Little Blue Nano 2.5 build - overflow 4 AWC drilled

[TatorTaco]

I'm definitely interested to see how these work out!

[A Little Blue]

Kessil A 80 PAR (courtesy of JCS reefing)

Not super impressive but what about X2?

And at half the distance....

SPS ready, better coverage, no shading.👍

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

oh nice, some good par readings. Did you rent a par meter?

[A Little Blue]

Just now, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

oh nice, some good par readings. Did you rent a par meter?

Those are courtesy of “JCP Reefing” guy. 

Single light woild be fine for softies, LPS and a bunch of SPS corals. Even some Acros if placed higher up. Two of these can grow just about anything. 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

10 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

Those are courtesy of “JCP Reefing” guy. 

Single light woild be fine for softies, LPS and a bunch of SPS corals. Even some Acros if placed higher up. Two of these can grow just about anything. 

You thinking sps?

[A Little Blue]

8 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

You thinking sps?

Absolutely. 😉

Two Kessils will go into DIY wood “canopy”. Two MP2.5 main units will be hidden under the tank and wrap around with matching wood. 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

28 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

Absolutely. 😉

Two Kessils will go into DIY wood “canopy”. Two MP2.5 main units will be hidden under the tank and wrap around with matching wood. 

Hell yeah 👍

[MetaTank]

19 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

Absolutely. 😉

Two Kessils will go into DIY wood “canopy”. Two MP2.5 main units will be hidden under the tank and wrap around with matching wood. 

Sounds pretty serious. This is gonna be a cool build

[A Little Blue]

32 minutes ago, MetaTank said:

Sounds pretty serious. This is gonna be a cool build

Like I’ve said earlier here and elsewhere, I intend to keep it long term. So, getting setup right from the get go is kind of important. Plan might (at least the filtration part) change as I’m still debating where this tank is going to end up. 

If it’s in the living room with other tank(s), I can go all out on filtration. If it’s going to be on my nightstand, filtration needs to be more compact, silent yet still efficient. 

Both setups have their own challenges. ....

I like challenges 😉

 

There is a clever filtration option that I was going to use for the contest but I’ll reveal it here sometime in the future. 

If MP2.5 made you smiled, this should do the trick as well. 🤫

 

[VaporCountry]

Ingenious idea with the mag stirrers, can't wait to see this build progress!

[A Little Blue]

Not a lot of progress but I am still playing around with aquascape, flow, filtration options, possible location for this tank. 

I am not in a great rush since the tank is officially filled with SW, bacterial boost and in early stage of cycling. 

 

First, a bit of side project: Bluetooth, battery powered ammo 50cal boom box. 

 

2nd: new lens came in and kept me exited for a bit. It’s a pretty decent all around glass from Sigma.

 

As you can see in that pic, I was also entertaining idea of a little cool filter converted from eshopps nano overflow leftovers. It works pretty good. It’s small and it fits both Eheim pump and heater. 

It was only an option if this tank end up on my nightstand.

Since it is not, I’m going all out on filtration so stay tunned. 

It will include Auto Water Change, Macroalgae reactor, Auto water flush and hopefully ATO with Kalk dosing. 

Will pick up second Kessil A80 later this week. 

It’s official, tank will go into one of my bookshelves, not far from my 30 long reef. 

 

[This guy is extra salty]

On 3/21/2019 at 1:40 PM, A Little Blue said:

One of the cheapest ones that I could find. If it’s good enough for BRS than it should be good enough for this use. You can run them continuously at %0-50 power (you won’t need more than that). 

Thanks lol

[A Little Blue]

26 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Thanks lol

If it helps you in anyway than snatch it and run with it. 👍

[vlangel]

Looks like a fun interesting build!  I will enjoy folllowing.

[This guy is extra salty]

13 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

Not a lot of progress but I am still playing around with aquascape, flow, filtration options, possible location for this tank. 

I am not in a great rush since the tank is officially filled with SW, bacterial boost and in early stage of cycling. 

 

First, a bit of side project: Bluetooth, battery powered ammo 50cal boom box. 

 

2nd: new lens came in and kept me exited for a bit. It’s a pretty decent all around glass from Sigma.

 

As you can see in that pic, I was also entertaining idea of a little cool filter converted from eshopps nano overflow leftovers. It works pretty good. It’s small and it fits both Eheim pump and heater. 

It was only an option if this tank end up on my nightstand.

Since it is not, I’m going all out on filtration so stay tunned. 

It will include Auto Water Change, Macroalgae reactor, Auto water flush and hopefully ATO with Kalk dosing. 

Will pick up second Kessil A80 later this week. 

It’s official, tank will go into one of my bookshelves, not far from my 30 long reef. 

 

You think they’re going to allow a HOB refugium? 

[A Little Blue]

3 hours ago, vlangel said:

Looks like a fun interesting build!  I will enjoy folllowing.

Thank you👍

2 hours ago, This guy is extra salty said:

You think they’re going to allow a HOB refugium? 

No worries, I’m not competing. 

And it’s not a HOB refugium. But if you’re thinking about it, I don’t see why not. As long as it fits in 0.5gal HOB. 

I’ll be using macro-algae reactor that is the size of the tank itself if not larger. 

Still need to figure out if I want to use glass intake/return tubes or just drill the tank and get it over with? 

 

[This guy is extra salty]

1 hour ago, A Little Blue said:

Thank you👍

No worries, I’m not competing. 

And it’s not a HOB refugium. But if you’re thinking about it, I don’t see why not. As long as it fits in 0.5gal HOB. 

