Going to start a 5.5 prop tank soon. Plans are a standard aga 5.5 with a 70w Sunpod and a Toms mini canister filter filled with live rock rubble and cheato and a maxi-jet 600 for extra flow. I plan to prop a little of everything Zoos, LPS, SPS, rics, shrooms, softies and clams. Suggestions welcome.

go with a 10g for more room if you're going after all those different types. 5g's ok for sps and softies but if you are adding lps, rics, and clams, you'll need more acreage. the lighting should be fine still though.

opt for an adjustable powerhead that doesn't take up too much space. microjet is pretty good imo. their only drawback is their sucky suction cups. but i'd use a strong magnet holder like the new wave of ph's are all using instead. you want to be able to adjust your flow depending on the frags involved.

The tank is going to have 2.5 sump/fuge for extra volume (water, live rock and cheato) and I will be using a mini jet 404 to move water from the fuge to the main and the flow is adjustable from 18-108 gph. The canister filter also has 80gph so I'll have to wait and see how much supplimentation it will need.

I've been thinking aboiut the 10 gal idea and it is starting to grow on me. I am going to wait to see how the light fits on both to make a descision. It should be here on Thursday.

def will be interested to see this develope

The light, filter and powerheads have arrived. Unfortunately I will be unable to set it up until the new flooring in my room is finished. Would argonite or sand be a better substrate for the tank. Keep in mind there won't actually be any frags on the substrate.

Here are the pictures of the test run. I can see the tank has good circulation ( the only benefit of micro bubbles) and hopefully they will dissapear as soon as I put media in the filter. The spray bar is working well and gives good surface agitation. The light is working fine and I love the colour of the 14 000K bulb. On the down side the canister filter is leaking.

I wouldnt put any sand in the tank at all. Just put some LR on the bottom.
Just put the sand in the sump/fuge and keep it out of the tank.

I've heard having a sand bed is better for buffering and better for the overall cycle of the tank. I have also read a few threads where sand when added improved the health of corals. One thread in particular was about sps inproving with just the adddition of sand.
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...#39;s&st=60 (May 3rd post)

The only reason sand would really be good for buffering is if your pH ever gets low enough to dissolve it, and in that case, you have way bigger problems than sand or no sand.

As for the cannister, just open it up, and make sure the seal surfaces are clean & smooth.

I have put the Tom Filter in time out. I checked the seals and they were fine. Went to put the top back on and one of the clamps that holds it in place broke! This was only the third time the clamp had been used. On top of that the other filter I received was broken when I took it out of the box! Needless to say I am really not happy with the Tom filters and I am thinking of going a different way. Any suggestions

Look for another canister filter or Mod AC70 or Ac110 into a fuge.

That was the only canister I could find that small. I could mod an AC (and probably will) but I really liked the idea of a spray bar.

Here is another canister filter. Its pretty much the same size.

http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?p...18c6ivo7jjepd03

Thanks looks perfect going to buy one tonight.

The tank now sits in its final location and is ready to go. I am just waiting for a the new canister filter to arrive.

Looks good

so have you attached those pieces of wood to the tank?...and how much was the sunpod?...looks great so far!

The sunpod cost me about $250 with shipping. The wood pieces slide in and out. They are fit snug and can only be removed in a small gap in the rim of the tank I made.

I'm thinking about putting a lubbocks wrasse (Cirrhilabrus lubbocki) as livestock. Is a ten gal big enough?

Anyone?

No. All Cirrhilabrus wrasses are very active and require large swimming areas, or at least they should have large swimming areas.

Any updates?

Yeah I ordered a new canister filter and am just waiting for it to arrive. Hopefully it will be here by the end of the week. Things got a little stalled life has been crazy lately. Once it arrives I have live rock that has been cured and kept for four months so hopefully I will have little to no cycle. The sooner I can start adding frags the better.

Will you have eggcrate or just use live rock to support your frags?

I'm planning on a three tiered eggcrate set up similar to nUgZ with liverock under the racks and then bare sandbed on the other side of the tank.

The tank is finally up and running. The filter arrived the same days as my 2.5 disaster and so the 10 gal was born. I has all the rock from my 2.5 plus 3 more lbs making about 7 total. It also has 5 lbs of live sand that was in my 2.5. It is heated by a AGA 50w submersible heater. Flow is a Maxi-jet 600, Mini-jet 404 and Zoo Med 501 Canister filter (80gph) giving a total turnover of 30x. The surface agitation from the spraybar on the canister is sweet! Lighting is a 70 watt (14 000 K) sunpod. I plan on adding egg crate soon. The tank has all the livestock from my 2.5 plus some new stuff.

FTS


New additions:

Crocea

Caulastrea Furcata

Bubble Shroom

Hairy Shroom

Green Monti Cap

Red Monti Cap

Blastomussa Merletti

Sweet!

Good stuff. Egg crate soon?

Yeah. Hopefully this weekend.

hope you dont get a cycle cause of the change in the amount of water vs. benificial bactera atm. I think you'll be fine tho. Good luck and welcome to the club

Woke up this morning to find my crocea shrivelled and dead. Kind of a bummer.

Updated FTS with eggcrate.


Cool Moonlight ( I think anyway)

Picked up two nice pieces.

A free floating polyp I grabbed that I think has a lot of potential.


A pavona I've been eyeing for quite some time. Finally gave in.

Nive pavona, and I like the blasto's too.

Thanks. Me too.

what bulb do you have? looks kind of yellow.

70 watt 14 000K current power pack.

There were supplemental lights for lessening the shadows. The bulb has just the right amount of blue.

Looks like things are moving along very nicely for you. I can feel my pockets getting emptier. Fragging here I come.

Picked up some new stuff yesterday.

Paly Grandis


Really Nice Palys


Tiny Zoa Frag


Favites


Purple Firefish (arrived from the Maldives on Thursday night) Sorry about the blur he's a jittery little bugger.

Frags that have coloured up since moved from my 2.5





New pieces









My pride and joy. Wild black ocellaris.

Is that Pavona from Big Als Oakville?

Yeah how'd you know?

Cause I have seen it there. Your pic doesn't do justice! I know it is more orange then

Yeah and it is looking much healthier since I've had it under lower light.

Let me know when you have a small 1-3 polyp frag of this zoa available. I am interested.

me too me too

Sorry no shipping right now. Pick up only

I'd check this zoa patch to see whats aggravating those 2 partially closed zoas. It could be nothing, as they do that often enough, but I'd just make sure.

Yeah those two have only done that twice. Usually they are all open. Thanks for the concern though.