Maestro's 7.5g Mr. Aqua Build

[VtheMaestro]

After the success of my 57g Illuminata build (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1818243), I'm trying my luck with another nano reef. This time it's a 7.5g Mr. Aqua cube for my bedside table.

Equipment List

1x 12" cube Mr. Aqua 7.5 Gallon Frameless Low Iron Glass Aquarium Tank
1x Finnex P-360 All-in-one Compact Canister Filter
2x Ecoxotic EcoPico LED Arm Light Fixture w/ 12K White & 453nm Blue Strip
1x Eheim Jager TruTemp 50 Watt Fully Submersible UL Approved Heater
1x Hydra Aquatics 5mm Glass Hang-On Thermometer
1x Sybon Refractometer

There's no room for a sump near this tank and the back will sit fairly flush against the wall. I'm opting for the canister filter instead of the ever-popular Aqua Clear 70 with fuge mod. I've heard countless times that a canister can turn into a nitrate factory without proper maintenance, but it will only house chemi-pure and a tiny bit of floss to polish the water. The majority of filtration will be done with live rock and sand. The bio-load will be low in this tank so waste shouldn't be a major issue.

Stock List

Zoanthids
Ricordia or Blue Mushroom
Fire Fern red macro (Bryothamnion sp.)
Small Torch Coral or Frogspawn
3-4x Sexy Shrimp
3x Dwarf Serith
1x Glass Shell Hermit
(maybe) Catalina Goby

Maintenance Schedule

Daily freshwater top-off
Weekly tests
Weekly 2 gallon water change

The tank will be seeded with live sand from my main tank and cured live rock, so I'm not anticipating much of a cycle. Nevertheless, I plan to stock this tank slowly.

Any questions, comments, advice, trolling, and name-calling are welcome

[teddyzaper]

oooh i have one of these tanks just sitting around, i wish i could do this! good luck, and i would clean that filter every other day if u opt for the canister......

[VtheMaestro]

oooh i have one of these tanks just sitting around, i wish i could do this! good luck, and i would clean that filter every other day if u opt for the canister......

go for it! I do plan to keep it clean, but would the cleaning regimen be any different on a filter sock or an hob full of floss?

[VtheMaestro]

I reached out to my guy Colin Foord at Coral Morphologic and he's sending a nice package of rics and zoas my way. I'm especially looking forward to the ORA African Blue Cespitularia, I like the specimens I've seen in youtube videos.

It looks like I might be making some revisions to my lighting. I saw a nice LED retrofit on the EcoPico arm using a Rapid LED's CREE kit, it may turn out to be a better and less expensive alternative to what I had planned. Stay tuned.

[VtheMaestro]

Finally some pictures!

Just got my package from Colin at Coral Morphologic...

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6104/6288735565_ff4b572ab7.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6214/6289255660_1faeea8702.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6054/6289255788_86c1f21b8d.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6035/6289255912_778be69e6c.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6224/6288736289_aa35efde5e.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6045/6289256234_051700aeae.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6233/6288736649_6087314d66.jpg

[VtheMaestro]

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6047/6289256630_9981a6ec51.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6237/6289256818_f2936f066c.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6226/6289256970_7a304d8bfa.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6212/6289257108_282eb7d90f.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6049/6289257318_9bf046b5f4.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6033/6289257504_529dd48fae.jpg

Floating them in my main tank for acclimation.

[VtheMaestro]

Acclimating and inspecting.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6108/6289374747_cdff735570.jpg

Moved to the bottom of my display tank until the pico arrives
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6232/6292082979_d1de3d1cea.jpg

[VtheMaestro]

I received my Finnex PX-360 Canister filter today. I hooked it up to my larger tank to test it and break it in until the Mr. Aqua arrives. I was amazed at how utterly and completely silent it is. It's rated to work on systems up to 25 gallons, so it should be perfect for my 7.5 gallon pico. I plan to run it with a little bit of floss in the top chamber and a mix of purigen and chemipure in the lower level. I'll be doing biweekly floss changes to keep the waste from accumulating and recontaminating the tank. Overall I'm very happy with my purchase and I think it will keep my tank water crystal clear.

I spoke with a rep from Ecoxotic. He says the mounting brackets for the new Panorama Pro modules are to be released early next week. I may use one of those instead of the Ecopico lights. I'm still drawn to the modularity of my original choice, but I'm also attracted to the light boost of the Pro.

[VtheMaestro]

The tank, lights, and thermometer came today. Off to walmart to buy spray for the back. I'm going to hold off on unboxing the lights since it seems some other options are on the horizon.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6232/6300815884_084a296c2e.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6045/6300282783_3cbb9b2e14.jpg

[ange062]

Looks like a cool assortment of corals!

[jdhardy]

any update?