# My New Deco Kit 3



## nicco0315 (Jul 29, 2008)

Got a new Deco Kit 3. This my new nano. I figured I would use it as my new experiment tank. Here's some pics. By the way there is one upgrade, I put a biocube protein skimmer in it to see how that would work out since i couldn't find one at me LFS that would fit it. But here's the pics. 







Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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## RickM61 (Jul 18, 2008)

Nicco

It look like you have full actnic lights on it..try 50/50 bulb if you can.. Other than that i would put another baseball size piece of live rock in there. Watch out for the Deco tanks..they are great but they tend to scratch easy. any more questions let me know..once it cycles throw some zoa's in there.

Rick


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## flricordia (Nov 8, 2008)

Cool. How's the PS doing? Skimming anything yet? When you planning on adding any livestock and what?


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

Congrats on your new nanoreef Josie!
Taking care of that will be like caring for a bonsai tree.. try and keep everything miniature. I would level out the sand as it gives away the size of the tank in pics. That left side probably wouldn't slope like that in a big tank. Not to be too critical of your masterpiece, lol! Seriously though, you will certainly enjoy that tank, kudos!


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

btw does your camera have a white balance setting you can mess with?


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## nicco0315 (Jul 29, 2008)

Not sure if my camera has that setting. I'm always messing with that dang thing that I just get too frustrated trying to getting it to take the pics right. You should have seen me at Disney :ISh_the_Fish:. The lighting is what came with the setup (18w fluorescent lighting). So I can only put softies in it from what the book said. I think someone promised me a sun coral (Rick) LOL. Just kidding. The sand I fixed already. I looked at it and noticed it wasn't level. The protein skimmer was working for like the first half hour and then it seemed to have simmered down a little. I tried messing with the air flow but it just kept going back down. But it keeps bubbling. (It's my first time messing with one). I thought it would help with the keeping the levels good but I'm not even sure if it's working. I was going to add another piece of live rock tomorrow since by the time I got home I noticed that I could add another but the LFS was closed already. As for livestock, I just put the set together today so it's going to be a little before I add anything. I want to wait till it's done cycling. When it gets done cycling I will let you know on what livestock I decided to choose. Speaking of cycling, how long do you guys think it will take before it's done cycling?


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

I would turn the skimmer off till after its cycled (can you?). And also, if the water is cloudy, the skimmer wont work as well (those little sand particles prevent the bubbles from being as they will be if the water were clear). So that setting where you had some bubbles with cloudy sediment in the water will become more bubbly as the water clears. But if you can, turn it off as it will delay your cycle. You want that crap in there to feed the bacteria colony that's forming now. The cycle might be about 6 weeks.


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## nicco0315 (Jul 29, 2008)

Oh okay cool beans. I thought the protein skimmer might help the the cycle go faster. Guess I was wrong. The only reason why I asked about how long do you think it will take for the cycle because the guy at the LFS told me it should take about 2 weeks before it the cycle was completed. So I figured I would ask you guys to get a second opinion. But I know that the cycle isn't completed until all the parameters are good and leveled.


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## nicco0315 (Jul 29, 2008)

Oh forgot to tell you guys, I got another piece of rock from the LFS the day after so I'm good on rock, so now I can finish letting it cycle. Now since this is a smaller tank should i just do the water changes once a week instead of every two weeks?


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## Lunatik_69 (Nov 8, 2008)

Looks good. Am about to set up a 30g Octopus tank myself. Luna


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

If you can keep up with weekly water changes, I cannot see why that would be a problem, assuming the new water was better than whats in the tank.  
Are you doing NSW (Natural SeaWater) or mixing your own?


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## nicco0315 (Jul 29, 2008)

well i was buying the premixed water they make at the LFS since it's 0.96 pg because they use the whole RO filtration system.


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

cool cool was just wondering 
So you'll keep a gas can of it ready and buy it in 5 gallon intervals?


