spoon Posted August 11, 2010 Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 i have had the nano set up for maybe 3 months now just to prove to myself i was up to keeping marines im happy with the results but have some things i want to do differently on my next tank. so i have just brought a 500mm cube which will give me a greater choice of livestock and more stability. the cube is drilled with an internal partition(painted black) and overflow on the back wall . the partition is also drilled and two bulkhead fittings are attached with loc line fittings threaded on. the bottom of the tank is drilled behind the partition to allow for a standpipe and a back-up stand pipe. i also got a 150w MH fitting with it that has an electronic ballast (thanks MyXsPtlK). so the fun now begins i have to build a hood and modify a table i have to make a stand for the hood im gonna leave plenty of room to add extra things to the hood , im playing with the idea of a syphon surge system will also add actinic pl tubes though im unsure which fitting to use atm i have a 36w and a 24w i can salvage from my nano .for the sump i plan to diy this as well and use my current nano tank and sump as a sump and refugium . i will be using lids on all of the tanks to reduce evaporation however i will plan into it using fans to help with heat issues in case i have any in summer. i will use a diy ATO also when i get that far along but right now im going to be busy building the stand and hood loc-line in overflow partition veiw of back of tank with two holes drilled in bottom for standpipe plumbing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted August 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 got the stand mostly built and primed its going to be spray painted black front back all i have to do is build a small stand for the refugium which will be a 1.5ft tank that sits inside the cabinet offset and above the sump which is a slightly bigger tank(my old nano display and sump! ) tank is relative position of sump empty space next to it will be under refugium and used for storage then i will get some mdf skirting board for around the top of the tank to hide the bottom inch of the tank (and to even it up visually for the hood i plan to build) i may also add more ventilation holes in the cabinet this is the 150MH unit im going to build into the hood im going to use a 10k bulb supplementry lighting will be in the form of these two pl bulbs on my nano at present but i will use marine blue tubes in both of them blue one 24w other is 36w have started plumbing work also using flexible pipe and irrigation fittings where possible i also plan to use a carlson surge device of about 4l on this tank so i played around with the idea but on my 5ft african tank here is a trial run the current produced by it- Note its only a 5l bucket and 5l in a 540l tank is not enough to raise the water level by much its fed by a jebo cannister filter here and the syphon tube is not big enough so i m planning to use a old kitchen s-bend or part of and plumb it to a hansen tank fitting that way it should be able to empty the bucket in a matter of seconds rather than about 1min as it currently takes although if this is too much i can reduce the diameter of the pipe before it enters the tank. overall i found the noise of this suitable for a living room but not suitable for a bedroom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted August 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 well hood is now over halfway i have make up one more support for the pl 24w fitting and affix a lid and front panel which will lift up here is a back veiw showing the cooling fan for MH veiw of inside not much to look at just MH fitting all up so far.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted November 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2010 set up and cycling getting sump made and re doing light hood so that lights may be moved up and down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony law Posted November 1, 2010 Report Share Posted November 1, 2010 cool..... ill like to do a 750 cube one day..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foamy Posted November 1, 2010 Report Share Posted November 1, 2010 I wish i can built something like this! very cool.! very nice! amazing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted November 1, 2010 Report Share Posted November 1, 2010 Very nice looking set up, keep us posted please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted November 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2010 here are some pics of the overflow 20mm pipe with hansen fittings herbie style setup with durso on secondary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted November 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 here is some pics skimmer collection cup after 2 days = yummy its working great this skimmer quiet too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 Great update thanks how often do you change/add water how often do you feed what are the light specs? what temp does it run at? Cost so far? