Lizzie's Crabby Little Tank

[aquadonkey]

Time for a build thread for my 7G tank!
So..... from the beginning

I wanted a small tank, but couldn't find one with dimensions I found interesting, so I decided to make one myself to fit the top of an antique cabinet I have.

So I ordered glass!

Then painted the back panel:

Then siliconed it together (with the help of dreaminmel )

Side note..... make sure to buy clear silicone - not the white kind!! oops....

Here it is sitting on the cabinet:

And after what seemed like a billion years..... I got LR!

I'm still very pleased with the rocks

 

[aquadonkey]

Part of the reason it took so long to fill it, was because I was working on making a hood.

The hood actually turned out nicely, but the DIY led project was a disaster... so I decided to go with T5 and rimless. The rimless worked because of the rock jutting out the top, but that also meant no fish

While the light search was going on, I got impatient and just set up my fuge light over the tank - this gorg needed to come out of my 29G because it was getting beat up by other corals.

Here's my first shrimp! I have three now - adorable little ladies!!

And my first maxi-minis!
The blue one in the back is my favorite - so of course it moved to the back side of the rock never to be seen!

Shirley:

She's camera shy, so while I can see her when I want, she always hides from the camera - so here's the acclimation photo (like mug shots for livestock).

 

[aquadonkey]

Those adorable little sexy shrimp come with a price though...

Here's my "before" acan pic:

And now "after." After the sexies decided it was yummy

The acan got moved to a frag rack, and now each shrimp gets one big spectrum pellet per day. That seems to have solved the problem, but I'm still keeping a watch out!

I also used the frag rack for the black sun coral I got. I found this feeding method easier that taking the coral out every day (until it got healthy).
I put it in this small tupperware and just moved the magnetic rack up and down. When I was done feeding, I sucked out the extra food with a baster, then lowered the coral back into the current!

 

[titoav15]

very cool!!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

wow

wow

you're really getting into this reef thing, Lizz!

 

[aquadonkey]

Thanks guys

 

[aquadonkey]

Here are some current pics:

The Beast:

That's the crab that beat up the little hockey puck porcelain crab
It tries to snap at me when I put my finger in - still pretty cute, really......


Chunks:

I hope I can care for this cute little guy - seems happy so far!


Poor wormless walking dendro - he's glued to some rubble:

This little crabby is having a crabby-back-ride

The NPS are doing well - lots of feeding:

 

[aquadonkey]

Side view:

Acans have healed nicely and are back on the sand bad:

A couple FTS's

And from the top

Hope you guys like my little project - it's so nice (and distracting )to have this in my studio!!

 

[Jacwil]

Lizz you ought to be awfully proud of what you've accomplished thus far! Nice work

 

[aquadonkey]

Thanks Justin! I'll try to get some pics of the nems too - with better color. That way when we get brave enough to slice 'em, we can trade!

 

[5380]

Really nice Lizz. What's the plan for the rock on the left?

 

[Johnny C]

The shallow aquarium combined with the rock out of water gives a nice effect. Very impressive DIY skills, too. Not all fish are jumpers, I bet you could get one or two. Great job!

 

[Gravesj1s]

I second the nice work.I like that cabinet alot,you have good taste, imo.Good luck with everything .

 

[jdoenumber2]

Great job.

 

[toddmh]

wow that is an impressive build Lizz,I love the mix you have going on in there..

 

[solRNY]

wah, loving the DIY tank, fits nicely together with the stand
fts looks great!

 

[aquadonkey]

Really nice Lizz. What's the plan for the rock on the left?

Thanks! Hmm.... don't know right now. I was going to let it grow over with zoas, but the zoas aren't quite liking the tank.... I'm also considering mangroves in the back left - then maybe the roots could encircle those rocks.

The shallow aquarium combined with the rock out of water gives a nice effect. Very impressive DIY skills, too. Not all fish are jumpers, I bet you could get one or two. Great job!

Thanks! I do still look into the possibility of a small fish sometimes - maybe a citron goby...... but it just seems too risky - we'll see!

I second the nice work.I like that cabinet alot,you have good taste, imo.Good luck with everything .

Thanks! I'm really happy I found this cabinet - it's actually an antique music cabinet with tons of shelves inside, so it's quite functional for me as well (since this is in my studio/practice room).

Great job.

Thanks

wow that is an impressive build Lizz,I love the mix you have going on in there..

Thanks!

wah, loving the DIY tank, fits nicely together with the stand
fts looks great!

Thanks - nothing like your massive build though! I've been enjoying following along

 

[EllieSuz]

Very nice, Lizz. I have a little Yellow Clown Goby that I inherited with my new tank and I've never seen it try to jump. Having a tiny fish in there would contribute to the movement. I think the real challenge of your tank will be keeping corals from getting too big. I know that's a problem for me in the 60 gallon. I don't have the guts to frag the Bubble and it's getting waaaay too big! Congrats on your lovely little nano.

 

[chrisqueenz]

Very nice work! Love the mini's!

 

[Seefour]

Wow, I honestly thought I was looking at a 20G or bigger until I looked back up at your description. Great job.

My fish vote is for a green clown goby.