# And so it begins.......



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I finally set up my little 12 gallon cube...just a couple pounds of live rock and a damsel to get it going.

Question...the tank has one of those build in wet/dry filters in the back....I am thinking of filling it with rubble and a few sponges instead of the bio-media it comes with....good idea?

Well...here is a picture of the tank so far:


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

well gg u all of all people would know that sponges are nitrate traps, and they are especially nitrate happy in sw aquarium if left unchanged or cleaned. So sponges could be a downfall, if u dont clean them. WHat kind of bio media is in there, maybe do some bio with a prefilter sponge u can toss and replace every 1-2 weeks? and post pics when available, I like nano style tanks


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

i took the sponges out of my back chamber.

what i did was cut a small strip off of the sponge that fit snuggly between the overflow and the output for the fuge. it acts as a great debris trap, and takes all of 2 seconds to replace.

even after 1 week a lot of gunk can accumulate on the small sponge, so i would be concerned about how much crap could build up on one or two big sponges. plus it's hard to squeeze the arm down in to that damned chamber. i scratched my arm up pretty good when i was trying to get the new pumps, etc into the back.


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

i to would say no sponge unless you are going to replace it religously. i only use a filter pad when im "blowing off" my tank cleaning off algea and detritus with a turkey baster the remove the pad once teh water clears up, ;eaving it in for just a few hours all mucked up can fuel algae growth.. a good cleaner crew lots of live rock and low bio load adiquate skimmer you'll be better off then with a sponge


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

These are tiny sponges..and they are super easy to remove... i was just going to use them as a prefilter which I would rinse out with water changes. Anywas...looks like I might mod the back and do without them.

Thanks.


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

Grosse Gurke said:


> These are tiny sponges..and they are super easy to remove... i was just going to use them as a prefilter which I would rinse out with water changes. Anywas...looks like I might mod the back and do without them.
> 
> Thanks.


i would say better off leaving particles free floating for teh skimmer to catch or for the clean up crew to break down rather then for them to sit in a sponge and decay


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

nismo driver said:


> These are tiny sponges..and they are super easy to remove... i was just going to use them as a prefilter which I would rinse out with water changes. Anywas...looks like I might mod the back and do without them.
> 
> Thanks.


i would say better off leaving particles free floating for teh skimmer to catch or for the clean up crew to break down rather then for them to sit in a sponge and decay
[/quote]
Works for me. So should I just fill the back up with rubble?


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

yes sir rubble would be fine even better would be a hob fuge like puff is running.. then you put macro in there and it act like a regenerating brillo pad so it performs two stages of filtration, particles get caught in it then it grows and absorbs the nitrates from decaying organic material then eventaully you crop it back and let the cycle continue


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I will do that when I go with a larger tank...but this one is just a small guy for the living room....so I want it as contained as possible.

Thanks again.


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## redbellyjx © (Jan 26, 2004)

I took the sponges out of the nano i set up for my neice and nephew.

I did exactly what you suggested.... use rubble. But i didnt do the sponges. The reason why i used rubble back there is you still want 1-2# / gallon watter, but sometimes its hard to put it all in a nano without making it looked crowded.


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

GG if you are going to run a skimmer on the tank, then there is no need to have the pre-filter (e.g. sponge) before the return. Simply let the skimmer remove that from the tank.

As ND stated, the best approach would be to replace the bio-media with rubble as it will greatly aid in the bio-filtration.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I am looking for a nano skimmer......so yes...I will be running one. I appreciate the help guys and I will keep you informed as the tank goes along.


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

Grosse Gurke said:


> I am looking for a nano skimmer......so yes...I will be running one. I appreciate the help guys and I will keep you informed as the tank goes along.


for nano skimmers i have not heard much good about the saphire or the fission nano skimmers, tunze makes one that is supposed to be good but not sure how it would fit your tank, the other that is very well liked is the aqua-c remora and a newer the bermuda aquatics rouge i think its called..


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I will look into those.

Another question...how long should I wait until I can start adding some hermit crabs...things like that...to do some cleaning?


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

Grosse Gurke said:


> I will look into those.
> 
> Another question...how long should I wait until I can start adding some hermit crabs...things like that...to do some cleaning?


eehhh kind of depends on how hard of a cure or cycle teh rock goes through.. probably best off to wait atleast two weeks to get an idea of how things are going before spending money on the cleaner crew.. depending on what condition the rock is in there might not really be much to clean. if you do add snails or hermits and they dont make it then you will have extra shells for the next round of hermits to claim when they grow.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

The rock I have...and am getting...is fully cured in long established tanks...so there really shouldnt be a lot of die-off in the transportation. I really wish I could remember when I went through this a few years ago. Things were so smooth...


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## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

Grosse Gurke said:


> The rock I have...and am getting...is fully cured in long established tanks...so there really shouldnt be a lot of die-off in the transportation. I really wish I could remember when I went through this a few years ago. Things were so smooth...


cleaner crew should be fine, if you can get a bucket of water from a mature tank then all the better


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Excellent


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

when i set up my nano i bought cured live rock for the tank (jakarta...nice stuff). i also needed some premixed saltwater and they had some at the store. thinking ahead i had also brought 2 rubbermaid containers for my LR. so i just loaded the LR in the rubbermaids, then topped that off with the premixed SW. got that home and tossed it in. my cycle took no time at all!!


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Even if the LR is cured, I would still wait around two weeks before adding a clean up crew. You would like to make sure they have a food source, so they do not starve to death.

Oh, the Tunze skimmer is a in-tank skimmer I believe. I hear that it is good, but if that is the case it will take up tank space. A HOB skimmer like the Aqua-C Remora would be a good choice.


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

redbellyjx © said:


> I took the sponges out of the nano i set up for my neice and nephew.
> 
> I did exactly what you suggested.... use rubble. But i didnt do the sponges. The reason why i used rubble back there is you still want 1-2# / gallon watter, but sometimes its hard to put it all in a nano without making it looked crowded.


OK What do you consider RUBBLE to be???

Thanks


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Rubble is normally considered small pieces of LR. IMO anything baseball size or smaller.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I have loaded the back section with rubble so the water flows through it before it is pumped back into the tank. Also added a hob skimmer that is doing a pretty nice job so far.

I added a pic of the current tank set up.


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