Nuuze's mantis tank

[Nuuze]

So after talking with local reef buddies on MARS and showing the family videos I've decided to start a mantis tank!

Here's the one I currently have on reserve for group buy.

After running to several LFS yesterday I got most of the things needed to start the tank.

It's a 15G TruVu measuring 24"x13"x12"

Tank with stand...

 

[Nuuze]

In the begining I was going to plumb and tap into my existing Elos System making a mantis/refugium tank reducing the need for extra heater, skimmer, chiller, etc. but for some reason two tanks didn't look right next to each other. After a lot of consideration the tank ended up on the opposite wall from my Elos System 120 as a stand alone sumpless setup.

Added 25 lbs of sand

One big'ole rock so the critter doesn't cause an avalanche crushing himself

 

[Nuuze]

To help excellerate the tank cycle I used saltwater from my established 79G reef.

6 gallons of water

12 gallons

 

[ej1698]

Awesome!!! looks great, can't wait to start mine when it get's a little warmer.

is that your subwoofer next to the tank....lol your going to shake the **** out of your mantis if it is...

 

[Nuuze]

Since I had an extra skimmer laying around I decided some quick cleaning!

With the skimmer running about 8 hours now, the water is crystal clear!

 

[Nuuze]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11755370#post11755370 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ej1698
Awesome!!! looks great, can't wait to start mine when it get's a little warmer.

is that your subwoofer next to the tank....lol your going to shake the **** out of your mantis if it is...

LOL! Yep, it's a SVS 1000w 2-12" sub.

 

[ej1698]

looks great, have a picture of your other tank..

 

[Nuuze]

Here's the other side of the room...

The recliners are modular so I juggled them around to fit the new tank.

 

[richofoz]

Nice setup.
You might want to put a guard of some kind on your heater? I know the Jagers are pretty tough but it might add a little extra piece of mind...

Rich

 

[Feclar]

Nice room

You shouldn't put a small tank in the same room as a big tank, it looks like the small tank is trying to compensate for something with the size of that skimmer

p.s. You may need a bigger tank in a year or two for that mantis

 

[Nuuze]

Skimmer is just temporarily to clear up the tank and until my circulation pump and AquaC comes in.

 

[Nuuze]

I'm thinking of upgrading the light that came with the tank.

I can't seem to find 2 24w T5 fixtures with legs., only 4 T5's. Here's a 4 24w T5 (two blue and two white) with built in timer. I figure I can use this tank as a backup quarantine/frag if needed.
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...uct_Code=CU-USA01150&Category_Code=Current-T5

Thoughts?

 

[Nuuze]

Got some stuff in today from the brown truck...

Had to do some dremel work with a styro plate floating on the surface

Also my wife and daughter couldn't stand an empty tank

 

[Alesia]

Looks like a nice setup and I really like that acrylic tank... but did I read correctly that this is a 15g for a peacock that's already 4 inches long? I would be concerned about water quality and the need to potentially upgrade in the future. I believe 30g is generally the minimum recommended tank size for an adult peacock considering both the tank footprint and overall volume.

 

[Nuuze]

Yes, 15G for now. 24"x13"x12" I plan on keeping water clean with an oversized skimmer and frequent water changes from my esablished 79G reef. If it ends up beeing too active then I will move him to a bigger system.

But when looked and compared the footprint I have, 20G and 25G were the same, just taller. If anything I can move to w 36" wide...

 

[Nuuze]

Couple more things from the brown truck today!

I ended up getting this fixture without the timers instead:
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...uct_Code=CU-USA01120&Category_Code=Current-T5

Light came with 4 plugs.
1-moonlight
1-fan
1-two banks of T5 for actinic
1-two banks of T5 for daylight

actinic only

actinic and daylight

Still playing around with the nano stream positioning...

 

[helipilot]

I would be a little nervous about the heater with the bright red light. It's like waving a red flag at a peacock, saying "hit me".

 

[Nuuze]

Thanks! I been meaning to pick one of these up before the mantis arrives.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...oduct_Code=FI-HMD-50&Category_Code=Finnexheat

 

[helipilot]

That looks like it should work. I have gotten good service from the "Stealth heaters" from Visi-therm. (Aquarium Systems)

 

[helipilot]

Great looking set up, I can't wait to see your mantis move in.