IceTurf Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 I've added a sponge to the intake of the Maxi-Jet 400 as I noticed some plant matter from the culpera was sticking to it. The key to good water quality is really the weekly water changes which you need to keep up with religiously and not over feeding the tank. I feed the tank twice a week, once DT phytoplankton and once mysis or Cyclopleeze. It's my understanding that crabs live in quite high densities in the wild. So far I have not noticed any hostilities between the two porcelain crabs, the emerald crab and the skunk cleaner shrimp. I don't think it would be an issue to add another filter feeding decorative crab to your tank. No plans to add any major additions in terms or corals, it will be more interesting to see how things grow out while maintaining a coral island in the middle of the tank rather than stacking up and creating a large coral rock wall against the back. I just did add a small rock with yellow polyps and am currently fighting with the xenia to grow along the back ridge of the coral island rather than it's attempt to creep to the front. what are the dimensions of that tank? Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted December 17, 2007 Author Share Posted December 17, 2007 It's a standard 5.5 gallon that you find in most pet stores. LxDxH = 16" x 8" x 10" Quote Link to comment
c est ma Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Man, I really love your tank. Feel free to add all the pics you want. It's my understanding that crabs live in quite high densities in the wild. So far I have not noticed any hostilities between the two porcelain crabs, the emerald crab and the skunk cleaner shrimp. I don't think it would be an issue to add another filter feeding decorative crab to your tank. Ah...encouragement... --Diane Quote Link to comment
Ray J Neal Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 (edited) Sandeep, you have inspired me to build a setup like yours. I used a 5.5 AGA tank and went from there. Thanks for the inspiration! Your island is beautiful. I am working on an ATO and kalk dripper at the moment. -Ray Edited December 18, 2007 by Ray J Neal Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted December 19, 2007 Author Share Posted December 19, 2007 (edited) That's awsome Jay, hopefully you can start a thread and keep us updated on the tank. Welcome to Nano-Reef.com. Maybe you can construct a tubular light stand for that fixture like Diane did if you are going to use that light permanently. I'll post pictures of the tank every couple of months as it develops. Hopefully I can keep the tank going for years like yours Diane without any major calamities. Edited December 19, 2007 by Sandeep Quote Link to comment
Ray J Neal Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 That's awsome Jay, hopefully you can start a thread and keep us updated on the tank. Welcome to Nano-Reef.com. Maybe you can construct a tubular light stand for that fixture like Diane did if you are going to use that light permanently. I'll post pictures of the tank every couple of months as it develops. Hopefully I can keep the tank going for years like yours Diane without any major calamities. I will look in to the tubular light stand however that light belongs on top of my 10G nano! I am ordering the Satellite from Current USA as you have done. I really like your setup and that was my sole reason for constructing my own. I think all my tanks (beside the 150) will have a false wall eventually..ha! Quote Link to comment
MrMello Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,... or so i have heard. 32 watt PC 50/50 with remote ballast (current retrofit) 50 watt heater - in rear compartment MJ 600 - in rear compartment ATO - Inverted plastic bottle, like solana - no more salinity swings over the weekend. Chamber on the left is for floss, etc... to remove particulate/phosphate/etc Overflow/surface skimmer is a 3/4" screened intake. Cuz i can't cut a proper grate to save my life. Fuge will be the whole tank - halimeda mostly, with no fish and just a basic CUC Built specifically for yumas/recordia/zoos/shrooms, and maybe xenia,... Just put water in it today,... I'll post the tank when the sand settles. Here is it is Sketchup (send me a message for the sketchup file) Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Killer CAD drawings there Mello, you need to ship them off to some factory in China and we need to start making these tanks. Can't wait to see your thread on this tank with pics of it coming together. Here is yet another one started by by member Rubicon06 with nice rockwork. See http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=141243 Quote Link to comment
