MR.FEESH Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Welcome to the thread dedicated to the progression of my naturally/biologically filtered, DIY full spectrum LED 6 gallon Nano Cube. Please subscribe, comment, and ask questions! Tank Started: July 23rd, 2013 Front Tank Shot (FTS): 10/01/2013 The Goal: The goal here is very simple. I'd like to limit the tank to a relatively small bioload, but still go for a good deal of biodiversity, personality, and color. Almost every planned inhabitant benefits from the addition of zooplankton and/or phytoplankton. It is for this reason that the set-up will not contain filter floss, carbon, a skimmer, UV sterilizer, or any other filtration system that risks trapping or killing these essential organisms. Without them in the water column, the inhabitants will starve. Biological or natural filtration will be the only filtration mechanism used. I’m by no means an expert, but given that I’m not exactly new to the hobby anymore, I'd also like to challenge myself with some more unique inhabitants than what you see in the run of the mill tanks on this site-- inhabitants with special needs. Gorgonians, and sponges for instance. Of course there's nothing wrong with Clownfish and Firefish and anemones, but I think there are already enough of those to go around Inspiration: Dapellegrini's 2008 TOTM tank was a big source of inspiration for my tank. Not only was the aquascape very natural looking and aesthetically pleasing, but there was so much diverse life squeezed into such a small space. Natural filtration, hard work, and patience really seems to have paid off in that case, and I hope my tank will one day be even a fraction as impressive as that 5.5 gallon was. Equipment: -Tank: 6 gallon JBJ Nano Cube -Lighting: DIY full spectrum 9 LED retrofit array (4) Royal Blue: 450-465 nm (2) Neutral White: 3,700-5,000K (1) Blue: 465-485 nm (1) Deep Red: 660 nm (1) "UV": 410-420 nm -Power Head: Minijet 606, with Hydor FLO rotating flow director -Filtration: none, all biological (live sand, live rock, chaeto) -Heater: Hydor Mini (15w) -Test Instruments: Hydrometer, Salifert test kits -Other Basics: 8lbs Manado live rock, 2 inch live sand bed -Photography: Nikon D7000 & Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Livestock: Items in green have been added to the tank. Items in black are hoped to be added at a future date. Items that are crossed out are no longer being considered. Display Invertebrates: -Elysia crispata (not enough algae to sustain) -Bispira sp. (pink) -Bispira sp. (yellow) -Sabellastarte sp. -Petrolisthes galathinus -Psuedaxinella lunaecharta (too hard to ensure it's not exposed to air during shipping and I don't have an LFS) Feesh: -jaguar shark (or whatever it is, if it actually exists) Soft Coral: -zoanthus sp. (assorted) -ricordea yuma -ricordea florida SPS Coral: -Montipora capricornis -Montipora digitata -Seriatopora hystrix Sea Fans: -Pseudopterogorgia sp. -Pterogorgia citrina Macro Algae: -Chlorodesmis sp. -Chaetomorpha sp. Clean-Up Crew: -Paguristes cadenati (4) -Cerithium sp. (4+) -Nassarius distortus (1...was a freebie with my Reef Cleaners CUC purchase, could not recommend more) Feeding & Maintenance: -Two Little Fishes Marine Snow & AlgaGen Phyco Pure Reef Blend -1 gallon water change per week, Seachem Reef Salt What's Next? & Concerns: [updated 08/31/13] Please quote the concern and chime in! -Need to pick up 28mm and 50mm Nikkor lenses soon--more appropriate for FTS than the 70mm. Noteworthy Posts & Updates: 1) Water Added! - Day 1 2) The Bare Aquascape - Day 2 3) Feather Duster Close-Up Video 4) Porcelain Crab Video 5) Re-scape'd! Please subscribe, comment, and ask questions! Tank Started: 07/23/2013 Link to comment
ExSmoker Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Extreamly well worded! Subscribed because I agree with what you said and I too would like to see your plan come to life! Good luck and will be watching. Link to comment
1.0reef Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Now your talking my language! Link to comment
MR.FEESH Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 Extreamly well worded! Subscribed because I agree with what you said and I too would like to see your plan come to life! Good luck and will be watching. Now your talking my language! Thanks for the encouragement. I'll need as much as I can get if I'm going to successfully pull off this natural filtration thing. I'll be fitting the lights into the hood this weekend, water in the tank by Monday, LR and sand by Tuesday--if all goes according to plan. Link to comment
1.0reef Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 I'm doing the same thing, but slightly larger and more softies and lps. Only a display fuge for filtration, although I'd say the bioload is higher... Link to comment
MR.FEESH Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 I'll be lurking. Okay, I'll watch what I say about ya Link to comment
