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The smallest nanoreefs?

Sausage

By Sausage,
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tinyreef

tinyreef

Posted
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lizbeth,

 

those zooanthids are HUGE! :P i like the blue background and rock choice. B)

 

sausage,

 

brandon429's picos are probably the epitome of nanos. his are probably the smallest and most successful too. he's one of the quasi-mods on reefs.org, specifically in their nano forum i think. his setups are perfect imo.

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Sausage

Sausage

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Got a question though... how do you provide adequate water circulation in such a small area? Are there powerheads that fit?

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tinyreef

tinyreef

Posted
Posted

minijets and microjets are probably the best options for PH's or a small hob, my pref (e.g. AC Mini or AZoo Tiny).

 

aquaglobes are good too if you want some serious current or tie a manifold system into the pump. beware, it hauls butt!

 

cheapest i've seen them is with these guys. http://store.yahoo.com/pet-guys/fish-stuff.html

 

customaquatic.com also carries them but they're out of stock, i believe. dave espi also carries them if you want some reefing advice along with the merchandise. hth

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lizbeth

lizbeth

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I'm using a Rio 50 in mine. Tha reasons are it's small and fits the space and came with really neat plumbing fitting such as the one you see in the tank and an adjustable flow valve that fits at the top behind the flare.

 

I wish someone local carried the aquaglobes, I'd like to see if one would fit. I've heard they run cool and since heat is an issue in small tanks it might help.

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tinyreef

tinyreef

Posted
Posted

lizbeth,

custom's in carlsbad, ca. i dunno how close that is to you and i don't know if they retail. just fyi. i've never noticed if the aquaglobes run cooler or not. ???

 

btw, you may want to have another hole on that divider for the midge. unless you use a auto topoff. evaporation can be a significant issue as it affects the volume of the sump area/overflow first (i.e. if you're not careful the rio can run dry). the 2nd hole prolongs the time for you to manually top off. but you could just get a unit from physh to take care of that too.

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printerdown01

printerdown01

Posted
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WOW Liz!! I have no idea how I missed those threads... but that is awesome! That is in fact the coolest smallest working nano I've seen. Very very cool!

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lizbeth

lizbeth

Posted
Posted

Thanks tiny and printer!

 

Tiny, the tank has a tight fitting lid that I had been leaving open a little at the back end. Evaporation hasn't been much of an issue but it might become one. Yesterday I added a CPU fan to the hood to try to get some of the hot air pushed out. Today I noticed more evaporation so I closed the top all the way. I don't think there is room for a tradition float switch the way things are layed out right now.

 

It's a trial and error project. I've learned so much! :)

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tinyreef

tinyreef

Posted
Posted

that's true, sealing the system (ala brandon429) works even better than the float switch imo. i just could never get a really tight seal without a lot of work. (too lazy) :P

 

cjm,

how's that project working out? it looks pretty good! i thought you were thinking of a neon goby for that. i ended up with tiny transparent marine shrimp (p. vulgaris from MTI).

 

i've got too much scale buildup on the tank. i knew i was going to regret using acrylic. X) how's your tank walls?

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Sausage

Sausage

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So in tanks of this scale, do you change water everyday or use tiny protein skimmers?

 

Is it at all possible to make a micro-sized protein skimmer that can fit in a 15Wx25Lx60D(cm) tank?

 

I'm thinking of building this deep tank so that there's more water in there than is actually visible to reduce evaporation problems. The lower half of the tank will be empty and covered by black acrylic. Eggcrate material will separate the bottom half from the top half, and the live rock will be placed in the top half on top of this eggcrate.

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tinyreef

tinyreef

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Posted

sure, it's doable if you're handy with plastic fabbing. the trick to the skimmer is the reducer at the top to concentrate the bubbles to force collection. it's best with a cone but i've used coupling reducers (but it works like crap). X)

 

the other issues to its efficiency are the dwell time of the bubbles (i.e. height of the skimmer or travel distance of the bubbles) and bubble quantity/size. a skinny tube with the appropriate reducer cone can become a skimmer (see 'piccolo skimmer') and a wooden airstone creates the microbubbles preferred.

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freakaccident

freakaccident

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I made a mini snailman skimmer and it works great. Its not as small as you are thinking of but it is a good set of plans that might do the trick if you can figure out the cone setup. I don't think they make the cone reducers in as thin of pvc pipe as you would need.

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tinyreef

tinyreef

Posted
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saus,

 

sorry, i don't have any pics of any of the fabs i've done for skimmers, denitrators, etc.. i did all that fabbing about three & four years ago. i didn't even get a digicam until last year so a number of systems and experiments were never documented.

 

i'll dig around for a co-current skimmer i did for a 1g hex tank. i think it's buried somewhere. it's covered in scale and crap but it actually worked better than the pvc setup i tried. just more work in cleaning it tho (almost everyday, but i think that showed it was somewhat effective).

 

i basically cannibalized an old ugf upflow tube as the reaction chamber and the domed top as the reducing zone. i had to drill out (carefully) much of the dome and thread a flexible pvc pipe to act as the collection zone and also to extend the reaction zone. the constant cleaning finally got to me (had a significant bioload) and i dismantled the small system after about six months.

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freakaccident

freakaccident

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Posted

I would think you build a small one out of a gravel siphon cleaner tube too. Maybe use a small funnel for the cone part.

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cjm033

cjm033

Posted
Posted

i run a skimmer made out of a plastic thimble, jk. i havent got the goby yet im thinking of one tho but afriaid of it foulwing up the tank. its either that or a boxer crab. i am gonna get a small astrea and nas a someting snail i forget the neame the sand sifting ones lol . my glass since i forgot to do a w/c for 2 or so weeks is a pita to keep clean but when i catch up it shouldnt be too bad. agreed that acryllic does #### me off when i gotta claen it. i wanna get a small shroom or some more zoos soon this week hopefully when i stop at the lfs. im gonna take my sweet time with stocking to make sur etheres no rush on anything,Chris

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Sausage

Sausage

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Say you use a refugium with a <3g tank. Do you place the power filer in the main tank to pump water into the refugium and return it to the main tank via an overflow, or do you let water enter the refugium via an overflow, and place the power filter in the refugium to pump water back to the main tank?

 

Both methods are very possible, but which would produce better results?

 

The second method looks nicer as the power filter is hidden from view, but I'm afraid the life in the refugium will get mashed up by the impeller blades.

 

The first method has the advantage that refugium life overflows into the main tank unharmed.

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