C Jerome Posted March 29, 2003 Share Posted March 29, 2003 What is the best 2.5 set up? This past week I finally got sick of not having a tank at school with me so I decided to start planning a 2.5 that I can set up when I get home and then move to school with me in the fall. After looking at ever post that came up in my search of "2.5" I still can not decide how to tackle it. What I saw -Liquids amazing tank with a HOB and a PH and heater behind the rockwork -reefan's plans for a tank that has an overflow into a built in fuge (that is located on the left side and takes up space length wise) that also houses the heater and PH for return to the tank -xofinnocent's tank that has a built in trickle filter and fuge taking up space both length and width wise with two power heads and a heater. The last two could be set more like a closed system to minimize evaporation. I want to keep it simple to run and maintain. I like the idea of a fuge but it looks like it may take up too much room, if I did do it I would have it take up space length wise across the back of the tank, but a HOB looks good too. So what do you think? What will be the best way to set up my 2.5 What do you think C. Jerome Link to comment
edying Posted March 29, 2003 Share Posted March 29, 2003 Check out glazers... http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...=&threadid=3129 Link to comment
C Jerome Posted March 29, 2003 Author Share Posted March 29, 2003 Glazers is nice to, I see he went with the aqua clear mini. Does any one have an opinion on this? Could someone just give me a comment (and a constructive one at that)? How should I do this C. Jerome Link to comment
lizbeth Posted March 29, 2003 Share Posted March 29, 2003 I'd go with a HOB. If you go with a larger one you can put the heater in it. It also has the advantage of being able to run carbon or floss if you need to. As a side note I'm thinking about building a small cube tank about 8x8x9, 2.5 gallons. Lighting will be 2x9 watt PC. I'm going to use a small internal power filter. Link to comment
C Jerome Posted March 29, 2003 Author Share Posted March 29, 2003 I i use a hob that is larger then the mini, would I still have to put a PH in the tank, or would that create enough flow? Who makes the smallest heater that I can buy? What are the dimensions of a 2.5? Any recommendation on what size HOB to put on it, if I decide to go that way? Any ideas are a great help C. Jerome Link to comment
edying Posted March 30, 2003 Share Posted March 30, 2003 As a side note, I have 2.5 with only an AC Mini for circulation and a 25W Thermal Compact. Unfortunately, the heater won't fit in a AC mini. -Ed Link to comment
C Jerome Posted March 30, 2003 Author Share Posted March 30, 2003 Ed Do you feel like the Mini give you enough circulation in the tank? Or would it be better to plan a power head into it? What type of corals are you keeping? Do you have a fish in your tank? I want to keep one in mine, maybe a clown goby. C. Jerome Link to comment
edying Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 The circulation seems to be fine in the 2.5. I currently have some zoos, a plate, hammer and very small leather. No fish. I tried sticking a small clown in this weekend (false perc), but he was huge in there! He's now happy in the 29G. -Ed Link to comment
OxInYourBox Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 I too have a 2.5 with a AC MINI and I'm completely happy with it. Enough flow on one side for xenia, leathers, and low enough on the other side for zoo's, button polyps etc.. Link to comment
The Unit Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 how are u lighting your tanks..i was thinking of 2x13w PC.....is that enough for a tourch? Link to comment
reefist Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Just use a tiny powerhead for circulation. No need for additional filtration. Good rock, good water movement, and good lights are the three keys to success. Keep it simple. A water change on a 2.5 takes about 30 seconds. Link to comment
C Jerome Posted March 31, 2003 Author Share Posted March 31, 2003 I am planing on using two of those book work lights(13W PC), one with a 10,000K and one with Actinic. OxInYourBox- what lights are you using, and are you using a 25 or 50 watt heater? Is there any thing you have learned from experience with your 2.5 that i should be aware of going into it, like any problems that are likely to pop up? Also how is evaporation? Thank you C. Jerome Link to comment
Aggie05 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 the evaporation on my 2.5 isn't too bad. I do a topoff every other day of about a pint or so. Link to comment
C Jerome Posted April 1, 2003 Author Share Posted April 1, 2003 reefist- i had not really thought about going the way of no HOB, that is a good call and would minimize clutter. Whats the smallest power head that i can get? Is there any thing smaller and or better then the small rio one that i have in my 6gal? I can always keep a AC Mini on hand and use it to just run carbon and polish the water if it ever needs it. Link to comment
OxInYourBox Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Aquaglobes are the smallest and would be best suited to your needs. Talk to Dave ESPI to get one or two. I'm using the stock 6500K bulb that came with my bookworm light and an actinic bulb. Your thoughts on lighting are right on. I'm not using a heater as my tank is located at my office however I'm adding one (25W visitherm ebo jager doesn't make a 25w ) as the A/C has been turned back on at work. With the exception of my xenia not pulsing anymore everything else is unchanged. I go thru 3/4 of a gallon a week with my auto top off setup. Sometimes more sometimes less. I swap out 1500ml of water a week. I used to dose B Ionic but have since quit as the corraline growth was too much to keep up with and my hands are too large to be in the 2.5 constantly. As far as learning-Don't lick your zoo's or hands after handling them and quadruple seal the finish on your hood and watch out for overflows if you go auto top off. I've got a couple threads with info and old pics of my setup if you're interested. HTH Link to comment
