Josh40996
New member
Good Evening,
Last year I decided to take a break from the satwater hobby after losing all my corals due to an exploding heater, but have kept my feet wet with a 15g planted tank. But now my sodium levels are getting low and I'm feeling the itch to get some salt back in these veins!
Over the years I have kept various small reefs, including a 55 gallon long, a 30 gallon, a 15 gallon tall and a 10 gallon cube. But this time I am going even smaller, much smaller... A cheap 2.5 gallon tank measuring 30x17x23cm that I have used as a planted guppy fry tank that I keep on my desk in my bedroom to gaze at whilst working and browsing the web. The perfect location for a reef tank I think.
For this tank I plan to DIY as much as possible and reuse old equipment to keep costs to a minimum. My equipment is going to be as simple as possible, since theres not much room to keep it all in such a small tank.
Starting with the lighting. I have decided to go the DIY LED route as I have done previously, but whilst browsing online I came across some very cheap COB LEDs that I decided to give a try rather than individual 1w chips. I was intrigued with the idea of simply wiring these up to a 12v PSU instead of a LED driver, along with the spread of light that these would give. The packs I purchased are designed for automobile usage and are rated at 11w each, with each pack containing 2 COBs. I purchased a white kit and a blue kit and measure 17cm long. For the case I used an A5 photo frame. I took the glass panel out and superglued it to the front of the frame. For the heatsink, I used a 1mm thick sheet of metal cut to A5 and superglue a PC heatsink fan on top to actively cool the sheet. I used some copper grease as a thermal paste and superglue to secure the COBs to the sheet. It was then as simple as wiring the COBs in parallel, connecting to a 12v PSU and sliding the heatsink into the photo frame. Once over the tank I am a little iffy about the colour, it is much more blue than I usually go for. But I am VERY impressed with the spread of light and the lack of shimmer (my eyes hate shimmer) and is comparable to T5s. I was little skeptical about the 11w rating, and on the box it actually says 6w each. Upon watching a Bigclivedotcom video on these exact units, it seems like the 6w is what I am actually getting at 12v, and the 11w is the output at 14v (car nominal voltage). The DIY heatsink is working very effectively for this application and does not even feel warm to the touch, but if the fan is switched off, it heats up to a barely tolerable temperature within a minute.
For heating I am using a cheap 50w heater along with a stand alone temperature controller. I have it set to 25c and it holds the temperature very stable. I may switch to a more compact plastic heater in the future, but for now it's size is not too bothersome.
For flow/mechanical filtration I am currently using a small HOB and an internal power filter on opposite ends of the tank. I feel like these two still do not provide enough flow throughout the tank, so I plan to buy a powerhead. Not sure if there are any that are suitable for a tank this size?
For the rockwork I am using some rock from my previous reefs. I have bleached the rock for 24hrs and then soaked in water with a handful of sodium thiosulphate for 24hrs. I was originally planning to go for a much more rockwall type of scape with the entire back wall covered in rock, but decided to hold back and be a little less generous which I think will work out better in the future.
I am happy with the scape for now. I am however undecided whether to paint the back of the tank or not. I have enjoyed the clear background when the tank was planted and I think helps make the tank look bigger than it actually is, but I have never gone clear with a reef before.
Here is where its starts to get a bit controversial. I have never been a patient person, and always tend to rush into things out of excitement. Its not a good trait, but one I live with. Water has been in the tank for 24 hours and corals and a cerith snail are on their way by post, due to arrive on Wednesday. This is a move I have done before with success, but I am nervous doing it in a system this small. I have also purchased some Tetra Safe Start that will arrive tomorrow to kick start the cycle. This is a product that I have used in the past with much success and have faith in its ability, so I hope it works it's magic for me once again and is able to keep my tank running smoothly whilst a mature bacterial system develops. Bioload will be relatively small so I have hope.
The corals that I have purchased are:
- "red and green zoa"
- Candy Cane Coral
- Green Montipora Digitata
- Red Montipora Plate
- Seriatapora Hysterix
These are cheap and easy to keep frags but will be a good indicator of my tanks health and will allow me to know if nd when it'll be okay to adventure into some more exotic species.
