bennerkla's 5.5 AGA Nano Reef Diary (Lots of PICS!!!)

[Brooks_McClary]

I am getting the same coallife light for my 5 gal. It is the eclipse tank with a brace in the middle to keep the light out of the water. I think you tank will be awesome. I think Im going to go with a HOTB Biowheel 100 filter. I will send some pics when I FINALLY feel comfortable putting in coral.

 

[bennerkla]

Thanks for the replys.

Sugar Magnolia- I was planning on adding my critters to my 75 gallon, then, if they survive until my tank is cycled, add them to my nano. Check out my livestock list on page 3 or 2 about what I want to put in the tank. I already have test kits and a refractometer, along with all the other essentials. I know for the most part what I'm doing, so you don't need to worry about me rushing this. Completely understandable post, though, because you did'nt know. I'm just assuring you that I will not do anything stupid with this tank. If it is borderline, I'll ask it on here. That is what I use reef central for. You have been a big help to me, and I thank you for that, but you're not dealing with a newbie (thankfully , right?)

I am perfectally content with keeping 2 small sexy shrimp. Ninja fish recommended a porceline anenome crab, any thoughts on that? How about my clean up crew from page 3, how does that look?

impur-Yeah, I'm really excited to see how cool the sexy shrimp look. This will be very different from my 75. My main reason for starting this tank was because my 75 has had sooo much stuff go wrong with it, that I wanted to do a small tank setup that I could get right, THE FIRST TIME, and not waste money down the road. I chose a 5.5 gallon because the smaller, the cheaper. Plus I often miss the thrill of a small snail eating algae. You pay attention to the little things in a nano, and the big things in a 75.

Brooks_McClary- Thanks! I'm sure your tank will rock too, be sure to post pics!

Update 6/1/05

-Last night my LR was shipped, so I should be receiving it towards the end of the week/weekend.
-I bought an AC Mini impeller from ebay, which will slow down the flow into my HOB refugium.
-Bought a 16" Black/blue background. Wasn't comfortable with painting, and I might get sick of 1 color. Only 7 bucks.
-Bidding on a 9" hood w/ 13 watt 6500K for my refugium. When my live rock is curing, only the sponge in the mini will be running. I assure you, before I add ANY livestock, my refugium will be up, running, and established.



Sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long, I know how it is when you want to just see the damn tank with water in it. But as they say, patience is the virtue, ESPECIALLY with nano-reefs. I'm going to clean my tank today, and start to mix up some saltwater either today or tomorrow. Keep the comments coming, and if you are following my thread at home, let me know!!

Thanks guys, and don't worry, LR is on its way!!

-Ben

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

but you're not dealing with a newbie (thankfully , right?)

:thumbsup: Yup...totally blew the 75 gallon tank. I realized it after posting this morning, then looking closer at your sig profile this afternoon. Open mouth, insert foot. At least you are the understanding sort, and I have to give you kudos Ben, for taking this bit by bit and planning ahead. Too many people jump into this hobby and rush it only to meet with failure a few weeks or months down the road. This isn't a cheap hobby and it's a shame that there aren't more people like you out there.

 

[bennerkla]

Thanks for the kind words. One interesting point I thought of, if I don't have a fish, do I need to feed the tank? If so, what kind?

 

[impur]

I wouldn't feed. Just another thing to screw up the chemistry. If i didn't have fish in my tank i wouldn't feed.

 

[bennerkla]

slave-of-rock- Thanks for the idea about electrical tape. Check it out, it looks MUCH better and the lights seem perfect!!

In my tank, is there a concern about how bright moonlights are? I don't want my livestock to not get any sleep if the light is too bright. How do I know?

 

[bennerkla]

BTW, anyone have any good ideas for a quick 1 gallon water change?

 

[clown fanatic]

just throw a minijet or something in there with some tubbing on the output and then place the tubbing inside of a gallon jug.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Heck, I just use a clean plastic take out tub from the chinese place and scoop out my water. I do about 2 quarts a week on my 2.5.

 

[bennerkla]

Well, i was talking about filling it with fresh saltwater. Can I store 5 gallons of it, or would the water "get bad?"

Update

-Bought 2 5-Gallon jugs today, one for my water changes and the other for my auto top-off. Should be an interesting setup.
-I'm mixing saltwater tonight and filling half of my tank with water tomorrow along with the sand.

 

[bennerkla]

All right guys, things are looking good. The water is mixing and my refugium is near complete. I'm currently bidding on Chaeto and lights for my Aqua Clear fuge, and my LR will be in on Saturday or Monday. It had to come all the way from California to Ohio so I'm outta luck there.

I've included some pictures about my progess in case you're following along at home.

That baffle in my refugium was a MAJOR PITA to get to fit correctly. Probably took me a solid hour and a half to cut it and sand it to perfect measures. Very happy with the final result, though. Note the rounded corners.

Then I syliconed in place...

Here is my saltwater mixing station/ tank room.

Very excited about my live rock, tank is almost complete! My background and mini impeller should be in soon. Goodnight.

Cya guys,

ben

 

[slave-of-rock]

Nice tank! Glad my advice helped you , GL with the rest of it man!

