Krish inspired nano

[moortim]

Technically I started this nano before Krish started his but since he helped me through figuring a lot of stuff out like how to post pictures I had to give him some credit.
I made a very difficult descision to downsize from my 55 gallon, I simply didn't have the time or money to do it justice but with a bunch of laying around stuff I was able to put together this little 10 gallon nano:


I really want to be going bigger instead of smaller but I work full time and I go to school full time so I had to rethink my use of time a little.
Here are a few more pictures:


The tank has been up and running for about two weeks now, here is a picture of its first inhabitants (my little green banded goby didn't want to hold still):


I took everything in this tank out of my 55 except most of the live rock came out of a friends (lew90) tank. I have been monitoring all the parameters daily right now and doing 20% water changes on Saturday's. I am a little nervous about how unstable I know a nano can be but this has been a very fun project. Let me know what you think, my temp swing is still a little more than I want, from 80 to about 81.5 but I don't have a fan on it yet.

I will post more pictures as things progress.


Tim

 

[moortim]

Here are a few more pictures:
My aqua clear 70 fuge:



Side shot:



I haven't had a tank with enough rock to really need to aquascape it, I spent 3 hours on what I have now and I only partially like it so I will probably redo the whole thing. Now I understand how people can spend an entire weekend aquascaping a big tank.

Another front shot:

 

[mummra]

very nice. i like the fuge light idea.

 

[moortim]

very nice. i like the fuge light idea.

Yeah it cost me $10 from Office Depot. Do you think they ever thought about it being used for an aquarium?

 

[mummra]

Yeah it cost me $10 from Office Depot. Do you think they ever thought about it being used for an aquarium?

ha!...i would have to say no.

what kind of bulb do you have running in the fuge lamp fixture?

 

[moortim]

ha!...i would have to say no.

what kind of bulb do you have running in the fuge lamp fixture?

A little 25w incandescent bulb, it came with a 40 but I don't need anymore heat. So far it seems to be working.

 

[moortim]

by the way, welcome to reef frontiers mummra

 

[mummra]

hey thanx man. i have some very rare free time tonight so i am spending it on here.

have you thought of replacing the standard bulb with one of the power compact bulbs that can screw into a standard light socket?

 

[moortim]

hey thanx man. i have some very rare free time tonight so i am spending it on here.

have you thought of replacing the standard bulb with one of the power compact bulbs that can screw into a standard light socket?

Yeah, I will probably do that sometime, this one seems to be working for the moment and so far hasn't heated anything up compared to my 96watt hood. It is a smaller than normal socket so I haven't seen the right bulb yet but I will get one when I do.

 

[mummra]

cool beans. really like the tank and always like to see another bare bottom aquarium.

 

[moortim]

cool beans. really like the tank and always like to see another bare bottom aquarium.

I really like the looks of sand, I had a ssb in my 55 but it was so hard to keep looking nice and you could never have the right amount of flow without creating a sandstorm so I decided to go without. It seems to put more of a visual focus on the rocks so I think I really like it.

 

[mummra]

I really like the looks of sand, I had a ssb in my 55 but it was so hard to keep looking nice and you could never have the right amount of flow without creating a sandstorm so I decided to go without. It seems to put more of a visual focus on the rocks so I think I really like it.

i agree 100%. puts more focus on the reef structure...and it gives you a chance to put a carpet of zoas or shrooms or GSP on the bottom.

 

[Krish]

Looks great Tim! I love the title as well Small isn't bad at all...Infact they have tons of forums dedicated to just nano cubes so what can be done in a big tank can be accomplished in a smaller one just on a smaller scale Your 1.5 degree swings aren't bad either. Most chillers allow for more than that like the Pacific Coast I have on my 38gal now. It allows my temp to rise at a minimum of 2 degrees before it begins to cool so IMO, you are sitting pretty nicely. Also, the good thing about a small tank is it costs basically nothing to do a 50% water change nor does it take up any time. On your tank, if you have a water quality issue, you change just 5 gals and you've done a 50% water change! Smaller tanks no doubt aren't as stable, but much easier to manage IMO if a problem arises

Good luck on the progression of it! My pod is on the road and I "should" have it in my hands on Friday so I will post pics then.

 

[Scooterman]

Looking good, I guess a thumbs up to Krish is in order
It is better to keep a well maintained small tank than a large filthy tank, wise choice IMO!

 

[moortim]

Thanks for the input guys, I am really happy with this tank. My 55 didn't have the right flow, lights, or enough live rock so it was kind of frustrating to keep trying with it. Some day when I can afford it I will go bigger but this little 10gal is how I wanted my 55 to look.
I put my clowns in it yesterday and they seem perfectly happy, I now only have my urchin in the 55 and my coral banded shrimp that is not going in the nano. Does anyone want it?
As soon as I get those two out of the 55 most of it will be going up for sale.
Again, thanks guys for the input.

 

[nano_reeflover]

Nice nano. I too am going to downsize from my 55 gal. It just didnt turn out like I wanted. To bad your not closer I'd take the shrimp off your hands.

 

[spongebob lover]

awesome title .
aahh your nano is looking good tim ..... now keep pedaling that bike for more flow :lol: .

 

[moortim]

awesome title .
aahh your nano is looking good tim ..... now keep pedaling that bike for more flow :lol: .

Hey Gabby, I was wondering when you would chime in, hows it going?
I am severly tempted to sell all my 55 stuff and buy another bike with it so don't encourage me too much.
The funny thing is, I don't think flow is a problem, I have about 700gph in it right now:shock: I am going to rething that a little. Maybe tomorrow I will get some new pictures of it on here, I have everything from my 55 in it now so it looks a lot better.

 

[moortim]

Nice nano. I too am going to downsize from my 55 gal. It just didnt turn out like I wanted.

Thanks for the compliment
Now I know what it takes to get a tank going right, so when I do another, bigger tank it will be the way I want it. 55 gallons are like the transition between nano and big, just enough room that you want to try things like tangs and sps but just small enough that you shouldn't unless you have the time to really baby sit it.
I am liking the nano tank it only takes 20min to do a water change

 

[spongebob lover]

ahh dood i had the in laws visiting me, so i couldn't log in to much ..... it was crazy here for the whole week.
don't sell your stuff dood, just start singing in every bus stop and telling the girls that you're gonna do for them a belly dance and i'm sure that by the end of the week you'll have more than plenty for the bike .
Now show us more pictures dood