Setting up the Nano Cube

If you read my earlier post, Finding Nemo and Customer Service, then you know that I’m setting up a nano reef.  Well, today’s our first day back from vacation and visiting family, and I’m making good on my promise to my daughter.  We went to the store today and bought 5 pounds of live sand and 12 pounds of live rock.  I’m about to mix the water and, when she wakes up, we’ll put the rock and sand in and let it sit for a bit and stabilize.  By this time next week we should have our first invertebrates and maybe even a fish or two in it.

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2004
  In your Finding Nemo and Customer Service post, you never did say what the name of the book was.
  
  Could you post that as a comment here?
  
  thanks

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2004
  Natural Reef Aquariums: Simplified Approaches to Creating Living Saltwater Microcosms by John H. Tullock; ISBN 1-890087-00-9

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2004
  I got that exact book, quite a good read :)
  
  I have a 210 liter reef tank at home, so I wish you all the best, this is a fascinating hobby :)
  

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2004
  "By this time next week we should have our first invertebrates and maybe even a fish or two in it. "
  
  Hu? No way dude.... let it cycle for at least a month....
  
  http://www.reefcentral.com/
  and
  http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/
  
  

• Anonymous
  January 15, 2004
  Hi all--
  
  I'm not seeing where you discussed Nano Cubes, I just see that it was a topic and I wanted to mention something about them.
  
  I'm fairly new to the whole fish and reef thing, but my boyfriend worked at a fish store for almost 2 years, so he is helping and keeping an eye on everything.
  
  Anyway, I came home from work tuesday night (11:30pm) and the pump broke. I only bought the thing two weeks prior as a Christmas gift to my boyfriend.
  
  We tried to fix it, but the propeller kept making weird noises and scrapping against the side thing. So, we had to leave it for the evening. I, being fairly new, was a bit worried. Not only had I grown rather attached to most of our marine life, but between the two of us, we had spend about $550 on fish, coral, inverts, etc. This would be horrible to lose all of that because of a defective product. I was rather livid!
  
  I hardly slept all night. In the morning, I woke. Our clown fish was white and swimming eratically. He died moments later. I was sad. I managed to find the number to the company that makes the Nano Cube and spoke with a rep. He informed me that he couldn't make decisions on refunds for livestock and to call back to speak with Steve, the CEO.
  
  I called back and hour later and spoke with Steve. Steve basically informed me that the company was taking no responsibility and that he wasn't going to do a thing for be but replace the pump. This is rather unacceptable. I understand pumps go out and I understand a company cannot be responsible for things like fish, coral, etc. It's like when you bring a fish home, it could die because of poor water quality/upkeep at the store or from poor water quality in my tank. Understood. However, my tank and chemical levels were FINE. I had even tested the water that morning before leaving for work. My clown fish (and possibly other things) have/will die at this point because they had no air in the tank...It was a result of this defective pump. Negligence on the part of this company. Steve was unwilling to do anything. I am thinking of suing him, as stupid as it may seem over a fish. However, I believe that a company should be responsible for a defective product, where the direct result of this defect causes death to your reef.
  
  I thought you all would like to know how little Steve cared about his customer. He was convinced everything would live and was unwilling to send me $25 to replace my clown fish. What type of business man and business practice is that? This fat cat is probably sitting on millions and he can't fork out $25 for a fish. If we lose everything, that's one week of pay for us!
  
  Do with this information as you wish, but I thought you should know that they don't stand behind their product, as apparently don't even have a reliable product...it broke after 2 weeks!
  
  Any comments, suggestions, questions, feel free to email me at deljunk@hotmail.com
  
  My name is Del.

