icenine's nano

[icenine]

Well... this project is over with.

 

The pod sprung a leak in the upper right hand corner. ...now there is no visible crack, it's begun to drip from under the rim.

I noticed a salt stain this morning, but figured I was just sloppy closing the hood or something. ...but this afternoon I noticed that it was back again, and this time I saw the source. It was a slow but steady drip from under that rim. Bad news. A new droplette was forming every minute or so, and you know that is not going to get any better.

 

The good news is that I didn not transfer everything today as planned. ...and I am really, really glad that I tested this system for a few days.

 

anyway.... I'm done with the pod. While there was a hydor and another pump added I really don't think that would have been to blame for the leak. The tank was level, so that does not come into play either.

 

I snapped a pic of the leak, I'll get that up sometime soon.

 

 

..any hey, I'm still in the pico contest then.

[icenine]

Here are a few shots of the drip, sorry for the poor quality I was kinda in a hurry to empty the thing by that point.

 

 

A closer shot.... I don't know if you can tell, but the bead of water was developing from under the rim.

 

 

 

[deacon hemp]

All of the nano-cubes and aquapods seem cheaply made to me! Sorry to hear about your leak.I like your 15 gal 20X's better than any aquapod anyways.Upgrade to a custom if you do now IMO.

[icenine]

Yep, sux.

I'm really itching for an upgrade. I really was not planning on moving into this set up, it just kinda came along. ...but now I've been thinking about an upgrade for a over a month... you start to look for new corals fish, etc.

But better for the leak to show up now than six months from now.

[annamarie421]

Hi Icenine -

I just wanted to comment on what a HUGE inspiration your 15g setup is to me! It is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I am in the process of starting my first nano reef in a 24g AquaPod. The first one I got was cracked too (bottom glass) - I am REALLY hoping that the replacement I get today will be water tight and not cracked! It's too bad that the packaging (and overall quality) isn't better on these... Anyway, thanks again for showing me that I, too can have a beautiful little reef, despite my limited lighting!

Cheers!

Anna

[NaughtyCashew]

Are you sure it is a leak? Sometimes (if there is just enough space) the top plastic on an acrylic tank will draw water up and over via capillary reaction. If you lower the water level just a bit so that the water does not touch the rim, the "leaking" might stop.

 

You might want to add a thin silicone bead around the plastic and acrylic joint. That should eliminate any gaps.

[icenine]

Are you sure it is a leak? Sometimes (if there is just enough space) the top plastic on an acrylic tank will draw water up and over via capillary reaction. If you lower the water level just a bit so that the water does not touch the rim, the "leaking" might stop.

 

You might want to add a thin silicone bead around the plastic and acrylic joint. That should eliminate any gaps.

 

 

 

That is likely what was happening... I filled the thing with FW again to test it some more. The only way to stop it is to keep the water level so low that the water line is visible outside the display. That looks like crap IMO. That, coupled with the possibilty that there is a crack just under the rim there that may be causing the syphon to occur as well makes this tank a no go. The corner where the leak appears is pretty much the same spot that you see the crack go up to in the first tank. Too much of a coincidence for me to ever be able to trust this tank not to just plain bust open.

 

Thanks for the compliments Anna! I hope you things work out!

[Haagenize]

Hey Icenine! Post us your FAVORITE pic of your 15g

 

a picture that you will remember your 15g from

[icenine]

Hey Icenine! Post us your FAVORITE pic of your 15g

 

a picture that you will remember your 15g from

 

 

 

...at this point it's still going, so there will lots more pics.

 

...unless I give something one more shot.

[Haagenize]

okay =D

[icenine]

Yep.. well since I'm such a gluten for punishment... the 'pod project is back on. Due to a miscommunication I wound up getting another one sent to me rather than a refund. Well... of course I opened it up (to see if it was cracked) and looked it over... and looked it over some more. ...and ya know I had been thinking about setting it up for a while, you start to think about adding new live stock, what everything is going to look like in this tank and all that... so I figured I'd give it one more shot.

