evaporating nearly half the tanks volume every week. I think with RO and figuring out what my temp is i will narrow down the problem. The lamps are pretty old, older than they should be, but they still have good color so i've left them. I will replace them before too long...
Ross
Mon, 22nd May 2006, 06:43 PM
Yeah, topping off with tap is my huge problem, especially since i'm evaporating nearly half the tanks volume every week. I think with RO and figuring out what my temp is i will narrow down the problem. The lamps are pretty old, older than they should be, but they still have good color so i've left them. I will replace them before too long...