I gave in to a new nano.

R

ReefWreak

New member
So I've had a few moments lately where I have a minute between copious amounts of homework and running to class, and during that brief interval, I find myself longing for an aquarium to watch grow.

My solution was found today at my friendly neighborhood Wal*Mart. (note: I hate walmart)

I ended picking up:
2.5g plastic bowfront tank with hood and base
10w PC bulb (looks like 10k, can't decide to use this or a spiral 10w PC 6500k from houseware section)
small HOB filter for 5-15g tanks (holds filter pad, carbon, and "bio-pad" which looks more like a less dense enkamat that they say not to clean because it keeps the biological filter active, so it's a nitrate creation pad)
Small heater for 2-5 gallon tanks which I just realized doesn't have a controller for it.. so i'm going to look into that (I'm hoping for a Aquacontroller3 for Christmas/Chanukah/birthday in December, so I can take my dual-stage medusa and hook it up to this thing)


For the coming week I believe my plan will be to get water circulating for a few days, then have my parents ship me up a medium sized rock, a zoanthid rock from my nano, and a cup or two of sand, then see how those do for a while, and if they're doing well, I might add A fish OR[b/] a shrimp.

I'll keep this tank for softies like zoos and such. I'm just hoping that the light will be enough.

I can't wait until I have to measure out a pinch of phosban to get rid of my phosphate problem :p

Anyway, pictures to follow of the tank so far. Any input (ideas, suggestions, criticism) are always appreciated.
 
the 15w incandecent light that came with the tank, and the 10w PC that is now installed.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/EricDKlein/102307NewNano/photo#5124400008184447602"><img src="http://lh5.google.com/EricDKlein/Rx2GqD7XwnI/AAAAAAAAAGU/gzm_ZlqIRRg/s800/DSC_0054.jpg" /></a>


My domicile: miss college yet? :p
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/EricDKlein/102307NewNano/photo#5124400029659284114"><img src="http://lh6.google.com/EricDKlein/Rx2GrT7XwpI/AAAAAAAAAGk/2djD2DFwXbg/s800/DSC_0065.jpg" /></a>
The tank and accessories:

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/EricDKlein/102307NewNano/photo#5124400021069349506"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/EricDKlein/Rx2Gqz7XwoI/AAAAAAAAAGc/_Nc6MDkhcCw/s800/DSC_0060.jpg" /></a>

Note: There are no signs of a college student living there (alcoholic beverages) because none of my roomates drink, so I leave the drinking to friend's places within walking distance :)
 
Sweet! you need to post up some pictures once it is up and running.

The idea of leaving in the next year for school and selling/leaving my tank behind has been on my mind alot recently. My parents will not take care of my tank(s) so you have it good.
:)

Keep us updated.

-Matthew
 
Well, I had my 24g nano successfully running back when I was a freshman (now I'm a junior, holy crap how quickly I'm blowing through college). You can also choose to live off campus and keep your tank, just move it with you when you go to school. The only reason I went out and got this instead of bringing up my 24 is that my 24 is actually a big established tank (relatively speaking), whereas a 3g tank you can put into 3 ziploc bags and move anywhere you need to go. Heck, a 5 gallon bucket is easy enough to bring home with me over thanksgiving break or such.

I just hope that this tank will have enough light to keep my zoos alive...
 
Looking good.

Next year after I turn 21 I am going to tour a few medical schools and FSU is on the list so I will definetly be giving you a call when I am in the area.

PARTY!!! <off topic I know lol>

-Matthew
 
go to any LFS and you can get a 50/50 20w Coralife PC bulb that will fit in there. I had it when I had my dwarf sea horses. Works great. Post pics when u get it going!
 
I hope it works out good. The tank looks great. Post more pics when its up and running. What's that next to your laptop, a water change kit? LOL
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11031417#post11031417 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ding2daDong
Looking good.

Next year after I turn 21 I am going to tour a few medical schools and FSU is on the list so I will definetly be giving you a call when I am in the area.

PARTY!!! <off topic I know lol>

-Matthew
Click to expand...
I didi not know fsu had a medical school? at least not a decent one. Sorry Eric I'm a cane 4 life.:lol:
 
heh i used to have the exact same tank.. same color too. never thought to turn it into a SW tank though, before i gave it away. GJ looks like it will be nice
 
Upon my experience with my 2.5g pico (which I tore down because I just couldn't get it right and didn't have the energy to put into it)...I found the biggest issue wasn't whether there was enough light, but how much heat the bulb produced. You might have to rig some sort of fan to keep that enclosed hood cooler. I have a 6g eclipse that I'm running now as a quarantine for my 20 and it gets pretty hot, so I removed the feeding door so that I could get more air flow. I've got xenia and zoos in there and they are fine with the light (18w pc retro fit).