eitallent Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Great idea, MR.FEESH! The inspiration tank is beautiful. I want to add more colorful sponges to my Caribbean tank like the ones I see in Dapelligrini's tank. Good luck & I will be following. Link to comment
MR.FEESH Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 Great idea, MR.FEESH! The inspiration tank is beautiful. I want to add more colorful sponges to my Caribbean tank like the ones I see in Dapelligrini's tank. Good luck & I will be following. Thanks! That tank was actually what coaxed me into reef keeping. I've been out of the hobby for over four years now, but I currently posses the appropriate funds, patience, research, and husbandry ethic to pull something like that off. Let's see where this takes me! Link to comment
MR.FEESH Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share Posted July 17, 2013 First half of the supplies came today. So close to launch! Link to comment
ExSmoker Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Its good to see someone actually buy test kits, before adding water lol Nice! Link to comment
MR.FEESH Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share Posted July 18, 2013 Its good to see someone actually buy test kits, before adding water lol Nice! I'm a very patient person. Hopefully that pays of here. Link to comment
MR.FEESH Posted July 19, 2013 Author Share Posted July 19, 2013 The salt, live sand, and Marine Snow came in last night--all that's left is a one package with a few supplementary supplies to make my life easier. A 2nd heater and power head for pre-mixing for water changes, two drip acclimation tubes, more thermometers, some rubber gloves and scrubbers...you get the idea. I'll likely order my live rock this weekend and schedule a mid week delivery. Hopefully I can get this going on Wednesday. I also finally have the tank in my possession! I was able to fit the DIY LED array into the hood, and it was a perfect fit. I was really worried about building a lighting system to retrofit into the hood without having the hood actually with me for any measurements--but going off of other builds I had seen here I was able to correctly estimate size and space needs. Everything looks great turned on, although the light is decidedly a little more blue than I would have preferred. Luckily I used solderless LEDs, so I can easily swap out one blue with a white or something if it really bothers me down the road. Simple as unplug the old, plug in the new. For now, I'll hold off until I get a chance to see how my critters look in the light--I know the blue really makes the reds/oranges pop. Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Tagged this should be fun to watch Link to comment
pipeorgel Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Following! Thanks for your post on my nanocube 6 thread! Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Always like to follow similar 'au naturel' style tanks, so I'll tag along Link to comment
MR.FEESH Posted July 20, 2013 Author Share Posted July 20, 2013 Tagged this should be fun to watch Following! Thanks for your post on my nanocube 6 thread! Always like to follow similar 'au naturel' style tanks, so I'll tag along Thanks, I'll try not to disappoint! Link to comment
MR.FEESH Posted July 20, 2013 Author Share Posted July 20, 2013 Just ordered 8lbs of Manado Live Rock from Premium Aquatics to be delivered on Wednesday. Link to comment
MR.FEESH Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 So the drip acclimators, light timer, thermometers and water change heater all came in over the weekend. This should mean I'm all set for equipment needs for the time being. Also, I just got promoted at work, so as a reward to myself I bought a Nikon D7000 DSLR body, and Sigma macro lens I've used in the past that I know is really sharp. Should have them some time this week, so I'll have high quality pics of the scape and equipment to post soon! Hopefully the LR will have some hitchhikers so that I can really show off the 1:1 scale on this lens while the tank cycles. Link to comment
ExSmoker Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 ^^ Holy happy Dance... Upgraded Job and Camera. Sweet! Cant wait for photos. Link to comment
tjbell Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Cannot waitto see itcome together Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 congrates on the promotion and the new toy. Looking forward to some great pictures Link to comment
MR.FEESH Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 ^^ Holy happy Dance... Upgraded Job and Camera. Sweet! Cant wait for photos. Cannot waitto see itcome together congrates on the promotion and the new toy. Looking forward to some great pictures Thanks for the support guys! Being just a couple months out of school, and especially having graduated with a liberal arts degree, I consider myself very lucky to have a job at all, let alone a promotion. I know a lot of friends who are looking for work--it's just plain nasty out there for the young and relatively inexperienced. Link to comment
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