setting up a 7 gallon bow front-ideas welcome!

[aquarookie]

Hi all,

I am breaking down my "big" setup but I just can't imagine leaving the hobby altogether. I was going to set up my 24 nano cube-that is, until I saw a nice long crack in the corner. So I gave the nano cube to a guy who has snakes and roaches, and revisited the idea of the little bow front.

It is a glass (AGA) tank, super cute and seemingly sturdy but there isn't a whole lot of room there. I have seen them set up as nano reefs so I know it can be done, but I am trying to figure out the best way to do it.

I ran my big tank skimmerless, and it has done just fine for a number of years now. I don't know if the same goes for the little tank. As far as equipment goes, I am thinking heater, pump, HOB filter (like freshwater tanks use)...

Sand or no sand? I have tried both in my big tank and honestly I haven't figured out which works better for me. Sand looks nice but gets blown around by pumps. And "vacuuming the floor" is easier when it is bare. But I don't know... suggestions?

I could drill the back and have a sump with all the goodies, but I am trying to go for simple. I will probably just have some zoas and shrooms in the tank, so I don't need anything too fancy. Simplicity is key in this setup since I am trying to simplify my whole life (I know, wishful thinking but it's worth a try).

I did retrofit a 36 watt CF light into the stock hood and if the tank sticks around I will upgrade to LED someday.

Once I figure out the best place in the house I will post some pics of the actual tank.

 

[user 2204]

I ran a 7 AGA MB for awhile. I used dual 32w pc for the lighting. I also used a Aquaclear 110 for a fuge with a small light that I picked up in the as-is section of Ikea. All worked great for me.

 

[J-Ranko]

An Aquaclear with a large bag of GAC replaced weekly, along with weekly water changes (should be easy considering the volume), will be more than sufficient for your filtration. A skimmer would not be very helpful for something this small. GAC will be far more effective, and with this small volume, it won't take too much or cost too much to double or triple the usual amount per gallon.

PC would be good enough, but you can try one or two Ecoxotic stunner LED strips if that's not too much (each strip is about $50).

Personally, I like sand and would recommend a sand bed no more than 1/2 inch deep. A few snails should be sufficient to keep it clean.

I recommend an auto top off system--it will greatly reduce your daily routine/maintenance and add a lot of stability to a such a small tank. You can rig up a very simple drip system if float switches are not doable.

 

[Frankie]

Nice post J-Ranko,

I agree on the sand but not just for looks, it will be a major player in beneficial biological filtration. You just cannot beat the surface area for bacteria to colonize on.

I would do as J suggested and do weekly 10% water changes. The carbon bag should be kneaded once daily if possible to utilize it to the max, with exchanges monthly.

Drilling this tank may not be possible. I would be very surprised if the tank is not tempered.

 

[Krish]

Hey Julia!! You have me beat this time going to a 7 gal . To add to what was already mentioned, if you want to go the skimmer route, Mark (skimmerwhisperer) mentioned a hang-on nano skimmer the other day on a thread that has enough space to hold a bag of carbon in it as well as a heater. Might not be a bad idea so as to not have that much equipment sitting in the display taking away from the look of it. You might have to shoot him a pm about the skimmer though so he can give you a bit more info on it.

 

[aquarookie]

Thanks for all the suggestions . I never thought of using a HOB filter as a fuge-sounds so cool! Maybe I can have two smaller ones: one for carbon, one to use as a fuge? Would that make any sense? Should I use mechanical filtration too or not?

 

[user 2204]

IMO I'd use a larg HOB filter such as the AC110 for the fuge and get a reactor to run carbon in. You can also run a sock of carbon in with the fuge area. What I've done before reactors is to use those little booty socks that women use at the shoe stores. Look like ankle high nylons. You can buy a box of 1500 of those for $12.00-$15.00 and they last forever.

Here's some photos of what I did. And the 7 gallon aGA is not Tempered.

Here is a photo of a HOB AC110 converted. You can see the little fliter bag to the left in the first photo.

Here's with a single 32w PC bulb. It was a coralife 50/50.

And here is one with 64w of lighting. This is with a dual actinic and the 50/50 bulb. Gives you some ideas anyways.

 

[aquarookie]

Wow. Looks like you built an apartment inside that filter! I will definitely buy one when budget allows.

Just curious: do LED aquarium lights generally run on AC or DC? Our AC-powered LED Christmas lights flicker (most people don't seem to notice it, but the flickering gives me a headache after a while). I would not be thrilled about my tank flickering-as opposed to shimmering

Ecoxotic is a funny name-if you misspell it as Ecotoxic, LOL.

 

[user 2204]

Most LED lighting runs on DC. This is that the electricity coming in from the wall to the little transformer is AC and from the transformer is converted to DC before supplying power to the LEDs.