fatpat005 Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 I have been reading this board and others about both nano's and full sized reef setups. I have finally decided to start a nano though mostly because of money. And while I know that larger tanks are better/more stable, it just isn't going to happen until I find a new source of income.(did I mention I'm 16) Anyway, I have some ideas for a setup that I mostly got from this site, but tell me what you think of it. I also plan on doing most of this little project DIY so I'm probably going to need lots of help/constructive criticism. I would like to set up a 10 gallon with a 10 or 15 gallaon sump. Here is my idea as of now for a sump /refugium... Link to comment
MrConclusion Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 It will work, but do you need it? The biggest threat to success, especially on a small budget, is that people have a tremendous tendency to overreach, or "get a little too cute" for their own good. Please understand I am not trying to say anything bad about your plans, I just think you might not need to worry about so much equipment. If you have never had a reef before, you should seriously consider whether or not you need a refugium-equipped system. It's nice to have, but my nicest looking tank right now is a 10 gallon with absolutely no external fittings at all. Refugiums offer you many chances to spend more money, and to leak nice, destructive salt water all over the floor. The best advantage of a refugium is the fact that you can light it 24 hours a day, creating a "macro algae" filter to remove nutrients from the system. That's really cool, but not necessary at all. No matter what you read on this board! Seriously, a lot of people post messages in which they lecture based on the tanks they wish they had, and never post pictures of the tanks they actually own. Despite what they may want you to believe, not everyone has a $300 protein skimmer, multi 400-watt radium halide lights, calcium reactors, pH controllers, etc., etc. You get my point. If you really want a nice tank on a budget, I would recommend a 10 gallon tank, fitted with at least 50 watts of PC lighting. About a year ago I set up just such a tank with a converted eclipse-1TL hood/light/filter system. It's the simplest system I ever built, but I have been completely happy with it. If you're interested, i can email or post photos & parts list for converting the eclipse-1-TL from 2x15 watt regular fluorescent to 2x32 watt PC fluorescent. This has worked well for me and is pretty cheap and easy to do. You can leave the eclipse-1-TL lighting as-is if you don't want to keep any LPS or (shudder) SPS corals in the tank. Mushrooms, Green star polyps, zoos, etc, will do well under dual normal fluorescent bulbs, especially if replace the included bulbs with 1 10K white and 1 actinic blue bulb from a decent manufacturer like TRITON (Aquarium Products), MARINE-GLO, or CORALIFE. And "cheap" is a relative term, for reefing. Be ready to spend some dough even on a simple system. Here's what my 10 gallon system would cost to replicate, and I would not want to be without any of these things. You need to also budget for extra gadgets like siphon tubes, algae scrapers, etc.: 10 gal glass aquarium: $10-$15 Eclipse 1 hood/light/filter: $70-$80 Ballast for conversion: $20 Connectors for conversion: $18 Bulbs for conversion: 2x$20-$25 ($40-$50) Circulating Pump: $15-$20 (micro jet) Heater: $15-$25 (Ebo Jager) Live Sand (20 lb. fine treated sand): $30 Live Rock: 15lb x $5-$6 ($75-$90) pH Test Kit: $5 (tetra saltwater pH) KH Test Kit: $10 (tetra KH) Calcium test kit: $10 (Hagen CA) Small jar of phosphate absorber: $15 (Phosguard 250 grams) Small nylon bag for phosguard:$3 (Hagen Aquaclear mini bags) 50 lb. bag of salt mix: $15-$20 Calcium Suppliment: $10 (many to choose from) Magnesium Suppliment: $15 (many to choose from) Buffer Suppliment: $10 (many to choose from) Iodine Suppliment: $10 (many to choose from) Fish: $10-$50 Corals 3 to 6 needed, costing $20-$50 each Bucket for mixing salt water for water changes: $5 (keep clean!) Small powerhead for mixing bucket: $12 (mini jet) Small heater for bucket: $15 (visi-therm 100w) You see how even a small simple tank can add up. Sorry for the tremendously long post, but maybe it can help you out in some way! GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN! Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 at least as a reply to this type of a question. MR. Conculsion has out done himself. He deserves a gold star Seriously. "5" rating Link to comment
caja Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 Check out this link. They have a variety of nano set-ups that come with pretty much everything you would need, although some are listed without the tank - you would purchase that separate. The prices are pretty astonishing, but keep in mind that Mrconclusion spelled it out for you. It ain't a cheap hobby!! Wish I had started out with a brand new tank. I switched my Eclipse System 6 to a SW and now I can't find a decent retrofit to replace the crappy lighting that comes in the hood. Good luck!! http://www.acmereef.com/nano_mini_reef_tanks_.html Link to comment
CRG Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 Cajastan - Why not try a CSL 32W Smartlite? From what I've read, this is a fairly common application. Link to comment
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