• Anonymous
  January 16, 2004
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  January 26, 2004
  Hey who ever it is im suppose to talk to ..but im thinking about buying a nano tank..but im not sure how many fish something like that could hold so im asking...how many fish..and other creatures can this tank hold...and..also if you put live plants in there would it not give off oxygen for the fish which would mean if there was a power failure the fish can still survive

• Anonymous
  January 27, 2004
  Del,
  I've been working with marine fish and reef for many years, the amount of livestock you had in your tank in the short amount of time it was set up suggests not only over population, but a poor biological cycle was established. You say you tested your water, what tests did you perform on it? I realize that you like reef tanks, they are facinating, but perhaps you should start out with a larger tank, I would suggest a 20 gal minimum. Smaller tanks can be hard to maintain because a small problem is quickly a big problem in a small tank. Try a larger fish only tank, read alot of books, marine tanks, especially reef tanks, is not somthing you want to jump into blindly. You have to understand and know what a biological cycle is and how it effects your tank. Don't let this one mishap discourage you. Reefs are fun and rewarding hobby.

• Anonymous
  February 18, 2004
  how hard does everyone think it would be to turn my 10 galloin freshwater into a saltwater,im curious as to how much money im looking at spending ,how long of a cycle,cheap places to get the stuff etc etc..If someone out there could help me out i would be extremely apprciative thanks!

• Anonymous
  February 18, 2004
  Louie, I suggest you go visit http://www.reeflounge.com. You will find tons of helpful people, existing posts, etc., that will get you started.
  

• Anonymous
  April 06, 2004
  does anyone know how many fish and crustations i can put in my cube.I have a small clown and a snowflake eel.The fish store tells me thats all i can do because of the eel.I want some shrimp or crabs but he says the eel will eat them.How about anenomes?

• Anonymous
  April 27, 2004
  hey, anemones would be fine with the snowflake. wut kind of clown do you have. some only host in certain types of anemones

• Anonymous
  April 30, 2004
  WAIT! You do not want to put a snowflake eel in a nano cube! Way, way, way to much animal for a nano. Please tell me you did not put an eel in the Nano..................nano, nano...........can I use Nano in a sentence that many times? lol

• Anonymous
  May 03, 2004
  It looks like many of you have some good advice so let me take a shot... I am interested in starting a small salt water aquarium with only one or two fish. I just want to see if it's for me with out making a HUGE investment. Not to mention, I live in NY and I really don't have a lot of space. We plan to move in the next two years to a location about 800 miles away which is another reason I don't want a huge tank just yet. I've been getting mixed feelings and answers about starting with such a small aquarium. The largest I would want to start with would be a 30 gallon but I really wanted to go with the Nano Cube. Like I said, I only want one or two fish - probably the Percula Clown. Most pet stores I've talked to suggest not going smaller than 55 gallons and making a min. investment of $1,200. I understand the concept of small tank can have catastrophic results if something goes wrong, but like I said, I just want to try it and see if it's for me. I'm pretty experienced with other animals and I know how much time and effort and $$ they can be. Any advice/opinions on this?? (jennybob@si.rr.com)

• Anonymous
  May 03, 2004
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  May 03, 2004
  wait...the last thing i said when i was talking about the eel, i was NOT suggesting that you put one in the nano cube...
  just checking...

• Anonymous
  May 21, 2004
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  May 31, 2004
  I have just got a Nano Cube. It has been running for three days with coral and a clown fish.Does the light have to be on all the time for the coral?

• Anonymous
  June 02, 2004
  I was wanting to know whether a 3 inch live sand/crushed coral layer is necessary? Seems deep to me for a 12 gallon. Also, is crushed coral alright instead of arrogonite? I have it left over from a salt tank I kept for years. Do I need live sand or just begin the process with fresh sand? I have ~2 lbs. of live rock and one damselfish to get things started. Tank is 3 days old.

• Anonymous
  June 02, 2004
  Will the plastic media in the back compartment be a problem in regards to algae growth? Will a water change every two weeks suffice for lack of protein skimming?

• Anonymous
  June 02, 2004
  One last question (for now): When should I introduce the remainder of my live rock bulk (I'm only on 3 days and have a ~2 lb. live rock and one damselfish)?

• Anonymous
  June 02, 2004
  Sam, 3 inchs is about the max I would put into the Nano Cube. Certainly no harm in that. I myself am a fan of using 100% live sand - it's worked well for me.
  