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## nicco0315 (Jul 29, 2008)

I have a 3 gallon canister that I had that i used to get the store bought premixed water in but i saw that the LFS made their own so I keep it in that.


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## nicco0315 (Jul 29, 2008)

I won't be mixing my own till i get a powerhead (i think that's what you call it {the motor that helps mix in the salt well} ).


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## nicco0315 (Jul 29, 2008)

The tank is now cycled. I added my Percula Clown for my son. He loves nemo. My peppermint to take care of the aptasia and added my small frag of xenia. Updated pics will be up soon as soon as they are done acclimating. Now I gotta wait another 2 weeks before I can add some more corals. Now if I remember right xenias like place with alot of flow, Correct?


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## nicco0315 (Jul 29, 2008)




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## goldenmacman (Jun 12, 2008)

looks good, i got the same kit too.. but ive decided to grow macro algae, pods and bristle worms in mine.. its a nice little system.. good luck, waiting for pics


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## picoreefer247 (Jan 20, 2009)

looks good so far, i have the same tank, i dont use it i upgraded to a 8 gallon bio cube but it was still an awsome tank great for a begginer keep us postd


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## aznpowaisback (Mar 23, 2009)

Be careful with the xenias though they produce colonies FAST.


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## RickM61 (Jul 18, 2008)

Tank is ling good Josie..how is the skimmer doing. that xenia will groww very fast if conditions are right. mine likes alot of flow and light. Oh btw..IM BACKKKKKKKKK..I Lost my sun coral but plan on getting another one..

Rick


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## Shotgun (Mar 1, 2009)

if you dont mind me asking, how much do you think that would cost to get the rock for that tank?


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## RickM61 (Jul 18, 2008)

i set mine back up and it has around 1 pound of live rock in it. so roughly about $6.00 for rock

Rick


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## Imaexpat2 (Jun 17, 2009)

Since this old thread has been revived a bit...



> if you dont mind me asking, how much do you think that would cost to get the rock for that tank?


Hum, I am not really sure as I dodnt have one. But a tank that small cant be too terribly expensive. Maybe the OP can drop in and comment on this and give you a more solid answer on what a set up like this would cost out the door. I did manage to put together a 10 gallon nano for about 105.00 bucks minus accessories like net, salt, test kit ect.. With out a light upgrade though it was only good for mushrooms and such, but a budget entry level set up to get your feet wet and some experience under your belt none the less, before you move up to bigger and better things.

One thing I really am curious about though is that skimmer? Anyone got the low down on it? Does it work well enough to rate using? I realize with Nanos its usually easier and quicker to just do frequent water changes weekly, but it would really be nice if someone invented a Skimmer that really works well thats applicable to a Nano, especially one like this one thats not a AIO type set up.


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## RickM61 (Jul 18, 2008)

that protein skimmer will work great ifyou get it dialed in right. i dont use one as i do weekly water changes and i feel that works well..

Rick


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## Imaexpat2 (Jun 17, 2009)

That being said, would you personally recommend it to someone wanting a skimmer on a 20 gallon or smaller Nano?


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## j.j.j (Aug 4, 2009)

Lunatik_69 said:


> Looks good. Am about to set up a 30g Octopus tank myself. Luna


I heard that octopus are great escape artist. Will they crawl out of an open tank like this?

By the way, has anyone raise cuttlefish before? I saw some documentary about how these creatures flashes color and patterns on their skin. It would be neat if they would do the show even out of the wild.


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## j.j.j (Aug 4, 2009)

What is glaring near the top at the back? Is it just reflection of the light or is it another lamp shining right into the viewer's face? It would be nice if you can block that glare because when I looked at your pictures, the glare was a major distraction.


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## RickM61 (Jul 18, 2008)

I would recommend skimming on anything 10 gallon and over. Anything smaller and weekly water changes will suffice. Octopus are great escape artists... unless they are very happy in the tank or the tank is completely sealed on top they will climb out.

Rick


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