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View Full Version : Victor's 20L Nano Log (pics)


Don_Gnomio
12/17/2007, 12:55 PM
hello everyone :)

where to begin...well, for the past year or so i have been wanting to set up a nano reef in my bedroom, well the time has come! since august, i have been slowly piecing together the equipment to build this tank, and to do everything i was not able to on my 55gallon tank. the plans are simple, and i want to keep sps and a few clams.

the first problem we ran into was that there really was not a lot of space in my room, i had 2 desks that had glass tops and could not hold the weight of a tank. so we cleared out one of the desks and rearranged my room so we can put in a stand. now another problem we had was that we really didn't like many of the stands, and we didn't want to spend too much money or time making one, as the one for my 55gal took a long time, so we went scavenging and found this nice table in my grandparents garage, we cut it to the size that we needed, and reinforced it, and put it in place. after that was done we hung the light fixture and thats it as far as we've gotten.



equipment:
standard 20L tank
closed loop w/ mag5 pump
small hob filter converted to fuge.
150w MH pendant
i think thats it..lol

full view, tank and stand
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh86/fishguyv/DSC_0009.jpg


side
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh86/fishguyv/DSC_0011.jpg


closed loop
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh86/fishguyv/DSC_0012.jpg

full view, side
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh86/fishguyv/DSC_0013.jpg



the chain that is holding up the fixture will be replaced with wire, because we don't like the way it looks and is giving us problems.

this coming weekend i will get the rock, sand and water and the cycle will begin.

any comments and criticism is much appreciated.

thanks for looking,
victor :rollface:

cherubfish pair
12/17/2007, 11:03 PM
Wish I could put a tank in my bedroom.

Don_Gnomio, did you paint the pvc and fittings? Or did you buy them black?

Snowboarda42
12/18/2007, 02:04 AM
Awesome! I dig it! Got plans for livestock?

gigs
12/18/2007, 02:10 AM
hey Don_Gnomio w00t!
l33t tank mate cant wait to see your progress.

pbukow
12/18/2007, 02:39 AM
Good so far, good you show a closer pic of the SCWD. Did you modify it or is it a stock setup

racksteris
12/18/2007, 05:00 AM
cool set-up.

nybyrne
12/18/2007, 05:09 AM
looks good

MikePowell
12/18/2007, 08:28 AM
pbukow- that closedloop idea is from melev's website.

nice looking tank. i would lower the light to about 6 - 8 inches from the water level. looks a little high. other than that sweet tank.

Don_Gnomio
12/18/2007, 11:39 AM
cherubfish pair - i painted the pvc with krylon fusion spray paint

Snowboarda42 - im not 100% sure what livestock i want as far as fish go, but i do know that i want the tank to be sps dominated as far as corals go.

gigs - thanks

pbukow - thanks and yes it is stock, ill put up another pic in a moment

racksteris - thanks

nybyrne - thanks

MikePowell - the light is about 9 inches from the tank, i did this for 2 reasons, one because some of the corals im going to put into this tank are from my 55 which only has pc's and two because i was not sure how much of an issue heat was going to be seeing on how i live in miami..lol


which reminds me that yesterday i conducted a little experiment to see how hot the fixture would get and how hot the surrounding area would get and to my surprise it was a lot cooler than i expected which means i might not have to get into a chiller :)

thanks again to everyone

chriis716
12/19/2007, 11:14 PM
nice, can't wait to see this up and running.

Don_Gnomio
12/20/2007, 05:55 AM
thanks chriis

norcal99
12/20/2007, 10:37 AM
Cool your tanks and plans look good! Sounds to me like you're off to a good start and will be following your progress. The only thing to look out for is that pump. It looks like a MAG so I'd be a bit cautious about running one externally as I've heard they leak, so maybe putting it in a small rubbermaid tupperware box or something just to be on safe side in the event that it does leak. Anyway, good stuff.

Don_Gnomio
12/20/2007, 02:36 PM
thanks norcal , it is a mag and thanks for the heads up on the leaking.

well hopefully tomorrow or saturday ill get the rocks and sande and water !! yay :)

Don_Gnomio
12/20/2007, 02:58 PM
so ive been thinking, i relly dont have good luck with fish lol so i dont want anything too expensive, and i want something colorful, and nothing that gets big or is very active, so i was thinking one of the folowing:

- yellow clown gobies
- some sort of hawkfish
- maybe a maroon clown?
- sixline wrasse? not sure how active they are


i know that i dont want the common clownfish, i also dont want anything that sifts sand, i put one of those gobies in my 55 and it went ballistic sifting sand, and i had a huge sandstorm for like 2 weeks till i was able to get it out..lol

any other ideas?

thanks

jdpierce21
12/20/2007, 07:36 PM
I love my Purple Firefish. I also like the Royal Grammas. Good luck with your tank!

pbukow
12/21/2007, 01:30 AM
6 lines are always moving around, might want to stay away. Would you mind showin a pic of the scwd close up. I just want to see how you connected the tubing to the wavemaker.

Don_Gnomio
12/21/2007, 07:51 AM
ill post a pic later because my comp is retarded and isint letting me download any pics right now, but its connected using a piece of flexible tubing and some hose clamps.

