My 2g tank

[melev]

I've thought about it Amy, but he literally parks in front of that flow. Why on earth wouldn't he either avoid it or simply get bowled over like Charlie Brown and the football, I don't know. He really seems to like the spa jet blast at times. If he's okay with it, I don't see the value in changing things.

 

[TippyToeX]

Good point. He certainly has a healthy appetite! That is the PE mysis right?

 

[melev]

No, it is Hikari mysis. PE is too large and he pretty much ignores it. Apparently ORA uses Hikari and Casper is hooked on the stuff.

 

[tekknoschtev]

No, it is Hikari mysis. PE is too large and he pretty much ignores it. Apparently ORA uses Hikari and Casper is hooked on the stuff.

You make it sound like a drug! I too thought that casper was getting blown away by that little pump, but he didnt seem to mind as he just stuck there. It was very amazing seeing him chace the food. I'm intrigued. Very amazing little tank there.

 

[phergus_25]

can we get a FTS? lookin great

 

[melev]

FTS?

 

[skyfireblaze]

Marc,

It looks like Casper ejects some whitish fluid out the back of its head after eating the mysis. Am I seeing things? Very cool nano!

 

[fishfanv]

full tank shot maybe?

 

[melev]

You can see all the images on page one, or on this webpage:

http://www.melevsreef.com/pico.html

Yes, that smoke is what the seahorse ejects after sucking up a mouthful. It's kinda crazy. Mandarins do something similar when they suck in prepared foods.

 

[CodeToad]

Cool little setup, the zoos look great in there!

 

[melev]

How about a little update?

The plate coral is huge, and the beaker is almost full. Oddly enough, the ricordia is deflated for the past 24 hours. Strange, but today it is time to do another water change.

I also decided to do something about the heat that happens each day. I took a 12v fan I had lying around, and then hooked it up to a 6v power supply I had. I knew the fan would run slower, but I don't know if it does long-term damage. Please let me know if you think it will.

I tested it with the power supply, and it spun up. So I connected the wiring, soldered and taped it (ran out of heat-shrink tubing), and balanced it on the edge of the tank. Plonk! Before I could even plug it in, it fell into the water. NICE! For five minutes, I blasted it out with my air compressor to dry it off, grabbed a scrap of acrylic and placed it on that on the edge of the tank. I turned it on, and will see what happens.

Full tank shot for the curious. Those metal things holding the lights up are heat-sinks for IceCap VHO ballasts. They were handy.

 

[tekknoschtev]

I personally would come up with a more permenant setup for that fan. If you have other pets (read: pets that wander) its sure to get knocked in - guaranteed by Murphy's Law, damn that Murphy...

I love the light setup... though it seems a bit pricey to me. $150 each just for the icecap heatsinks. Wow you're dedicated

By the way, the tank looks awesome. I'm jealous, because your little 2 gallon blows any of our tanks away.

 

[bheron]

well, i guess marc needs to see if the fan does anything before making it permanent.

so! does it make a difference. looks like the temp in the pic is 80.8. that means it worked?

 

[melev]

Bryan, by the time I posted the pictures and checked the tank, the temperature was 79.6F! I had to turn it off again.

 

[Saltz Creep]

Nice nano set-up, Marc. :thumbsup:

An update:,
You wondered how the ballasts on my my 5gal nano tank would hold up. I cycled with LR several weeks ago, and those $6 Wal-Mart electronic ballasts have been working fantastically to power 3 of canopied 18W SunPaq PCs.

I'll be posting some new tank pics soon on my original thread.

 

[melev]

I still don't even know how you figured all that out. Tell me what to look for at Walmart, because I might just make a tiny light fixture of my own instead of this oversized shanty.

 

[Saltz Creep]

It was simple really. When I gutted the 6 dollar Wal-Mart strip light for it's electronic ballast, I marked which wire went to which terminal on the original sockets. When I got the new Panasonic-style square-pin PC socket, I just inserted the wires in the same confuguration.

Look for a 18-inch strip light that costs like 6-7 dollars. They used to have hot magnetic ballasts in them, but now they're electronic.
When I get by there again, I'll grab the UPC number.

MarineDepot has the PC sockets and the bulbs but Foster and Smith is way cheaper on the same bulbs

 

[melev]

That would be great.

 

[bheron]

Marc - cool! Literally! it always amazes me how much difference air blowing across the surface makes.

Saltz Creep - ditto! thats a great idea. i'd like to learn more about that.

 

[melev]

I ran it a second time, and the temperature came down to 79F. And this fan is running at 1/2 its rated speed I think. If the power supply only provides 6v instead of 12, it has to spin slower, right?