Fishstiks Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Ok....so the tank is not trashy at all, but its my new Spec V reef I am setting up at work, which just happens to be for a waste collection company ;-p ......and at least I got you reading, didnt I? :-) On to the good stuff, this is my first "pico" reef, and I am very excited to get started on it. Thank you to everyone who has answered my silly questions and inspire me with your amazing little tanks every day! Tank: Fluval Spec V 5 gallon tank Light: Current Marine Orbit LEDs Upgraded stock pump and media to Mini jet 606, Intank media basket with floss, cpe and purigen. Will porbably throw a spin stream on the outflow nozzle once I get it wet. Sand: Caribsea Aragonite (dry) Rock: apx 6lbs reef saver rock from brs Corals: zoas and lps, still mostly tbd Inverts: sexy shrimp, pom pom crabs, rock flower nem Fish: tbd, possibly no fish at all Got my rock in and started aquascaping. Let me know what you guys think of this layout? I am considering taking a good inch or so off the top of the right tall piece, to make it more pleasing to the eye, but I think I am super happy with the left side. Ideas are always welcome. I plan to finish epoxying this weekend, and get her wet on Monday. I will be throwing a small piece of LR from my current tank to help cycle, but this will undoubtedly be a slow cycle. Thanks for looking guys! Link to comment
Kijho Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Hi I'm Kijho and I'm a SpecV-a-holic. Welcome. I must warn you however, as a new member of our club - you are going to need a heavy wallet. You see - none of us are here for the road to recovery. We're actually on the opposite road, going the other direction. So, are you in or are you out? But seriously - please don't be cooler than me. I already have enough competition with Nano and Etucc. Just kidding. We're one big family and this isn't a competition. Tank looks great so far. Love that rock on the left with the hole in it - something is going to look really nice there one day. Followed for the road ahead. Good luck! Link to comment
jbb Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Love the scape !! Will be following along. Link to comment
NanoClown Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I love the scape! Seems like only you and I have a color background on ours, Im digging the blue - our setup is almost identical Link to comment
ETucc Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 We grow stronger by the day... Fluval is laughing at us right now. We perfected their FW tank for SW setups. And we're spreading like wildfire. But seriously - please don't be cooler than me. I already have enough competition with Nano and Etucc. Just kidding. We're one big family and this isn't a competition. PS I'm not that cool. Only Kijho thinks I'm cool. But he's cool... So if cool people think I'm cool, I must be cool right? Cool Link to comment
aviator300 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Hi Fishstiks, i'm Aviator and welcome to the forum. I have a question about your scape. I've used live rock for the first 2 tanks I put together and it is great looking but i'm getting tired of the algae and unwanted hitchikers that have plagued my tanks. I have been looking over the Reef Saver rock at BRS but could not figure out how to order the smaller pieces that we nano reefers need. I was looking over your scape and assume it is made up of stacked smaller pieces. I looked carefully over BRS site but can you clue us in to how you were able to specify the nano sized pieces you used when you placed your order? Very glad to have you as a fellow Reefer and thanks very much in advance for answering my question. I'll be folowing your build thread. AVIATOR300 Link to comment
Fishstiks Posted May 11, 2014 Author Share Posted May 11, 2014 I ordered 12 pounds (way more than I need, but figured it would give me extra options), and in the order notes I specified that I wanted smaller pieces for the Spec V, as well as gave the rough dimensions of the tank. For the most part, it worked great. There were 2 larger pieces that i had to break up, but they did a great job in sending tank appropriate sized pieces. The piece on the left with the hole through it is 2 pieces put together, and the one on the right is 1 single piece (the tall piece) with a few tiny pieces added at the bottom going toward the center to get the look I wanted. All in all I am very happy with what they sent, I was able to create my scape with essentially 3 rocks, and a few smaller filler pieces. Hope this helps. Link to comment
Fishstiks Posted May 11, 2014 Author Share Posted May 11, 2014 I love the scape! Seems like only you and I have a color background on ours, Im digging the blue - our setup is almost identical Thanks! Yea, since this tank is on my desk at work and I didnt have anywhere to place it to be able to fully view from all 3 sides, I decided to put a background on it and cover all the cords behind it. I am liking the blue too. Link to comment
aviator300 Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 You answered my questions completely. I'll be ordering some Reef saver rock tomorrow but i think i'll call them first just to chat. Cant wait to see how your cycle works out and when you get some life into it. Link to comment
jestep Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Looks great. Lots of potential with that scape once coral grow in. Link to comment
Kijho Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm wheres the new pics ??? Link to comment
Fishstiks Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 aaaaannndd.................we have water! Water is in, added a couple of little rocks from my tank at home to help seed the cycle (they won't be staying permanently), and dosed ammonia up to about 3ppm. I also added a bottle of bio-spira. Not sure if it will actually help with cycling, or if it's more hype than anything, but I figured, hey, why not! Sorry, only 1 pic with no lights on, I have to get another power strip, as we used the one I brought for the tank to keep our microwave, water machine and coffee maker all plugged in at the same time. lol GOTTA HAVE PRIORITIES, right? :-) Couple of questions..............where do you guys have your heaters placed in the tank? I currently have mine in the return pump chamber, but I am wondering if it is not adding enough heat into the tank here. Gonna give it a couple days to figure out, and I am going to be upgrading to a cobalt neotherm before my cycle is complete, so hopefully I will see some better results. auto top off.....what ato do you guys use, or do you? I am fine with manual top off, but Im not sure what to do about the weekends. Just overnight, the evap was pretty high, I know I will not be able to leave this puppy for an entire weekend with no top off (however, I am not sure I want to venture to work on the weekends just to top of my tank). I have the JBJ top off on my tank at home, which I love, but I think the sensors are just too big to work anywhere in this little tank. Ideas would be much appreciated. Link to comment