So this time I laid down an extra bead of silicone around the inside of the upper rim (just in case). Other than that... same mods that were done the last go round, jump guard and extra pump.

 

I flipped the antic and daylight bulbs as well. Now the fan goes on with the antics, so there is an extra couple hours of fan cooling under the hood. I also covered up the empty fan slot. There were still some temp issues. The tank was running hot at around 86-87 degrees. Even when I run only one pump and after cooling the thing down to 70 degrees (by opening the lid and pointing a fan at it) it still runs up to 84-85. So.... after some troubleshooting, it's the pumps contrubuting a signfigant amount of heat. I replaced the stock pumps which as it turns out were throwing upwards of 25w each, with 2 maxijet 900s at 8.5w each. ...that makes a big difference, drops the wattage by 33 and the temp by 5 degrees. So... ditch the stock pumps in your aquapod, they are crapola. That stock pump is supposed to be rated at 290gph... but who knows how accurate that is. I'm probably not much further off using the 230gph maxi jets. It feels about the same anyway. I'll still likely add the nanocustoms IAC chiller later since it will fit, but with temps down and around 81 to 82 it's less urgent.

 

I've run the leak test for about two weeks since I was figuring out the temperature issues. Looks good. I'm confortable with the tank now, and not waiting for it to spring a leak. For this last week I dropped couple of frags (xenia,some palys,cup corals) in the tank along with a little bit of extra live rock. Those frags looked good at the end of the week, heat issues were under control so it's about time for the transfer.

[Thrifty64]

You're thread has been interesting. I am in a similar stage with my AP24. Tank has been running for 1.5 weeks. Temp was ranged from 82.5-84 even with the heater off and no lights at night. I am still running the stock pump. I replaced the single stock fan with 2 Stealths from the local computer store. Lower RPMs, much quieter but larger air flow. Simple install, just cut the connector off the old and new fans, spliced new fans to old connector and plug in. I swapped the actinic position as well. This dropped the tank a dissapointing .5 degrees. I thought this would make a big difference. I have been researching the temp problems for the last two weeks and I haven't read of anyone addressing the narrow slots in the two "non-fan" vents in the hood. I used a metal fingernail file to file the slots in the vents. I opened them all to about 1/16th" and my tank dropped to the 80.1. I forgot the heater was unplugged and it ended up at 77 by morning. Set the heater on 80 and that is were it has contantly stayed for the last three days. I think everyone is looking for a high tech solution but I believe it is as simple as you can't move hot air out unless unless new cool air can move in.

[icenine]

The temps in my pod have gone down to 79 at the end of the photo period.... ambient temps are the same they were a few weeks ago, so I'm not sure what the reason for the drop is. I still am running the single fan...with no other cooling mods yet.

I'll probably jack the temp up a few just to be safe and stable.

The transfer will be done this weekend, so lots of pics and new details to come.

[icenine]

Happy 1st birthday to the 15 gallon reef and happy 5 month to the pico. They both get moved for the anniversary. I've transferred both tanks into the 'pod and even added a few new items.

 

 

Here are some details of what our reef is like now:

 

 

 

Sand bed:

There is about 20 lbs of sand here. I'm of the "thin sand bed" school when it comes to nano reefs, nothing more than an inch.

 

 

Live rock:

The rock from the 15 went in here as well as the pico rock. I added another pound or two so now there is maybe 25 lbs all together.

 

 

Rear Chambers:

Two maxi jet 900 pumps, 50w visitherm heater, Chemi-pure carbon and some bio-bale. That's it.

 

I'm going to continue my practice of large scale weekly water changes in this tank. 50% each week maybe more.

I'm running the tank at 81 degrees.

 

 

Aquascape:

Since most of the zoas had been moved from the 15 gallon to the pico they were kinda consolidated onto a few rocks. I broke out the superglue and managed to create a little (well, kinda big actually) zoa garden section to left in this display. I think its a kinda neat effect and should get more impressive as things grow out a little more. There is some macro growing in various spots of this section that I know I'll constantly be trimming back. I've also planted the toadstool in the middle of this garden. The anemones are here as well, both the carpets and the flower anemone. Other than that I pretty much moved the 'scape from the 15 in as is. Only a few things got shifted around slightly.

