j_mccord Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I'm new to this site. I have been contemplating getting a nano/pico reef for a while now and after about 2 months of research and planning, I finally gave in. This is my first salt water tank (and first tank in general, depending on the way you look at it). Here is my setup below. DIY 5.5 gal. glass tank 50w theo heater Koralina 425 pump 6 lbs live rock 10 lbs aragonite Evil's PAR38 Lamp - 20k The rock and sand have been in for a couple of days now, so I'm assuming its still cycling. No algae to be seen, yet. I have just posed to see what people would think and to get multiple opinions on it. I also have some questions. Would a small refugium with some sort of macro algae be helpful at all, or just a waste of time and money? Do I have enough circulation? Later on I might add another identical lamp. Would this be TOO much light, or is that possible? If anyone could help that would be awesome. I would also like to say that this site has been EXTREMELY helpful to me. I have used this site more than others and decided that once my tank was setup, I was going to join, seeing as how it was so useful. Below are some pictures I took with my phone. Please, feel free to comment, even if it's criticism.XD Thanks, James Link to comment
Dr.eclipse Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Would a small refugium with some sort of macro algae be helpful at all, or just a waste of time and money?Do I have enough circulation? Later on I might add another identical lamp. Would this be TOO much light, or is that possible? a refugium would be helpful but its not needed. and i would say you have more then enough flow. another lamp would work, you could hang them higher to get rid of the spot light effect. everything looks good. GL Dr.e Link to comment
j_mccord Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 a refugium would be helpful but its not needed. and i would say you have more then enough flow. another lamp would work, you could hang them higher to get rid of the spot light effect. everything looks good. GL Dr.e Ok, thanks. I might consider a refugium down the road sometime...when more money is available. Haha! And the light doesn't really spotlight at all, its just the picture. I wish I could post what it really looks like. Also, is the 20k light (or two) enough to keep a majority of coral? Link to comment
kgoldy Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 The spotlight effect that you see on your camera is a good indicator of zones with higher PAR. Two PAR38's wouldn't be too much, depending on what you want to keep in there. Generally, softies live in low light, where SPS require much more with LPS in-between. Refugiums are great for extra pods and nutrient uptake, but not absolutely necessary to have a successful tank... Especially if your tank is small and water changes are easy enough that you won't get annoyed doing them once a week. Great job on the rimless tank and aquascaping. to N-R! Link to comment
j_mccord Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 Ok...because after taking the pictures I figured they must mean something. That makes sense. Before heading back to college that might be my next big investment. Would keeping softies a higher light environment hurt them or stunt their growth at all? Thank for the welcoming and compliment, too! Through all the blood, sweat, and tears (literally), I'm happy I built my own tank. Link to comment
chaostactics Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Nice tank and nice rockwork, though I'd consider bumping up/making on island a bit taller. I'm a fan of the spot light effect in some applications the darkness on the edges of the tank give an appearance of a more infinite space and help show case what is in the middle. You can always have low light corals on the out side and more light demanding stuff in the middle. Link to comment
Deleted User 4 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Nice 2island rockscape!! Link to comment
DIstudio Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 that tank looks great! I would add another bulb and shine each one on each island you've created. great build, what are the dimensions of the tank? Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Congrats on the tank, it looks great! As for the fuge it can help and is something to think about in the future, but for now I think you'll be fine without it. Circulation should be fine as well unless you start trying to keep SPS corals. As for lighting I don't think it would be to much, but then again the idea of having to much light to me is a silly one as we are trying to reproduce the all powerful sun (I remember being told by someone its about 130W per square foot).. Acclimation to the light will be necessary though as always. Link to comment
j_mccord Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Thanks for all of the compliments and greetings! It lets me know that at least I'm doing something right.XD The outside dimensions are 16x10x8 (5.5 gallon) with 1/8 thick glass. I really want to keep softies because I love the way they look, so I think I'm just going to stick with one light. As far as the fuge is concerned, I think I've already decided against it. I'd rather save the money for another tank I want to do as soon as I get my own place and out of these dorms. Link to comment
JoelRHale Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 The tank looks good, you should have this moved to the members page or start a new one. Gotta see some updates! Link to comment
j_mccord Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 I'm gonna start a new one soon in the members page. Thanks though! Here is a picture taken about a month ago. It has changed a little since then. Short update: Black clown went carpet surfing Added canopy Added a new clown and anemone New clown killed smaller clown (the orange clown seen in picture) Added AC 70 fuge and removed the Koralina Nano 425 Also change the scaping a little The coral you see is GSP, Galaxia, Green Zoa Colony, blue polyps?, and a blue trumpet coral The picture here was taken about five minutes before the black clown went carpet surfing. So, both clowns seen here are gone, unfortunately. Im guessing the reason my newer clown killed my smaller clown (orange one in picture) is because it became territorial after hosting in its new Long Tentacle Anemone. Oh well, the new clown and the anemone are doing perfectly fine so I'm leaving it alone for now. In the next week or two I start a members page to let you see the tank now. Thank you everyone for your suggestions and compliments! Link to comment
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