zeke2020 Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Love the rock wall! It will look stunning! Link to comment
eksblenny Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Wow amazing, nice job! Link to comment
MarieH Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Following along in amazement. Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Oh man, this is incredible already. The cement wall is a great idea, and well done as usual. You are going to LOVE your MicroReef and having a temperate tank--I certainly love mine. I'm so excited for you, I figure I'll share what I've learned. There was very little info to go on and I had to wing a bunch of things. Hopefully this stuff helps! And I agree about immature dungenous crabs! They rock. It helps to keep a large volume of rock in the water (compared to tropical reefs), both to retain the cold and also to displace volume so the chillers don't have to work so hard. Even so, mine are on 24/7 to cool to 55-60 dregrees from room temps and in the summer, it only pulled down to 65-70 degrees from 80's. I had to add a koralia for extra circulation for the nems which brought the temp up a few degrees. It took almost 8 months for the cycle to stabilize and for the biological filter to start pulling it's weight. Even still, the tank gets 90% new water every 2-3 weeks. I found that about 1" of tiny micron sand beneath the rubble helps considerably with providing places for bacteria and detrivores to live since the temperate rock is not porous. The beach sand of Puget sound has tons of pods and worms and a billion other little things to complete/stabilize the biosphere. Anyways, I found that every time I changed the filter pad the nutrient levels would go wonky--until the sand was added. There was a tiny bit of condensation through summer, but not enough to pool into drops. My only regret so far is adding limpets and chitons to the cleanup crew. They rasp the plexiglass and it's not crystal clear anymore. Kinda cloudy-looking. Maybe there's a way to polish it out, but I haven't looked into it yet. Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share Posted October 20, 2013 I N S A N E that is all. LOVE IT!!!! Great Job!!!!!! Wowwwwwwwwwwwww........ I've never had my jaw drop because of some cement Love the rock wall! It will look stunning! Wow amazing, nice job! Holy crap Following along in amazement. Oh man, this is incredible already. The cement wall is a great idea, and well done as usual. You are going to LOVE your MicroReef and having a temperate tank--I certainly love mine. I'm so excited for you, I figure I'll share what I've learned. There was very little info to go on and I had to wing a bunch of things. Hopefully this stuff helps! And I agree about immature dungenous crabs! They rock. It helps to keep a large volume of rock in the water (compared to tropical reefs), both to retain the cold and also to displace volume so the chillers don't have to work so hard. Even so, mine are on 24/7 to cool to 55-60 dregrees from room temps and in the summer, it only pulled down to 65-70 degrees from 80's. I had to add a koralia for extra circulation for the nems which brought the temp up a few degrees. It took almost 8 months for the cycle to stabilize and for the biological filter to start pulling it's weight. Even still, the tank gets 90% new water every 2-3 weeks. I found that about 1" of tiny micron sand beneath the rubble helps considerably with providing places for bacteria and detrivores to live since the temperate rock is not porous. The beach sand of Puget sound has tons of pods and worms and a billion other little things to complete/stabilize the biosphere. Anyways, I found that every time I changed the filter pad the nutrient levels would go wonky--until the sand was added. There was a tiny bit of condensation through summer, but not enough to pool into drops. My only regret so far is adding limpets and chitons to the cleanup crew. They rasp the plexiglass and it's not crystal clear anymore. Kinda cloudy-looking. Maybe there's a way to polish it out, but I haven't looked into it yet. Thanks everyone and thanks for following Deb, thanks for the information and actually the only thing that worries me about this pico is establishing the biological aspect. Not much room for rocks in this tank, there will be some sand with the crushed shells and a few porous pebbles that came from the beach as well. I am going to be dosing bacteria and relying on big WC's to keep this running, at least in the beginning. Good call on the chitons and limpets, I would think urchins would do some damage as well over time. This tank is 4L gross water volume, I think it will be something like 2-3L net after the rock and substrate is added, I'm cooling 1/2 a gallon of water! This is really small, I don't think a anemone would work in here, maybe a couple of strawberries but they are not easy to come by here (hard to believe) as there is no temperate livestock retailer in Canada. Everything will be collected, anyway everything needs to be small for this tank. A barnacle is going to look huge in this tank, LOL. Thanks again for the valuable advice Link to comment
Gramophone Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Very much looking forward to this, NanoTopia! Following. Link to comment
