kuririn986 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 First of all, I am very excited to get this tank up and running. I moved a few years ago, and (sadly) got out of the hobby. But now I am finally ready to start a tank back up again. I wanted something smaller but that had a large display area, so naturally I was drawn to the Mr Aqua book shelf tanks.My plans are to keep this as simple, and minimalistic looking as possible. It will be a bare bottom tank, which helps to keep the tank clean. There is minimal rock work 3 maybe 4 larger rocks.Display: Mr. Aqua 6 Gallon Bookshelf : 23.6”L X 6.7”D X 9.4” H Equipment: Filter: Aquaclear 30 (Will also help with flow) Running a sponge and chemi pure blue. Lights: Current Marine Orbit USA 18”-24” (The tank is shallow enough to accommodate these lights, and I really like all of the features) Flow: Hydor Nano 425 Cobalt Neo Therm 75W heater DIY Stand I plan to one day add an overflow and sump, but due to money, I am holding off for now. Rock: 7.5 lbs of base rock from my LFS ($2/lb and this stuff is super porous) No sand. I want a lot of flow, but don't want to worry about sand get stirred up. Livestock: Token Clownfish (Maybe a snowflake if I can find a good deal) Cleaner Shrimp Some snails, whatever John at Reefclenaers recommends to me. Corals: Acans and lots of them. I Love Acans!!! Softies – Zoas/Palys/Mushrooms (Whatever I can get at my LFS, or club frag swaps) Maybe a Chalice or two. Dendro, had one in my old tank and really liked it. Red Mushroom - Got it free on a some seed Live rock form the LFS. This tank was highly influenced from Sandeep 5.5 Gallon reef Islands tank. http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/328082-55g-reef-islands/ The picture of the tank is just testing out to see if there is any leaks and I thought I might as well see how the rocks and light looked . I am still not sold on the aquascape, I may want to turn the big rock on the left upright and make 3 separate "Islands". Anyway thanks for looking, I hope to have updates soon!!! 6 - 19 - 2014 FTS: Updated for new corals and Snails Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Nice!!! Following. Love Mr aquas. Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Wow, that stand is fantastic! Nice Work!!! Followinz Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 Thanks! I ordered my filter this morning, so that is one less thing to worry about. Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 A couple of updates. I stained the stand and tried another aquascape. Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Looking forward to seeing this thing alive Looks good so far! Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 Looking forward to seeing this thing alive Looks good so far! You and me both. I am dying to get this thing going, but I am going out of town in the middle of May and don't trust anyone to take good enough care of it. Thanks for the kind words, and looking! Link to comment
handzoff Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I am along for the ride... How are you liking the fixture? I am still trying to finalize what I want to do as far as lights Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 For this tank I think the light is perfect. I can see how it would have issues on deeper tanks, but the features are pretty cool, and its not too tricky to program. I also like how it has a low profile. It fits the "minimalist" look I am going for. Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 Quick update. I am getting pretty close to getting water in the tank! I go out of town in a couple of weeks and when I get back it should be full speed ahead. But here is a shot of the tank with lights on the stand and my proposed aquascape. Link to comment
Reefkid88 Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Noiceeeee,I like the tank man,and the scape even more. So you're liking the light so far ? Oh,btw,following along for this one !!! Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 I like the light a lot so far, but we will see once I get some corals under it. My kids love it (3 & 4) because it has a lightning storm setting, and for some reason they just find it hilarious. Link to comment
Reefkid88 Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 I forgot those lights have that feature. My girlfriend loves the storm and cloud settings on my storm controller more than I do lol. What're your stocking plans ? Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 Probably just a clownfish and maybe a cleaner shrimp. Then mostly softies with the exception of acans. I will probably dedicated the big rock to the acans. Link to comment
Reefkid88 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 That's what I like to hear !!! I'd love to put just acans in my tank !! Such good growers and you can find them really cheap,and there is so many ridiculous colors !! Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 Heater has been ordered!!! That was the last major equipment piece. Should have some water in the tank soon!!! Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 Water and seed live rock is in the tank! The aquaclear should provide enough flow to cycle the tank, but once I order my Hydor 425 I will add that as well. I set the light to a pre-programmed schedule of 12 hours on with 15 minute ramp up/down and 4 hours of moon lighting. Looking back, I wish I had gotten the 24-36 inch fixture as there is some shading on the side by the big base rock. On the plus side, that could be a good spot for a Dendro. On a side note, I really like the Cobalt Neo Therm Heater, it is slim, and the water temp (80F) was very consistent for the few hours I monitored the tank. Now let the waiting game begin.Here is a pic with the lights on full blast. Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted June 3, 2014 Author Share Posted June 3, 2014 So I got back from vacation and my tank got ugly. I had some sort of algae bloom, it looks like GHA, but isn't dark green it is very light green. I will post a picture later, maybe someone can confirm the type of Algae it is. I did scrub the tank glass and vacuumed out some of the gunk (trying to get rid of some phosphates). Also cut the light time down some to see if that helps. On a high note I ordered the last of my equipment today. Refractometer, Hydor Nano 425, Two-fishes Magnet Cleaner, test kits, Chemi-Pure Blue, coral revive, a few seachem products to see to get to free shipping. Anyway, glad to see something happening in the tank. Link to comment
frahny Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 did you set this up with RO/DI water to start? There always seems to be a little bloom starting new tanks like this but it should be radical, unless there are substantial nutrients for the algae to feed off of. all else fails get a turbo to start munching away! Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted June 3, 2014 Author Share Posted June 3, 2014 I got the water from my LFS, they said is was RO/DI water. The bloom isn't out of control, it is just ugly. Once I get my test kits, I will check to see where I am at in the cycle. When it is over I will order a CUC from reef cleaners. Link to comment
hryder77 Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Looking good so far! Ive been wanting one of those mr.aqua 6G tanks aswell. Can't wait to see what livestock you choose ? Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 I have checked my Ammonia/Nitrites/Nitrates for the last few days and I have had 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and 50 Nitrates. I did a water change to bring nitrates down and now my tank finally has a fish. I picked this little guy up at the LFS for $45, he was a store trade in so I got a good deal on him. He is doing great so far. Per the kids request his/her name is Bubbles. The other choices were Banana (3 year olds choice), and Sushi (my wife). I also snagged a few corals. Full Tank Shot, don't mind the algae, my CUC is on its way. And I have gone at a lot of it with a tooth brush after this photo was taken. Also, it is kind of clearing out on its own after that water change. Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted June 16, 2014 Author Share Posted June 16, 2014 Snailpocalypse!!! I order 14 snails from Reefcleaners.org. This is what I got... There must be over 200+ snails in my tank right now. Also, I purchased some more Acan Corals for Austin Aqua Farms via ebay, I would highly recommend. These things really pop when I put the blue LED's on. I also got a chalice, but could get a good picture of. Link to comment
Reefkid88 Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Mmmmm,acans !!! Probably the best additions to any tank. Looking good so far !! Link to comment
kuririn986 Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Small update, a purchased a couple more corals. Everything in progressing nicely in the tank, but I have run into one problem. Our AC went out in the house we are renting. Tank temp spiked to 84 degrees in a few hours up from 79. I have since bought a small fan, which seems to be helping a lot. Also, I have made some RODI ice cubes in the event of a major temp spike. Everything seems to be ok, just hoping to get the AC fixed soon. Small little green zoa frag. New Acan: Light red and White, with a green center. Link to comment
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