8 gallon temperate nano tank.

[NemCrazy]

I recently was planning a build of this 8 gallon nano for the Bob Moore Frag Swap. It is an Aquion 8 and I bought it when the acrylic looked to be about a 1/4" thick to avoid condensation issues and it did not disappoint. I temporarily plumbed it into the lobster tank and it did not sweat. I put a bag of chemi pure in the overflow and ran hoses into and out of a cooler turned into a sump and filled with gallon jugs filled that I froze. It ended up keeping it all to temp for the 6 hours that it ran.it did sweat at the event due to high humidity and temp but when a door opened near me that wasn't a problem at all. I will be drilling overflows and running it into a sump with a chiller. But until then I have torn it down until I can complete the design. But that tank can give people a good option for a temperate/coldwater tank Here are some pics of it at the Bob Moore.

 

[user 26995]

That tank was so sweet. Those nems are beautiful.

 

[Derbird]

Oh man I would LOVE to set up a cold water tank. It is crazy to think of all the beautiful critters that live right off our coast

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this tank.

 

[vlangel]

What temperature is a temperate tank, is it like a seahorse tank or cooler? Do you have to special order the livestock? Its a very "cool" tank, (pun intended)!

 

[NemCrazy]

Temperate tanks are kept at 50-55 degrees. I'm not sure what temp seahorses are kept but I magine 50 would be cold. One of the hardest issues to contend with is livestock because there is really only one place stateside that you can buy from called Coldwater marine Aquatics. They are also super knowledgable about the hobby and approachable. Collection is illegal in Washington, but unclassified inverts can be kept in Oregon with a valid shellfish license whe obeying bag limits and collection zones. California has a collectors license which is spendy but I don't know much more about it than that. So I get stuff from Coldwater marine and a couple camping trips to Oregon coast is how I did it.

 

[vlangel]

O wow, that is a fair bit colder than seahorses or a Catalina goby would want. I guess your chiller gets a work out? Thanks for the info!

 

[user 26995]

I am going to set one of these up once my 250 is set up. It will be a new and fun experience. I might even try building the tank myself...:loco:

 

[NemCrazy]

Catalina's love those temps Ive bought sick and distressed catalina's even ich from the lfs (petco) and after a lengthy float they emerge better than ever. I've only lost one doing that but he had ich real bad. When he was released the ich was gone but he was just to weakened to make it.

 

[NemCrazy]

I am going to set one of these up once my 250 is set up. It will be a new and fun experience. I might even try building the tank myself...:loco:

I will be glued to that build thread for sure

 

[pandora32]

Cool lil tank! Have you thought about catalina gobies?

 

[NemCrazy]

I had a Catalina goby in that setup but she was shy. They would be perfect in this system. But after talking with Josh at Coldwater marine. I may try for a stubby squid if the timing is right. If I do that then I won't have catalinas because they like to dive bomb squid and cuttlefish eyes.

 

[NemCrazy]

Hey there everyone. This tank is seeing some changes and will be a test case to show all you potential Colwater keepers an affordable and practical way to get your hands cold first off this tank has been bought by a friend at work and I'm building it. So I will be trying hard to document as best I can. The buil includes a diy foam rock wall. An intro to a brand new chiller that just hit the market. More on that later. And a piece on a diy led build with dual dimmable channels. It's a lil overkill for this tank but it should create cool lighting. The stock light on this tank is more than capable for Coldwater applications. But at the end of the day this system let's you in the Coldwater door for under $300. I'll post about the rock wall in a bit

 

[1guydude]

Yup thought about doing this recently. Idk if I have gotten the full green light yet though lol.
Lmk about that chiller. Decent priced for new if its the same one. Ill b watching 8)
-d

 

[NemCrazy]

First things first about this project. I used black spray foam that you can pick up at home depot. It's used for holding rocks together under water and has awesome holding power. I sprayed it directly on the back wall to adhere it. This stuff is super buoyant. It's super hard to have it attached any other way. I covered the sides with plastic wrap to minimize over spray. And used rock salt to pat down areas where it rises and where it doesn't. This is the part that creates the shape and texture. I walked away to early and had areas rise up on me that I was avoiding. It still looks good and nice cracks for nems to get their feet into. Here is the wall covered in rock salt.

After washing off the rock salt I propped up a fan to dry the foam. I then dry brushed a 1 part epoxy paint to help give texture and accentuate the shapes. The paint is used for garage flooring and is inert in marine applications. Meaning it's reef safe

Now I'm using krylon fusion to paint on coraline accents for fun

And here is the final product under the lighting. In the pic the lighting looks intense but it really isn't and looks less washed out in person. There will be more on the chiller tonight

 

[user 26995]

Very cool! Nice job.

 

[NemCrazy]

Well I got home and hooked up the chiller. And filled the tank with water from the lobster tank. It is maintaining at 58 degrees. It's 72 in the house. It's nice to get the system wet but I need to put in the sand bed after I test the chiller. Black or white sand that is the question.

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[NemCrazy]

I just checked the temp this morning and it is at 58.5 Which is in the sweet spot That's pretty exciting. Some things I forgot to mention last night about the chill solutions CSXC-1 chiller. It requires a pump to move water through its housing. So I ran a 3/8" hose from the stock pump and ran it through the chiller and back to the inlet nozzel. The flow is ok so I am planning on seeing if I can take off the flow restriction plate on the pump to increase the flow. Also on this test I have the chiller an inch from the wall. I imagine it would drop a degree or two if I gave more clearance.
I was gonna do a test on the glass ehiem tank and several things made me think that even if it works I wont use the tank that way. First off there is no where to hide the pump. its glass on all four sides and the top is glass so I would have to make an acrylic top to cut holes for the chiller tubes.
I'm gonna do some more things today like finalize the hose situation(I ran cheap vinyl hoses and didn't measure anything) and other stuff

 

[1guydude]

So no sump? Chiller.and back in?
No rock bed? I say light or brown sand.
D

 

[NemCrazy]

There is no sump. You could plumb it for a sump which is what I might do if I do this tank for myself. But then I'd be running a 1/4hp chiller a skimmer and chemical filtration. Awww who am i kidding I'd hook that setup to one of my 30 gallon acrylics:eyebrows:
The beauty of this setup is it can sit on a counter top or side table. Come to the cold side nano lovers

 

[NemCrazy]

sorry for the double posts.