New to SW, need assistance

[Coop]

Ok so I bought an up and running nano 24. It has live rock, live sand, one clown, and a couple of crabs. It has the basic sponge filter I guess it comes with, live rock in the middle chamber with a heater in it, and the factory pump. It came with led lighting also. Also I'm not doing coral anytime soon. I'd like the rock to not have hair algae and would like it to have nice colors. Eventually I want to add a anemonea. I've read several threads and it seems there are many different ideas. I'm about to make a run to petsmart to get some water to do a water change. I already bought a SW test kit and have a hydrometer. What else do I need?

[johnnymisty]

I would invest in an ro/di system to make your own water, get salt for making your water I like red sea coral pro salt, if you want to get rid of the hair algae test the water and find what's causing it most likely phosphate problem and rememedy that also a clean up crew can help as well

[Coop]

Awesome thanks! What would you recommend for a cleanup crew that will go well with the clown and crabs?

[johnnymisty]

Snails, some hermits in such a small tank I'm not sure what fish could be added that eats hair algae

[Coop]

Bought more water today to do a water change.

Would like to buy a lawnmower blenny and Mexican turbo snails.

[johnnymisty]

If the tank is open top be careful lawnmower blennies like to commit suicide the 2 I had jumped out the tank

[Coop]

Damn... Yea it open top. Looks like I might have to upgrade eventually if I like this and it isn't much more than I usually do on my fw. My OCD tends to make me do more than I probably have to on my fw.

[Bedlamer]

My suggestion to you is to remove the live rock bits from your in the back chamber and add them to the rest of the live rock in the front of the tank. Then use the space to place in filter bags whatever medias you need to address whatever issues that come up. So as suggested above a sack of GFO http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/phosba...e-fishies.html the 1/3 lb size comes with a sack according to a reviewer and place some in chamber 2. Probably won't work as effiecently as a dedicated reactor, but for your nano set up should do fine. Test for your phosphate level prior to use then monitor to see if your levels drop. If there is a lot of phosphate in your tank it might take awhile to see a significant drop.

For a screen if you are either bit handy--you can DIY one. BRS has all the stuff you need in a kit http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/diy-aq...4-netting.html Or to save few bucks check out whats in the kit and go rummage around Home Depot and or Lowe's and pick up the stuff locally. There are a number of videos on-line that show how to do these. The SW people like them, so do some of the herp people.

For CUCs these guys http://www.reefcleaners.org/ will do you up a custom order based specifically on your set up. Decent prices and ship to your door.

Get into the habit of rinsing out your sponge filter a couple of times a week in a bit of SW to help keep the detritus load and therefore your nitrates down.

I hope that helps.