Thinking of an office build... Need advice

[ryeguyy84]

I'm thinking of adding an office tank, something around the 3-4 gallon size. Not interested in fish, I was thinking of some sort of shrimp but mostly soft corals/zoas/shrooms.

What kind of clip on light would work? I was looking at the ecopico led light but heard its not enough for zoas.

[x3thelast]

just get a cheapo desk clamp arm and a par30/38 bulb.

[ryeguyy84]

Didn't think of that... Do you think that would support some Sps from my main tank? LEDs are new to me, I'm still trying to figure out wattage vs halides.

[BigAl2007]

I've had an office tank now for over 4 years (or is it 5???). I think it's awesome but you have to factor several things into the equation for an office tank especially if it's a REEF tank (more sensitive).

A) Weekend/Holiday Climate control - many of your newer and/or high efficient buildings are computer controlled in terms of AC/Heating . . .

B) Weekend/Nighttime Cleaning Crew - They can use some pretty harsh cleaning items while you're not there

C) Water changes - It's a pain to carry even just a few gallons in for a water change and it's hard to not make a mess in your office when cleaning/maintaining your system

D) Cleanliness - If you skip a day or two of glass cleaning everyone in your office will stop by and they will ALL comment on "Whats wrong with the glass on your tank?

Just food for thought :)

[ryeguyy84]

I've had an office tank now for over 4 years (or is it 5???). I think it's awesome but you have to factor several things into the equation for an office tank especially if it's a REEF tank (more sensitive).

A) Weekend/Holiday Climate control - many of your newer and/or high efficient buildings are computer controlled in terms of AC/Heating . . .

B) Weekend/Nighttime Cleaning Crew - They can use some pretty harsh cleaning items while you're not there

C) Water changes - It's a pain to carry even just a few gallons in for a water change and it's hard to not make a mess in your office when cleaning/maintaining your system

D) Cleanliness - If you skip a day or two of glass cleaning everyone in your office will stop by and they will ALL comment on "Whats wrong with the glass on your tank?

Just food for thought :)

Letter A is my biggest concern. The cleaning crew at work just takes out the garbage which I leave outside my office every day. There's another reefer I supply with water (in exchange for Starbucks) that will watch it during vacations.

[Maconbits]

I would go with the nuvo nano 4 or 8g, it's ready to go out of the box, I have one myself and love it. In the box you get the lights, tank,filters, pump and all plumbing needed and the price is not to bad with the 8g being $200

[ryeguyy84]

I like the 4g is that light okay for some soft coral?

[Maconbits]

I would get the light that comes with the 8 g it think it's a bit better in my opinion

[ryeguyy84]

204745

I went with the nuvo 4, I'll worry about lights later.

[ryeguyy84]

well it's time to worry about the lights. I put some soft corals in and it seems like they need more light to be happy.

I ordered:
1 x Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive
4 x Berquist Thermal Pad (individual)
2 x Solderless CREE XT-E Royal Blue LED
(Wire Length: 1.5")
1 x Driver Jumper
1 x Solderless LED Plug
1 x 0-10V Dimmable Nano Driver with Potentiometer
4 x 3" LED to LED Wire (Solderless)
2 x Solderless CREE XP-G Cool White LED
(Wire Length: 1.5")

[cnseekatz]

Nice... soon you'll see how much more interesting a reef tank is compared to work emails. Hope you can resist distraction better than me!

[ange062]

I've had an office tank now for over 4 years (or is it 5???). I think it's awesome but you have to factor several things into the equation for an office tank especially if it's a REEF tank (more sensitive).

A) Weekend/Holiday Climate control - many of your newer and/or high efficient buildings are computer controlled in terms of AC/Heating . . .

B) Weekend/Nighttime Cleaning Crew - They can use some pretty harsh cleaning items while you're not there

C) Water changes - It's a pain to carry even just a few gallons in for a water change and it's hard to not make a mess in your office when cleaning/maintaining your system

D) Cleanliness - If you skip a day or two of glass cleaning everyone in your office will stop by and they will ALL comment on "Whats wrong with the glass on your tank?

Just food for thought :)

+1, keeping a tank at work is a pretty big PITA!! I've had mine for about 1.5-yrs. Definitely best to keep no fish, corals / shrimp only. And I've been so busy lately that I CONSTANTLY deal with D, the tank looks horrible! :)

Best case your facility is 24/7 temp controlled like mine, otherwise you need a heater and/or chiller. A lid is definitely a must IMO, keeps people's hands out of these, chemicals out, helps with evap over the weekend, etc etc etc

[ryeguyy84]

I've had it running at home for about a month just to become familiar with the quarks. So far I have a few snails that don't know their boundaries. The gallon topoff container lasts about 2 weeks with no top. I was thinking of keeping the temp on the low side because I'm not getting a chiller so maybe 77 or 78. I can protect from work turning off the heat but can't do much in the summer with the a/c.

