Well, I wanted to start a journal of my progress so here goes. I am in the initial stages of cycling - rock just went in last night (25 lbs., yep, of Tonga Fusion from Pacific East Aquaculture). Since I live in Baltimore, shipping was only $15 overnight (yay!) so I'm really happy with the shape and what will become of the coraline/color. It's pretty cool looking. Pics follow further in thread. I am not new to the hobby; however, this is my first attempt at a nano. My previous experience was a 125g SPS reef and a 55g sump/refugium. I had to break it down when I moved to the east coast 2.5 years ago. Naturally, I caught the bug again but since I live on the 3rd floor and am space-strapped, I opted for a nano. So, my story begins...
Here was my initial attempt for a stand. I wanted something that could fit the space and store all of my intended equipment (auto top off, Aquacontroller Jr., auto water changers - from fellow nano-reefer's mod, electrical and so on). The sizing looked good but it was no where near stable enough and I quickly realized this wasn't going to cut it so back to the store it went.
Since I like to overwhelm myself, I scheduled the rock to arrive nearly simultaneously with my new entertainment center's delivery, which was my new solution for housing all of the equipment (expensive but brilliant). I picked it up at Pier One along with the new stand. I strongly recommend having a party with two cats, two delivery men, and a box of live rock - makes for a very exciting Friday evening, let me tell you. Oh, and then there was the complete reorganization of all of my wiring for the TV/DVD/Cable/Speakers - and I'm no AV girl! I had to take a picture AND mark every cord - still took me about 2 hours to get everything in place and, frak, my TV's heavy. All of my reservoirs/top off/water exchange/electricial, etc. are stored in the lower part of the entertainment center. Here is the new storage all set up.
So far, here is my equipment/livestock list:
Equipment
· Oceanic 14g Biocube
Modifications:
-Chamber 1 exit - larger to allow more flow
-Removed bioballs; installed Live rock in all chambers
-Upgraded to Maxijet 1200 in chamber 3
-Intend to add small bag of media after skimmer exit w/Purigen and Chemi-Pure and Seagel for water polishing - after cycle is complete)
· Sapphire Aquatics Nanoskimmer NC12 in chamber 2
· Maxijet 1200
· Hydor Flo (not yet installed)
· Eheim-Jager 50 watt heater (not yet installed)
· Aquacontoller Jr.
· Nanotuners 3.24 Lighting/fan upgrade (72 total watts: 10k, Actinic, 50/50)
· ATO for auto-top off
· Reef dosing pump for auto saltwater exchange
Livestock
· 25 lbs. live rock (Pacific East Aquaculture)
· 12 lbs. Tropic Eden Aragasnow
Now, on to a few tank pics of my aquascaping. The rocks are partially resting on the back wall (only touching a few places, which was unavoidable in a tank this size, I think). I am going to put an extra powerhead (still researching) behind the rock running along the back wall but I want it hidden so it will be small. I will be picking up some Aquamend from Home Depot to solidify the structure, though it's pretty stable right now.
Moonlights:
Actinics:
Full lights front:
Full lights angle:
Full lights left side (it's not a rock pile, BTW):
The entertainment center is on the right side of the tank and so it's not fully exposed. I can view it but can't get a full side pic. That's it so far! I will update later when something more interesting happens (don't want to bore the world w/my daily parameter readings).
Here was my initial attempt for a stand. I wanted something that could fit the space and store all of my intended equipment (auto top off, Aquacontroller Jr., auto water changers - from fellow nano-reefer's mod, electrical and so on). The sizing looked good but it was no where near stable enough and I quickly realized this wasn't going to cut it so back to the store it went.
Since I like to overwhelm myself, I scheduled the rock to arrive nearly simultaneously with my new entertainment center's delivery, which was my new solution for housing all of the equipment (expensive but brilliant). I picked it up at Pier One along with the new stand. I strongly recommend having a party with two cats, two delivery men, and a box of live rock - makes for a very exciting Friday evening, let me tell you. Oh, and then there was the complete reorganization of all of my wiring for the TV/DVD/Cable/Speakers - and I'm no AV girl! I had to take a picture AND mark every cord - still took me about 2 hours to get everything in place and, frak, my TV's heavy. All of my reservoirs/top off/water exchange/electricial, etc. are stored in the lower part of the entertainment center. Here is the new storage all set up.
So far, here is my equipment/livestock list:
Equipment
· Oceanic 14g Biocube
Modifications:
-Chamber 1 exit - larger to allow more flow
-Removed bioballs; installed Live rock in all chambers
-Upgraded to Maxijet 1200 in chamber 3
-Intend to add small bag of media after skimmer exit w/Purigen and Chemi-Pure and Seagel for water polishing - after cycle is complete)
· Sapphire Aquatics Nanoskimmer NC12 in chamber 2
· Maxijet 1200
· Hydor Flo (not yet installed)
· Eheim-Jager 50 watt heater (not yet installed)
· Aquacontoller Jr.
· Nanotuners 3.24 Lighting/fan upgrade (72 total watts: 10k, Actinic, 50/50)
· ATO for auto-top off
· Reef dosing pump for auto saltwater exchange
Livestock
· 25 lbs. live rock (Pacific East Aquaculture)
· 12 lbs. Tropic Eden Aragasnow
Now, on to a few tank pics of my aquascaping. The rocks are partially resting on the back wall (only touching a few places, which was unavoidable in a tank this size, I think). I am going to put an extra powerhead (still researching) behind the rock running along the back wall but I want it hidden so it will be small. I will be picking up some Aquamend from Home Depot to solidify the structure, though it's pretty stable right now.
Moonlights:
Actinics:
Full lights front:
Full lights angle:
Full lights left side (it's not a rock pile, BTW):
The entertainment center is on the right side of the tank and so it's not fully exposed. I can view it but can't get a full side pic. That's it so far! I will update later when something more interesting happens (don't want to bore the world w/my daily parameter readings).
I think it looks like an altar of sorts. Bring yon sacrifices to the nano-reef gods...
