24 gallon nano cube stocking and questions

[81Shaun]

Hello, this is my first post here but wa a member a years back. anyhow im going to buy a nano cube and was wondering what would you reccomend for stocking ? tank is 24 gallon and right now thinking about a clownfish so could I keep a clown fish with a few others ? I am wanting to do a FOWLR setup for right now. I understand im kind of limited on what all I could keep. I just prefer really colorful fish so figured I would ask?

I was also wanting to no if I should buy a RO setup or would be best just to buy at the super market out of the RO machine? I live in area where we have a new water source and this new water has a ph of 8.0 and is Hard with alot of calcium. I also have copper waterlines and im not sure if I should go with a RO unit with a pump or go with one without? not sure on how much pressure ive got is there anyway to tell ? I am on different water source than that of the super market I mentioned. Anyhow thanks for your time ..... Shaun

[DSPs]

If you can get your own filter then def get one, You will save a ton of money and always have water on hand encase of emergency, As far as stocking goes 2 clowns would be fine, some kind of small goby would be cool to add, Chromis, Fire FISH and royal gramma would be good tank mates, Not all of those of course lol, Also checkout fire/blood shrimp or skunk cleanrr shrimp there cool critters to have in nanos

[Blown 346]

One clown would be about all you would be able to have without over crowding the tank, especially since LR will be taking up space as well.

Or you could choose some smaller fish that need as much room and have about 3.

Firefish, gobies, shrimp?

A Decent RO unit will run over a $100. It wont take long for you to go over that with buying water and having to haul it back and forth. A RO is always a good investment especially if you plan to stay in the hobby for awhile. The RO unit would remove anything and everything from the water regardless of having copper water lines as most of us do. You shouldnt need a pump, if you just tap into the cold water side of overhead copper line.

You can always buy a pressure tester that goes onto you faucet...

[DSPs]

I respectfully have to disagree about only 1 clown being the only fish he could have in a 24 gallon tank, Clownfish aren't the most active swimmers that's why people can keep them happy in tanks as small as 10 gallons, A pair of ocelarious or similar sized clowns would live happily in a 24 gal

[DSPs]

And by active I mean swimming back and forth all day long like a tang would lol, Clownfish normally pick a side of the tank and stick to it and switch it up every once in a while

[Blown 346]

Im going off of tank volume and space liverock will take up, there will less tank volume which can effect the health of fish as in stress. Thats why I suggested nano fish. I know clowns are in the nano fish selection, but having two clowns will take away from having a variety of more smaller fish.

[81Shaun]

Hello, Thank you for answering my questions I appreciate that. Yeah ive had clowns before in bigger tank they didnt seem to want to get along to well so I would probably just get one. what about a flame angel could this be done? im assuming no but those fish are beautiful. or the royal gramma baslet? I don't want to put to much on the bio load of the tank.

as far as the ro unit goes would the corallife pur flo 3 stage do the trick? ya kind of sucks having to deal with having to deal with going buy water all the time. as far as the pressure gauge goes can I get one at lowes? and what would be the minimum and the max water pressure I would need? just figure it makes sense just buying the gauge to be sure I would have enough pressure to run a unit rather then just buying a RO unit and it not working. anyway thanks again for answering my questions just want to make sure get this right.

[FTDelta]

Dwarf angels do best in tanks of 55 gallons or larger.

I would go with a pair of Occelleris or Percula clownfish
and one from the choices below:

Royal Gramma

Pink Streaked Wrasse

Yasha White Ray Shrimp Goby with a pistol shrimp.

[dkeller_nc]

There's no need to buy a separate pressure gauge. If you're going to keep a reef tank, it's necessary to have an RODI unit for cost, convenience and health reasons (your back's health, to be specific). So just purchase one with a pressure gauge integrated into the RO membrane holder. If you've got less than 60 psig, it'll be necessary to add a booster pump, but there's no reason to purchase that in advance (they're typically about $130) until you know for sure that you must have it.

If you're on municipal water, btw, it would be extremely unusual to have lower than 60 psig at the water service entrance to your home/apartment.

Regarding stocking, you might want to go to LiveAquaria's site and take a look at the "fish for nano tanks" section. There are lots and lots of fish suitable for small tanks, LA's site might give you some ideas.

[81Shaun]

Hello, sounds good will just go ahead and purchase one. I was intrested in the corallife unit but they don't have a pressure gauge built in atleast from what I can tell? I was thinking about trying the baracuda aqua fx but not sure whether or not that is a good brand? also my ph is 8.0 would the RO unit drop that and if so the seasalt would rise it to where its suppose to be right ?

on a side note, my old water source would not go above 7.6 ph and the fish store guy said that if I purchase a ro unit it would be a waste of time because that water had something in it that would not allow the seasalt to go to the ideal ph range and stay there?. as I mentioned now im on a new water source but back in those days I had to carry jugs to the store for ro water to keep a marine tank. again thanks everyone again for the help just wanting to get this right.