 

[CPT. MURPHY]

Looking forward to updates!


CPT.

 

[bennerkla]

Background

Background

Update 6-3-05

Hey guys. I got my Mini impeller and my background today. My 300 fuge is sitting there, completed, just waiting for the light I bought and the chaeto. BTW, if you are following along at home, this is a PERFECT light for a AC 300 fuge...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4386136602

That is the exact light I bought. Looking forward to getting it.

------------

Also got my background today, both black and blue, check out the pics...

It's too early to tell which one I'm going with, but I'm going to start off with the blue and see how I like it. The lights weren't cooperating with me in that black background shot.


My tank water is at 84 degrees, right now, and the heater has been off for hours. This is a HUGE problem, and I'm not quite sure how to fix it. I'm hoping that the temp will settle down in my tank. I think I'm going to go ahead and add the water to the tank tomorrow, and get my Mini w/ sponge and powerhead running. Live sand will be added on Sunday, and LR will be added on Mon/Tues. Once I get my LR set up, this thread will get very interesting!! You all will finally be able to see some real tank shots now, instead of just dry ones!!! Well, at least I'm excited. Once I get my chaeto and lights in after my LR has arrived, I'm done with my tank's equipment I think.

I tested my moonlights in my hood w/ the 2x18 W lights, and it was VERY, VERY, VERY hot. I could'nt keep my finger on any part of the hood for more than a second, and I could almost smell burnt plastic from the moonlights. I'm not too concerned about it heating up my tank, though, because my lights aren't in a canopy and there is enough circulation around them. IDN, though, I could be wrong.

I really have no idea how I'm going to fix these moonlights. If I raise them too much, there will be dead spots on the tank b/c of the hood. Any suggestions?

I have SAT tests tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM, so I'm going to bed early tonight. I'll update tomrorow afternoon; maybe, by some miracle, my LR will arrive tomorrow. I'll keep you updated.

Cya guys,

Ben

 

[bennerkla]

I will put the LS in on Sunday, I'll post more pics then. I'm also getting an Auto-top off system, so that'll have some interesting pics!!!

Cya guys...

ben

 

[lawngnome]

i think the lighting changes with the water so you should fill it up first then test the backrounds because when i got a nother freshwater tank there were 2 actinics that made it look really blu but when i filled it up, it was almost pure white

 

[bennerkla]

Hey, it's about midnight here, and my Coralife fixture is driving me absolutally crazy. For one, I can't put the moonlights in the hood because it is way too hot. Secondly, they simply do not fit above the tank with the mounting legs. I tried resting it on the AC's but the only result was the lights falling into the tank. Like I said before, I want to do everything right with this one. I'm going to talk to my uncle tomorrow about possibly building a canopy and base this weekend.

Would I be able to take out those reflectors and bulbs and attach them to the top of the canopy easily? This would also solve my moonlight issue very nicely. This way, I could also install some fans to help cool down my insainly hot room.

My LR didn't come today, but hopefully it'll come on Monday. I'm adding the water and LS tomrorow. Hopefully my uncle will get back to me tomorrow and I can get this canopy out of the way. It'll be a PITA to build everything, but I think I'll be very pleased with the results.

Cya guys

Ben

 

[bennerkla]

Update 6-5-05

I'm goign to my uncles house on Thursday or tuesday to work on my canopy. I'm very excited to get this thing done! I think I'm going to have to install fans into the tank, though, so that is like another 27 bucks. I'm going to take apart my light fixture and mount the bulbs/reflector at the top of the canopy. I got the water in the tank, but when I tried to take sand from my main tank, it was an absolute disaster. I got a tiny bit of sand and a huge milkshake. So I'm forced to buy sand for this, anyone have any ideas where to get some? that Argo-Live stuff looks sweet, but 35 bucks!! Any other ideas?

Here is the tank, first shot w/ flash and second w/o. Notice the DIY fuge in the back.

Hope you guys are enjoying this, LR will be in tomrorow!! (or should be...)

Cya guys,

ben

 

[bennerkla]

Update 6-7-05

Hey guys, school is done on thursday, so I'm making the canopy thursday and then mounting the lights and whatnot on friday. My LR STILL hasn't come in, I'm not happy at all. I did, however, fill my tank up with Carib-Sea Sand today, check it out.

I rinsed it a few times before I put it in, so I'm hoping this storm will settle down in the next couple of hours. If it does, I'll snap a shot before I go to my last day of school tomrorow!

CYA guys

 

[Gujustud]

Re: Background

Re: Background

Update 6-3-05

My tank water is at 84 degrees, right now, and the heater has been off for hours. This is a HUGE problem, and I'm not quite sure how to fix it. I'm hoping that the temp will settle down in my tank.

Few things. Your lights are probably adding to the heat problem. And now if you're making a canopy, thats gonna hold in the heat even more. Make sure you add a fan to the canopy. If you can get a fan to blow air towards the surface of the water, that will also help with the temp.

Another thing I noticed, get rid of that heater you have. I bought one of those about a year ago when I first started out, to use to heat water changes. Well from the slight splashes it got on the screw and inside the heater which turned to rust. The next day when I looked at the water is was brown!! I would not trust those heaters.