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted November 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 atm im doing about 14l per a week water change but will up this as soon as my sump is built as ill drill a hole and plumb a bulkhead fitting and tap for easy draining , i top up daily manually as i havnt built an ATO system yet again waiting for the sump then will use a 20l water container pressurised by a small DC airpump connected to a cheap ebay float switch. i feed a small amount of flake once daily and bloodworms and plankton every few days the lights are 1x 150W MH @14K 1x 24w Pl tube @ actinic wavelength 1x 36w pl tube @ 50/50 10K/Actinic however i still have to modify the hood to enable the lights to be lowered for better lighting and raised for acess , im still thinking through how im going to do this temp is set to 25 deg i have a temp controller wired to a small box with switched socket outlets one for the heater another for cpu power supply to power fans for cooling (atm im running 1x 120mm fan built in to the hood (primarily to cool the MH) and a small fan in the base cabinet i plan on getting a jebo 4 or 6 head fan unit and mounting it on the display tank divider over the overflow as there is a larger surface of water in there (due to it running down the glass partition) one the sump is built here is a pic i will mount all equipment i plan to use and cut out a perspex lid to fit around it all as im already finding condensation to be a problem inside the cabinet im using a Bubble magus NAC6A skimmer , a sensen 4500lph return pump using flexible 20mm pipe and irragtion fittings a plan to run a dsb and grow some macro in the sump also. currently im running a small DIY reactor style filter for the carbon and phospahte remover but i will most likely buy a proper , bigger one and perhaps experiment using purigen in the small diy one cost so far tank and mH (lamp holder and ballast) including partition and some plumbing fittings $160 return pump $80 skimmer $300 cabinet and hood -around $50 for materials (2nd hand from musgroves) and around $50 for paint MH bulb $15 36w PL fitting $40 and tube $36 24w pl fitting free + tube $20 misc plumbing supplies around about $60 temp controller $40 lots of other stuff ive had lying around that i put to good use in this project = free ive probably forgotten somethings as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted November 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 also livestock 1x common clown $65 1x blue damsel $40 1x pj cardinal $35 2 x nz glass shrimp free from carsandkats then i have some red macro $15 on live rock kenya tree frag $30 (actually has the same red macro growing on attached rock) green star polyp $15 hammer and zoo frags free from loopy im going to hold off on adding any more livestock until the sump is sorted out and ato and everything oh i also dose seachem alkalinty 1 cap a week and calcium 1 cap a week as well as 12 drops of marinum all in one a week i use marinium sea salt too as its cheap and dissovles easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deepsound Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 What a good job ! Very nice Spoon. I'm not sure about the fish you choose... Chromis viridis and amphiprions doesn't appreciate to be alone. Chromis viridis need about 200 liters and it's better to put several of them in one time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted November 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 its not a chromis but a blue damsel im not sure of the scientific name but its not the common yellow tail blue damsel but yeah a schooling fish by nature i was planning on getting another clown in the future too however i hear it may not work out well introducing another clown. im cautious about adding more damsels now as they can be territorial and i dont want fights to happen at the moment the clown and damsel hang out together heaps its quite funny to watch i was keen on chromis a while back but have decided to get everything else sorted with this tank and perhaps get a few more frags before adding more fish and also as i dont want to add too many more fish i will have to be careful about what i choose in the future im leaning towards possibly a fire goby and a bangaii ive kind of been going off this page using stocking suggestions http://www.nano-reef.com/fish/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deepsound Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Yes you're right. Not a chromis but a chrysiptera parasema and yes, they can be territorial. Not easy in your tank cause they need a bigger volume. Thanks for the link, I got the english names now Oh I'm fond of gobbies ! Could you tell me how much they cost in NZ ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windsparrow Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Nice setup, something I've recently thought about doing with mine, except I already have all the equipment for a Hang on Back style 600mm. Can you nab a pic of these Glass Shrimp? Depends on the gobies really, i think $70-120. Keep us updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted November 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 the glass shrimp are just the common shrimp you would find in a rockpool down the beach here heres a pic what do you mean buy hang on back 600mm ? like a 2 foot tank with a hang on back filter? Yes you're right. Not a chromis but a chrysiptera parasema and yes, they can be territorial. Not easy in your tank cause they need a bigger volume. Thanks for the link, I