  As for algae growth on the plastic, I haven't seen it as a major concern. Simply vaccuming the back every other month seems to keep most things under control.
  
  As for introducing the live rock, I would make sure your live rock and sand are in the tank for three or four weeks, watching the levels and ensuring that the tank has properly cycled.
  
  The one thing I've learned through this process is that patience is greatly rewarded. Rushing the process causes "bad things" to happen.

• Anonymous
  June 02, 2004
  Thanks, Mr. Hammond. Live sand it is. So, to recap; live sand, 16-18 lbs of live rock, vacuum the back once a month, anything else you can think of?
  By the way, water change once a month? 1 gallon maybe 2?

• Anonymous
  June 02, 2004
  Frankly, Sam, I'm very bad with water changes.
  
  I spot vaccum the sand bed maybe once a month - twice if I have a lot of free time.
  
  Two or three times a month (when I can remember, or more frequently if I'm fighting a problem like phosphates), I'll use a Glad disposable tupperware container and pull out two or three containers full of water and then replace with new water.
  
  I have only done a massive water change once since it was set up, and experience has shown me the less you muck with it, the better it is over all.
  
  There was one time when I pulled out two sponges in the filtration system in order to replace with a phosphate sponge and new carbon. That turned out to be a bad thing, as a large amount of "good bacteria" had formed on the sponge and that caused a large ammonia spike, resulting in a small tank crash.
  
  Ultimately, smaller changes over time are better and more preferred to large, radical changes (much like nature, eh?)
  
  Feel free to give me a shout directly at kevinha@microsoft.com if you want some more of my experience first hand.

• Anonymous
  June 14, 2004
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  June 21, 2004
  So, just reading "Mike"'s entry would lead me to believe no fish at all in the Nano? Is this purist talk or does anyone have any comment on the previous advice? I'm sure it's sound advice regarding the set-up time...but no fish?
  What about an anemone or other inverts (coral-banded, red-leg reef crabs, etc..)?

• Anonymous
  June 23, 2004
  Well, 12 gallons is small. But I reckon if you let your tank cycle for a solid month (with live sand, live rock) you will probably be alright to pop a damsel or clown in there.
  
  Another tip: Do not ever ever overfeed. Small amounts always especially in such a small aquarium. Also, as small as it is, even when you let it cycle for a month or so (monitoring your ammonia, nitrate, nitrite levels to see how they fare) when you add a fish you are probably going to see some spiking.
  
  Mike

• Anonymous
  June 24, 2004
  have you been able to find a suitable chiller?
  what kind is it?

• Anonymous
  June 25, 2004
  The damsel has been in the tank since the beginning. Another question, if I plan for a reef tank, do I remove the bioballs and ceramics? The instructions were a little short. They cited Nitrate problems if continued use in a reef tank set-up.

• Anonymous
  June 25, 2004
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  June 25, 2004
  Okay, hate to be a doofus, 'cause I'm sure the answer to my question is going to be a "duh" type of answer, but I'm new to my Nano Cube also, and want to make sure....
  
  I currently have two clownfish in my tank. Can I add a shrimp to it?

• Anonymous
  July 01, 2004
  Ive been going to nano-reef website. there i found a very informative bunch of people. Theyve been using nano and mini bow aquariums for a long period of time. yes...clowns and shrimp amongst others have been in their aquariums. I guess the rule is 1 to 1.5 inch of fish per gallon. also includes our inverts as well huh? good luck.

• Anonymous
  July 05, 2004
  I am new hear but was looking for some info on how to start the filter on the nano cube. I got everything running, it is full of water and has some live rock and some sand. The problem is the filter in the back when turned on the water level stayed the same for all compartments. What do I do?

• Anonymous
  July 06, 2004
  I didn't know that was a problem. How should the levels look (anyone)? Is the filter being bypassed by the water flow? Because that's the same with mine.