[Than23]

for additional light source you could go with a 12" ecoxotic paroramic Pro strip and lay it across the tank.

That pet place has them almost half off @ $42.
http://www.thatpetplace.com/ecoxotic-panorama-pro-led-module-strip-12000k-445nm-19w

They also have some of the 12" stunner strips @ half off as well ($25).

The wall transformer is separate though. Just one option.

[ryeguyy84]

I tried that with one I had on my other tank and it looked weird. the tank is 7.5 inches wide so it hangs over and if you go the other way it just doesn't look right either. that would have been nice though, it provides quite a bit of light.

[Than23]

ahh yeah, might be slightly to big for the 4.

Current I think makes some layflat LED light. Not sure how that will work. Best of luck.

I think some people modded the light and replaced the 1W LED's with 3W LEDS. I think that requires a new transfomer though.

Hope you find a solution.

[jacob.morgan78]

Lets see a picture. I'm a little inspired to add one to my desk now :)

Thanks!

[iced98lx]

I have a 29 gallon biocube on my desk, it is wonderful for the moments that require contemplation.

[jacob.morgan78]

wow... 29 gallons... either it's a big desk or you should describe it as a desk under your aquarium instead of an aquarium on your desk!! ;-) (I'm poking fun because I'm a little jealous!)

[ryeguyy84]

a 29G would be way to big for me desk. . . unless i replace my monitor with it. I'd consider it.

here's a not so clean pic of the tank. I took the mushroom rock out because all the shrooms were falling off so I put it in a tuperware container in my other tank so they reattach to some rock rubble.

[ryeguyy84]

208731

sorry for the poor quality

[iced98lx]

wow... 29 gallons... either it's a big desk or you should describe it as a desk under your aquarium instead of an aquarium on your desk!! ;-) (I'm poking fun because I'm a little jealous!)

a 29G would be way to big for me desk. . . unless i replace my monitor with it. I'd consider it.


:lmao: It's a big desk, the 29g is only temporary until the new office is done. The new office has a 180 in the wall behind where the 29 sits now:

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh600/chrisuthe/2012-10-25141958.jpg

So I'll turn to the left and see into my 180. Can't wait!

[iced98lx]

oh also, good choice size wise. I should mention i work from home, I can just drag my mixing/refil tanks in from the other room and presto. In a real office environment, a 4G is about all I would do, figure one gallon a week water change, a little 50w super compact heater, ATO and away you go!

[ryeguyy84]

yeah I wish I worked at home. . . although our monitors are very similar, RC on one side and email on the other haha

[cnseekatz]

I used a PAR 38 bulb in a clamp-on desk lamp. Corals love it, and the profile isn't over the top.

I second the lid idea to keep good in, bad out, and reduce evaporation. I don't bother with ATO, I just keep a bottle of distilled water under my desk for daily tops offs. It's rarely more than a 1/4 inch or so, even with the lid off.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6335&pictureid=47780

[ryeguyy84]

I used a PAR 38 bulb in a clamp-on desk lamp. Corals love it, and the profile isn't over the top.

I second the lid idea to keep good in, bad out, and reduce evaporation. I don't bother with ATO, I just keep a bottle of distilled water under my desk for daily tops offs. It's rarely more than a 1/4 inch or so, even with the lid off.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6335&pictureid=47780

That tank looks great, how many gallons is that?

[jacob.morgan78]

I used a PAR 38 bulb in a clamp-on desk lamp. Corals love it, and the profile isn't over the top.

I second the lid idea to keep good in, bad out, and reduce evaporation. I don't bother with ATO, I just keep a bottle of distilled water under my desk for daily tops offs. It's rarely more than a 1/4 inch or so, even with the lid off.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6335&pictureid=47780

If you don't mind sharing which Par 38 bulb is that and where did you buy it? Looks great and thanks!!

[cnseekatz]

It's a 5.5 gallon EcoPico from Ecoxotic. The bulb is a 36w Par 38 bulb from Coralcompulsion.com. Though they have an ebay store where I bought the bulb for half what they advertise on their website.

The bulb I got has 6 white/6 blue. It was a little brighter than I prefer, and I wanted a bit more blue. I had some of the EcoPico strips left over from my original setup, so I stuck two of the blue strips on the inside rail of the lamp for a little added actinic. Totally unnecessary, but I liked it...

[ryeguyy84]

Out with the old

208906

In with the new

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/27/ruhu6eba.jpg

It's a lot brighter

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/27/vupe2ysu.jpg

Please ignore the salty outside and poor aquascaping