The rock work is for the most part half an inch off the back wall. One of the loc line outlets is pointed back there to help keep it flushed. In addition to that part of my maintenance routine is to flush out the rock work a bit with a turkey baster when I do a water change.

 

Ya know, here we got a bigger tank and still don't have room for much more. (that's what I get for combining two tanks into one)

 

Live stock list:

Fish:

 

1 Perc

1 Pygmy cherub angel (new)

1 Midas Blenny (new)

Shrimp:

1 Peppermint Shrimp (aiptasia control)

1 Skunk Cleaner shrimp

Anemones:

1 Rock/Flower anemone

2 Mini Carpet anemones

Soft Coral:

25 varieties of zoanthoids or palys

5 varieties of Mushrooms

5 varieties or Florida Ricordia

2 Varieties of Gorogoina (1 is new)

Pumping Xenia

Kenya Tree (green polyps)

Long polyped Toad Stool

Green Sinularia

Finger green star polyps

LPS:

Green Open Brain

Red Balsto

Green tipped Branching Hammer

3 varieties of Canday Cane

Cup corals

Misc Inverts:

3 porceline crabs (new)

1 Blue Brittle Star

1 Orange serpant star

A number of misc micro brittle stars

15 Nass OB Snails

4 Nass Vibex Snails

4 Astrea Snails

3 Nerti Snails

2 stometella snails

1 Huge zebra turbo snail

1 Yet to be identified snail (maybe a variedly of Naussurious)

1 hitchhiker xanthid type crab that's given me no reason to try and remove it yet.

1 light blue feather duster tube worm

A bunch of bristle worms (I never seen them munch on a live coral, so they get to stay)

A couple of peanut worms

half a dozen spaghetti worms

More little feather dusters than I care to try and count

Misc sponges and tunicates (a couple that are getting kinda big)

Other little things that I've yet to identify. Even after a year something new seems to pop out every week

1 gazillion pods (that would be just an approximate number, however dwindling by the minute since the new fish have been added)

 

What's gone:

One of the mistakes I made with the 15 gallon was not allowing room for things to really grow out. One mushroom polyp became three quickly, GSP really does grow as fast as people say it does... etc. So some things got culled back a bit. I also had too many leathers in the tank and have removed the finger leather and devils hand. ( I still have the toadstool, green sinulara and kenya tree )

The yellow clown goby is not moving into the 'pod. It's chronic perching on my candy cane was causing those corals to bleach out. In general it's a pretty boring fish anyway.

During the transfer I accidentally crushed the anemone crab. Ouch. I got a deal on a trio of "regular" porcelain crabs to replace him.

 

What's new:

One of the incentives for the upgrade was new fish. I know the pygmy angels have a spotty rep for picking on coral, but lets see if I can keep him fat and happy enough to leave the zoas alone. So far so good. It was really a toss up between the pyg and a six line wrasse. ...the pyg seemed just a little more unique. I've been eyeing midas blennys for a while... very interesting fish. I don't foresee adding any more fish to the mix at this point since the blenny will get considerably larger.

Both new additions were eating (and pooping) like champs from day one.

I added a new gorg, the first I added back in November is doing well enough that I decided to give another variety a go. This variety is muricea elongata.

If anything else goes in it will likely be some sort of acan lords or other very colorful LPS. Having said that my zoanthoid addiction will likely cause me to try and jam a few more morphs in the garden. ... you can really pack those suckers in together. Regardless, I'm going to be very selective about any future additions.

