question about new nano, adding coral

[saltcreepette]

I started a nano tank with sand and rock from established tank a week ago, and three days ago I added a yellow clown goby. so far with the fish/feeding, there is no ammonia. do you think I can start to add some coral frags?

[Flobex]

are there any nitrate readings? because untill you are reading ntirAtes, your tank is not cycled. I know that is true for freswater, but im not 100% sure its for salltwater too,someone please correct me if im wrong.

[weizer896]

IMO if thr sand and rock are from established tanks, I would run tests first and if everything is ok then add corals. When I first started my nano it was established and corals did fine. My only problem was that I was overfeeding phytoplankton and my tank went to crap so I had to start over.

Anita

[saltcreepette]

thanks guys. will run a battery of tests and if all ok, let the fragging begin!

[greatwit]

Thats what i did for my old 2.5 gallon nano. Just be careful of your water level because salinity can swing alot on the smaller tanks.

[saltcreepette]

today, no go. ammonia .25. did a 20% water change, rinsed filter in old water. I think its from me adding the foods twice a day to try to get the yellow clown goby to eat. so far he isnt eating. not sure if he will now either because of the ammonia. I have not had luck with yellow clown gobies, this is attempt number four. first one got sucked up into skimmer, second never would eat despite feeding premium and fresh foods, third one got smooshed by sitting too close to the clam at the wrong time....maybe someone with a yellow clown goby can give me some reassurance that this fish is not impossible to keep despite its 'easy' (humpf!) rating!

[matt]

My advice would be to take the goby out right away, let someone hold on to it for a while, and then wait at least a month until you add anything else. You've got more than just a nitrogen cycle to think about; algae blooms, general instability of a new system, etc. The fact that the rock and sand was from an established tank might help some, but especially in the sand there was probably some die off. Anyhow, let your tank mature for a while, then think about adding a couple of easy, cheap frags, like a brown monti digitata and maybe a brown milli. Just a 1" piece of each that you can probably get someone to give you, and use those to see if your tank will support coral growth.

My corner tank has been doing so great without fish (just over 2 months set up with cured rock and new sand, plus some live sand to seed) that I'm kind of reluctant to add any fish. The fauna population is really something.

[alton]

What I do with my 29 sometimes when the water gets "too clean" is do a water change with my larger tanks, it adds nitrates to the water. Why wouldn't that work in your case?

[saltcreepette]

alton are you talking to matt? because my water isnt too clean right now! Or maybe you mean, dont add ANY fish, and just use water for water changes on the nano from my reef setup, to 'feed' the corals? if so, would that be enough food?

anyways, I did remove the ycb and put him in my well established reef setup. For ten bucks, I can just buy another one later to put in my nano instead of catching him or bothering someone else to keep him temporarily and have to have them tear their tank up to catch him. and who knows, maybe by throwing caution to the wind (ie, adding the ycb to my large reef and simply NOT worrying about him getting sucked up into the skimmer) murphy's law will be thwarted. ;)

[matt]

I'm not really sure what alton's talking about, but I've never seen an aquarium with water that's "too clean." If you have corals, just feed them. Cylcopeeze, decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, homemade seafood mush, golden pearls, etc....there are plenty of options.

[alton]

I have two Wesophyllia in my 29. When they swell up they take up half the tank. I have had them for over three years in different tanks. I do not have a skimmer in this tank all I do are water changes. And when you do a water change and you can not tell which bucket contains the old or the new water I consider my aquarium water too clean. So what I do is take 5 gallons of water from my 200 and do another water change on my 29. It seems to make my Weso's happy. If you are wondering why I don't move them into a bigger tank, they don't like anybody so I created a tank just for them.