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Assembling idiot-proof 7g minibow starter


FCLymond

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Hello all,

 

Hoping to get comments on the following set of purchases I'm about to make for a new nano I'm setting up. Ultimate goal is to provide a safe home for a couple of small fish (prob 1 clown, 1 other), some mushrooms, and some soft corals.

 

Here's the shopping list, largely cobbled together from tips and suggestions I've found while searching this board:

 

AGA minibow 7g

CSL 15" 2/32w ABS hood (from premiumaquatics.com)

75w Ebo Jager heater

Mini 404 ph

Salifert test kits (Ph, Nitrate, Ammonia, Alk., CA)

Instant Ocean

8 3/4 lbs. Fiji LR from FFExpress

8.5 lbs southdown sand or live sand

hydrometer

thermometer

 

Anything else obvious I'm missing? Should I have a skimmer? Which one? Anyone else use that hood with a 7g minibow?

 

Would love any advice or wisdom from the group -- this board has already been of more help than you'll ever know!

 

Cheers,

 

FCL

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Unless you are planning on doing a suspened hood (sorry I don't know what the hood looks like that you are talking about, and don't have time to look at it) you are probably going to have heat problems -just a guess (and to be taken as so). Even if the hood was suspened I would use a fan. Is there a particular reason that you want to put 64W of light over 7 gallons? You could keep clams and most if not all SPS with a single 32.... Unless your purpose is to breed these things, I don't see a reason why one would do this (with 64W your growth-rate would be increadible, which in my own opinion is not nessicarily a good thing in a small system). The tank looks like it will def work though!! If you do decide to go with the lighting described above, I would consider dosing -as your growing corals will require more nutrients (especially iodine and calcium). Not knocking your system (it is far superior to my own!!) I just want you to know that you might want to cut back on the lighting if you do not wish to create a serious SPS & clam tank.

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Thanks printerdown, that's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for.

 

Here's the link to the lights:

 

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...egory_Code=CSLh

 

Is there another setup for lights that would work better? I'm already really worried about heat -- is there a simple way to swap out the standard lights on the AGA 7g bow with the 32w that you suggest?

 

Thanks for the great help!

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Just looked at your lights... Looks good, comes with a cooling fan... I would allow for some space between the tank and the lights. -I could be totally wrong, and you might have no problems with heat. I am having to rely on the experances of others (rather than my own experiance) as I have only had one nano. I guess my big question is "what do you want to keep?" If you are looking for serious growth 64W would def work. I am currently running 32W on a 12 gallon! -This is plenty for my softies (I do not keep T. clams nor do I keep any SPS with high lighting requirements). I am probably going to add another CSL 32W soon (I actually almost ordered it tonight as ffexpress.com is still selling them for about $40), and through in a small clam and a fungi. I really have no desire to see how fast I can get everything to grow, as I already have to prune enough as it is! But some people like being able to cut frags all the time. They take them to the LFS or to local aquarium gatherings and swap them for other goodies. It really all depends on your desires... In other words there is no true "right way" to do things. It really depends on what you are looking for! So what are you looking to keep?

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A suggestion regarding your purchases. Email cory@premiumaquatics.com and give him your shopping list. Let him price the stuff out and if you see it elsewhere on the web, he will usually match the price.

 

Sounds like everything else is in order so good luck and keep us all posted.

 

Man I miss the excitement of starting my nano.

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I have the same setup in regards to the tank and lights. I am also new and don't know how much assistance I can offer but I'm considering downgrading my lighting. The fixture doesn't fit the tank all that well and I'm lighting half of my bookcase instead of the tank. I think there is a retro for 1 32W that will fit the standard light strip. I think that is the way to go unless you want to keep some super special critters.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The lights came today:)

 

I now see what you mean about the ABS hood not fitting perfectly -- also the on-board fans are pretty loud. Now I'm thinking the right way to go may be the 32w CSL retrofit that everyone talks about.

 

Just to make sure I understand, does this retrofit allow me to use the AGA hood that comes with the bow front tank? How does this work?

 

I'm probably going to keep the ABS hood -- the lights are beautiful, and I'm sure I'll end up wanting to use it eventually, but it may take me a while to kludge together a DIY arrangement to hold it up -- any advice on that?

 

Thx,

 

FCL

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