Glazer and 2.5 owners.....

[D_Licious]

Hey,

 

I need help setting up my 2.5. What should I use for circulation, heating, etc. Would Ebo Jager work? Are 2.5 gallons harder to take care of than larger nanos?

 

I would appericiate any online reference to heaters, power heads, and anything else. I'm planning on buying two bookworm lights like you Glazer but I need to know what kind of bulbs to buy.

[yodahart]

I bought the smallest powerhead that Petsmart sells for my 2.5. I also have a HOB filter with no media in it. As for heating, I bought a small heater from Wal-Mart that keeps the water around 80.

 

I wouldn't say its any harder to take care of then my 29 gallon. It all depends on what corals you plan to have. The softies in my 2.5 grow better and faster than in my 29.

[D_Licious]

Thanks Yoda.

[sparkysko]

For circulation I use a HOB filter, petstore sells this 10$ filter that has 35gph and an adjustable flow rate which recirculates the excess flow through the media container. The whole thing is in a clear plastic case and is uber small and sharp looking on the back of a nano.

 

Not sure about your petsmart, but the ones out here have a submerged filter with internal heater for ~20$. Fits the bill for heater and circulation. Might be worth a try to buy one of those 'heater modules' that are normally used to plug into certain filters. Some of these are small enough to fit into a normal HOB.

 

Outside of that, a 6" submersible thermometer would work, but it'd be stuck inside your tank.

 

I'm a cheap bum so I bought an 8" submersible 50w that goes across my tank, ugly, but effective..

 

Takes about 3 days for the water to evaporate from one extreme to the other. Also, be careful of your water levels, since when you put your hand in, you're likely to make a mess.

 

I take the rubber handle on a small net and use it to rub off algae on the glass and to shuffle things around.

 

The temperature did suprisingly seem to be fairly stable without a heater. Might want to do a dry run with just plain water to see if you'll even need a heater, I didn't, but got it for peace of mind instead.

 

If you bought a minibow 2.5, the pump can be pulled off the 'bucket' and you can fasten the suction cup onto it to jerry rig a powerhead. Good flow, but the stock filter is bulky, the pump is uber tiny and could be hidden with ease.

 

Also, with the minibow 2.5, the splash guard seems to contribute to alot of heat build up in the hood. I was scared of it melting with a 14 watt fluorescent on it, and after removing the splash guard, the heat is nowhere near what it was. Plus it blocks the light. Hurray for electrical hazards..

 

I have taken a real liking to those HOB filters with the empty media chamber and the adjustable flow. Filled to the brim with liverock chunks, it seems to work pretty good at clearing up the tank when i accidentally cause a 'snow storm'. I get various critters that stay in there and munch around on any food that gets stuck in the rocks... Plus, since its clear, I have a light shining on it, so its a mini-fuge.

 

The standard HOB filters seem to get more dead spots of water flow around any liverock debris you have in there. It didn't seem trap nearly as much crap as the adjustable HOB filters.

 

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/h112millenium_filter.htm

 

I believe that's the one. It's a 'millenium' type.

[D_Licious]

Thanks a BUCH Sparky. I'll try to get some pictures when it's up and running.

[sdnesmith]

Hey D, where are you at in Houston?

 

I bought an Aquaclear Mini HOB for circulation since that's what most of the other guys on here seem to use. Also, I've used an AC 500 on a fish only tank in the past for over two years with no problems so I kind of like Hagen products. The problem is here in Houston Petco and Petsmart sell them for about $23-24. I got mine on eBay for $13 shipped. I seen posts about taking a page from the websites to the store to try to get a better price. I believe PM sells it for $12.99 online so you might try that.

 

I ran a 5.5 gallon nano about 4 years ago and used LR, LS, and a Minijet PH for circulation only. I'm trying something different this time.

 

PM also sells the 25w Thermal Mini heater for around $16 and its about 6" long. I plan on drilling a hole in the top of the mini and mounting it in there.

 

On the lighting, do you know of a source for the Bookworm lights locally? I considered quite a few options and finally decided on going with the 2x13w Bright Kit from AH Supply. I know Wal-Mart sells the 13w worklights for $10, but by the time I replaced the bulbs with 2 50/50's the price pretty much worked out to the same. I got an email from AHS yesterday and my lights should be here tomorrow or Friday. I hope to install them this weekend and get some pics up.

 

Also, PM sells the little 5 gallon mix bag of Oceanic salt for $3.50. Pretty good deal and great for the 2.5.