reefist Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 I use one ZooMed Micropump. It is very small. Smaller than the Aquaglobe because it doesn't have an ugly strainer and directional output. The Azoo's strainer is flat on the bottom of the pump and the adjustable output is only about .75" long. The whole package is a 1.5" X 1.5" square, tidy and barely visible. I have it near the surface for good gas exchange. The heater is a Thermal Compact Mini 25w. At 6" it is the smallest and thinnest you will find and it works like a champ. The tank is illuminated with one 13w daylight and one 9w blue mounted on a polished aluminum reflector. Livestock includes 4# Fiji, 3# live sand, Hydnophora, Blastomussa, asst. shrooms, zoos, green star polyps, 2 blue legs, 1 astrea, and s!#tloads of pods and worms. All thriving with impressive growth. I replace about 4-6 oz. of water daily and perform a .5 gallon water change weekly. I dose 10 drops of Warner Marine's Calxmax three times weekly. That's it. There is something to be said about simplicity Link to comment
C Jerome Posted April 1, 2003 Author Share Posted April 1, 2003 Reefist- Any ideas where i could get one of those azoo micro pumps, it sounds great? I did a few quick google searches and did not find it, only this azoo mini with a light attached to it, at pet warehouse. When you top off do you just use plain RO water with no Kalk, and then just use the drops to keep calcium up? OxInYourBox- I tried to look at your post in the tanks section but the pictures will not show up, could you e mail me one or two? Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 The microjets I have are WAYYYYYYYY to strong fer a 2.5 gal whirlpool errrrr reef tank. I have a 27W and a 9 W actinic over my 2.5 with a penguin mini hanging off the end. I wouldn't reccomend keeping SPS, or LPS or stonies under such low light unless they are already acclimated down to that, and even then, they will not grow and can even suffer under that intensity... but by all means, try it. Just don't let me see a post buy you in a few months... "awwww d00ds, my torch died " HTH. Link to comment
freakaccident Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 The microjets I have are WAYYYYYYYY to strong fer a 2.5 gal whirlpool errrrr reef tank. AGREED! I have one and it was a friggin' jacuzzi! I think that a mini HOB will be fine if you strategically place your corals. I am using a Whisper mini HOB with a Hagen Tronic 50w heater inside the Whisper HOB. The heater fits ok in the whisper if you leave the lid off the whisper. The water fill line is one inch out of the water but it works great with no problems. I spoke to someone on RC that has had this setup for a year now with no problems. It does however make running filter media tough. I ran carbon through it one day and I had to rip the plastic frame out of the filter bag and tie the bag up to get it down in there with the heater. Link to comment
C Jerome Posted April 1, 2003 Author Share Posted April 1, 2003 So you guys think that he Micro jet is too much flow, it says that it can be turned down real low, is this true. LiQuiD has his 2.5 set up with a AQ mini and a 40gph pump and it looks amazing. Where can i get one of these aqua globe ones, and or azoo micro pump? Link to comment
reefist Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 I know why you couldn't find the pump, it's made by ZooMed, not Azoo. Sorry about that. I bought mine at a LFS, but now that you have the proper make you should have no problem finding it on the net. The flow is perfect for a 2.5 when it's wide open. I agree with the others on the Globes, your s!#t would be pinned to the glass. The least powerful of the three models, the 100, has had a bad track record too. Dave is right about the lights, stay away for very light demanding species like certain SPS species. My Hydnophora is very close to the bulbs. Just do your homework before you buy, there are SPS species that live in more turbid lagoon areas that can be grown under PCs. I just top up my tank with plain RODI water and dose the Calxmax to maintain calcium, alkalinity, and trace elements. I am not opposed to kalkwasser, it is a great cheap way to maintain calicium and alkalinity, and I still use it on other larger systems. Two part additives are more convenient to use in a tiny tank for me. Their cost is prohibitive in large systems due to the large amounts that have to be dosed. Link to comment
freakaccident Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 The Microjet I have is too powerful for my 2.5 even when turned down all the way. It makes my Xenia lay down flat. Maybe I have the bigger of the two and Liquid's pump is the smaller one. I will have to check at home tonight to see which one I have. I wish they made a super mini power sweep. Something about aquaglobe size with about 20gph flow that self rotated would kick butt for these 2.5s. Link to comment
OxInYourBox Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Fixed the links so you can check out the pics of the tank in it's infancy... Link to comment
LiQuiD Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Here is the deal with my PH. The aquaclear creates the main flow for the "front" of the reef where the corals reside. Considering I have basically a "wall" of rock from the bottom front of the tank to the upper rear covering right to left sides, this creates some major dead spots behind my reef if only the Aquaclear was used. The filter intake resides in the rear of the tank and I like mechanical filtration of the detritus. if there was no flow in the rear, the detritus would blow from the front, make its way to the rear, and then fall and sitt on the substrate in the back which I don't want. The heater resides in the back as well and would not do as good a job of keeping a constant temp as well as not turning on and off as much if there was no flow back there. Another good thing is that the flow from the PH seeps through the cracks in the rocks creating additional small currents. It really depends on how you set up your reef rock that will determine what kind of flow you need. If you have a small pile in the center, you may not need any additional flow. My Aquaclear is maxed on the flow and I still wish there was a little more in the front. I maybe should have gotten the next higher model up and have been able to turn down the flow to achieve what I wanted. The point here is that I felt I needed the rear flow since it is basically cut off and seperate from the front. I hope this sheds some light on what I have done as apposed to what you are looking to do. I have attached a picture of the rear of the tank to better illustrate my points. Good luck. Link to comment
freakaccident Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Oohh I am going to do that with my microjet too. Smurt thinkin'! I have that exact same microjet btw. Link to comment
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