7.5g smooth corner Lil Reefer

[Woodini]

Well it’s been a while. 
I’m coming back. I previously had a 5.5 reef tank with mostly softies and I loved it. She was prime but a hurricane hit while I was in Costa Rica. GF didn’t keep it alive and I sold it. That little buddy had a custom hood, 100w mh and two 23w actinics. It did really well. 
now I’m gonna do a 7.5” ((; (;)

gallons people 😂 
Light is gonna be a Kissel 160 tuna. 
A good friend is a coral farmer, so I asked him for my main rock. We’Ll see how she goes. I am aiming for ricordia and zoanthids.  I will post as I go, literally ordering now. 
 

Ray

Daytona Beach shores, FL

 

edit: I’m going to keep a running tally on parts and goodies, just for the hell of it. 
I’ll adjust as I go, this is my build thread. 
 

Penn Plax Radius 7.5g: $117

Kessil 160 tuna blue with controller and mount: $258

Aquaclear 30 HOB filter: $34

Aquaclear 20 HOB filter: $34

Sicce Syncra nano powerhead: $35

Autotopoff.com unit w/ pump: $59

Aqua Gadget Spin Stream: $23 (👎🏿)

Innovative marine 30w mini helio pic smart heater: $70

innovative marine ATO return bracket:$24

Innovative marine magnetic heater mount: $32

Tubing for Ato: $3.50

ATO Reservoir : $21

 

total: $710.50

 

Just waiting 🙂

 

 

Cheers

Ray

[euphrate]

EDIT : just saw it's not a bowl 😮 i'm not awake. Looks like a nice tank indeed

[Firefish15]

Is it the aquatop bow front? I ran the 14g version for a while, beautiful little tank.

[Woodini]

On 5/19/2023 at 7:52 AM, Firefish15 said:

Is it the aquatop bow front? I ran the 14g version for a while, beautiful little tank.

No, they look nice but I don’t like how the one side of the tank is blacked out. It’s just a standard tank off eBay 

 

 

 

[Woodini]

3 hours ago, euphrate said:

EDIT : just saw it's not a bowl 😮 i'm not awake. Looks like a nice tank indeed

I recommend a bowl to help you wake 🙂

[Woodini]

Does anyone know of a quality auto top off setup?

[banasophia]

The Smart Micro ATO and the XP Aqua Duetto ATO are both good, though I think they may be sold out on Amazon. Be sure you get a model that includes an audible alarm when it needs to be refilled. 

[Woodini]

Thank you. I recall this being a critical system. 

[Woodini]

At work

[BadCrab]

Your work involves Seadoos and hot sauce.  Consider me and my desktop-bound lifestyle intrigued.

Your pre-hurricane tank sounds like it was awesome - I never see people use metal halide on smaller tanks (understandably I guess.)
If you're utilizing two HOBs I don't think you'll need to supplement flow with a wavemaker, but it's always an option.  One of the Nero 3s would probably do well and look nice taking up very little of that precious real estate.

Temperature (controlled through a thermostat) and salinity (through top-off) are the two most important systems on any sized reef.  The smaller the volume the more drastic and quickly a reading can swing so for nano's having a plan to deal with these two parameters is mission critical.

What are the current take laws on the coast for R. florida?  Last I remember (it was a while ago,) you could take 10 free-floating - no attached rock - per day with a regular saltwater fishing license.  They're probably my favorite coral but they've steadily increased price across my local LFS from $10/head a decade ago to between $35-65/head (!) today.  I wish Phoenix had some coastline 

[Woodini]

On 5/20/2023 at 2:03 AM, banasophia said:

The Smart Micro ATO and the XP Aqua Duetto ATO are both good, though I think they may be sold out on Amazon. Be sure you get a model that includes an audible alarm when it needs to be refilled. 

Looking at these kits I question the need for the optical sensors as opposed to the simple float valve style. 🤔 

 

after researching I’m gonna go with the autotopoff.com kit with pump from ebay 👍🏿 orrrr maybe not. Got to watching BRS movies

[Woodini]

4 hours ago, BadCrab said:

Your work involves Seadoos and hot sauce.  Consider me and my desktop-bound lifestyle intrigued.