 

Good luck, look forward to seeing some pics. BTW, I noticed you replied on my "Late to the Party" thread, thanks.

 

Shawn

[Rene]

I have a three gallon with the same footprint as a 2.5 that's been up since Feb. For circulation, I'm using an Aquaclear mini filter with media...since I have black sand, I was getting a lot of detritus buildup and putting the foam insert back in took care of that. I rinse it once a week though, if not more, so it doesn't impact the water chemistry. It seems to be enough flow for the few corals I have in there, though I put in a micro-jet powerhead at one point. My house got a little warm and I didn't like the extra heat the powerhead produced, bringing the tank up to an average of 82 F a day. Not much margine of error. For lighting, I have 2 13w bookworms...I got mine from paperdirect.com and they came with 6500k bulbs, but I swapped one out for a 50/50. For heating, it would be hard to go wrong with a Hagen thermal compact 25 watt heater, they're only 6" long and I've been happy with mine so far. Hope it helps. I'd comment on the ease of care but I've never kept a larger nano and this is only my second saltwater tank. For a relative beginner, they aren't -that- hard if you do your work, test dilligently, top off dilligently, and watch them daily. Using that rule of thumb and going slowly, I've been happy with my tiny tank so far

[D_Licious]

sdnesmith,

 

I'm from the Northwest side. Oh, and thanks for all of the help and references.

 

HEY! YOU GUYS SHOULD POST YOUR 2.5 PICS! I'll put mine up when it's going.

 

Thanks.

[djconn]

I'm from Houston too. I live near the Galleria but is there any shops up north worth visiting? Might be worth the drive....

 

Its been a little over a month now and everything is nice and settled in my 2.5. I have no algae problems and evaporation hasn't really been an issue. I still see little isopods every now and then but since I don't have any fish, they don't bother me. I changed the 50/50 out with a 6500K daylight. It looks okay combined with the actinic but plan replacing it with a 10K daylight.

 

Current inhabitants:

1 sexy shrimp

2 turbo snails

2 small blue leg hermits

Corals:

Green button polyps

Various Zoanthids

 

5/23/04

[just dave]

 

AGA 2.5 gallon

Two Red Sea Nano Filters(one with DIY surface skimmer)

Marketech 7.5w heater

1-18w Jali 71k and 2-Coralife 9w actinics in a DIY ABS canopy.

 

[LikemyRams]

I use a AQ 200 run it empty in my 2.5 mini bow

[ELGORDOINAVW]

just dave, your tank is the sh*t- great work truly an inspiration

[D_Licious]

JUST DAVE, YOUR TANK RULES!

 

It's truly awesome. Oh, and I'm not so sure if there are any good shops...I'll check with my brother. He always takes the trip to other Houston Shops. There is a very small aquarium store called Aquarium World. Probably not worth the drive though.

 

Keep those pics coming.

[ross76053]

Dang, Dave....

 

Any place we can get details on your setup? Have any more pics?

 

Ross

[just dave]

Hmmmm,details.

Well it all use to be in a glass vase that was like a four sided inverted pyramid. Looked kinda neat but was a real pain in the astrea to work on or clean. So I moved it into a AGA 2.5 (everything except the substrate) and rearranged it. The central rock is now on its side . It use to be that the left end was the bottom in the vase. I made a ABS canopy for the 2.5 added another RS Nano Filter. I run some carbon pad and Polyfilter in the filters.Made the surface skimmer. The substrate is from Caribsea. The main rock is Marshall. No fish.A small Sexy Shrimp,Fromia star,yellow cucumbers,one small astrea,one nerite,some stomatella,some nassarius,lots of copepods, amphipods,and mysids. Plus various other small critters.I add Kent Liquid Reactor and TLF Sea Elements. Do a water change every week and feed daily with DT's phytoplankton,Cyclopzeeze,ground up fish food,and target some of the inverts (the sponges)with Kent Microvert. I made a bunch of little tools out of acrylic rod so I don't have to put my hands in when something needs to be done. All the corals came form little cuttings,snips,clips.....etc. And the rest is as I've said above or as you see it. It's in my office with a .75gallon and a 5.5 AGA under construction.

 

[cjm033]

my 2.5 http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p...234&uid=2044356

[LiQuiD]

Here may be some good reading for you.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=10233

Hope it helps.

[pomby27]

hows teh tank coming along D_licious?