Ideas for Work Tank Setup

[DjScibbity]

Hello Phoenicians, greetings from the ATL!
As some of you know, I recently moved to Atlanta and Im missing my tank(s) very much. I think I may be able to set one up in my new office (pending approval from the boss man) and Im trying to think it out and would welcome advice/suggestions:

Here are my thoughts (very preliminary) :

Id like to go with a contained system (JBJ, Oceanic Nano of some sort). Looking to stay under 24 gallons (24 being max). Would like something that comes with a matching stand. Ill probably look to buy a used setup on CL or from the atlanta reef club (Im not a member yet, but have cruised their site and it seems like a large and active group - but not much of a presence on RC). Id like a few smaller fish, but see my concerns below:

My Questions/Concerns:

Im sure others have done this before, but Im worried about a few things...
I wont be around on weekends (Sat or Sun) to check on the tank. This means I wont be able to feed those days either. What fish can go without food regularly for a few days at a time? What do people do for facility shutdowns (office is closed for a week on Xmas, sometimes AC is out on weekends - a chiller would solve this, occasional power outages - UPS maybe)? When Im traveling, Id have to get someone else to look after/feed the tank (seems easy enough as there are a few responsible people here).

What am I missing? Is this worth doing? Should I forget about the fish and just keep corals/inverts (that would kinda suck)?

Thanks everyone, I miss the FRAG meetings and many of the people. Hope all is well back in the valley

-JP

 

[UberNoober]

Ive worked with a couple people who had small biocube type tanks with great success. The only thing is those were freshwater settups, not reef. I myself wouldnt chance it because of the long breaks and such u already mentioned.

 

[Frick]

Want your dotty back ..back? I only feed him twice a week and he is healthy and paranoid as always. I think the only fish I would be concerned about feeding everyday would be any juvenile fish, angel or butterfly. Get a Frog Angler, feed em once a week and their happy.

I would worry more about water top off if anything. We just set up a 29 BioCube here at my work and it evaporates quick. It's an open top too, with an LED over it.

 

[ReefinMadness89]

Love my frogfish, plus if they stop eating, you can hand feed em.

 

[scott11]

I have never had any issues with not feeding fish for a few days. You could setup an auto-feeder for extended times away.

With a small enough tank, i would think a battery backup could handle at least the circulation for a period of power interruption. A day or 2 without lights probably wont harm anything.

The temp if the building is not cooled and evap would be my concerns, with no easy solution.

 

[fishysmell]

A Solana might be too big for you but how about a Cardiff? I think it's around 25ish gallons. It comes with a handy-dandy built in top off bottle so you wouldn't have to worry about that on the weekends. Also, the stand is very nice and professional looking...perfect for an office.

 

[DjScibbity]

A Solana might be too big for you but how about a Cardiff? I think it's around 25ish gallons. It comes with a handy-dandy built in top off bottle so you wouldn't have to worry about that on the weekends. Also, the stand is very nice and professional looking...perfect for an office.

That tank looks pretty baller, but a bit too much $$$ for me (especially in my office). Looks very similar to the Solanas. Maybe I can start a "Fund Jays office Reef Tank" tip jar at work - haha.

Frog fish are cool, but Id like something a bit more "active" and something that stands out a bit more (not camouflaged).

Jason, glad to hear the dotty back is crazy as ever... now get your tank back to where it was!

Other issue I see here is water changes. We have "filtered" water here, but I havent tested the TDS on it. I imagine I could just make water at home and bring it in for topoff and WCs, but that would be a bit of a pain (long walk from parking lot and Im on the 5th floor).

-JP

 

[DjScibbity]

Want your dotty back ..back? I only feed him twice a week and he is healthy and paranoid as always. I think the only fish I would be concerned about feeding everyday would be any juvenile fish, angel or butterfly. Get a Frog Angler, feed em once a week and their happy.

I would worry more about water top off if anything. We just set up a 29 BioCube here at my work and it evaporates quick. It's an open top too, with an LED over it.

The open tops evap much more. With my old Nanocube 24, I could easily go 2 days+ without topping off, even in summer. Im a bit less worried about topoff. I could probably figure out an ATO if needed (Ive got my tunze osmolator back in AZ still).