 

 

Feeding:

I use a pretty wide variety of food. Chopped up Krill, silversides, scallops and chunks of life line frozen or formula one frozen. Marine one flake, and algae flake get added once in a while as well. The pyg will take flake out of my hand which makes it easy to get some plant matter into it's diet (actually I can hand feed all these fish). I am using a little of the Julian Sprung "sea veggies" green sea weed as well. I also will put a drop or two of dt's Reef diet oyster eggs or phyto/plankton mix in once a week ( I switched to this from cyclopseese) for the filter feeders and coral. This gets done the day before the water change. I feed the fish three or four times a week and the anemones twice a week (I do NOT feed them every day, and in general I think feeding fish several times a day much less daily is severe overkill). I mix up what I feed, trying not to feed the same thing twice in a row. I'll spot feed most of the LPS every other week or two.

 

I gotta say, I'm really happy with this set up. ...I think it looks really nice for a "box" set up with not much to it. As much as people diss this style of tank it has a lot of potential without having to do much to it. The next project down the road will be to design a protein skimmer that will fit in the rear chambers. Till I figure that out I'll just keep up with large scale weekly water changes.

OK... now just grow. ...here we go into year two.

 

Here are some pics, everything is still kinda PO'd because of the move. I had been torturing them with the transfer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sea_Of_Treachery]

wow, very nice, can't wait for my pod, was thinking of doing a cherub angel, picking at anything? you can keep rock/flower anemones under the stock light?

[Fishfreak218]

WOWOWOWO!!! the tank looks awesome!!! i wish i had a tank that looked that good

[icenine]

wow, very nice, can't wait for my pod, was thinking of doing a cherub angel, picking at anything? you can keep rock/flower anemones under the stock light?

 

So far so good with the angel... but ymmv. Yes you can keep these anemones under the stock lights. They are not however, host anemones.

 

 

 

Thanks FF.

 

I have to figure out how to get a good top down shot, it's an awsome view of the tank.

 

Here are some lame attempts at top down on the zoa garden:

 

 

[Sea_Of_Treachery]

im really liking that flower anemone, where did you get it, any special care required? ive had 2 before a long time ago in my 10g, never lived past 2 weeks

[icenine]

This site often has a nice selection of flower anemones:

 

http://www.sealifeflorida.com/catalog/index.php

 

I also got both gorgs from them. Outstanding sellers.

 

might as well mention.... I got the angel from them, the starfish, some zoas, all my rics, the porceline crabs...

my tank has pretty much been stocked by seacrop and sealifeflorida.

[Fishfreak218]

i think my fav part is the toadstool, halmidea, and the Gorg's .... it adds a natural look to the tank.. and gives it hight

[icenine]

few more pics....

 

 

 

Getting shots of the fish is difficult (always moving).

 

pyg:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fishfreak218]

i LOVE those gorg's i passed up one of those purple ones the other day... now im kicking myself for it.. i really should have got it.. your tank is awesome.. i love those blue zoas in the 2nd pic

[Ann]

Wow, it looks totally fabulous!! Beeeeeautiful!

 

Best regards

 

Ann

[Schwazreef]

Very nice Ice. Looks as good as the 15 did. gotta see it in person. Has the skimmer gotten any thought yet? where did you get the blenny?

[icenine]

I've had a few people ask exactly what loc line parts were used for the additional outlet so here is as much detail as I can provide.

 

The size I used was the the 1/2", so my list of parts was this:

 

A Bulkhead fitting, Double Threaded (1/2")

 

...you wil need to drill a 1 1/8" hole for the bulkhead. For this I justed used a boring bit.

 

A MPT x 90° Elbow Insert (1/2" x 1/2")

 

Now, I'll use the Foster and Smith locline catalog selection for reference for the rest of the pieces:

 

 

 

K. MPT Connector (1/2")

L. Y Fitting (1/2")

G. Ball Socket Tubing;1/2" (6") (x2)

J. 1-1/4" Flare Nozzle (1/2") (x2)

 

You could switch everything to the 3/4" size if you wanted... but in a tank this size I figured the 1/2" was fine. I've never used the loc line tool, but I would imagine that it makes things much, much easier.

 

Here is another source for loc line, but the F&S prices are not all that bad.

 

modularhose.com

 

New stuff is in the tank this week. Added some nice LPS... really, really nice. I'll try to get pics and an update up this weekend.