stoney waters Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 For the last six months I have been jumping from forum to forum gathering information, seeking advise, throwing out my two cents worth whenever I could, and probably ticked a few people off along the way. Well, here is your chance to get me back, or just let me know what you think. My tank has been set up and cycled since early march. The main goal of this project was to have a tank that was totally self contained with all the vital features that I felt were necessary. I also wanted to keep the modifications as simple as possible. Some of the mods include. two pumps with rotating returns surface skimmer internal protein skimmer iceprobe chiller 13 watt behind the rear glass fuge light. 122 watts total fluorescent lighting over main tank. led and cold cathode moon lighting t-5 actinics I have read many posts lately about these types of modifications. I hope this thread will be helpful. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Stoneys Nano The return on the right is on a swing arm for ease of cleaning and to reduce splashing. Protein skimmer Chiller Surface skimming overflow. 122 watts, LEDs and cold cathode. DYI rear glass fudg light. Link to comment
LVReefer Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Cool stuff. Do you a current picture of your tank? Link to comment
stoney waters Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 Not very current. This is about 4 weeks after setup. My camera is in the shop. Should be out soon. Link to comment
tMoney Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Awesome tank! Great shapes of LR. Does that iceprobe do a good job at keeping the tanks temp where you want it? Link to comment
stoney waters Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 Thanks tMoney. The iceprobe does keep temps lower. The highest recorded temp with it in operation has been 82. I have the controller set at 78. Once, after working on the hood I forgot to plug it in. The next day when I came home from work the temps had climbed to 88. I about had a stroke. Had to turn off the lights and run only one pump. Link to comment
nanojake Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Can you tell us more about the protein skimmer? What model, or is a DIY? Link to comment
stoney waters Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 Yes, this is the Sanders piccolo. A lfs ordered it for me from a wholesaler in Ca. I believe it was called Quality Marine. http://www.qualitymarineusa.com/drygoods/skimmers.html Link to comment
EtOH_is_good Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 very sweet tank. great mods. should enter the cube contest. Link to comment
LVReefer Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 That's what I'm talking about. Looks great. I've got two Hydro Flo's as well and I love the random current. How are the corals doing in it? My talk is only two weeks old, so no corals yet:(. You spoke of upgrading your lighting. What are you thinking about doing? Link to comment
tMoney Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 How difficult was it to put in the iceprobe? What did you use to cut the hole? Thanks -T Link to comment
stoney waters Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 The Hydor Flo's are powered by mini-jet 606s. My GSPs and frogspawn don't seem to mind. They sway from side to side with the osculating current. The Flo's diffuse the current just enough so that it is not to swift. As far as upgrading the lighting my first choice would be MH. But I am still a little uncertain about it. Some issues I have are heat, warpage, safety. I think I will wait and see how the Nanocustums unit performs in the long run. In the meantime I think I will pull my IceCap 430 out of storage and overdrive 3 or 4 32watt PC's. That should be the equivalent of the sun on Venus. The Iceprobe was the easiest of the mods. I used a dremmel. There are plenty of threads on this. I used a diamond ball tip bit to scribe the circle and drill the initial hole. Then used a tapered bit to cut around the pattern. I did it over the kitchen sink with the hand sprayer taped open and running just a little. Link to comment
stoney waters Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 I was surprised at how thick the rear glass is. I wish the whole tank was that way. Link to comment
stoney waters Posted August 1, 2005 Author Share Posted August 1, 2005 stealhealr The acrylic piece of the surface skimmer mod started out a little larger than half the size of the overflow grate. I then through trail and error, made three 3/4" notches in the top of it with my grinding wheel untill I had just the right water level.Then just glued it in place with some silicone sealant. You can see the notches in the first pic. Link to comment
steelhealr Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Stoney..excellent and well worked out mods. I think you should post your surface skimmer as a separate thread. I lost a firefish last week after it had gotten trapped behind the cassette mod and saved my clingfish while it was alive when it had gotten trapped as well. In addition, I find my snails shift the cassette mod. I'm going to look into this for my tank. I think if it is placed on the outside, water pressure will hold it in place also, no? Great work. SH Link to comment
alexwbush Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 why is the hydor in the upper right shifted over? Link to comment
stoney waters Posted August 2, 2005 Author Share Posted August 2, 2005 I put it on a swing arm that I made out of 90 degree pvc tubing. It keeps it lower in the water to reduce splashing. It also keeps it away from the glass for easier cleaning. Link to comment
coondogg97 Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 I think its to keep water away from the light cover. Thats actually what im looking for. What did you use to connect the Hydor Flow to the back wall of the nano? I wonder if you can attach the Hydor Flo to loc line? Then you can direct the flow wherever you want.. Thanks, Brian Link to comment
stoney waters Posted August 2, 2005 Author Share Posted August 2, 2005 The male end of the pvc elbow fits right into the stock return mount. Link to comment
alexwbush Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 is there a screw in attachment for the hydor? I have a CLS run in my nanocube right now, but if I wanted to, I could put hydors in my 2 new bulkheads, right? Link to comment
stoney waters Posted August 2, 2005 Author Share Posted August 2, 2005 I dont know about screw attachments. But they come with 3 or 4 rubber slip fittings. Most people find a way to make them fit on just about anything. Link to comment
alexwbush Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 About how far out does the hydor stick out off the back wall? Link to comment
stoney waters Posted August 2, 2005 Author Share Posted August 2, 2005 Finally found the ruler. 2" from the wall to the back skirt of the Hydor. Its less than 1" on the left side. Link to comment
alexwbush Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 How long are the hydors (back skirt to the tip)? Sorry to keep asking, but I am exploring options for my own project. Your tank looks really nice. Do the hydors spin very fast with mini-jet 606's? What are you stocking in there? What kind of temperatures are you seeing? Link to comment
stoney waters Posted August 2, 2005 Author Share Posted August 2, 2005 alexbush Go ahead ask away. Its good to see intrest in nano-cubes after all the bashing. The hydors are about 2 1/2" long or 3" if you add the connector fitting. With a 606 they rotate in in approximatly 15 seconds in a nano-cube. My left on rotates about 2 seconds faster because it has a lower head pressure. My temps were high because of the two pumps, sometimes reaching mid to upper 80s. Since adding the CoolWorks chiller they have remained in the 78 to 82 range. I will post an updated photo as soon as my newest frags arrive and open. My current stocking list includes. 1 royal gramma 1 perc clown 1 pepermint shrimp 6 assorted snails 6 hermits 1 emerald crab frogspawn GSP sun corals assorted zoos red, green and blue mushrooms florida rics xenia green hair algea:( Thinking about adding a Molly Miller Blenny to take care of the latter. Good luck with your project Link to comment
alexwbush Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 do you think there's enough room for 2 percs, and a shrimp and goby combo? Link to comment
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