Sickstring’s 5g Nano

[Sickstring]

I’ve been out of the hobby for a few years, due to a couple moves within a year. I had larger tanks at the time and as we all know, moving sucks.....moving with tanks REALLY sucks.. Ive been itching to get back in, so now is the time.

 

This tank will be setup in the “Cave”. My Mancave, I play and record and mix guitars, and other instruments, in the room, so this system I’m making as quiet as possible. Anyone that knows about micing with sensitive condenser mics, knows how well they pick up EVERYTHING. 

 

I decided to go small, 5 gallon. But tall, so I have a perfect view from my desk. I’m also doing a sump for a little more water, and the usual fuge, place for heater and probably frag rack. I don’t really care for racks in DT’s, and in a 5g it would look rediculous. Right now my plan is to use an old wet/dry tank I have, and baffle it as needed. It fits right under the stand.

 

I spent this week building the stand/canopy, and rockscaping two of the aquarium walls with broken up Life Rock. My plan is to keep sps, we’ll see. 

 

Anyway, here’s a few pics of the progress so far. Just painted the stand black today.

 

 

[banasophia]

WOW, very cool! What are you using to attach the rock to the glass? I love the look!!

[Sickstring]

Thanks. 

GE 1 silicon. Once that dried, I squirted spots in between the rocks with super glue and sprinkled smaller pieces and crushed rock to hide the glass.

[mbarton2010]

Ridiculously over built....... I LOVE IT!

[BaristaBob]

This is so cool man! I can't wait to see it progress. Following along.

[Sickstring]

10 hours ago, mbarton2010 said:

Ridiculously over built....... I LOVE IT!

It is a bit, isn’t it? Lol

[Sickstring]

Plumbed this morning. Got another 5g tank for a sump for the time being. Still need to make the sump/fuge, but dang it, I couldn’t wait. Added sand, Life Rock and FritzZyme this afternoon.  

 

Now the wait.

Only had light on for the video*, leaving off during cycle.

 

*(trying to upload a short video, having issues figuring it out)

[Lula_Mae]

13 hours ago, Sickstring said:

Plumbed this morning. Got another 5g tank for a sump for the time being. Still need to make the sump/fuge, but dang it, I couldn’t wait. Added sand, Life Rock and FritzZyme this afternoon.  

 

Now the wait.

Only had light on for the video*, leaving off during cycle.

 

*(trying to upload a short video, having issues figuring it out)

For video--you can upload to Youtube and then link the direct URL here (no need to choose the "share" option or whatever, just whatever is in the address bar at the top).  It should embed automatically.

 

Rock wall look is neat!

[banasophia]

55 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

For video--you can upload to Youtube and then link the direct URL here (no need to choose the "share" option or whatever, just whatever is in the address bar at the top).  It should embed automatically.

Nice, thanks! I was wondering about that too!

[Sickstring]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

For video--you can upload to Youtube and then link the direct URL here (no need to choose the "share" option or whatever, just whatever is in the address bar at the top).  It should embed automatically.

 

Rock wall look is neat!

Thanks!

 

 

[Sickstring]

Well, I had a feeling the  heat was something  I was going to have issues with. When I got home from work today, the tank was at 82*..... and this is with the light off.  I’m sure it’s due to the canopy not letting any of the heat out.  When opening the lid, I can feel the humid air escape. So I took a trip up to West Marine to get a vent. Hopefully it’ll help.

 

I may end up doing a temp controller for the heater and a small fan to blow over the display tank. Need to look around for a small one to mount inside.

 

 

[banasophia]

You are a very handy individual! Nice vent.

[Sickstring]

On 5/21/2018 at 9:52 PM, banasophia said:

You are a very handy individual! Nice vent.

Thanks. Yeah, I’m always tinkering with something.

 

Things are starting to happen.

 

 

[Sickstring]

I seemed to have lost my overflow strainer, so I made this for the time being. Ugly, but it works.

 

And nitrites have risen since this morning.

 

 

[BaristaBob]

Let's get a fts!!!

[Sickstring]

On 5/24/2018 at 12:38 AM, BaristaBob said:

Let's get a fts!!!

 

[Sickstring]

A few updates.

 

Switched out the return pump for my old Mag 3 for more flow.

Added some cheato and a light I picked up from Home Depot. Also cut some black acrylic I had for a light blocker to keep the light In the fuge area.

Added a few crabs last week.

Today I grabbed a couple polyps of Sunny D’s from my LFS. Still waiting for them to open.

 

 

[mbarton2010]

Can’t wait to see this tank progress!

[Sickstring]

In an attempt to battle the increased temp, got up to 82* this afternoon, I installed a fan under the hood.

 

i grabbed the fan from Lowe’s, thinking it was small enough to fit in the “stack”. Of course it wasn’t, so I snipped off the cage of the fan and mounted right next to the Kessil. For the time being it’s on speed 2 and has dropped a degree in less than 5 minutes. If I can get it down to 79*, I’ll see if speed 1 can hold that temp. I’m going to order an InkBird controller from BRS tonight to run the fan and a heater as needed.

 

 

[Floundering_Around]

Love the sleek look of the tank and stand! Definitely following for some inspo

[Sickstring]

Well, one polyp is opening nice. The other.....well.....

 

 

 

And, the tank is staying between 75* and 77*.

[Sickstring]

Got my temperature controller and small powerhead today. I forgot to turn the fan in this morning and it was up to 80.5 when I got home from work. Having this controller will be nice. I have it set for 77* with the fan to kick on at 79* and heat at 74*. I don’t see the heater kicking in until next February.....maybe.

 

 

[Sickstring]

Added first SPS today. Got a nice frag of  Birdsnest from my LFS. Polyps opened up within 5 minutes in the tank.

 

 

 

 

[Sickstring]

Been some time since last update. Just last week I added some Montipora Cap and a frag of Green Slimer. If these do well, I’m sure  I’ll be trimming often. Started 2-part a couple weeks ago. Alk and calcium are nice and stable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sickstring]

Decided to run carbon for a couple days to clear up the water. Probably going to run a It a couple days a month. Using an old Aquaclear HOB with a bag of GAC in the sump. In just the 6 hours it’s been running, I already see a difference in clarity.

 

Also picked up an acan frag and Some PC Rainbow frags from a local guy today. I think I’m going to hold off on adding any more corals for a few weeks to get a handle on any new alk and calcium intakes.