My Nano Reef Experiment

[@aloofgeephilo8404]

Hi Joe. Your got the pleasure of my first youtube comment! Really liked this video, i havent watched many of your videos but after seeing this its making me want to make the jump to a saltwater fishtank sometime. Its made out to be so expensive and next level compared to freshwater and i suppose its true but its what you make of it. Glad to see the Royal gramma because its the only fish i want if i was to set a tank up, Royal gramma and some hermits and that would be me. A big off put for me is preparing the saltwater and getting it ready for water changes . Anyway off to go watch more videos.

[@noapwns379]

Glad your jumping into saltwater! Some key things that helped me when starting out were . A protein skimmer! Idk If u have one but it cuts down on ur need of water changes a ton! Also check ur hydrometer with ro/di water and see how far off it is. Mines off by a lot. For water changes I keep a 32 gallon garbage can with rodi water that I turn in sw then I pump it into smaller buckets and carry them off to change the water. Don't your filter pads unless u replace them ever 5 days or do they turn

[@MrJoeGecko]

I top off once a week. I use a large hand-held container and replace about a quart or less. I have a trick to maintaining the right salinity, my stick on thermometer. the top of the thermometer on the glass is my water level, i just fill till it reaches the top. I do check the salinity before and after I top off to be safe, but have yet to replace salt water since November. My before and after salinity readings are usually 1.028 and 1.026.

[@KALZONE850]

tampa huh :) im in destin fort walton beach area. after watching this vid all the way through i'm am really considering doin the same thing, experimenting with a small tank and low maintenance. how often did you have to top off the water and how much top off did you have to use to keep the sg from fluxuating?

[@MrJoeGecko]

Its running for 6 months now without issue. I opted not to use a skimmer because i am doing LPS and softies which like the "dirty" water. I actually have a lot of sponges growing in the HOB now so its filtering whether I want it to or not. lol

[@MrJoeGecko]

@phillykidd15 I'm using 2 20 watt aquaclear 50/50 bulbs in a standard hood which is painted white underneath to help with reflectivity. I'll be doing a short detailed video on the setup and should have it up tonight or tomorrow.

[@KALZONE850]

sounds good. how is the torch doing with the 1.028-1.026 sway?

[@MrJoeGecko]

its an aquaclear 30 HOB. Im not running any media in it, its just for circulation.

[@fishymats873]

I would really like to try this, hindsight being what it is are there any other tips about running a super low maintenance reef long term?

[@microiguana]

if i had a nano, these are the exact fish i would have in it. well, possibly throw a damsel in there... too bad a royal gramma can't go with my neon dottyback. They're such neat fish, so hardy and the best personality on a small sw fish i've found yet. Had mine for over 15 yrs before the tank got screwed up :(

[@KALZONE850]

update soon?