Taikimoto Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Hello all. Been a while since I posted here, so long in fact I forgot I had an account here and tried to register with the same name and realized I still had this login. So Im back!! I know you're excited! Anyways, on to the tank. Tank: 2.5 AGA Refugium: 2.5 AGA Lights: 2x13w 10k, 2x13w Actinic Power Compacts Cooling: 1 Blue LED computer fan Pumps: 1 Elite Mini intank, Top Fin pond return pump Fuge Light: El'Cheapo Lowes flourescent Heater: 50w (might be 25w) VisiTherm Stealth Coralife Digital Temp Monitor Some background: This tank was challenging in the fact that I wanted to have as much equipment in the fuge area and not in the main tank as possible. I see alot of nano tanks that have tons of unsightly equipment taking up half of the available tank space. I decided the best way was to drill and put an overflow in it like a traditional larger tank. Drilling such thin glass though was quite the challenge, and after 2 attempts on practice tanks I decided that I should go with a different approach. So I decided to take out the back pane of glass and replace it with an easy to drill peice of acrylic. Some people said this would not hold up, however this has been running for a while now with no leaks and no bowing. Im very pleased with this result. The overflow was built using 3 peices of acrylic and using a dremel tool to drill out the notches. The only other piece of equipemtn visable in the tank is a circulation pump and as the tank has filled in it has become less noticable. The rocks are actually Arago-Crete style, made by a friend of mine. They have worked out nicely and have colored up over the past few months. The refugium has a prefilter inflow, middle area which houses some LR rubble and the heater, then a return pump compartment. I have a large piece of acrylic I painted black placed infront of the light to keep the main tank dark at night, while still illuminating the refugium. Well, enough about the tank, heres the pics! First pic is the tank when I initially set it up. You can see the 4 ballasts for the lights underneath. I couldnt find an electronic ballast that would run 4 13w PCs so I went to lowes and got 4 regular 20w normal output ballasts and mounted them remotely due to heat issues. Next we have a shot of the lights, both on and off. Initially I had use a not so safe method for wiring and mounting them, but a few weeks ago I got some mounting brackets from a W.W.Grainger store nearby. It alot easier now to change bulbs and alot safer electrically The overflow before I drilled the top notches in it and after. I had tried to just drill holes with no notches but found I didnt get the surface skimming I wanted, so I cut out a few notches and now it is perfect. I didnt cut them all out due to the thinness this would have left all the notches. Heres the refugium as it is today all nice and filled in: Heres the rockwork I started with: After a few weeks: Getting there: Current: Well these last two I wasnt able to post due to to many pics, so just click on them to see them. http://65.190.199.12/Reef/2.5/leftside70906.JPG http://65.190.199.12/Reef/2.5/rightside70906.JPG I think that is all for now, please post any questions or comments you may have, I will continue to update as time goes on. Thanks! Link to comment
sea man dan Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I reall like it , it is grown in and beatiful! Link to comment
Argent Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 nice tank -- I've been pondering putting the 2.5G tank I have in my closet to some use. Link to comment
iluvfishies01 Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 uhhh... that is awesome. what pumps the water from the tank to the refugium? Link to comment
Taikimoto Posted July 9, 2006 Author Share Posted July 9, 2006 uhhh... that is awesome. what pumps the water from the tank to the refugium? gravity Link to comment
Taikimoto Posted July 11, 2006 Author Share Posted July 11, 2006 I think my next projects will be to make 2.5 themed tanks, such as all SPS, all Zoo's, etc. Maybe an all clam tank 2.5 Link to comment
Taikimoto Posted September 19, 2006 Author Share Posted September 19, 2006 Well I updated my post on Reefcentral with some pics and whatnot so I figured I would stop by and update this. The tank is still running strong, everything is growing out nice. Heres 2 pics that I took today, let me know if anyone has any questions. Heres the post from reefcentral and a link to the thread. Took the coral banded out, put in a fire shrimp, the coral banded was becoming a little aggressive for my taste. Added a birdnest frag, orange with purple polyps, same coloration as the Monti. Cap. its beside in the upper left corner. Moved the larger colt coral frag to the right corner, as well as the purple polyps as they kept falling off their ledge. Not much else to report, one of my 13w actinics went out so right now its just running on 2x10k 13w's and 1 13w actinic, but everything seems to be doing fine. Tai's 2.5 on Reefcentral No Flash With Flash Enjoy! Link to comment
addicted2fish Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Well I updated my post on Reefcentral with some pics and whatnot so I figured I would stop by and update this. The tank is still running strong, everything is growing out nice. Heres 2 pics that I took today, let me know if anyone has any questions. Heres the post from reefcentral and a link to the thread. Tai's 2.5 on Reefcentral No Flash With Flash Enjoy! awesome this is what I hope my tank eventually looks like Link to comment
fewskillz Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 DANG IT. I DON'T NEED MORE INSPIRATION. That is an awesome setup, very beautiful little tank. I've gotta stop reading this forum. Link to comment
andre Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 That is an awesome tank. Nicely stocked. Link to comment
FryedFish Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 wow, this is exactly Wat im starting, except I miterd the canopy ty for the inspiration (currently retrofitting, only 26 watts thou ) Link to comment
irishtexan Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Nice tank! I hope mine looks that good! texx Link to comment
Taikimoto Posted September 21, 2006 Author Share Posted September 21, 2006 Added 3 new frags last night, one was another piece of the birdnest I already had, I put it directly below the other one as there was a little hole that it fit perfectly in and jutted out, really pleased with it. Next I have a group of green polyps. Last a larger group of long skirt green polyps. Enjoy! Link to comment
Taikimoto Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share Posted October 1, 2006 I just cant stop putting stuff in this thing. Added a Ricordia frag rock with 2 on it, 1 splitting, you can sorta see it in the pic, its splitting as Im typing this, looks so cool. Heres a better shot of it: Enjoy! Link to comment
drowsyfirefly Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 It is nearly impossible for me to believe that that is a 2.5g. I know it is, but sweet jesu it looks #*(@#$% fantastic! I'm starting up a 14g and I don't know that it will ever look as nice as this does. This was very well thought out and has come together wonderfully, congratulations! --Meghan Link to comment
Daemonfly Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 Good lookin 2.5g. Excellent lighting as well. Link to comment
Capt_Nemo Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Hey man, how long have you have that Firefish? I wanted to put 1 in my 10 gallons tank but afraid it wouldn't be happy. Seeing you keeping one in your 5 gallons, this makes me really want to run to the store tomorrow and get one. Link to comment
Taikimoto Posted October 2, 2006 Author Share Posted October 2, 2006 Hey man, how long have you have that Firefish? I wanted to put 1 in my 10 gallons tank but afraid it wouldn't be happy. Seeing you keeping one in your 5 gallons, this makes me really want to run to the store tomorrow and get one. Its in the main 2.5g front display, and it is very happy. These fish make great nano fish, they dont move around a whole lot, and he "plays" with me, he will see me taking pics and come out and swim aroudn the front, and he plays hide and seek with me, awesome fish. Link to comment
twan Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 I think I found my next project. So hawt! Link to comment
Taikimoto Posted October 16, 2006 Author Share Posted October 16, 2006 Just a little update: Toying with the idea of converting to a MH light setup instead of the PC's. Smallest MH I have installed on anything though is a 150w, I havent researched the smaller sizes yet. What would be the best one for my tank? Link to comment
travisurfer Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 the smallest halide that i know of for the hobby is 70w. have you had any problems with the min filter running without the cover? is anything ever sucked into it? thanks. forgot to add, awesome tank! i hope mine turns out this nice. Link to comment
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