Don_Gnomio
12/21/2007, 08:55 PM
pbukow- here is the picture you wanted.
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh86/fishguyv/DSC_0037.jpg





well today was the day!

so me and my rents went to the lfs to get the rock, sand etc.

we ended up with 22.5 lbs of lr and 20lbs of ls

i wanted to have a very open aqua scape, so this is what i came up with, im quite happy with it.
everything is still kinda cloudy from the sand, ill take more pics tomorrow when its less cloudy
pics:
FTS:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh86/fishguyv/DSC_0030.jpg

FTS from angle:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh86/fishguyv/DSC_0038.jpg

top down:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh86/fishguyv/DSC_0033.jpg

right side:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh86/fishguyv/DSC_0031.jpg

left side:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh86/fishguyv/DSC_0032.jpg



thats all for tonight, as always comments/ criticism is always welcome

thanks for looking,
Victor

keekalmatter
12/21/2007, 09:32 PM
hey man
its looking good
as far as fish go i love fish and havent lost many except for the time my salinity skyrocketed then my clown gobies, shrimp goby, and boxfish died but i loved the clown gobies they werent at all shy and would just perch themselves on almost anything, the shrimp goby was pointless and didnt even pair up with my shrimp he just stole his home then died, and the boxfish was adorable and just looked like something to cuddle with lol
but i think pygmy angels are good additions as long as they dont start killing corals :] i have a coral beauty and love it even tho i would have rather had a flame angel but i came home and my dad had put him in there lol
also naked clownfish are adorable and if i had another tank i would get one or two
and as far as hawkfish, flame hawkfish gett really big lol but longnose hawks look nice but ive heard thye can pick at corals sometimes or maybe it was inverts i dont remember but something drew me away from them
and maybe a basslett like a royal graamma or something of that nature :] theyr can be shy but when you feed them they pop out of their home to grab food and its adorable
hope this helps
what kind of inverts are you going to put in

pbukow
12/21/2007, 10:38 PM
Thanks for the pics, i am setting a tank up soon with SCWD wavemaker and i wanted to see some ideas. Thanks.

LOVE the aquascaping btw, very natural. Its not just a wall of rocks like most tanks.

reefman13
12/21/2007, 10:49 PM
Looking good.

Any plans for stocking?

Protein skimmer?

Carbon/phosphate filtration?

Don_Gnomio
12/22/2007, 09:36 AM
kiki - thanks

pbukow - you're welcome for the pics, and thanks

reefman13 - thanks, plans for stocking aren't very apparent at the moment...lol as far as corals i do want sps, fish, not 100% shure yet. i dont have plans for running a protein skimmer right now, my 55 has been skimmerless for 3 years, and does just fine. and for carbon/phosphate, i have a small hob filter which im contemplating whether to rum media such as carbon etc. or to make it into a small refugium


thanks again to everyone

Don_Gnomio
12/22/2007, 03:48 PM
ok so i just tested my water to see if the cycle had begun or what not


ammonia- 0. 6
ph- 8.3 ( im not sure exactly what the ph level is supposed to be at)
everything else - 0

now i set up my 55 gallon the same exact way that i set up this tank, and i remember that my cycle was complete in about 3 days, i set it up on the 25th of august and by the 28th i had fish in it

the thing im not sure about is if the same thing could happen again? this morning i added some ls from my tank into this tank and i put some macro and lr rubble from my 55 into this tank also.

cherubfish pair
12/24/2007, 11:59 PM
What is your flow turn-over per hour? I know it's recommended to have a lot, however I can't remember recommended range. I think it's over 20x per hour for SPS.

Don_Gnomio
12/25/2007, 09:39 PM
in mot even sure, but i think its in the range of like 610 gph

stevelkaneval
12/25/2007, 09:49 PM
a maroon clown can get up to 6 inches and is very aggresive. so i wouldnt put one in a 20 long.

Don_Gnomio
12/25/2007, 09:51 PM
thanks for the advice steve

Don_Gnomio
12/25/2007, 09:53 PM
oh, and i forgot to mention that among other things i got today (macbook pro, printer, my brothers old car..lol ) i got a bunch of money to put into the tank, so once the tank has matured for a few more weeks its coral buying time :)

stevelkaneval
12/25/2007, 09:57 PM
i was getting some coral from a girl reefer near me and she has 2 maroon clowns in a 40 breeder the female is a good 4" and the male is maybe 2.5, anyway when she was getting my corals out the female kept attacking her hand. i thought cool but when she took her hand out of the tank there were like a dozen tiny blood spots on her hand. like the guys chest on 40 year old virgin but tiny. she said it felt like a slap or a needle pricking your hand. then she says wanna try?

Don_Gnomio
12/25/2007, 10:04 PM
...well that nice, lol

Don_Gnomio
12/31/2007, 04:37 PM
ok so i was away on vacation and i got back today and i have a diatom bloom!!! ill test the water and post them later :)

cherubfish pair
01/06/2008, 02:25 PM
Have you gotten that diatom bloom under control?

Don_Gnomio
01/07/2008, 09:06 PM
its beginning to go away, i have to buy a clean up crew but im not sure on what kind of snails to get because im not happy with the astrea snails that i get arround here. i havent updated in a whilbe because ive been buisy preparing for school, and im in the process of rehearsing for 2 musicals, so ive been busier that ive expected, however b sunday i should have gotten the clean up crew.

Don_Gnomio
01/13/2008, 03:34 PM
well, i got my CUC today, it consists of:

about 10 hermits
sand sifting star
2 bumblebee snails

im considering putting in a few astrea snails, any thought on this?

i also put in a small frag of my birds nest from my 55 its been in there for about a week, and has grown a bit.

cherubfish pair
01/19/2008, 11:40 PM
How's the CUC doing?

Don_Gnomio
01/20/2008, 11:49 AM
there good, no more diatoms, hopefully tomorrow ill get a fish or maybe a new coral