Updated Photos of 2 Gallon Cube

[aural]

That is definitely one of the coolest ideas for a tank i have seen. VERY clean and imaginative! kudos

[LobsterOfJustice]

Originally posted by flycut
How come this thread only has one page. Awsome little tank.

Cause there's not too much to take pictures of

[mightymouse]

this tank is amazing i can only hop eto get my new 2.5 to look like that i like the lr in the center so u have somehtin to look at from all angles

[ninjafish]

Originally posted by LobsterOfJustice
Cause there's not too much to take pictures of

Haha, that's the truth, I feel like I've already shot everything that there is to shoot (cool username by the way).
Here is a couple pics of the blenny - every time I took out the camera, the little bugger would dart back into his cave and peek out at me.









As I said before, this fish is perfect for this tank. He struts around his 2gal world like he owns the place .

- Chad

[lowem]

Simply awesome...
I hope you keep the updates coming periodically.

[ninjafish]

Thanks . As long as there is someone interested in it, I'll keep posting!

- Chad

[tekknoschtev]

Just so you know, I am perpetually amazed by this tank, and many nano cubes. If I didnt have so many tanks going (fresh and salt) as is right now, I'd build one for my dorm room, but I dont think my parents would like that very much. I am going to build a tank similar to yours, but it probably wont be set up for a while.

Awesome tank. Just a question though, from a newbie, but don't the bicolor blennies get too large for that size of tank? The resources I have read say they need 30gal+, but thats just what I have read, not what I have experienced, so dont take it the wrong way.

[mightymouse]

what kind of blenny is that is it a bicolor? i have a red sea mimic blenny and i love him he has so much personality but is kind of a scaredy cat lol

[Elric]

That tank is awsome...where can I get one?

[ninjafish]

Originally posted by tekknoschtev
Just so you know, I am perpetually amazed by this tank, and many nano cubes. If I didnt have so many tanks going (fresh and salt) as is right now, I'd build one for my dorm room, but I dont think my parents would like that very much. I am going to build a tank similar to yours, but it probably wont be set up for a while.

Awesome tank. Just a question though, from a newbie, but don't the bicolor blennies get too large for that size of tank? The resources I have read say they need 30gal+, but thats just what I have read, not what I have experienced, so dont take it the wrong way.

Thank you - if you do set something like this up, I'd love to see it.
To tell you the truth, I don't know the answer on the bicolor. I got him because he was quite small and because he is a perching fish as opposed to an open water, swimming fish. For those reasons, I felt that this tank would be big enough for its physical and psychological health - having said that, if he gets a lot bigger, I will have to move him to my 23/20gal at home. I have come across the same 30+ estimates that you did online but I just thought that no one was going to recommended any fish for a 2gal - just because there is no such thing as a 2 gal tank in mainstream saltwater fish keeping. I appreciate any input I can get though and will definitely keep an eye on this guy. If I do need to replace it, I will probably get a yellow r green clown goby.

Adam,
I haven't seen a mimic goby for sale in my city before... sounds pretty cool.

- Chad

[tekknoschtev]

Ok, I wasnt sure, just thought I'd make mention.

I'd like to one day set up a tank in the office of where I work at Michigan State University because I think it'd liven the place up, but it'd have to be a nano/pico like yours, and I am only here for the next 3-4 years, so I dont think anyone would take care of it afterwards/care to learn how to take care of it, and bringing it home is out of the question. Between fresh and salt we have too much.

Anyways, keep us posted on the progress of the tank, I think its pretty well balanced right now, and looks astounding.

[ninjafish]

Originally posted by Elric
That tank is awsome...where can I get one?

Haha... it was actually pretty easy to set up. The tank concept and hardware is pretty neat (modestly ), but the livestock right now - particularily coral - isn't anything to write home about. The reason for this is my lighting, it is just barely up to the task. As I've mentioned before, I wanted to go with a normal desk lamp because I wanted this tank to be so understated and clean that anyone looking at it would believe that they could just fill a box with saltwater and plunk it down on their desk and it would do well.
When I move this tank home I plan on building a diy canopy with a 70w mh and two 13w pc actinics. Then I would be able to grow frags of some of my nicer corals and I would get better colors (the zoos in this tank have faded a bit). I also plan on replacing the rock in the tank with one twice as big so that the whole reef is more prominent. I guess even with a tank this size you are never really finished...


- Chad

[ninjafish]

Originally posted by tekknoschtev
Ok, I wasnt sure, just thought I'd make mention.

I'd like to one day set up a tank in the office of where I work at Michigan State University because I think it'd liven the place up, but it'd have to be a nano/pico like yours, and I am only here for the next 3-4 years, so I dont think anyone would take care of it afterwards/care to learn how to take care of it, and bringing it home is out of the question. Between fresh and salt we have too much.

Anyways, keep us posted on the progress of the tank, I think its pretty well balanced right now, and looks astounding.

