10
lamp should be turned on circa 12 hours per day. However, it is recommended that the
blue ECOLIGHT BLUE lighting module is turned on one hour before and turned off one
hour after the white ECOLIGHT MARINE module. Following the above rule improves the
colouring of the corals providing them with the phosphorus effect.
Setting up an AQUAEL Nano Reef tank step by step:
1. Locate the tank with glued bottom corner protectors on stable and carefully leveled
piece of furniture (it is recommended to use a dedicated AQUAEL SHRIMP STAND
cabinet). CAUTION: The aquarium should be set in a place where it will not be exposed
to direct sun light!
2. Install VERSAMAX filter on the back, blue tank wall (at this stage it should not be turned
on).
3. Fill the tank with distilled or demineralized water (from a RO – reverse osmosis – filter).
CAUTION: Tap water is absolutely not suitable for this purpose!
4. Add special marine salt (recommended salt – ACTI REEF SALT) in quantities
recommended by the manufacturer (most often 1,2 kg in case of NANO REEF 20 and
1,8 kg in case of NANO REEF 30).
5. Launch VERSAMAX filter in order to fully dissolve the salt.
6. Wait 24 hours.
7. Verify water gravity – the correct gravity in temperature of 25ºC is 1,020-1,026 g/cm3.
In case of lower gravity carefully add some salt. In case of higher density – pour some
distilled or demineralized water and once more check the gravity. These actions should
be repeated until the proper water gravity is obtained.
8. Place live rock in the tank – the recommended quantity is ca. 1,5-2 kg in case of NANO
REEF 20 and ca. 2,5-3 kg in case of NANO REEF 30). CAUTION: Pieces of the live rock
should be located firmly in order to avoid potential damaging or even breaking on
aquarium walls!
9. Slowly pour substrate around the live rock – it is recommended to use live sand for this
purpose as it accelerates the process of tank maturation.
10. Install top corner protectors and cover the tank with the top glass.
11. Wait at least 24 hours.
12. Start DECOLIGHT lighting according to the instruction.
13. Place first animals in the aquariums: it is recommended for them to be soft corals,
shrimps, small crabs and potentially small fish.
14. Wait at least one week. After soft corals start to grow and the conditions in the
aquarium are stabilized, more demanding animals, e.g. hard corals, can be placed in
the tank.
15. After ca. two weeks, as some detritus is already deposited in the tank, place cleaning
animals such as snails, brittle stars, etc. in the aquarium.
Soft corals, Rhodactis and shrimps are recommended as the first animals. Considering the
small size of the tank it is not advisable to keep the fish in it with the exception for some
very small species such as Trimma, Discordipinna and Stenogobiops.
Everyday operation of the tank
The everyday operation of the tank consists of refilling the evaporated water with the
deionised or distilled water without salt supplementation. It is also necessary to control
periodically the water parameters such as its gravity (with hydrometer, the correct
gravity is 1,018-1,026 g/cubic cm.), carbonate hardness (chemical test, suggested value
10-12ºdKH), pH (chemical test, suggested value 8,0-8,4), level of calcium (chemical test,
suggested value 400-420 mg/l) and magnesium (chemical test, suggested value 1200 mg/
l). The aquarist’s duties also cover cleaning the aquarium walls from algae, periodically
replacing the water with the fresh one (it is recommended to change around 25% of
the tank content once a week, the water newly poured-in should be marine water with
the addition of the special salt – ACTI REEF SALT is recommended) and adding mineral
supplements for corals on a regular basis (the recommended lines of products: ACTI
MARINE: STRONTIUM & MOLYBDENUM; IODINE & MAGNESIUM; IRON & MANGANESE,
CALCIUM CORAL and TRACE ELEMENTS).
Summary of Contents for NANO REEF 20
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