Newbie here .....I know you all love newbies !

[jeffsvt]

Well I'm a newbie here when it comes to posting but I've been lurking awhile ! Well anyways I finally took the plunge and decided to set up a nano ! I've got an old 5 gal tank I'm using and today I started setting it up .

 

Today I went to the local LFS store and bought a mini-jet MN606 , 32Watt Smartlite retrofit 10K daylight and actinic , some sand and salt ! I got it all running ! I opted to buy sand instead of live sand and holy cow what a dust storm ! Hopefully this will settle down very soon . How deep of a sandbed should I try to get with a 5 gal ? I'm getting a local person to build me a mini hang on the back refugium for it ! Anyone have pics of theirs ? And also is it a good idea ? I'm not going to run a bio-wheel .

 

The only thing I forgot to do was get a heater so off to petsmart I go since my LFS is closed on Sundays .

 

Just wanted to say hello and ask a couple questions ! I really enjoyed reading this forum and making an attempt to learn about Nanos ! Here is a picture of my sand and micro-bubble storm

[ninhsavestheday]

some poeple say yes to dsb. some say no. IMO, i think dsb is the way to go. comon, if you look at the ocean, how deep is their sandbeds? if you have doubts, just research the forum. search for it! theres lots of information about everything on nano.. lurking around.

[birdman204]

1 inch bed here. I like the shape of the tank.

 

Go to www.cprusa.com or any online vendor should have pics. I've seen 'em on Ebay as well.

[jeffsvt]

Originally posted by birdman204

1 inch bed here.  I like the shape of the tank.

 

Go to www.cprusa.com    or any online vendor should have pics.  I've seen 'em on Ebay as well.

 

Thanks for the link ! And I love your tank it looks very nice !

[caja]

How do you have the smartlight installed in the hood? Is there some sort of moisture barrier between the bulb and the tank water? I ask because the smartlight does not have the waterproof endcap that the supernova retrofit has. Keep an eye on the bulb and endcap and make sure it stays dry so you don't end up with a short.

[Orange Crush]

if you go dsb, you're going to lose 4-5" of the bottom of your tank. I have just enough to look good, probably about 1"

[jeffsvt]

Originally posted by caja

How do you have the smartlight installed in the hood? Is there some sort of moisture barrier between the bulb and the tank water?

 

 

Yes there is a moisture barrier between the light and tank . The tank has a clear top on it that I am using .

 

And I think I'm going to go with a 1" sandbed after looking at alot of pics of other peoples tanks . I like the thin sand bed alot better .

[Korbin]

sorry had to post it.

 

Welcome to nano-reef.com

[maroonclown]

If you're going to add in a refugium, you can add a DSB in the fuge, and keep a 1 inch sand bed in the tank. I have that same tank for my QT, it works well enough. All you need is a Hagen Thermal Compact heater (25 watts). Just add in 5 lbs of the best Live Rock you can find.

[jeffsvt]

Originally posted by maroonclown

If you're going to add in a refugium, you can add a DSB in the fuge, and keep a 1 inch sand bed in the tank.  I have that same tank for my QT, it works well enough.  All you need is a Hagen Thermal Compact heater (25 watts).  Just add in 5 lbs of the best Live Rock you can find.

 

Thanks for the advice ! I went and talked to one of the guys at my local LFS and he has agreed to build me a HOB refugium for a small fee !

 

Well here are day 4 pics of my nano I added some rock and finally got a heater for it ! This ofcourse will be put in the HOB refugium once it is built .