Updated Photos of 2 Gallon Cube

[ninjafish]

Sandra,
Welcome to the forum! Let me know when you post some pictures, I'd love to see them.

I am trying to get a good variety in this little tank but I also realize that I will have to prune some back as they grow, just to keep things purportioned. Thank you for your compliment!

- Chad

 

[skier06]

sweet setup there ninja, that jumpstarted my interest in getting my little 3g set back up at work

 

[reeferkid]

hmmmmmmmm that gives me some nice ideas for a 2.5gal. Do you think a midas blenny would be ok in 2.5gals.

 

[Jordan55]

No. Midas Blennies get a few inches in length atleast and need ample swimming room. Mine loved to swim around in my old 55 gallon. A 2 gallon for him would be like a car trunk for us. Go with maybe a yellow clown goby. They are very small.

 

[LeftCoast]

I'd say a citron clown goby (Gobiodon citrinus). They're also yellow, but also have some blue lining on them.

 

[acropora1981]

thats one of the best designed nano's i've seen! good work on the closed loop canister mod!

 

[ninjafish]

I agree that a yellow clown goby is the perfect size for this tank. I saw a green clown goby at the store as well but don't know how hardy they are so I went with this one instead.

Acropora, thanks. As soon as I add my auto topoff into the filter mod I will post some photos.

I also ordered an ARC 20k bulb for my halide. I think I will use it instead of the Ushio 10K that comes with the kit and keep the Ushio as a backup. I would like to keep lighting simple without using supplimentation. However, I do have a 13w powercompact that I use to run actinic if I really had to.... ?


- Chad

 

[reeferkid]

cool but it may have to wait a bit any way cos i might be buying a complete 40gal setup

 

[ninjafish]

Just to let you know I have received my halide retrofit and installed it in a sweet desklamp! I will get some pictures and post them. I love having the shimer effect in this tank!
I have been concerned lately that my undergravel filter may be pulling the food down into the substrate too quickly and contributing to waste. As a result I will be taking the plate out and be running the tank with both the intake and returns visible in the bottom of the tank. It won't be quite as trick as it is now, but I am hoping that I will make for a cleaner tank. Finally, I have also changed the aquascaping and added a few corals.

- Chad

 

[dwturpin]

Holy protien skimmer Batman. You could have one in every room in the house. That is too cool.

 

[350z]

where can i buy a little tank like that one ?

 

[ninjafish]

I had the tank built by a local shop to my measurements. There really isn't anything to the glass. They charged me $50 Can for the bulkheads and everything. Kinda expensive but I guess it was starfire...

- Chad

 

[ninjafish]

Alright guys, here's some pictures:
I had to speed up the shutter on my camera because the light was overpowering my camera - sorry the pics look a little dim.

Each side:

 

[ninjafish]

Everyone seems to like the changes:

What do you think?

- Chad

 

[lanamarks]

More details on the light please!

 

[ninjafish]

You bet!

Here is the retrofit I bought off of ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4377452052&fromMakeTrack=true


I managed to find a 100w halogen desklamp at an office supply store. I has a metal hood that is the perfect size for the 70w mh bulb and reflector. I cut the wires off and took the guts out of the lamp and then atached the mh reflector to the inside of the lamp. A ran the electrical cord from inside the hood and down the back of the lamp to the small electric ballast that sits on my desk on the other side of my inbox. The lamp is plugged into a timer under the desk.

Here is a link to a similar lamp:
http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Brow...cClassId=70500&bcClassName=Desk+&+Table+Lamps
I am really glad I found this lamp. It looks so good that you can not tell that I have modified it!

The 10k bulb really looks great. I ordered a 20k bulb because I was worried that I wouldn't have enough blue. The other bulb just came in so I will need to try it out and take some comparrison pictures.

- Chad

 

[lanamarks]

Very nice. I like the super clean look. Thats what I try to aim for but you have me beat!

 

[ninjafish]

Thanks for the compliment. But I really feel like I lucked out with the desklamp fitting so perfectly. It seems like most desklamps sold now are ultra-slim pcs or leds made of plastic. If I wasn't able to conceal the mh in such a normal looking package, I probably would have stayed with my previous lighting. My goal with this tank was that the untrained observer wouldn't even notice all of the hardware that keeps it going - a "sleeper tank"
Now I just need to perfect the auto-topoff...
Cheers,
- Chad

 

[Carl_in_Florida]

What bulb did you use? Do not forget that bulbs will burn in and become a little less blue in about a week.

CArl

 

[ninjafish]

Right now I'm running a 10K ushio but I just picked up a package at the mail with my 20K arc - that's probably the one that I will use. I will keep the ushio as a backup if the other ever fails.
New pictures coming once I install the new bulb. Also thinking about putting a frag of my frogspawn int the tank.

- Chad