Your pre-hurricane tank sounds like it was awesome - I never see people use metal halide on smaller tanks (understandably I guess.)
If you're utilizing two HOBs I don't think you'll need to supplement flow with a wavemaker, but it's always an option.  One of the Nero 3s would probably do well and look nice taking up very little of that precious real estate.

Temperature (controlled through a thermostat) and salinity (through top-off) are the two most important systems on any sized reef.  The smaller the volume the more drastic and quickly a reading can swing so for nano's having a plan to deal with these two parameters is mission critical.

What are the current take laws on the coast for R. florida?  Last I remember (it was a while ago,) you could take 10 free-floating - no attached rock - per day with a regular saltwater fishing license.  They're probably my favorite coral but they've steadily increased price across my local LFS from $10/head a decade ago to between $35-65/head (!) today.  I wish Phoenix had some coastline 

Tbh I don’t know about the laws for harvesting. I’d have to go to the keys to do that, which is both fun and expensive, so I’m alright with LFS/online shopping. 
yeah my job doesn’t suck too bad (most of the time (; )

[StinkyBunny]

DO NOT get caught with any of them attached to rock. You'll be in the deepest kimchee EVER!

[Woodini]

It was about twent years ago I went to the keys and “scalped” hermits, snails, a couple baby fish and one sps. Young , dumb and full of …

[Woodini]

The Kessil goodies showed up tonight. Gonna burn one and take a look! Tank won’t be here for a few days. But who doesn’t love getting toys in the mail??

[banasophia]

Nice!

[Woodini]

7 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Nice!

I’m eager and impatient 😂 but not russian!

[BadCrab]

I really have a soft spot for these Kessil lights (The A/H80, A160, A360 series)
The form factor is minimal.  They pack a serious punch and have an attractive color blend and shimmer.  The price is just unbeatable and they're always available.
The control options are awesome: from a Christmas Tree light timer to an Apex with an option for a simple but effective first-party controller.  Just the chef's kiss.

[Woodini]

I like the verbiage 

 

waiting on controller and tank

[Woodini]

15 minutes ago, BadCrab said:

I really have a soft spot for these Kessil lights (The A/H80, A160, A360 series)
The form factor is minimal.  They pack a serious punch and have an attractive color blend and shimmer.  The price is just unbeatable and they're always available.
The control options are awesome: from a Christmas Tree light timer to an Apex with an option for a simple but effective first-party controller.  Just the chef's kiss.

I wanted to ask you how you feel about the BRS lr nano arches. They’re pretty, when I saw your thread I was 👀 

is there a downside to it compared to natural rock?

 

[Woodini]

If it performs and is earth friendly….

 

need honest ass opinions. 

[banasophia]

9 minutes ago, Woodini said:

I wanted to ask you how you feel about the BRS lr nano arches. They’re pretty, when I saw your thread I was 👀 

is there a downside?

I think they are great except they are small if you have a bigger tank, so you may want their larger sized arches… I used one nano sized piece along with a round shaped piece in my Evo 5… and I have used Caribsea Liferock in all of my tanks except for my Studio12 which came with Marco rock as a complete setup kit. The newer nano trees are kinda cool too. I highly recommend Liferock… imo, looks great from the get-go, masks the uglies to a degree and in my experience seems to resist algae a bit. 
 

Only downsides I can think of: I do think it’s a bit dense / not very porous, so I always add some Seachem matrix in media bags in my back chambers for additional surface area for the beneficial bacteria, and it is very hard to break/cut into pieces. 
 

If you can get some already wet/live from your LFS, even better!

[Woodini]

Oh that’s certainly the plan. 😌 the thinking is a third of the fun! Im stoked. I’ll seek out more natural rock when it’s time; soon. 

[BadCrab]

I've always been a fan of Caribsea Life Rock (and before it, Real Reef)
The arches have a particularly nice shape that lets you lock a few together easily and make interesting shapes.
Its primary drawback is going to be consistent with other dry-rocks (no biodiversity.)

[Woodini]

Ok good to know. I’ll exercise my patience muscle when it comes to the rocks and scaping. I’m not totally sure how I want it to be yet. Need the tank here so I can get a better mental blueprint. 
I brought all the Buna (fiji) rock I had in my 55 to work as decorations in the office, might see if one would fit nice, but it’s been dry for a couple years….