got the english names now Oh I'm fond of gobbies ! Could you tell me how much they cost in NZ ? its not a chrysiptera parasema either its very similar looking however the yellow doesnt go from the tail on to the body possibly Chrysiptera cyanea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted January 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 some more pictures whole tank shots coralline is growing well but unfortunatly so is hair algae this is due to me not having a RODI unit yet and the insane amounts of been topping up with tap water recently (im lucky we have very good tap water here otherwise it would be worse) hammer coral has recovered well and and has a lot of new growth kenya tree is doing well also despite being fragged heavily (its still only a frag itself) the rock the kenya tree is on is growing red macro and some small grape like thing any ideas what it is fragged green star poylp for a friend as well as kenya tree and red macro quite suprised how easy it is to do lateset addition in corals is a green mushroom i thought a month or so back that i had lost all of my zoos due to a large apistata stinging them but i have almost rid my tank of pest anemones now injecting them with vinegar in a syrine(w/ needle) so these zoos should bounce back nicely now there are two colours here green (top) and orange and green(bottom) all in the same colony a few other photos i have also changed my 36w pl bulb from a 10k/actinic mix to a 12k marine blue so im much happier with the colour of the light now too have added another clownfish ended up having to swap the new one for a smaller one as they were fighting , they are now getting on really well the bigger 1 defending the small one from the blue damsel today brought some more live rock from jolliolli it had some hariy mushrooms attached they look great opened up and i cleaned a lot of the algae off the glass using a stainless steel scraper that takes single edge razor blades(brand is ceraclean , its for cleaning ceramic hobs and is about $13 at the supermarket works great and razor blades are cheap) glass shrimps are still alive and well although 1 has migrated to the sump the other is in the over flow which isnt a bad thing as when my pj cardinal gets bigger they wont last long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Small grape like thing looks to be bubble algae, though I can't see it clearly. I use the glass tubes from broken heaters attached to a air hose, and scrape it off as its sucking, not the best method but with time you can beat it. there is some good information here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted January 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 cool thanks for that its only on the one rock and hasent spread so i can take the rock out and chip a bit away with the bubble algae on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 as nymox said may be bubble algae don't pop it while removing i use a piece of pipe on a syphon hose too or take rock out of tank into a bucket, scrape off then wash before placing in tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Yeah if your willing to remove the rock even better, as L.A. says just rinse it thoroughly before putting it back in. Try keep it intact when removing it bursting it will release millions of spores. Also if you leave the anchor it will regrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 I like it, but personally I think it needs more live rock. Build a pile of it in the middle of the tank. Then find as many species of corals/anemones that will coexist happily and add those. Then ditch that Polka-dot Cardinalfish and the Blue Damsel and get five of six of those little Yellow-tailed Damsels and a Six-lined Wrasse or a couple of small Gramma sp. That will be epic :bounce: Keep the Clownfish though - they're cute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted January 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 joe the photos are a couple of weeks old i have added another 3.5 kg of live rock but its not really arranged how i want it , im still thinking over how im going to lay it out finally the live rock i have in there is basically piled up with not much space in between i ideally want to make two islands and go quite high with them . as for the stocking i like the pj cardinal however he prevents me from buying a fire shrimp (will get eaten) and the damsel was the first fish i brought (30l nano) hes not actually a lot different to yellow tail damsels just slightly more aggressive and the yellow doesnt extend onto the body. i would like 4 or 5 of them (or yellow tail damsels) to school however i feel the tank will be too small for them(main display , not including sump or overflow is around 125 l.) so for now will most probably kepp my stocking as it is perhaps get a Nemateleotris decora. im pretty new to reef keeping but i have plenty of years left to upgrade and keep other fish for now im happy to get what i have working good and learn some skills along the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mcculloch Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 So basicially change the whole tank aye Joe? Why don't you get your own tank and do all that you want to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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