2.5 gallon - 4th months old and I think it is complete! (for a week at least)

[Dragon Reef]

Liquid,

 

I am speachless. Your tank looks great. So much in fact, that I got a 5.5 out of the shed and filled it up last Friday. My ballast and bulb are on the way and I have the regent waiting for them. My request is that you take pictures of the lighting, specifically the connections, location of the ballast and what not. I know that my tank will never look like yours, but I have to try. Thanks for the encouragement and I hope to make you proud.

[LiQuiD]

OK, I have done a few things with the lighting/hood for this tank. As you can see I covered the top front with the old shelf so the light no longer spills out all over the desk. The ballast is on the top shelf and I pulled the wires up and uncovered everything so that you could see it Dragon Reef.

[LiQuiD]

Here is a shot of the wires. Pretty simple, got a power cord from Home depot and attached the green to green, black to black, and white to white. For the bulb leads, I attached the red to black and the red with yellow to the white (it doesn't matter with these leads which goes to which

[LiQuiD]

I put the hood back on (3 sided lower part) minus the hinged top that housed the bookworms. I cut the old shelf to the exact height so the hood just clears the shelf wood when sliding in and out of its spot. This gives it the old hooded look as well as keeps the Halide from lighting up the room.

[LiQuiD]

This is a shot up into the lights' enclosure. I added the fan with the blue LEDs to cool down the fixture and it does a great job. The temp stays at 82* so I am very happy with the $9.99 fan. Before I made the new enclosure, the tank was getting over 90 during the day with a 16" fan blowing on ti from the other side of the desk, so I am REALLY happy this little fan is doing so well. It is blowing in by the way. I also cut a small vent in the rear top of the area to let all rising heat escape up and out the rear.

[LiQuiD]

Here is the finished product. I like it better this way as not having the whole room lit by the tank. It is still enclosed like it was originally, still kept cool and still only lights the tank, just MUCH better now.

[Dragon Reef]

LiQuiD,

 

Thanks, I appreciate the photos. It really looks great. I do have one question. You mentioned that the temp was getting to the 90's. Did you see any adverse effects to the higher temps. I know that ideally you want the temperature around 78ish but I am curious if you saw your corals react the the high temps. Thanks again and I hope that my tank can get close to half as nice as yours. Keep up the good work!

[LiQuiD]

When it was getting really hot in mid-summer, I lost my SPS all in the same day which I blamed on the heat. Aside from that, it was around 89-90 for at least a month straight afterward with no other adverse effects that I could see. Shallow reef systems often hit in the 90's during the day in nature which may be why all thrived even at those temps. SPS if a "fragile" coral so anything being even slightly off the norm can cause damage.

[Basegunner]

I love your tank Liquid! I have a similiar set-up. How did you keep your zoo's and shrooms from spreading all over the tank? Mine are taking over. Thanks.

[LiQuiD]

*snip*snip*snip. That keeps them at bay. I just cut back a few things every couple weeks.

[birdman204]

Very nice tank liquid! I am super impressed w. the MH lighting, Now I need to do one for my minibow, question is, whered you get the ballast ebay right? where else can I find/purchase one. thanks!

[LiQuiD]

I got the first ballast that I fried from a member on this board that bought a bunch for cheap from a guy on ebay. I got the replacement from ebay as well. The aromats are harder to get on ebay but it seems the WPI like I have are always up for bidding. I think you need to search for 75 watt HID bulb or something like that to find them

[MacnReef]

Liquid, I had replied to this thread a "few" pages back! I must say it keeps getting better. Altho, I have a question...I am doing something similar. I bought a HQW500 regent light and put a HQI socket in the light. But here is my concern. What wiring are you running into the fixture? I light is not vented so the heat inside the fixture will be outrageous (actually when I fired it up I let it set on a piece of rubber on my desk for a minute to go get a guy to look at and when I got back, it was smoking because the glass on the light was melting the rubber it was setting on.) All of the wiring I can find is only rated for 105c and I don't believe that is enough, I would hate for the stuff inside to melt and it to catch fire. Any suggestions, on wire and wire connectors in the fixture?