• Anonymous
  July 10, 2004
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  July 13, 2004
  I just bought a Nano Cube, and I want to have a mini-reef. From my LFS I purchased live sand (Arag-Alive) and eight pounds of live rock. The substrate is 100% live and is 1 inch deep. I have one large rock contributing about 7 1/2 pounds of the weight, and about 1/2 pounds of loose rubble. The live rock is precured and has been in there setup for about two weeks already. I'm using all of the filter media that came with the Nano Cube. In the long run, I was plannig on having one false clownfish, one pistolshrimp, one small gobie, 1 Turbo Snail, 3 Astrea, 1 Fighting Conch, 2 Scarlet Legged Hermits, small polyp colonys, and maybe a mushroom coral of some kind. Can I start adding inhabitants now, considering everything is cured already, or should I still wait the suggested 3-4 weeks prior. How do you suggest I go about doing this. I have kept freshwater tanks since I was 8 years old for five years now with great sucess, but never a marine tank. Thanks for any comments.

• Anonymous
  July 20, 2004
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  July 29, 2004
  I want to upgrade the lights in my cube. I was thinking of a 36 watt coralife 50/50 bulb, anyone out there using this or any other upgrade suggestions?

• Anonymous
  August 01, 2004
  We have had a Nano Cube for about 6 months and love it. I always wanted to try salt and the Nano Cube seemed perfect and it pretty much is. I haven't lost a fish yet but did lose a peppermint shrimp ( a six striped wraith will get along with everything but a shrimp and small snails apparently )
  The problem I'm having is my Goby keeps winding up in the filter when he gets freaked ( When I do water changes ) anyone else had a fish in the filter problem? If so what can I do?

• Anonymous
  May 29, 2005
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  July 10, 2005
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  July 12, 2005
  My noano cube six has been set up now for over 108 days since my last posting. On the 80th day my water pump failed. I used an air pump to pump air into the tank. I received new pumps from the company the next day after notifying them of the problem. They no longer supply the small pump that was on the original tank, but supply the larger pump that is supplied with the nano cube 12. I only lost a star fish that orginally came with the live rock. I use calcium supliments eather through adding Kalkwasser to the tank or Red Seas calcium supliment 10 drops per day. All the live rock is now incrusted with puurple calcarous algae of the Mesophyllum species. I repace the active carbon filter pack every 50 days. I now use only Nutre-Seawater (natural sea water. The tank is filled with marine ciliates which are eaten by my two camel back shrimp. I use one spoon full (small spoon supplied) of Spectra Vital every other day. In another month iI will start to add live coral and anemonie to the tank. Today I am setting up a nano 24 delux. Will keep you informed.

• Anonymous
  August 11, 2005
  I just inherited a 12 Gal Nanocube, regular version with single set of blue and white lights. One of the guys at the LFS told us that it didn't have enough lights to grow corals (as deluxe version does). Has anyone been successful keeping coral with the non-deluxe version?

• Anonymous
  September 02, 2005
  Interesting info

• Anonymous
  November 16, 2005
  I am thinking about buying a nano cube for the wife for X-mas. My plans would be to set it up for salt water. Should I get the 12 or 24 gallon cube since space is not an issue. How much upkeep it there with the salt water tanks?

• Anonymous
  December 21, 2005
  hey man, loved reading all this information. My question is this, my local pet store has a 12 gal cube that's already been cycled and has invertebrae, and like two fish. They're offering the set up including the fish, the reef, etc for 350 dollars. I thought this sounded like a good deal, however, would you suggest setting up and cycling my own cube so i know more about it? This would be my first time going into saltwater aquariums. So I thought, maybe i should set it up myself from start to finish, I just wasn't sure, since i figured, having one already set up might also be easier for a beginner.

• Anonymous
  January 08, 2006
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  February 05, 2006
  I was thinking about getting into S.W. i have dealt with F.W. a lil bit. I have read the new 24 gallon nanos have hads some problems has anyone heard anything about it?

• Anonymous
  February 16, 2006
  I would consider myself a pro at this point.  I've kept an array of fish and corals.  I had an anemone split last year.  I somehow can keep ridge coral growing without halides. My thoughts are, You either get it or you don't.  Good things happen in time.  Be patient.  I would never do a nano as a first tank.  
  (too small)  And don't waste your money if you're going to give up 2 months from now.