I’ll be using macro-algae reactor that is the size of the tank itself if not larger. 

Still need to figure out if I want to use glass intake/return tubes or just drill the tank and get it over with? 

 

🤔glass tubes can break I’d say drill it 

but I’m my case I would just build it so it’s all inclusive that was going to be my original idea have the bottom floor be a refugium but everyone got upset about it 

 

[MetaTank]

1 hour ago, This guy is extra salty said:

🤔glass tubes can break I’d say drill it 

but I’m my case I would just build it so it’s all inclusive that was going to be my original idea have the bottom floor be a refugium but everyone got upset about it 

 

Why don't you just make it anyway then?

[A Little Blue]

1 hour ago, This guy is extra salty said:

🤔glass tubes can break I’d say drill it 

but I’m my case I would just build it so it’s all inclusive that was going to be my original idea have the bottom floor be a refugium but everyone got upset about it 

 

That’s what I’m afraid of. 

Yeah, those rules are silly. But they wouldn’t let it go. Instead, they created those “loser” categories for people who actually think out of the box and want to show their creativity. 

That’s why I’m doing this build. 

To challange myself with something new and try to put a twist on it to see what outcome it is going to bring.... Regardless if it works or not. 

Either way, there’s a value in trailblazing as oppose to easy and lazy. 

 

[Clown79]

Sorry to hear you aren't joining but totally understand.

 

This tank is really cool! 

[This guy is extra salty]

7 hours ago, MetaTank said:

Why don't you just make it anyway then?

I’m debating on that build I might do both and share the light

 

7 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

That’s what I’m afraid of. 

Yeah, those rules are silly. But they wouldn’t let it go. Instead, they created those “loser” categories for people who actually think out of the box and want to show their creativity. 

That’s why I’m doing this build. 

To challange myself with something new and try to put a twist on it to see what outcome it is going to bring.... Regardless if it works or not. 

Either way, there’s a value in trailblazing as oppose to easy and lazy. 

 

I saw the “covers” why don’t you make them out of acrylic? It would be a legit mp2.5

 

yes indeed the rules are extremely silly especially with the HOB being the only means of filtration. At least you’re not literally building everything like I am.

[A Little Blue]

On 3/26/2019 at 11:33 PM, This guy is extra salty said:

I’m debating on that build I might do both and share the light

 

I saw the “covers” why don’t you make them out of acrylic? It would be a legit mp2.5

 

yes indeed the rules are extremely silly especially with the HOB being the only means of filtration. At least you’re not literally building everything like I am.

I could make it a legit MP2.5 that could be mounted on the back wall just like reg. MPs but there is no need for that. 

I didn’t make any covers as I was playing around with idea of turning one of those MP2.5s into small algae reactor/bio filter/surface skimmer. It’s an interesting idea that has potential but needs a bit of play, sourcing out materials and time. But it could work. 

 

I saw some silly ppl having issues with snack choice in their empty tank entry pic. 🤪 I don’t miss that fun party at all. 

 

Did not make much progress on the tank other then fitting two Kessils over the tank, drilling some holes for wires, tubes etc. Dust off algae reactor for this tank and ordered some crap on Amazon. 

Will start drilling this 2.5 next week. 

 

[This guy is extra salty]

Update please...

 

that algae is big! Where do you have that bad boy plumbed into?

 

whats the light fixture for it?

i thought about building one and ordering one of those tube light from BRS.. 

ill have to Do/need some convincing 😂 

[A Little Blue]

3 hours ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Update please...

 

that algae is big! Where do you have that bad boy plumbed into?

 

whats the light fixture for it?

i thought about building one and ordering one of those tube light from BRS.. 

ill have to Do/need some convincing 😂 

No real updates. 

Drill set, bulkheads and other accessories should arrive later today. Then, drill time. 

 

Don't know the brand of this AReactor. 

Someone brought it to my LFS. 

 

Seems like DIY venture of some sort but it is very nicely done. Light includes two strips of leds, red&white, wrapped around core that slides into isolated chamber in the middle of the reactor. Light is cooled by sizable heat-sink. 

 

It will be setup somewhere convenient near this tank. Not sure if it will go either in a cabinet below the tank  or outside somewhere? 

 

I don't need convincing. If I could, I would run algae reactors on all of my tanks. 

They're doing pretty good job in excess nutrient export and NO3PO4 control. 

 

BRS is fine, I just don’t know how they perform long term. Direct heat over acrylic body is a bit of concern but it could be addressed by spacing it out with a bit of silicon or rubber spacers.

 

Will update next week. 

[WV Reefer]

On 3/25/2019 at 9:15 PM, A Little Blue said:

Not a lot of progress but I am still playing around with aquascape, flow, filtration options, possible location for this tank. 

I am not in a great rush since the tank is officially filled with SW, bacterial boost and in early stage of cycling. 

 

First, a bit of side project: Bluetooth, battery powered ammo 50cal boom box. 

 

2nd: new lens came in and kept me exited for a bit. It’s a pretty decent all around glass from Sigma.

 

As you can see in that pic, I was also entertaining idea of a little cool filter converted from eshopps nano overflow leftovers. It works pretty good. It’s small and it fits both Eheim pump and heater. 

It was only an option if this tank end up on my nightstand.

Since it is not, I’m going all out on filtration so stay tunned. 

It will include Auto Water Change, Macroalgae reactor, Auto water flush and hopefully ATO with Kalk dosing. 

Will pick up second Kessil A80 later this week. 

It’s official, tank will go into one of my bookshelves, not far from my 30 long reef. 

 

 

I need to see more of that Boom Box. 😊