 

Thanx! Mike

[MacnReef]

BTW, the HQI is a 150W.

[LiQuiD]

I am using the wires from the ballast direct to the existing wires that came with the pendant. The wires were more like cloth covered than rubber. Did you save the ones that came with it? I'd check out an electric supply shop if you are scared of melting the rubber wire insulation and look for some heat retadant cloth wrapped wires or something like that. I am not an electrician and would not have even thought of your concern if I was in your shoes and would have just use regular wire to hook it up. If I laid my 70 on a piece of rubber, it would melt it as well. If you want to vent the pendant, just buy a $1 1/4" drill bit and drill a few quick holes in the top of it. Don't forget a fan as well to help with the cooling. Good luck.

[redrocket]

Liquid where did you connect the copper wire from the fixture to?

[LiQuiD]

To nothing, you don't really need to ground the fixture. Just ground the ballast with the power cord and your good to go. I guess you could run it up to the ground wire where the power cord ground meets the ballast ground if you wanted to.

[kirnig]

hi there Liquid been checkin out you thread since itwas totm never get board at lookin at you pictures

over here in england you don't get many nano's here's a link to ome pics and info on mine hope you have time to check 'em out

 

Nige in the U.K

 

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/index.p...ST&f=4&t=16543&

[xxaquanutxx]

Kudos'! That is kickin my friend!

[jdepp]

hey liquid ur tank is awesome and inspired me to get a 2.5. i have a ten now and just was at a closeout sale of an aquarium store in long island that was moving. they had 2.5 modles of actual aquairums that they would set up and sell. these things are cool as hell they have the hood and stand on one of them the other just has a base made for it, but for only 75 for both. now i have just set one up mainly for softies low light but the other i want to keep an anemone and sps mabey a tiny clown? i have a 150w 20k hqi i love the way it looks over the tank it is so bright and really brings out the color in the corals but haven't tried to put it on a 2.5 do you think with 2 fans i could pull it off? i plan on useing a diy top off and a fuge on back? please help ur tank is so cool i'd like one that thrives but don't want to just copy you're work i want to try and keep it original,also i would like to just basically use these as grow tanks for my ten, when something gets too big i can move it and start with something new that should keep things interesting. you da 2.5 man thanx for enlightenment

[LiQuiD]

jdepp, I use one fan on a 70 watt, so I would guess that 2 fans for the 150 may work just keep the light high enough to be safe and keep a watchful eye on the temperature. I would start with the light at least 10 inches from the surface and move it down over time all while watching the temperature readings. It sounds like it is going to be a nice setup.

[Overtkill]

just found this....Liquid, your tank is awesome

 

 

any new pics? and i need to get with you about some frags when i get my tank going

[LiQuiD]

Well it has been over a year now and I had recently gotten a few requests for updates. Sadly to say, I have really been neglecting this tank the past few months. In fact, I have not done a water change in probably 2 months but all looks as healthy as if I had just done one. I lost the gorgonian due to me no longer doseing anything, of which it relied on. So with just daily top-offs and a pinch of flake, here is how it looks today. The fish has now lived from the cycle to over a year now and still seems very content with his surroundings. Maybe I will clean it up a bit and trim down some of the overgrown corals one of these days. Until then, this is what happens when you don't touch your tank for several months.

[slylie]

:*(

 

well, it doesnt look that bad.. but its needing some care. when i feel like im neglecting my tanks, i take a trip to the LFs, or look at other peoples tanks to remind myself that the work and attention you give to your reef comes back to you tenfold as something u can be proud of. You had one of the sweetest nano's i have ever seen and hopefully u can bring it back looking like it did when u posted the first pics.

 

good Luck!

[BiGGj711]

Liquid,

I am thinking about getting a small tank about that size and am wondering, did you have to make the wooden frame or did you find one like that??

~Alexandra (friend of BiggJ's)