Nano Lagoon (17): Day 25

[@ipsfdotcom]

Aloha! Thank you for the comment. We appreciate your kind words and we're really happy to hear that you're going to try the hood mod! It's cool!

[@Magnetul]

Thanks so much, I've finished watchying all of the Nano Lagoon Videos and hope you keep it up! I hope to see the addition of fish soon :)

[@ipsfdotcom]

If the rock has some life on it then the tank should cycle on it's own. When the water gets cloudy that means the bacteria are blooming; a good sign. When the bacteria run out of nitrogen the bloom stops and the water clears. Also look for evidence of a diatom bloom as discussed in our earlier videos. When that occurs you need to get a snail and 'pod grazer package into the tank, pronto. I would hold off on adding the fish for now. It will just add more nitrogen to an immature tank.

[@ipsfdotcom]

That's good. One thing to b careful about with Yellow tangs is that when you have two in a tank, one will try to dominate the other and may kill it, especially if they are of similar size. You can avoid this by having just one, or three or more. Also do be sure your oxygen level is okay.

[@ipsfdotcom]

If this is to be a reef tank, our recommendation would be to wait on adding the fishes. It's important to build your 55g ecosystem from the bottom up for long-term stability. That means establishing beneficial bacteria, diatoms, protozoans, coralline algae and other photosynthetic organisms like beginner corals first -- long before the fishes go in. By "long" we mean several months. If you wait on the fishes you can also wait on the skimmer:)

[@ipsfdotcom]

One way to cut costs is to join a local reefers club. Most members are willing to share frags if you let the word out.

[@ipsfdotcom]

That sounds great. With 260 watts over a 55 you can do any of the softies and some LPS species as well. Glad to hear you're still doing the 10g! Caution: these things are addictive (but in a healthy way:) Educational, too. Go for it!

[@ipsfdotcom]

We recommend working with companies that offer captive bred livestock, that have been in business for a long time, and that prominently display customer feedback on their websites or forums. There are quite a few out there that meet these criteria.

[@ipsfdotcom]

Congratulations! Full polyp extension is a positive indicator of good water quality. However, don't freak out if it closes up for a while, even for a few days. That's normal from time to time:)

[@ipsfdotcom]

This video was shot 25 days after we added the first life to the tank (the NanoStart pack). More important than the precise number of days that have elapsed is the biological processes that have occurred. We have allowed time for bacteria and diatoms to become established, then for the introduced grazing organisms (the Nano Lagoon Grazer Pack) added on Day 10 to consume most of the diatoms. Paranoia helps sell a lot of products in the aquarium industry. We think it's highly overrated:)

[@georgeduncan5178]

ipsfdotcom yees !! comments to scare people imto spending $$$$$$$$

[@ipsfdotcom]

We'd need to know the total wattage and specs of that particular system before commenting. The brand names mean little to us because they come and go. And keep in mind that lighting is just one component of the overall suite of husbandry requirements for these and other reef organisms. We always recommend starting slowly if this is your first attempt at reefkeeping:)

[@Magnetul]

Can you show how to put the soft coral into the tank? Been watching all of your videos today (in order) I hope to have a tank of my own soon. I am very grateful for these videos because as a full time student I have every limited budget, however I am very egar to start a tank of my own. I also think a time line would be great or when to add certain features like the soft coral and the packs that you mentions in previous videos.

[@DaytonaRoadster]

get rid of the Tang, the require a 55 gallon minimum, 80 recommeded

[@ipsfdotcom]

That might be underpowered for a 55 g setup. For softies about 4 watts/gal is a pretty reliable rule of thumb. One way to go about this is to find an existing system that you like and then just replicate the hardware. That way you can concentrate on the livestock. Are you aware of anyone using this exact setup now, successfully/ If so you have nothing to worry about. If not you may be charting new territory. Not a bad thing, but it can get spendy:)

[@ipsfdotcom]

We wouldn't want to discourage you in any way, however you might want to reconsider having that particular fish in a 10-gallon nano. It needs a much larger system. As to the idea of using a healthy fish to cycle a tank, it puts the fish at needless risk of death during the ammonia spike. There are better, more humane ways. Our recommendation would be to add beneficial microorganisms, plankton, grazers, detritivores and photosynthetic organisms like corals long before adding any fishes:)

[@aquafresh1208]

@ipsfdotcom i enjoy your videos. i followed your videos step by step and i have already like two months with my nano lagoon. i never change the water and never feed my coral: pulsing xenia, frogspawn, candy cane, zoas, mushrooms, and anthelia that are doing great. just wondering when you are going to post another video. thanks

[@ipsfdotcom]

For a timeline please see the "more info" section to the right of the page.

[@ipsfdotcom]

We're careful to start all of our coral frags on the bottom so as not to shock them with too much light too soon. After a week or two on the bottom we can move them higher on the rocks, but only if we are sure that the polyps are fully open and extended. This indicates good health and favorable acclimation to the light and water quality parameters in the tank. Remember, these parameters may differ from the conditions under which the frags were produced.

[@ipsfdotcom]

Yes, you'll need something more. Please see our discussion of the Nano Start pack in the 'more info section" of this video:)

[@ipsfdotcom]

Sweet! What color?

[@ipsfdotcom]

Is this for the 55 gal or the 10 gal tank? I would say it's okay for the 55g but too big for the 10g. In the 10g any snail much bigger than our Strombus grazers is going to be bulldozing small frags, unless they're glued down.

[@ipsfdotcom]

Sorry to hear of the losses. Is this in the 55 gallon setup? Just curious how you pinpointed low pH as the culprit.

[@thriller292]

why do those corals not have any color? is it the lighting?

[@DarkTheShinyUmbreon]

you guys are kocated in hawaii right? How did you guys get soft corals? I know stony corals are illegal but what about softies?

[@ipsfdotcom]

Hi folks -- KZbin has modified its protocol for watching in High Quality mode. To watch in HQ, stop the video above and click on the link in the "more info" section. Mahalo!