[DSPs]

Checkout spectpures refurbished Rodi units there the best for the money and there basically brand new for 120 bucks,spectapure is number 1 when it comes to rodi

[dkeller_nc]

Hello, sounds good will just go ahead and purchase one. I was intrested in the corallife unit but they don't have a pressure gauge built in atleast from what I can tell? I was thinking about trying the baracuda aqua fx but not sure whether or not that is a good brand? also my ph is 8.0 would the RO unit drop that and if so the seasalt would rise it to where its suppose to be right ?

on a side note, my old water source would not go above 7.6 ph and the fish store guy said that if I purchase a ro unit it would be a waste of time because that water had something in it that would not allow the seasalt to go to the ideal ph range and stay there?. as I mentioned now im on a new water source but back in those days I had to carry jugs to the store for ro water to keep a marine tank. again thanks everyone again for the help just wanting to get this right.

pH in purified water doesn't have any relevance because the actual buffering capacity of the water is very nearly zero. So when you add a buffering compound like sea salt mix to RODI, it's the composition of the mix that will determine the final solution's pH. In this case, that'll be somewhere between 8.2 and 8.4, regardless of the pH of the RODI or distilled water that was used to make it.

With respect to an RODI unit, I would advise you to buy one from Bulk Reef Supply, Buckeye Hydro, or The Filter Guys (a forum sponsor). Essentially, a "RODI" system is just a set of holders, a pressure gauge, possibly a TDS meter, and a back-pressure regulator, so branding doesn't make much difference.

With regards to what you should get (3 stage, 4 stage or 5 stage) and the "gallons per day" rating, this is what I'd suggest:

Start with a basic 75 gpd 4-stage unit with an integrated pressure gauge and a basic TDS meter. The stages should be 0.1 um particulate filtration, carbon block, RO membrane, and a final DI cartridge.

Determine whether your municipal tap water supplier uses chlorine or chloramine as a disinfectant. If they use chloramine, you will want to add a 2-cartridge "add-on" later to give you some extra carbon capacity. Bulk Reef Supply sells this add-on as a "chloramines upgrade kit".

[81Shaun]

Hello, okay thanks for the help with all of this appreciate that. what I don't understand is im about 1 mile away from people that has the same water and theres has alot of chlorine but mine has no taste of chlorine just kind off odd but im glad you brought this whole thing up about the chlorine chlorimine thing up because was going to ask you if a person should use a dechlorinator or not? im assuming no since the ro unit would remove it. but in time im probably moving to a house down the road where chlorine is alot compared to here. although same water. I will contact the water department regarding chlorimine though.

[tmz]

A pair of amphiprion ocelaris should do well in a 24 gallon. Get small unsexed specimens and you'll wind up with a breeding pair most likely. Two females will fight. A ten gallon is too small, Amphirion need from 20 gallons for the smaller varities to 30 gallons for the larger pairs. In nature a pair amphiprion calim about one cubic meter of space for their territory. So a 20 g though short of that is the widely recommended minimum.

[dkeller_nc]

If you have an RO/DI unit, you shouldn't add a dechlorinator/dechloraminator to the product water, since a properly functioning unit will remove all traces of chlorine and/or chloramine.

It's not a bad idea to have a bottle of Prime or Amquel around just in case you've a major emergency and must make a lot of saltwater very quickly with tap water (such as a major tank leak, for example). But in general you don't want tap water in a reef tank, whether with or without a dechlorinator.

[julie180]

I would not be to worried about what water you have. Just get a good RODI unit and pay attention to the TDS. I personally have found the in-line TDS meters to be inaccurate. I purchased a hand held one at the LFS for about 20.00 bucks.

[81Shaun]

If you have an RO/DI unit, you shouldn't add a dechlorinator/dechloraminator to the product water, since a properly functioning unit will remove all traces of chlorine and/or chloramine.

It's not a bad idea to have a bottle of Prime or Amquel around just in case you've a major emergency and must make a lot of saltwater very quickly with tap water (such as a major tank leak, for example). But in general you don't want tap water in a reef tank, whether with or without a dechlorinator.

Hello, okay now onadding water strait to the tank from the tap im not sure that would be a good idea or not cause the last time I tried that it ended up killing my fish atleast im thinking. so would it be okay just to keep some RO water back every so often? or is that a good idea im only keeping one of those nano cubes. again thanks for the help

[81Shaun]

I would not be to worried about what water you have. Just get a good RODI unit and pay attention to the TDS. I personally have found the in-line TDS meters to be inaccurate. I purchased a hand held one at the LFS for about 20.00 bucks.

Hello, what brand is yours? Ikind of prefer the hand held unit but thought about getting this one http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4395+4418+24732&pcatid=24732 but didnt notice that it was inline but could I just use to cups labeled good and bad water and just stick the probes in to check rather then installing it permanent ? also how much trouble is it to calibrate the hand held unit that you use? thanks apprciate the help.