1.0reef Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Wait, have you thought about a Catalina goby? That'd be super cool and add lots of color! Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 thats pretty cool! Thanks Brian More to come soon. Very much looking forward to this, NanoTopia! Following. Glad you stopped by, and thanks for following Wait, have you thought about a Catalina goby? That'd be super cool and add lots of color! My water will be too cold I think, and tank too small. I am thinking about some minnows found in my region Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Catalina gobies would be fine down to 55F for sure, I have 5 in 57F out in the tanks right now. That rock wall you made is spectacular!! Link to comment
ALexpsycho Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Very nice! Awesome idea the cold water pico! My regards and respect! Link to comment
Tripwyr Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 they are not easy to come by here (hard to believe) as there is no temperate livestock retailer in Canada. Nanotopia temperate aquatics wholesale inc.? Link to comment
tlombardo Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Is there any room for some more porous media in the back chamber to help with the bio filter? Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 Nanotopia temperate aquatics wholesale inc.? Sounds good, need a diver, collection license, and truck load of money to start it up. Wonder if the Canadian government would even allow it, LOL. Is there any room for some more porous media in the back chamber to help with the bio filter? Not really from what I can see, I may try to get a small bag of GAC in and a DA temp probe. The bio-filter has to be your substrate in this tank and of course the life you keep. Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY! or should it be, Micro-Reefs and Nanotopia and Nano-Reef OH MY! Just spectacular, you are making my 2 gallon vertical series temperate tank come alive! Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 The stand is built, just need to sand and paint it. Just showing the beginning stages of the stand construction. I am going to incorporate the DA display in the stand on the left side. I thought of putting it front and centre but then thought it would take away from the main focus, the tank. Sowing some pre-holes to cut out the exact size of the DA RKL display 70mm x 100mm. This is the inside, the wall thickness was doubled 1/4" x 2 so the the display will sit flush on the outside. Basically the same as my ADA 7gallon build, I'm getting good at this now, Haha! Cut out nicely...and checked, fits snug. I may just silicone it in rather than use screws, it may be easier. Stand complete, I left the back open to allow access to the DA display and maybe tuck some wires and a 10 pound weight in. The weight will help keep it more stable. Left and front sides. This shot shows the inside of the stand. This is a left side view showing the rise needed to stabilize the rear compartment of the tank. The sump sits 1/2" higher than the bottom of the tank. If you look further below at the sketch you can see what I mean, and why this is needed. Consideration is also needed for the Nova Tec IceProbe which hangs well below the bottom of the tank. I could just have placed the tank on the edge of a table like Mike at Micro-Reefs demonstrates on his web site, but I wanted to have the tank sit more in the middle of the desk so a stand was needed. Hope all this makes sense, LOL. This is the original sketch of the entire build expanded, I think it better explains the need for the stand I made. So now I need to finish the stand and paint it black. I will probably add a couple clear coats as well to give it a bit of a gloss, this would better match the shinny acrylic tank. I will be posting more pictures of this stand as I put the finishing touches on it. The build is coming along nicely, I may have water in cycling by the weekend Link to comment
tlombardo Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Why does it have to be the substrate? If you could fit some rock(porous unlike any rock in the DT) back there would that work? Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 Why does it have to be the substrate? If you could fit some rock(porous unlike any rock in the DT) back there would that work? With the IceProbe, return pump, and filter pad tray back there it leaves very little room for anything but a temp probe and a finger sized bag of carbon (or GFO if you prefer). What ever you like to put in the display that is porous will work really, sand, rubble, shells, rock... up to you. I will take a picture of the back compartment later when I have it all running, you will see what I mean. Link to comment
MarieH Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Fun to see it wet, this weekend you say? Link to comment
Tripwyr Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Sounds good, need a diver, collection license, and truck load of money to start it up. Wonder if the Canadian government would even allow it, LOL. Shall I start cycling so I'm ready for the grand opening? Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 Fun to see it wet, this weekend you say? That's the plan, cycle takes longer with cold water, biologically everything sloooooows down. Shall I start cycling so I'm ready for the grand opening? Have you seen what Canada Corals is doing with there new location? Absolutely amazing facility. They have spent a ton of money, they open Nov 1st. Check it out! Don't think I could finance something like that unfortunately Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Holy Toledo! I love that stand! Link to comment
Trollcrab Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Thank you for the inspiration! Great project. *Follow thread* Link to comment
SushiYum Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 The stand is glued together? Wood glue? Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.