14 Gallon NANO

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msouth468

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Nov 29, 2005
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I bought a Biocube 14 off Petco for 140bucks and I am going to start my first saltwater tank. I’m going to keep it a simple tank with a couple fish and cleaner shrimp (no sure what kind yet). Here is a list of what I have acquired so far and I really won’t be buying anything more (except a light for my cheato).

Equipment


Coralife BioCube PC/LED Fish Tank 14gallon-1
Hydor Koralia Nano 240 Aquarium Circulation Pump 240 GPH -1
Blue Ribbon Polyester Filter Fiber 14 oz-1
API Saltwater Master Test Kit-1
Instant Ocean SS1-160P Sea Salt, 160-Gallon -1
Hydrofarm TM01715D 7-Day Digital Program Timer-1
SODIAL(TM) Digital LCD Fish Aquarium Marine Vivarium Thermometer-1
CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Sand 10lbs-2
Aqueon Submersible Aquarium Heater 50watt-1


My layout for the back 3 chambers will go as follows.


1st chamber – heater


2nd chamber – homemade 3 tier media shelf


top tierf=filter floss
second tier = cheato
third tier = bag full of activated carbon


3rd chamber – stock pump


That is where I am at right now. I only have one question so far.


I don’t want to drop the 80bucks to get 14lbs of live rock for this thing. So I would rather just buy 2lbs from the LFS and seed my tank? Will that be enough to get things going? I don’t care if it takes a while to cycle.
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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Yes you can but I would strongly suggest you get all your rock in the tank BEFORE you stock anything in it. Other option is to use 10+ lbs of dry rock and cycle the tank that way. Probably take just as long as adding 2 lbs of LR every couple of weeks.

Also, do yourself a favor and forego the chaeto. That little bit of macro will do little to nothing for your tank except perhaps harbor some pods. Keep it clean and keep it simple.

You shouldn't need 2 x 10lb bags of sand for a 14 gallon (display portion is probably 12 gallons max) tank.

What's your water source?
 

Jemi39

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Nov 21, 2013
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For shrimp, you should fo the peppermint and sexy shrimp. Because they are both awesome and would look really cool in a tank that size xD
 

msouth468

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Nov 29, 2005
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Sweet, if I forgo the cheato I can just drop the carbon in the stock second tier of the second chamber and I don’t have to make a media shelf. I get RO/DI water for free from a local custom aquarium/landscaping company so I just have to mix the salt in myself.

So just forget the LR and add the dry rock and wait?
 

TL1000RSquid

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Apr 6, 2011
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If you go all dry rock you just need ammonia source to kick the cycle off. You can do a shrimp in a stocking, ghost feeding, or a bit of pure unscented ammonia.
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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The 3 tier rack may be helpful for a bag of GFO. Alternative is Chemipure Elite but GFO is cheaper in the long run.
 

msouth468

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Is there any sort of guide for how much GFO to use or how long it lasts?
 

TL1000RSquid

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I run gfo in reactor in 2 of my setups but the other i just toss it in media bag no set amount but about the same size as a 100ml purigen bag. If you have a low phosphate count to begin with you can get about 3 months out of it, less if you're going to mix it with carbon(homemade chemipure elite).
 

greech

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I wouldnt add more than a tablespoon or 2 max of GFO to a nano. Its pretty potent stuff.
 

msouth468

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Nov 29, 2005
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Do I need to run the Actinic 03 Blue compact fluorescent lamp if I don't have any corals right now since they get so hot?
 
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