jestep Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Heater in the return pump chamber. I have no idea how to use an ATO in this if you are wanting to use a media basket at all. Tunze nano would fit in the overflow, not sure about return chamber. If it went in the return, there's no way a heater would work. If it's in the overflow, there's no way to use a media basket. There's just not enough space to do it that I can see. Link to comment
Fishstiks Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 Has anyone ever used this Bio-Spira with good results? I put this stuff in 2 days ago, and dosed Dr Tims ammonia up to about 3ppm. Within a couple days, my readings are insane! Ammonia is already down to between .5 and 1, nitrites are up to over 2ppm, and nirtatres are already showing well................hmmmmmmmmmm not sure I trust any of this, and who knows how long it will take for trites to go down, but it seems like it sure kick-started something. :-) Still trying to figure out how to add an ato to this thing, kind of thinking I might make the bacground black instead, put the neotherm in the dispaly against the back wall and false wall out of the way, and put the ato sensor in the pump chamber. Having the heater in the display kinda stinks, but, Id rather have a heater showing than dying corals from salininty swings. and, another pic, with the lights on, cuz.......well......it just looks cooler with the lights on, lol. Link to comment
Kijho Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Those rocks are gonna be covered in color someday! Looking great so far keep it up! Link to comment
aviator300 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Hi Fishstick. I asked you earlier about BRS Reef saver rock. I ordered 12 lbs and got it yesterday. It is exactly what I was looking for and the shapes and sizes are perfect. Thanks very much for the info. The pic is just my preliminary scape in my AGA 10gal. Link to comment
Fishstiks Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 Hi Fishstick. I asked you earlier about BRS Reef saver rock. I ordered 12 lbs and got it yesterday. It is exactly what I was looking for and the shapes and sizes are perfect. Thanks very much for the info. The pic is just my preliminary scape in my AGA 10gal. I like it, looks great! I am very happy with the BRS rock, as I am sure you will be too :-) Link to comment
aviator300 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Actually, here is the finished scape. Just not in the tank yet. Link to comment
Fishstiks Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Update! Looks like we are cycled and ready for life! I used a couple pieces of LR to seed my new rock, Dr tims Ammonia, and a bottle of bio-spira. Saw a heavy nitrite spike within the first couple days, then drop to zero. Removed the larger of the 2 pieces of LR (going to keep the smaller one in there indefinitely) and re-dosed ammonia again. Saw a 2nd spike in nitirites that droped in 24 hours. Ammonia and trites at zero, nitrates about 40. Not a whole lot of diatoms yet, which is a little concerning, but I did not leave lights on at all for the cycle, and I am seeing "some" diatoms, just not a whole lot. Its been 2 weeks since I started the cycle (15 days). Considering getting a small fish from the LFS to test the tank and see how things go this week. If all goes well, I will throw some frags from my tank at home in there later this week and let it be for a couple more weeks. I do have a back up tank to donate said fish to if I see anything alarming. I will also be ordering some pods this week. My plan is to stock cool little inverts (pom pom crabs, sexy shrimp, etc) so I want to be sure I am well cycled before adding any of them in. What do you guys think, has anyone ever cycled a tank and not seen a lot of diatoms? Were you running lights during the cycle? I am a bit skeptical, but as I clearly saw visible spikes and declines in both ammonia and nitrite, and a rise in nitrates, the numbers are showing I am good to go. Hmmmm....... Last pic was taken today 5.27.14 Link to comment
aviator300 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 One thing i've learned in my short reef experience is that each tank is different as far as diatoms and everything else goes. Example: I have a 7 and a 3gal tank. Both were cycled the same and used some of the same LR. The 7gal was plagued with diatoms and bubble algae while the 3gal has been algae free. Same type lighting and photo-period on both. Go figure? Bottom line is that just because your tank isn't doing something that others are or is doing something that others aren't, doesn't mean that anythings wrong. BTW, my new tank is cycling well and i have a thread under "members tanks" entitled (Third tank's a charm "i hope" ten gal) with pics. Check it out. Link to comment
Fishstiks Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share Posted June 4, 2014 Hey guys, Where does everyone place thier additional powerheads in this little tank? I was going to get the hydor flow or spinstream for the 606 return output, but I think I am just going to leave it as is and add a koralia nano. I am thinking the top right rear corner, opposite from the ourflow nozzle. Good? or would I be better jsut to get the spinstream for the output? I only plan on only softies and a couple lps in the tank, so I am not sure I will really even need it, the 606 puts out a fair amount of flow, and the 3 corals in the tank now seem to be doing just fine, but I guess I won't really know what I do/dont need until I get some more coral in here. I plan on adding a few more pieces from my tank at home this week. Added a firefish last week, and 3 small frags from home (toadstool, neon flowerpot, zoa frag), all are doing well. Diatoms everywhere! Lol Also have a few blue hermits and snails working on the diatoms. I must say, this "uglies" stage is just that..........ugly! Link to comment
wienerdog Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 That's the exact spot I placed my Koralia nano, in the upper right. Looks like we have the same plans for our Specs. Lets see some pics..... Link to comment
Kijho Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Top right rear is where I have mine I'm sure you've seen Has been great and no troubles. I used a dremel to cut out a slot in the lid of the spec V so that the power cord could fit out and not create vibrations/ rattle. Link to comment
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