1 Gallon Nano... advice please

[jcopp24]

I would like to try and make this 1 gallon into a nano. Any comments would be great... I run a 20 gallon nano at work where I plan to keep this one as well. I was hoping to do water changes twice a week on this tank like I do on my 20 gallon. I do not want to put fish in this tank, I was thinking just some live rock a some crabs... or 1 crab who knows. I am painting the back black as week speak. The light for the tank is a 7w power compact... any comments on increasing that by using a different bulb would be great. Also any ideas on moding the stock filter would be cool as well.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

sounds cool

what does that filter push out? if its more than say 10 gph, it will be fine for your water flow imo. That light will be pretty good for softies as well. But is that a 10K bulb (or a 50/50) or is it just some freswater bulb?

The one thing i would suggest is you not do 2 water changes per week...for either tank. One 10% water change per week is going to be plenty. But 2 water changes imo, is a bit much, even if they're only 5 percent ones.

 

[binaryterror]

I had the Azoo Palm filter. It put's out 16gph. It provided planty of flow in my 2.5g hex. So it should be enough. And for the lighting, I would get an 20k bulb. I know you can never find them in PC, but just get the blueist bulb you can find besides actinic (too blue). The blue really makes it look like a marine tank, and makes everything in the tank look much sharper.

Keep us updated with pics!

 

[sir_dudeguy]

ya they dont make any pc's higher than 10K, so you wont be able to find any that are bluer from what i could find. So you're either gonna be stuck w/a 10K, or if they make a 50/50, that would be the better one for color.

 

[binaryterror]

Yeah, is a 50/50 bulb is the best you can get, then get it for sure. Anything is better than 10k!

 

[sir_dudeguy]

yea. Some 10K's are more white than others...but usually when they're by themselves they give off a yellow light rather than pure white/blue. I really wish they made 14 or 20K pc's...i'd be a definate buyer, along w/many many others lol.

 

[jcopp24]

I am not sure what type of bulb it is in the fixture. I know when I turn the light on the light is very white/blue. Taking a couple of pictures this morning, I painted the back of the tank black... actually I didnt paint it my body shop did... its Audi's Brilliant Black I put salt water in last night to start moving water around the tank with a small piece of live rock from my 20 gallon FOWLR at work. I would like to keep the fixture that the light is in now... or maybe retro the fixture to hold something bigger / more powerful. Again all comments are appreciated.

 

[jcopp24]

Ok... here is what the light fixture says :
CLIP LIGHT
Model Number CL007
AC 120V 60hz, 7 W

Here are two pics this morning... still waiting for someone to give me an idea on the filter... just keep the charcoal filter? Or would you try and make that into something else?

 

[Taikimoto]

You know if it was me I would drill it and put an overflow/refugium on it, maybe a 20g, bwwaha, but Im nutz so dont mind me. Looks good!

 

[jcopp24]

Taikimoto

Well that is what I am looking for give me some ideas.. I was thinking of taking a 5 gallon water cooler bottle under my desk as a possible refugium... ?

 

[dystopian]

You can always convert a canister filter into a closed loop refugium ^_^

 

[sir_dudeguy]

I'd say add some sand, another rock about that size, and you'll be fine for your filtration. You can keep that carbon in the hob if you want.

The light tho...i'm thinking thats just a freshwater bulb, which wont do any good w/corals. if you cant see anything about 10,000K or anything, then its prolly not a saltwater bulb.

 

[jcopp24]

will there be no way to use this fixture by changing the bulb?

 

[dystopian]

You can probably change the bulb to a 10k with no problems. I think I read somewhere that the Azoo fixtures use the same bulb as the Palm Galaxy lighting fixtures, so I think a 10k bulb shouldn't be too difficult to find.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

ya if you can find a 10K bulb then yes you should use that. I think they're cool lookin fixtures

but if not, then i've seen a similar clip on one at my lfs, so i'm sure that they make one for reef use (the lfs is only saltwater, so they dont carry any freshwater products)

 

[jcopp24]

Okay tonight I will take the bulb home and I will try and find one at the pet store. If not would there be one at say home depot that I could find?

 

[jcopp24]

Okay tonight I will take the bulb home and I will try and find one at the pet store. If not would there be one at say home depot that I could find?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

home depot wont have any bulbs for saltwater aquarium. i'm thinkin the highest kelvin rating they'd have is around 4 or so...and you need 10K to grow stuff.

now that i think of it tho...i dont even think home depot has any pc bulbs of any size. cuz i was trying to get some clips from them for mine, and the 3 guys didnt even know what pc bulbs are lol

 

[dystopian]

Hmm, the HD near my place actually has a bunch of PC bulbs for sale, but they're not of any usable color temp.

You can always order a bulb online, I'm sure there're many places you can get one from.

 

[jcopp24]

Thank you for the bulb help...

Anyone have any ideas of converting the 5 gallon water cooler bottle to a refugium maybe with a skimmer in it who knows?