My situation was much like yours. I am a police officer and at work I was seconded to a detail that meant I would be in the office and have a desk for a year and a half. As soon as I got the news, I got to brainstorming something that would be small and professional looking, but bulletproof enough that I could leave it alone on weekends without any negative effects. This is what I came up with and I moved it into the office with a backback and a bucket of water. If I decide I don't want to set it up at home after, I can just put the rock and the water back into my big tank and the only thing that I will be out will be the cost of the 8" cube - a relatively small expense. This has been a big hit around the office and I'm pretty sure that if they wanted to keep it going when I left they could, providing I showed them how much to feed and how to top up the water. I would continue doing water changes which entails syphoning two liters of water out of my big tank before I go to work and trading it with two liters of water from the nano - I usually do it at the start of each work week and it is the fastest water change I've ever done.

- Chad

[reefarchitect]

I am truly impressed! It just goes to show what can be done with a little creativity and planning. So many people are focused on bigger better more, sadly they will probably never have a tank which looks as good or as well thought out as yours.

Must make your workday much better.

[fred says]

This is one of the best Nano's that i have ever seen. It has to be more thought out than the majority of tanks out there. I have never seen so much effort go into a tank like this. I'm impressed. Great Job

[ninjafish]

Wow, those are some pretty kind reviews guys.
This tank does make my day a lot more enjoyable. It's funny because my big system at home (still a nano I guess) is a lot better stocked, has higher quailty equipment, and is more colorful - but for some reason, this little tank is still my favorite. It might be because I put more personal effort into this tank than my home system, or it might be because this little tank allows more attention to be paid to the life inside it. For example I will sit and watch the hermit crab climb the rock - I never look twice at hermits in a larger system. Today it was climbing up towards the blenny's cave and I was watching to see what would happen when it got up. Sure enough, just as it climbed up onto the ledge, the blenny darted out and gave it a quick headbutt, bonk, right on the shell. Knocked the poor hermit off the side and back down to the sand. Put a smile on my face for a while.

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Update,
The bicolor jumped out of the tank and died the other day. Dang it! He was such a great fish, was even eating out of my hand. Does anyone know if yellow clown gobies jump? I really don't want to put a cover on this tank, might just have to go fishless otherwise...

I sold my home system and bought a chemical metering pump for water top off and have also purchased a 70watt mh retrofit kit. The kit comes with a 10k ushio - I am a little worried that it wont be blue enough without supplimentation but I will get a 14k bulb when it comes time to replace it. As soon as this stuff arrives I will post some pics.

- Chad

[Monsport]

I think the Yellow Clown Goby is the perfect addition.
I've had one for 4 months now. It was first in a 3gl setup
and now (since that one cracked) it's in a 12gl. Most of the time it sits on just about anything kind of looking out and was pretty shy at first. Definetly not a jumper...

[ninjafish]

Excellent! Thanks for your advice... I just put the YCG in the tank today along with 4 cerith snails. I'm also going to add a couple stomalella from my home tank. Once the lights arrive I am planning on moving over a nice red and green open brain for the YCG to hang out in. Hopefully the brain doesn't grow too fast though.

[The Unit]

love the tank...
where so u get such little frags of zoas and stuff...lFS or online?

[mightymouse]

sorry to hear you lost the blenny i love that tank how big do those porceline crabs get and what do they eat they are cool i wouldnt mind having one

[ninjafish]

Originally posted by The Unit
love the tank...
where so u get such little frags of zoas and stuff...lFS or online?

I just recently sold my main system at home (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=553719)
but it has about 13 differnt colors of zoanthids in it. I have just been fragging small pieces from there. I plan on grabbing some more frags when the new lights show up - I'm just worried about colors fading right now. Half my zoos came from lfs and half from local reefers.

Originally posted by mightymouse
sorry to hear you lost the blenny i love that tank how big do those porceline crabs get and what do they eat they are cool i wouldnt mind having one

Thanks man. This crab is probably my favorite annimal for a nano. It is a filter feeder and uses these tiny combs on its front arms to strain small particles out of the water column. It isn't shy at all and looks cool! I have seen these get half as big again but I think that is pretty much max size.
Highly recommended.

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Check this out:

Auto topoff






I just bought this pump off of ebay. It is completely adjustable and made for pumping into systems with up to 100psi. I plan on teeing this into my filter return line under the desk and dailing it in to add my daily topoff water (about 12oz/day).

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Here is a more recent picture of the tank:





This picture didn't turn out very well but it gives you an idea of the size of it.

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Yellow clown goby:




And sexy shrimp:






I have the following livestock:

- assorted zoos
- pulsing xenia
- assorted mushrooms
- ricordia
- colt
- gsp
- devils hand (thanks Polo)
- candy cane

- yellow clown goby
- porcelin anemone crab
- three sexy shrimp
- five stomatella
- four cerith
- one margerita/nerite


Tell me what you think.

- Chad