dropped Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 I have now closed this tank down after nine months, Check out my New Office Distraction FTS 23/02/2016FTS 12/1/2016So this was never supposed to be a Pico Reef, in fact it was meant to be my QTThe plan was to buy a mandarin for my display tank and while in the QT i would train him on to frozen\pellets, with a supplement of live rock and macro algae containing pods that i had been culturing in the fuge of my display tank to sustain the little guy. And all was going well! he had even started eating frozen mysis!!!Anyway, one morning i found him on the floor, not sure how he managed to get out of the tank, my guess is my office door slammed and freaked the poor little dude and he jumped...... i was the most gutted i had ever been to loose a fish, was quite fond of him.During the process of adding the live rock rubble and the macro algae to the tank it really started turning into a wee little reef, so once the Mandarin past away, i added a bit of sand and few more pieces of live rock, couple zoa etc.It just so happened that the light was using was a 16k white blue light, which might just work for some LPS. SpecsTank: Custom 27L Rimless all in onePump: Jebao DC-1200 [/size]Light: MicMol Aqua Mini ColourHeater: eheim jager 60LTemp Controller STC 800Basically the rock was just a mass wall across the back, this has since changed but here is a pic for now. Link to comment
dropped Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 Ive since removed one of the HOB filters as it wasnt needed. and managed to come up with a mini skimmer using a gravel vacuume and a air stone which seems to be working really well. Gravel Vac/skimmer from the front ( can you see the fish?) Gravel Vac/skimmer from the side I have also built a new rock scape, which is currently sitting in the sump of my display tank cycling, once cycled ill rescape the tank and mount all of the coral in there final resting places. here is the new scape, excuse the back ground mess. Link to comment
dropped Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 Few more corals, waiting for another three weeks before installing the new scape. Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Looks great. The skimmer is a smart idea. How is it working out for you? Link to comment
dropped Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 Yea really well to be honest, ive got it set pretty wet at the moment, its been running for about 48 hours now. Will upload a pic of the skim shortly. And that baby flame angel is not staying in there either, he will chill out in there for another 3 weeks then go into my main display tank. Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Insta tank! I see the the flame's face peeking out on that one shot! That skimmer idea is awesome- nice job! I like the overflow for it Link to comment
dropped Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 now i just have to try and be impatient. Ive got a few plans for this wee tank. I have designed an all in one filter to go into the back of the tank, which will have three compartments. But to install it i need to pull everything out and i dont want to stress the new flame angel out. Wonder when the misses is going to cotton on that this is no longer at QT tank haha. Link to comment
dropped Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 Sorted out a DIY auto top off today. Parts 1 x 1Meter Airline tubing 1 x 1.5L container 1 x old tiny filter ( just the pump part) 2 x float switches. Made a perspex bracket which sits in the tank holding one float switch, the second one is upside down in the reservoir in case it runs dry. The entire container can empty into the tank without fear of it over flowing, this was kind of my goal so i didn't damage my house. Drilled a hole in the hang on back filter for the auto top off line Its not the best job ill admit, could have done a few things better. Also i want to add something so when the pump activates it turns on for 10 seconds or so. Rather than the pump turning off and on all the time. Link to comment
olemanwinter Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Could you possibly go over how you converted the gravel vac into a makeshift skimmer? I'd love some more details and step-by-step on that process. Pretty please! Link to comment
dropped Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Haha ok i guess i can. 1) Get a gravel vac that does not have the self starting feature, if it has this, remove it. 2) get a fine air stone that fits in the vac tube, i used the red sea wooden air stone/block 3) get some type of suction cup to stick the gravel vac to the glass, in my case i used a Eminem heater suction cup, which fit perfectly around the gravel vac. it also allows movement up and down. 4) Connect the air stone to the air pump and put the air stone about 1 inch into the gravel vac tube, i didnt do anything special to keep it in place, it just stayed by its self. 5) connect the waste line to a bottle or where ever you want it to go. From here you just need to move the vac up and down within the heater holder to get the desired skim. as you can see in my picture i used the standard tube, im thinking about putting a smaller waste tube on. This is solely for aesthetics. When i clean it ill take some photos for you. Link to comment
dropped Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Came home to find my DIY ATO was stuck in the on position... float switch failed.... Oh well. Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Hey did you wire the float switch directly into the pumps plug? If so that's not safe... Too high voltage in the tank; you need something to step down the voltage. 120v is dangerous. You can get a relay to take it down to 12v. Link to comment
dropped Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 Yea i did wire it straight in, however i do have a relay here which i can use. Ive actually altered this tank quite a bit over the weekend and no longer have the ATO or skimmer. Link to comment
dropped Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 here is a couple of pictures with the new scape. This tank is really my frag tank now, and what ever corals i dont want in my display Link to comment
dropped Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 @olemanwinter Here are the parts required for the nano skimmer and together really simple, but it works Link to comment
Tamberav Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Looks great! Btw, mandarins are actually known to be jumpers (even though it doesn't seem like it since they tend to move so slow on the bottom). I lost a small one through 1/4 inch netting even. If you ever try again, be sure to have a top Link to comment
dropped Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 Looks great! Btw, mandarins are actually known to be jumpers (even though it doesn't seem like it since they tend to move so slow on the bottom). I lost a small one through 1/4 inch netting even. If you ever try again, be sure to have a top Yea hard lesson to learn! wont be doing that again! Link to comment
dropped Posted November 15, 2015 Author Share Posted November 15, 2015 Added a new power head today..... Not enough power though. Link to comment
dandelion Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 I love your idea of putting a fan on the light mount! Will be useful when summer comes Link to comment
dropped Posted November 15, 2015 Author Share Posted November 15, 2015 haha yea, its hooked up to a controller, so when its too hot the controller turns it on. PS.. summer is weeks away for us in New Zealand Link to comment
dandelion Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 I really need to get a controller soon. I've seen some pretty affordable ones on eBay that require assembly but shouldn't be too difficult. haha yea, its hooked up to a controller, so when its too hot the controller turns it on. PS.. summer is weeks away for us in New Zealand Link to comment
dropped Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 i think mine is the ATC-800 or something along those lines. was $50 dollars NZD. Link to comment
dropped Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 I went into my office late last night where this tank is located, and i swear i could hear something... didnt pay much attention to it at the time, just carried on looking at nano-reef. Then as i was going to bed i decided i would check it out, which lucky i did! The pump which attaches to the bottom of the HOB filter was leaking! so didnt have much option apart from pull the HOB off the tank and put it in a bucket for the time being. This means part 2 of this project is coming up! Link to comment
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