Ok, so now what ?..... Help ? 12G Nano newbie

Looks like you're off to a very good start.

One thing I'm a little concerned about is that you haven't posted any test results. At the very least, it would help you to know readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. What is your specific gravity, and are you measuring with a hydrometer or refractometer?

Also, your snails won't be able to keep the glass perfectly clean. You'll need to scrape it. I use a Mag Float and then a credit card to get the stuff that the Mag Float can't clean.

Finally, I'm not sure that you should be feeding your CUC bloodworms. I've never supplemented the feeding of a CUC, but then again I always kept fish with them so there was probably leftover food for them to clean up.

Felix T Cat said:

Sorry, that was a copy paste from another forum and I didn't include results:

Salinity - 1.027 (refract)
PH - 8.2
Temp - 78-79 (heater controlled)
Nitrates still WAY high (80) but doing water changes to try and reduce. (I also pulled the big sponge block from the first chamber today, I'll see if that helps)
Am - .25 (I think as a result of some lost bristles during the past 2 weeks of heavy travel)
Nitrites - 0

Yeah, the starfish and bristles seem to love the worms and since I'm not planning on adding fish I figured I needed something to supplement them. I'm open for suggestions.

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Well if thats the sponge block I think iit is leave that in place...if its the block between your second chamber and the pump. You dont want any thing going in that pump but water. That sponge is to block it from getting a snail in there or rock pebble.

Blood worms are pretty nasty dirty food. I would say most of your nitrates are coming from that.

Your clean up crew will live on algae. And that is not an issue of lack of =p

Drop the blood worms. Grab some Rotifer for corals. Squirt that in once a week and teeny weeny bit..is all you need. Corals feed on those tiny things and you wont see them in the water..but itll get to there bellies.And for those starfish... Switch up those worms for small dime pieces of Mysis ...turn off the flow... dump the dime sized piece of mysis in and give them some time to eat before firing everying up again every 3+ days on the feeding. Though you want to feed often ..without fuge and skimmer to control nitrate build up you have to manage your feeding more carefully ..especially with low water volume you are dealing with.

Reduce that feeding and change what you feed ...

For modifications:

Second chamber if you have bio balls (Nitrate Factory) remove them immediately. replace with Live rock small chunks... I took a big rock from a established tank and hammered it in the garage you want golf ball chunks in there...

At the same time add filter pads to the top of second chamber above those LR. Use one layer or more up to you. I suggest Charcoal/Phosphate type filter pad..cut them to fit. There job is to capture the foods and debris before they settle inside the bottom of that chamber and rot= more nitrates.

Once a week replace those filter pads...... and since your tanks so small. 50% water change weekly wouldn't be costly and benefit you a lot.

Please do use RO water for mixing and toping off. You dont have a skimmer so this is best.


Please also test for more than you listed

Nitrates,Nitrites,Ammonia, PHosphates,Alk and Calk ..also salinity .

I wouldn't stress what is going on that tank yet it looks manageable still.

Try those suggestions out and let us know if you see results.

Your tank maintenance if it was mine would be:
Weekly change 50% of the water
Replace Filter pads (the ones i suggested to buy and cut out to fit)

Let us know how it goes.

Felix T Cat said:

Thanks for the response. The foam block is in the first chamber (Aquapods have 4), second is heater, 3rd is live rock rubble, 4th is pump chamber.
Thanks for the feeding suggestions, Blood worms were all I had so I gave them a try. I'll pick up some rotifer and mysis this weekend. I'm only using RO/DI water, no worries there.
I'm not stressing the tank at all actually. I'm actually just looking for advice on next steps / what else to add in the CUC level of things. More hermits ?. Different snail ?

Again, thanks for the direction, I really appreciate it.

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Well only thing to do now is keep your maintenance up. Its like a slow growing garden. Just take care of it well and it will produce a nice display.

I wouldn't suggest any supplements yet...but in time when calc and alk need a boost...or you get a protein skimmer..

I would only use C-Balance by twolittlefishies company. Replenish what skimmers suck out and keeps calc and alk in check..also that stuff does help promote coraline growth to.

Clean up side: I agree with recent discussions with the mods here that its all depending on the tank... there is no good rule of thumb.. If your crew cant keep up add a few more... see how it goes.

I dislike turbos cause they knock over things ....I use astrea snails, Ninja Star(cause they look cool), and lots of hermits. I have large Nessy snails for my sand.

I would actually keep the bloodworms (or something better, like mysid shrimp) and drop the quantity (and maybe frequency) offered. A small amount of rotifers would be ok for small mouthed corals, but larger species won't really touch it. They will take the above mentioned mysid shrimp. The reason I recommend a tiny bit of the larger food is to keep the hermits satisfied as well as keep the diversity of your little population of various live rock and sand fauna.

As for the nitrates, reducing the feeding quantity should help. Also changing out the included filter sponge should help. If nitrate still remains a problem, it may be worth making a DIY refugium in the space in the back of the tank.

Felix T Cat said:

I like the star snails, have to add a few. What do you think about a shrimp or a small crab ? (Sally Litefoot or Emerald ?)

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Sorry I dont follow up on weekends with the site...

Ummm... Sally Light foot is a good scavenger but I find her or him to be more of a decorative crab in my tank.

Emerald crabs are ok rock cleaners. The only thing is the cost vs hermit crabs (blue legs). You can get 2 blue legs or 3 depending on price...per emerald you buy. And they do the same job.