 

[DjScibbity]

Itd be fun to setup my old CA reactor, Osmolator, & Aquacontroller on a nano

-JP

 

[Frick]

Itd be fun to setup my old CA reactor, Osmolator, & Aquacontroller on a nano

-JP

Might as well.

Everything is good in the Frick Atoll reef. I took my reactor off line for now.

For fish you could get the cliche clownfish. I would go for a Starks Damsel!

 

[mndfreeze]

You want to set up a MANTIS TANK. You can get a smaller active species in a smaller tank, like a 10 or 14 cube, no real lightning requirements at all, low light corals if you want. Interactive, smart, better eyesight then anything else on the planet.. Coworkers will love it.

Hell they even chase laser pointer dots like cats.

Can't beat that!

 

[DjScibbity]

Haha..a mantis tank would be pretty cool...
Decisions decisions...

 

[evolved]

Guess I'll throw in my $0.02 to add even more options...

I'd do an EcoPico with just Zs & Ps. Maybe a tiny goby too.

Takes up very little room, pretty darn simple, maintenance won't be too terrible, and if anything bad does happen, your losses are minimal.

 

[Frick]

Haha..a mantis tank would be pretty cool...
Decisions decisions...

If you get a Mantis let everyone know in your office that Mantis shrimp have been known to get out of the tank and run around if the owner(that's you) of the shrimp is having a bad day. It also likes to crawl up pant legs if you become overworked or yelled at.

 

[DjScibbity]

LOL - Jason. My coworkers would probably believe me too.

I like the idea of a small pico, but they are just soooo small and limit your coral selection so much. This is tough. I guess I should ask if a tank would be allowed first, as that would put the kaibash on the whole idea if they arent allowed in the building or if my boss had an issue with it.

-JP

 

[reefstew]

Fish go a long time without eating when they are shipped. I stop fedding mine for 2 full days before I ship them.

 

[Che's DW]

Hey stranger. You might remember that I had that little 6g nano at my office for a few years. I only had one fish (a rusty goby) and he did fine over weekends without being fed. We had a chiller on mine, but usually by Monday, there was a fair amount of evaporation (mainly from the A/C being shut off on weekends) - I just topped off on Mondays and it was fine. If I was going out of town, my secretary or a colleague would feed and top off the tank for me. I also brought in water from home to do water changes - I just kept two 2g containers of water in my office (one salt, one fresh). The light was on a timer.

The biggest hassle for me was when the building shut down all power to the building for a 24-48 hour period each year. I would have to ask Che if he remembers what we did but I vaguely remember going up there in the middle of the night because the power didn't come back on when it was supposed to.

Hope all is well in ATL - we miss you!

 

[DjScibbity]

Thanks Eva! I do remember your work pico (never did see it though, so you could have made it all up)
Let me know if you remember what you did during building shutdowns. I still have to talk to the boss about it...and decide if I really want to do it.

-JP

 

[FiReC]

I run a 34 solana at my office, I wouldn't do it if there was AC shutdowns. I don't think you could economically get a battery backup that would run a chiller for very long. I guess it would depend on how hot it got in the office during the shut downs.

I do run a battery backup... just enough to keep oxygen from the skimmer and return pump going.

I run a RKE with the net module so I can monitor the params from anywhere and it takes care of the ATO, 2 part drip, heat, fans etc.

I plumbed an RO + drinking water system into the office and ran 1/4 inch line in the drop ceiling down to my tank. I do not leave it pressurized, I have to turn a valve which fills a reservoir with a float switch and auto shut off valve. My biggest concern was causing a flood with ATO.. so this way max 4 gallons would end up in the tank.. which wouldn't flood anything, but its still really easy to turn one valve and auto fill the reservoir without having to worry about shutting it off in time (float valve kicks in).

I only feed a couple of times a week, and can have somebody in the office feed if needed. If it doesn't get fed for a week they are fine (tomato clown and 6 line wrasse, hermits, pep shrimp)

Hope that helps.

The one thing I'm missing is a float on my salt mixing bucket as I have to watch it fill and I forget sometimes which has caused a couple of floods. So float switches everywhere if you can