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Hi there. Due to the position of my tank it would be highly difficult to mount a hanging light or one of those mounting arms (have tried some and it just isn't sturdy with the rim of my tank). I only plan on growing soft corals and was wondering if anyone had suggestions of a good light to mount on the rim like the nicrew classic or the current usa light. https://www.amazon.com/NICREW-Saltwater-Aquarium-2-Channel-Included/dp/B0819MQQ76/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=b9zp5&content-id=amzn1.sym.5fe95cd4-8512-42fa-bf21-63d83b898785&pf_rd_p=5fe95cd4-8512-42fa-bf21-63d83b898785&pf_rd_r=9KT9KHFSVAS75NFZJFH5&pd_rd_wg=WfTvt&pd_rd_r=204d9568-40fb-40eb-9561-c37c1755c18b&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m&th=1 https://www.amazon.com/Current-USA-Marine-Aquarium-24-Inch/dp/B00GFTK7CQ/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=m3Hpu&content-id=amzn1.sym.bbb6bbd8-d236-47cb-b42f-734cb0cacc1f&pf_rd_p=bbb6bbd8-d236-47cb-b42f-734cb0cacc1f&pf_rd_r=9KT9KHFSVAS75NFZJFH5&pd_rd_wg=WfTvt&pd_rd_r=204d9568-40fb-40eb-9561-c37c1755c18b&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mi I was interested in the alie lights but I think those need to be hanged. EDIT: The tank is a 27 gallon cube with sand the depth of the tank is probably close to 17 inches and the tank is 20 inches wide. Thanks
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The tube returns! Plans - I'm not sure, the Rollands will likely be banished here to keep it cycled. Lots of Macro once it's in season again, maybe an elegance or some euphyllia to just let go nuts in a nutrient-heavy system. I may as well do a little pricing game since I tagged this as a #BudgetReef, I'll update below whenever anything gets added: -Atoll tank, freebie with $130 AI Prime (I sold the light, bought a prime hd for 120 and then sold that - in any case the light's not on the tank so I don't think it counts) -Return pump, came with tank -Finnex Titanium Heater $20 -ABI Tuna Blue PAR 38 $30 ($3 for the lowedepot bargain fixture and $2 for the pie-tin light-shield) 12/20 Replaced with equal-cost NiCrew Hyperreef -Branch Rock $15 -Rolland's Damselfish $20 ($0 after store-credit, but that's kind of cheating) -Dragons Breath $0 (Was $5 for the original frag, but little lydia likes to frag it for me) -Odd Frogspawn morph $0 ( $5 originally, Came from 20L system -should maybe count?) -White Tipped Torch $0 ($10 originally, Came from 20L system -should maybe count?) -Pair of Trochus $3 -Red Legged hermit and shells $2 -4+ dwarf ceriths $0 (compliments of old tank and possible baby-time, still have a few juvie trochus growing up) -Branching Briarium $5 March Additions: -Duncan (purchased by my wonderful wife) $10 -Bravo Favia (Some crazy oaf of a monkey came in and fragged the original $15 animal, what luck!) -Baby Acan colony $20 May Additions: -Chalice coral from 20 Long $0 ($10 or so last year -might need to count?) -Iron Man Disco $12 August Additions: -Neon Green Sinularia $10 -Autumn Favia $5 -Hydor Centrifugal 260 Return pump $25 November Additions: -Gobstopper Zoanthid $3 PP $10 -Miami Hurricane Chalice $5 (Thank you PieMan2k for the ID) -Mystic Monti $Free.99 December Shuffling: -Sinularia swapped with Trumpet coral -Par Bulb swapped for NiCrew $192 Total This is about the tanks, not me, so I decided to post every acrylic-tanks favorite snackfood, Polish... I may have accidentally crazed the whole interior with a paper-towel which previously had rubbing alcohol on it, and it may have taken a few days to polish it clear again. Whole setup is just waiting for a table to sit on, and then will get wet and dirty with some nice pre-cycled rock, I'll even toss a damsel in for color!