• Anonymous
  February 17, 2006
  I am getting my nano 24 (deluxe) delivered anytime soon. So excited! I will follow your GOSLOW advise and shall learn and do tons of research along the way. Thanks guys for all the info.

• Anonymous
  February 27, 2006
  i don't know if i'm getting one of these tanks yet but i started out similar with a 5gal tank yrs ago.now my girlfriend is learning the same way and without having to break the bank.now i'm using what i've leaned to set up a 30 gallon reef.the smaller tank has many advantages over the big,you don't need a skimmer for a tank under 20gal,and you can use the light thats already in it,buy the way the 24 gal delux is a lil shy on lighting but you can get it now with a metal halide light on it.i had to buy a $130 skimmer and a $160 light to make my 30 gallon reef worthy.just some food for thought.also if you all are concerned about loosing livestock if the pump breaks,you reely should have a back up such as a small powerhead running,if you use a filter on the powerhead it will act as an extra bio filter and that powerhead may warm up enough that you don't need a heater.anyway the small tanks are a great way to learn and if you find out is not your thing,at least it won't take up to much space in your closet lol.

• Anonymous
  March 01, 2006
  I am considering setting up a 24gal nano cube. I've had a beautiful 150gal reef some yrs ago and sold it when my 2nd child was born (time considerations). I'd like to set up either the Nano cube (JBJ) or aqua pod (current USA) as a reef. Does anybody have a preference between these two? Also, any suggestions on a small but efficient protien skimmer?

• Anonymous
  March 12, 2006
  I have a 12 gallon nano cube.  I have a problem with the pump drawing the water out faster than the sponges will let it back through.  Any suggestions.  I have tried cleaning the sponges, but they look fine.  Pump is new.
  
  Thanks

• Anonymous
  March 31, 2006
  I have many questions, but am reading dilligently over the blogs...one intial set up question. Which is better to set up the Nanocube--Distilled water or RO water? It sounds like distilled would be better, but I want another, more experienced opinion. I can get either, but want to do it the correct way to avoid problems in the future.

• Anonymous
  April 14, 2006
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  April 23, 2006
  I've had a marine aquarium and a discus tank.  I gave away both tanks when I moved... now I have a tank with an Osphronemus in it, and just purchased (still waiting for its arrival) a 12 gallon Nano Cube (great deal at the moment at Dr. Fosters & Smith).
  
  I plan, however, on turning it into a discus tank, and not a reef aquarium.  I doubt it could hold more than one discus, maybe two (up to a medium size) at best.
  
  I know Discus can get large - I don't think that one would be so large that it could not comfortably maneuver around the tank (probably pop a small piece of driftwood in and some low-growing plants that tolerate "black water").
  
  Any thoughts on this?
  
  If I get a lot of feedback that this is not doable, my back up was German rams or neons.
  
  -candiazoo@mac.com

• Anonymous
  May 08, 2006
  chris s mentioned that a few mods were done to
  his or her nano, i was wondering what these mods were.
  
  by the way thanks for all the infor. it has really helped my understanding of the sm. reef, i'm now 2 months in with a 12 gal aquapod and welcome any infor i can get.

• Anonymous
  May 11, 2006
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  June 03, 2006
  I just bought a 12 gal Nano Cube and when filled empty (i.e. with no sand, rock, or sponges) it only holds 8 gallons of water, is this normal?

• Anonymous
  June 06, 2006
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  June 06, 2006
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  June 19, 2006
  I am about to set up a 24 gal nano. I live in Florida about 20 min from the beach.  I was wondering about going to the beach to get actual live sand and fill up some 5 gal buckets with sea water.   Would there be advantages or disadvantages to doing this and would it speed up the cycling process?

• Anonymous
  July 02, 2006
  im new to this whole thing, how do i go about setting up a 12 gallon salt water tank..

• Anonymous
  August 08, 2006
  what do you saltwater aquarium experts do when you go on vacation and cannot tend to your fish for awhile?

• Anonymous
  September 16, 2006
  The comment has been removed

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