Let's see, I had the exact filter you had then upgraded to one that I could create a small "refugium" in and I also had the exact same heater (I believe it is preset to 78-80, thus no thermostat to set). I also found a super small power head that was made to run an in-tank filter, but I used it for flow...I loved how everything was "miniature," it made a cool little tank.

Good luck and have fun with it!
 
I had an Eclipse 5 as well and I didnt really have any problems, I still use it as my QT tank. I have one of those 50/50 bulbs, dont know if you can keep Coral w that, though, I had a FOWLR. The tank would heat up, but I keep my apartment cold. I knowI'm going to catch heat for this but I had 2clowns along w a sleeper goby in there w 2 shrimps and several different hermit crabs. I eventually upgraded but not because I was having problems, everything was /is running fine!!
 
Thanks for everyone's input and encouragement :)

Kathy:
I don't have to worry about overheating (I don't think) because since the state of FL pays the electric bill, the dorms are always freezing. I'm just hoping that the heater can keep up at night. If I do have heat problems, I can just drill holes in the canopy and put a small fan to whisk away the heat from the bulb I believe.

I thought about doing a 6, but the idea that I could fit the whole tank situation into 3 1-gallon ziplock bags was really intriguing, especially since I'll be very mobile being a student who comes home a lot and has breaks and such.

I've only got a 10w Lights of America light bulb that walmart sold in the aquarium isle, do you think this will be enough light for some zoos, especially if they'll be in the top 1/2 of the tank?

This filter I got solely because it fits in the stock slot and I only was going to have it to filter out particulate matter and have carbon in the tank, since at this point I have no plans for fish, maybe one small one later on though, so I'm not worried about a refugium. I was even considering just having some cheato or grape caulerpa in the display since nothing will be eating it and it'll be easy enough to control and prune when needed. Again though I'm just hoping I'll have enough light to sustain it.
 
It's been a while, so yea, here are the setup pics on 10/24/07:

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/EricDKlein/Pico103107/photo#5127586876554434178"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/EricDKlein/RyjZGNv7VoI/AAAAAAAAAKI/yA5qopPnve4/s800/DSC_0015.jpg" /></a>

Once the "dust" settled

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/EricDKlein/Pico103107/photo#5127586923799074450"><img src="http://lh3.google.com/EricDKlein/RyjZI9v7VpI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/Ff5uI-33Kt8/s800/DSC_0018.jpg" /></a>


Then tonight 10/31/07, a weekish later

before water change:
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/EricDKlein/Pico103107/photo#5127586648921167442"><img src="http://lh3.google.com/EricDKlein/RyjY49v7VlI/AAAAAAAAAJs/8eCMpEMFxhU/s800/DSC_0035.jpg" /></a>

It's so nice only having to change 2 coffee-mugs worth of water a week. Definitely something I can get in the habit of...

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/EricDKlein/Pico103107/photo#5127586704755742306"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/EricDKlein/RyjY8Nv7VmI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/pAXpw5sd6ao/s800/DSC_0036.jpg" /></a>

And post it's first water change:

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/EricDKlein/Pico103107/photo#5127586743410447986"><img src="http://lh5.google.com/EricDKlein/RyjY-dv7VnI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/xzZTdEnd3tc/s800/DSC_0037.jpg" /></a>


Enjoy!
 
Hey Mel,

Thanks about the rocks. Yea they're pretty nice little gems that the guy up here pulled out of the main display tank in the store. I was really happy that at least I would start with some nice rock.

I don't think so because I just don't have the money, and I'm still not going to be down for another week and a half or so.

I really want it, and I believe it would be perfect for the dual-biotope idea that I have, doing a seagrass on one side of the tank and fish and coral on the other.
 
I sent him a PM about it. Thanks for reminding me. I forgot that I sent him a PM a while ago about trading this other acro colony for the tank, but I think he wanted some other stuff, so we'll work something out.


On another subject, maybe it's just because I've never sat this close to my 120 before, but my rocks in this tank almost look like they're moving because there are SO many pods in the tank. All over the rock are the larger amphipods, on the glass are small copepods that you can see. It's nuts. I'm tempted to get a mandarin to eat them all up.
 
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