MrMello Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 5lbs of LS (from friend's tank) and 6 lbs of live rock so far,... Creepy crawlies are already starting to come out of the rocks,... Now I just need to finish the hood, install the fan, install the moon lights, and maybe a peltier chiller. If i was going to have one made,.. 10 gallon really long,.. with a custom wave box and a mini fuge,... Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Another very interesting variation by member dubsmcfly which has double refugiums at both ends of the tank. See http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=141521 Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Here is the 2.5g variation that I got my initial inspiration from: see http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...10#post11333710 Quote Link to comment
c est ma Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 MrMello, those are a couple of great posts with wonderful pics. You really need to start your own thread. This is Sandeep's. I'm sure he's happy to have inspired so many people, but this thread should be about his tank. Maybe you "inspirees" could just make a single post here, with a link to your own threads. --Diane PS: Sandeep--how am I going to be able to keep up with so many spinoffs? You've created a monster! Quote Link to comment
FiShOnVtEc Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 hey sandeep i have a 5.5 thinking of doing setup just like yours , i truly hair my ac fuge its so annoying i was wondering if you could help me out by telling me whats the measurements? for the big piece of acyrlic that snuggles in the tank? and how'd u make the teeth for the acyrlic? Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 (edited) To get the exact measurements for the acrylic wall you should measure the dimensions of your tank from inside glass to inside glass. Then cut out a piece of paper/cardboard to that exact dimensions, slide it into the tank on a diagonal and then twist it into place and see how snug a fit it is. If the piece is a bit too tight, then adjust it by trimming a little off it, or if it's too loose cut another piece of paper/cardboard that's a little wider. By doing this you will have the exact dimensions for a nice snug fit. Then you can use these exact measurements for the piece of paper and apply then to the acrylic that you are going to cut. About cutting the teeth for my surface skimmer, read my post, I used a hot butter knife heated on a oven element. It melts the slots in the acrylic pretty easy. Edited January 5, 2008 by Sandeep Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 The crabs in my 5.5 gallon pico-reef tank including an emerald crab, two porcelain crabs and a hermit crab. Here are some photographs of them. 1 Quote Link to comment
pako73 Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Most definitely some awesome shots and way cool crab selection. Quote Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 those are some great shots!!!! Quote Link to comment
c est ma Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Super shots, Sandeep! One of the best emerald shots I've seen--and I love the composition, too--king of the hill! I am so envious of your porcelains. That is a particularly beautiful morph...the colors in the second pic are gorgeous, with the blue of the crab, the orange of the ric and the green of the euphyllid. I was at an lfs with porcelains the other day and was surprised to see one that was fairly large...I thought these crabs remained tiny. Are yours frequently visible? --Diane Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 So far my emerald crab has been a good boy and munching away on algea and not on corals, but I'm keeping an eye on him. I too love these blue porcelain's. I like their colour better than the white spotted variety that I've seen. Mine are all smaller than dimes (their main body) and I've never seen large ones yet. They are quite active and out and about, not a shy crab although they prefer handing upside down under the protection of a rocky outpost. The shy guy is the emerald, but even he comes out in the late evenings these days to meticulously feed on algae on the rocks. Quote Link to comment
Dstoneburg Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 So are you using an acrylic top or open top? If you are using an acrylic top, did you drill holes in it? Why arent you using the mounting brackets? With that lighting setup, is there anything you are limited from keeping? This is one killer setup! Quote Link to comment
