cgrant Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Hello, this is my first post to this sight. I have been in the SW hobby for a little over two years now. I have a 80g mixed reef at home that was my first SW tank. I have a 10g FW tank at the office that I decided to convert to a nano reef. I have reused the HOB replacing the filter material with cheato. Ihave also for the time being reused the heater but plan on going woth a more discreet one in the future. I have added a piece of live rock from my home tank and a piece of dry rock I had lying around. I also added some dry sand I got from Garrett (thank you) and a little live sand from my 80g toe seed the sand. Here are some photos .... Clean tank painting back ready to set up Today Any input would be great. I am currently looking for a light to fit this preferably PC. I won't be stocking untill I get some lights so I hope to find something soon. Water perams seem good. I have not experienced the cycle yet but will give a week or so after I get some lights on before I add any livestock. Oh ya, preliminary stocking plans:D. Panda Goby Hector's Goby Scarlet hermit crab sexy shrimp mushrooms zoa's Maybe some LPS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreefaquarist Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 zoanthids and ricordia ftw.looking good any plans for a skimmer of some sort? i used to run a 5 gallon nano and even with only a few corals and 1 fish it needed a skimmer. one of the small surface skimmers would be good or they even make nano skimmers. and nano koralias. a shrimp would look cool in there too. keep us updated we love pics(rock2). welcome aboard friend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Looking good man! Can't wait to see that beauty all filled up! Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 I have been trying to decide to skim or not to skim. Some research I have done says that weekly water changes are the way to go with nano tanks. One source states that skimming takes many vital nutrients from the water as well as the bad stuff. I think I will try to avoid skimming but if I can't keep the water perams stable I will look into a skimmer. I got a 24" Current orbit 2x65 watt fixture off e-bay yesterday(clap). Can't wait to get it set up. I will put up some more pics when I get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidalsculpin Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Nice beginnings. I am curious how you plan on hiding the heater. Keep the pics coming!!! I have always been amazed at how nano reefers deal with hiding equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 I am working on a couple of ideas for the heater but I need to buy a fully submersible first. I will update when I work it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 And thank you for all the looks and good words. Its fun to share this with fellow enthusiasts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Good looking so far(rock2) As far as a skimmer not really needed if you do weekly wc. My sons 12AP had 4 fish 3 shrimp and no skimmer. I just did about a 50% water change every weekend. There were times I missed(whistle) but all in all worked out really good. As for the heater I have a really small submersable one in my HOB filter in my mantis tank. It seems to work well but it is only about 3 to 4 gallons. Good luck and welcome to the reef world:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 Good looking so far(rock2) As far as a skimmer not really needed if you do weekly wc. My sons 12AP had 4 fish 3 shrimp and no skimmer. I just did about a 50% water change every weekend. There were times I missed(whistle) but all in all worked out really good. As for the heater I have a really small submersable one in my HOB filter in my mantis tank. It seems to work well but it is only about 3 to 4 gallons. Good luck and welcome to the reef world:D The HOB filter was what I was thinking about for the heater but I need a larger one. What brand/type of heater are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef-fisher Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 I think spectras is a marineland. I personally preffer the stealth heaters(a 50w would be great for a 10 gal) but for his set-up it works well. Welcome:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Yeah what he said^^^^ I think it is a marinland as they are made for small tanks. It just barely fits in the hob filter. But the tank stays at about 76 degrees all the time so works for me. And on another note the stealth heater is great for a 10 gallon. I ean a small QT tank and used a little stealth and never had a problem. I did not have to hide it so it was not a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidalsculpin Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 I bet one of those cpr hob aquafuges will fit a stealth in it. Look into the dimensions on the cpr site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted November 26, 2008 Author Share Posted November 26, 2008 The CPR is pretty cool idea but way more money than I want to spend on a fuge. I am looking for a used HOB filter for a larger tank that I can make a fuge out of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Pickup an AC110 HOB filter. It has a huge compartment. I used to have a 10gal nano and used that filter as a fuge and also stuck my heater in there. My topoff went into it, i dosed into it. Just a great addition to a small tank like this. Here is a pic of my old nano. Was my 1st SW tank ever!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted November 27, 2008 Author Share Posted November 27, 2008 That is what I had in mind. That one looks perfect. Thank you. Great looking tank too. Did you ever use any cheato in the fuge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Thanks! It was a fun tank. I did try cheato in the fuge, i built a fence with gutterguard to keep it from going into the tank. Worked great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted November 29, 2008 Author Share Posted November 29, 2008 Gutterguard is a great idea. I will keep that in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 LIGHTS(yahoo) Let the stocking begin!!(clap) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Hey there is a guy in your tank taking a picture of me!!!!! (laugh) Great start thats a nice light. What type is it? That rock on the right side is covered with coralline. Should give you a great start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted December 5, 2008 Author Share Posted December 5, 2008 The light is a 24" current orbit dual 65w. I got it off e-bay for $47.90 including shipping!(rock2) Might be a little overkill but I couldn't pass it up. The down side is the led lunar lights are not working. The power cord seems to be cut. Hope I can fix this sometime in the future. If anyone knows anything about the LEDs and/or these fixtures some info would be appreciated. The rock in question came out of my 80G and not only covered in Coraline but has many hitchhikers so I am getting some good stuff in there. I think I might have to get a couple snails and a scarlet hermit or two to start things off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreefaquarist Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 would love to see pics of the 80 gallon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgrant Posted December 5, 2008 Author Share Posted December 5, 2008 would love to see pics of the 80 gallon I have some at home I will try to put on later. Not very good because my camara is an old 3 pixel point and shoot. The pictures of the 10G are all from my crackberry. I think it takes better pictures(not really but close). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.