Updates to come.
Last year I decided to take a break from the satwater hobby after losing all my corals due to an exploding heater, but have kept my feet wet with a 15g planted tank. But now my sodium levels are getting low and I'm feeling the itch to get some salt back in these veins!
Over the years I have kept various small reefs, including a 55 gallon long, a 30 gallon, a 15 gallon tall and a 10 gallon cube. But this time I am going even smaller, much smaller... A cheap 2.5 gallon tank measuring 30x17x23cm that I have used as a planted guppy fry tank that I keep on my desk in my bedroom to gaze at whilst working and browsing the web. The perfect location for a reef tank I think.
For this tank I plan to DIY as much as possible and reuse old equipment to keep costs to a minimum. My equipment is going to be as simple as possible, since theres not much room to keep it all in such a small tank.
Starting with the lighting. I have decided to go the DIY LED route as I have done previously, but whilst browsing online I came across some very cheap COB LEDs that I decided to give a try rather than individual 1w chips. I was intrigued with the idea of simply wiring these up to a 12v PSU instead of a LED driver, along with the spread of light that these would give. The packs I purchased are designed for automobile usage and are rated at 11w each, with each pack containing 2 COBs. I purchased a white kit and a blue kit and measure 17cm long. For the case I used an A5 photo frame. I took the glass panel out and superglued it to the front of the frame. For the heatsink, I used a 1mm thick sheet of metal cut to A5 and superglue a PC heatsink fan on top to actively cool the sheet. I used some copper grease as a thermal paste and superglue to secure the COBs to the sheet. It was then as simple as wiring the COBs in parallel, connecting to a 12v PSU and sliding the heatsink into the photo frame. Once over the tank I am a little iffy about the colour, it is much more blue than I usually go for. But I am VERY impressed with the spread of light and the lack of shimmer (my eyes hate shimmer) and is comparable to T5s. I was little skeptical about the 11w rating, and on the box it actually says 6w each. Upon watching a Bigclivedotcom video on these exact units, it seems like the 6w is what I am actually getting at 12v, and the 11w is the output at 14v (car nominal voltage). The DIY heatsink is working very effectively for this application and does not even feel warm to the touch, but if the fan is switched off, it heats up to a barely tolerable temperature within a minute.
For heating I am using a cheap 50w heater along with a stand alone temperature controller. I have it set to 25c and it holds the temperature very stable. I may switch to a more compact plastic heater in the future, but for now it's size is not too bothersome.
For flow/mechanical filtration I am currently using a small HOB and an internal power filter on opposite ends of the tank. I feel like these two still do not provide enough flow throughout the tank, so I plan to buy a powerhead. Not sure if there are any that are suitable for a tank this size?
For the rockwork I am using some rock from my previous reefs. I have bleached the rock for 24hrs and then soaked in water with a handful of sodium thiosulphate for 24hrs. I was originally planning to go for a much more rockwall type of scape with the entire back wall covered in rock, but decided to hold back and be a little less generous which I think will work out better in the future.
I am happy with the scape for now. I am however undecided whether to paint the back of the tank or not. I have enjoyed the clear background when the tank was planted and I think helps make the tank look bigger than it actually is, but I have never gone clear with a reef before.
Here is where its starts to get a bit controversial. I have never been a patient person, and always tend to rush into things out of excitement. Its not a good trait, but one I live with. Water has been in the tank for 24 hours and corals and a cerith snail are on their way by post, due to arrive on Wednesday. This is a move I have done before with success, but I am nervous doing it in a system this small. I have also purchased some Tetra Safe Start that will arrive tomorrow to kick start the cycle. This is a product that I have used in the past with much success and have faith in its ability, so I hope it works it's magic for me once again and is able to keep my tank running smoothly whilst a mature bacterial system develops. Bioload will be relatively small so I have hope.
The corals that I have purchased are:
- "red and green zoa"
- Candy Cane Coral
- Green Montipora Digitata
- Red Montipora Plate
- Seriatapora Hysterix
These are cheap and easy to keep frags but will be a good indicator of my tanks health and will allow me to know if nd when it'll be okay to adventure into some more exotic species.
Updates to come.