Scroople Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I'm going to be building a tank nearly identical to this for my girlfriend, as she and I are new to the hobby, we were both wondering if you are able to put maybe 1 or 2 clowns or similar fish in a 5.5 gallon tank with this setup? Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 (edited) So are you using an acrylic top or open top? If you are using an acrylic top, did you drill holes in it? Why arent you using the mounting brackets? With that lighting setup, is there anything you are limited from keeping? This is one killer setup!I'm using a glass top which has about a 1 inch gap along the back of the tank. See the 3rd picture of the top of my tank which clearly shows the glass top. I wanted to keep the light as intense as possible, mounting it on brackets would decrease it's intensity in the tank according to the law of physics. The canopy sits with rubber feet on top of the glass top. With the lighting, my lps the hammer and blasto seem to be doing just fine and growing. I'm going to be building a tank nearly identical to this for my girlfriend, as she and I are new to the hobby, we were both wondering if you are able to put maybe 1 or 2 clowns or similar fish in a 5.5 gallon tank with this setup?I don't know about that I think a small yellow goby would be about it. Try a couple of skunk cleaner shrimp and some porcelain crabs, I find them tons more fun and interesting to watch than a fish, and the small bioload they create lead to better water quality and a happy tank.If you really want fish and like the clean front to back design of this tank than you could try the same design on a 10 gallon tank instead of a 5.5g and then you could probably get by with one or two clowns. Just remember the bigger the volume of water the easier it is to maintain water quality, don't know if a pico is the best choice as your fist tank, maybe a 20 gallon nano (that's what I started with before moving to the 5.5g pico). Edited January 22, 2008 by Sandeep Quote Link to comment
dopamine Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 dont know how I have been missing this thread. Great tank! I have been trying to plan a custom build like this just a little bigger, around 7 or 8 gal. I am so glad I found this thread because I have had problems picking out a light, and scared to over do it with a 70w MH plus it being so expensive. I like your lighting and will most likely buy one, luckily my dimensions are 12''L x 11"D to the refugium. Thanks and kudos! Quote Link to comment
JohnDinSD Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Hi Sandeep. I am sure you are tiered of hearing this, but I love your tank. I started my first ever reef tank in Nov. 4 gallon cube with the Coralife Aqualight mini. Wasn't happy with the light, so I recently changed to the Dual Satellite. Only problem is that the light Fixture is 2 inches longer than the tank. I fixed the problem by buying a 5.5 gallon cube, I have not switched them out yet. I tried using the light brackets that came with the light, but it was not bright enough, so mine is now resting on top, however I have been having problems with algae. Any suggestions? Phos. < 0.03, nitrite 0, nitrate 2.5 with 1 gallon weekly water changes. I have 3 blue legged hermit crabs. 1 cerith, 1 trochus and 1 nasarius (?). Trochus was added 3 days ago and he is doing an impressive job. I currently have 1 candy cane, 1 hammer, small piece of montipora, 2 small zoanthid colonies, 3 clove polyps,1 dendrophyllia, small rock of GSP, 3 mushrooms and a feather duster. The mushrooms are not doing well with the light change. Do you think they will adapt with time? Do you think any SPS would be suitable for this tank? Tank is 11" high and the top of my live rock is 5" below the light. Also, could you make a recommendation as to how I should set the photo period with the actinics, daylight and moonlight. The moon light is very bright with the fixture that close and some of the corals do not close for the night. Bristle worms and other creatures don't come out also. I am going to see if I can change it from white to blue. I am new to this site and to reefing. I hope it is appropriate to post these Q's in your thread. I have tried listing them as topics, but don't seem to get many replies. Since your set up is similar, I thought you would have some answers. Q recap: Algae Mushrooms SPS Photo period. Thanks. Quote Link to comment
Sandeep Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 Algae It usually goes away after awhile, just be patient and see what happens. Just make sure to keep up with weekly water changes religiously and do not over feed your tank. I feed my tank only one day a week with a mixture of phytoplankton, cyclopeeze and a few mysis shrimp to the ricordea and blasto (with a tweezers). Also check the spectra of your lights. A 10,000K bulb with actinic will produce less algea than a 6,500K bulb with actinic. Mushrooms They are pretty tough and can adapt to a lot of conditions. SPS Don't know as I've never had any, I prefer LPS. You could give it a try with a small piece and see what happens. Photo Period I have mine on for 10hrs per day and don't use the moonlight, preferring darkness for both my pico and my 20g nano. Quote Link to comment
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