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Hello all! I have been a long time lurker in all of the reef forums, but have always found nano-reef.com to have the most helpful information and some of the most kind and connected members! I have read through all of the posts related to the featured aquariums and find all of them an inspiration. This is my first ever forum journal. I have had freshwater community/planted and cichlid tanks since I was in grade school but upgraded to reef tanks in 2015 with a 55 gallon mixed reef. I moved in 2016 and transferred everything in my 55g to a standard 29g nano tank. I was very proud of my discosoma dominated 29g until the spring of 2018 when vermetid worms got out of control; that in combination with the birth of my son and my own medical issues led to a complete tank teardown and a multi-year hiatus from the hobby. My wife and I just moved to a new home in April of 2021 and I had the itch to start a new tank before we even had our house packed up. After multiple months of preparation, the same 55g display that got me into the reefing hobby began cycling again on 7/11/2021. I hope this journal chronicling my dive back into the hobby may serve as a resource and guide to other reefers on a similar journey; in the same way so many of your journals, featured aquariums, and posts have helped me. It should be noted that this tank is a budget build...about as budget as builds come. I am a humble social worker and my wife is a stay at home mom to our two children. There will be no fancy equipment, dosing pumps, and reactors on this tank. Most of the equipment I am using is recycled from my old tanks. There are a lot of tanks in this and other forums that use a lot of high-end gear, which I think is great and produces fantastic results, but is just not something I can duplicate. I have always struggled to find a good blog documenting the set up and progression of a budget build. I hope that other budget reefers can look to my process and set up and have a guide to replicate my (fingers crossed) success. As far as a stocking plan goes, this will be a softie tank. The tanks I find most appealing look wild and almost overgrown; this has been my philosophy and style with my planted tanks and has continued into my reef keeping. As a result my livestock selection and methods may be quite different than many of the SPS dominant reefers. For this tank I intend to only stock around a dozen coral species and let them grow out and cover the rocks. I loved my mushroom dominated tank and plan to have a variety of different types in this tank as well. I would like to try my hand at a zoanthid garden too. I may or may not stock all of the corals below. I would much rather have a few huge colonies than have a ton of corals that need constant pruning. I am also considering adding some macro algae to my display. I am not 100% on this and need to do some more research before I make any purchases. As far as inverts go I intend to purchase a mix 'n match special from ipsf as well as a custom cuc from reef cleaners a few months apart as needed...other inverts I will be hand picking out from my LFS. (Edited) Coral stocking plan: Toadstool Leather (Sacrophytum spp.) - Added 9/2/21 Waving Hand Anthelia - Added 9/2/21 Various Mushrooms (Discosoma, Rhodactis, Ricordea) - Added 9/10/21, 9/5/21) Various Zoas/Palys - Added 9/10/21, 10/19/21) Finger Leather (Sinularia flexibilis) - Added 9/5/21 Cabbage Leather (Sinularia dura) - Added 9/5/21 Blue Star Polyps - Added 9/10/21 GSP (Briareum spp.) - Added 9/5/21 Pom Pom Xenia (Xenia spp.) - Added 9/5/21 "Blue Zing" birdsnest (Seriatopora) - Added 10/14/21 Blastomussa - Added 10/19/21 Golden Plume Gorgonian (Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata) - Added 9/10/21 Rusty Gorgonian (Gorgonia spp.) - Added 9/5/21, 9/10/21 Kenya Tree (Capnella spp.) - TBD Candy Cane (Caulastraea) - TBD Leptoseris - TBD Pavona - TBD Chalice (Pectiniidae spp.) - TBD Hammer (Euphyllia) - TBD Duncans (Duncanopsammia axifuga) - TBD (Edited) Macro Algae stocking plan: Shaving Brush (Penicillus dumetosus) Pencil Cap (Penicillus capitatus) Mermaid's Fan (Udotea spp.) Money Plant (Halimeda spp.) Christmas Tree (Rhipocephalus phoenix) Flame Algae (Bryothamnion spp.) Red Gracilaria - in refugium Sea Lettuce (Ulva) - in refugium Fern Caulerpa - in refugium (Edited) Fish stocking plan: 2x Naked Dot Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) - Added to DT on 8/07/21 1x Yellow Watchman Goby (Cryptocentrus cinctus) - Added to QT on 8/14/21, Added to DT 9/19/21 1x Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani) - Added to QT on 8/14/21, Added to DT 9/19/21 1x Coral Beauty Angelfish (Centropyge Bispinosa) - Added to QT on 10/22/21 Fish removed from stocking plan in edit: 1x Blenny (Tailspot, Lawnmower, Starry, Bicolor) 1x Yellow Coris Wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus) 5-7x Green Chromis (Chromis viridis) 2x Pajama/Banggai Cardinals 1x Six-line Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia) 1-3x Damsels from Chrysiptera genus (Edited) Invert stocking plan: 7x Astraea Snails (Added 10/19/21) 5x Cerith Snails (Added 9/9/21) 30x Dwarf Cerith Snails (Added 9/9/21) 7x Nassarius Snails (Added 9/9/21) 6x Nerite Snails (Added 9/2/21) 12x Periwinkle Snails (Added 9/2/21) 12x Hermit Crabs (Added 9/2/21) 1x Tiger Pistol Shrimp (Added 9/5/21) 1x Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Added 8/31/21) Mini Brittle Stars (Added 9/2/21) Spaghetti Worms (Added 9/2/21) Bristle Worms (Added 9/2/21) 3x Trochus Snails (TBD) 1x Fighting Conch (TBD) 2x Emerald Crabs (TBD) 1x Brittle Starfish (TBD - may need help choosing a reef safe species) Inverts removed in edit: 3x Ninja Star Astrea Snails (Delivered but didn't survive trip from RC) I will be writing some follow-up posts later today and into the week documenting my progress so far including my DT setup, QT setup, aquarium/parameter log, as well as some pictures. Happy reefing! EDIT: attached most recent FTS
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Firefish's 10G rimless "The Island" - Tank transferred to 14g bow front
Firefish15 posted a topic in Nano Reef Journals
Hey all! I've been lurking and researching for a number of years, and I'm finally taking the plunge! I'm starting small and working with a Marina 10G rimless aquarium sitting on my kitchen island. I lived in Kenya for a number of years and collected my rock from there. My light is a Hipargero Aquaknight A029. For filtration, I'm running an Aquaclear 70 HOB filter. Inside the filter, I have mechanical filtration, along with a submersible LED strip that will be used to grow chaetomorpha on a reverse photoperiod. My rock has been dry for a few years, so it's still curing. As of right now, there is no sand in the tank. In the future, I will be adding a magnificent firefish, an ocellaris clown, and possibly a scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp. For corals, I will be hunting around for cheap, easy frags, including some zoas and mushrooms. This is my first saltwater tank, so I'll be taking it slowly and cautiously. And now for some pictures of the setup!- 239 replies
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Nathan's 25l Softie Reef Hello Everybody, My name is Nathan, I am 15 years old and I have been in the hobby for a couple of years now. my first tank was a very simple, cheap fish only tank, I unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the aquarium but I had a pair of Ocellaris clownfish, a cleaner shrimp and three Nassarius snails. The aquarium itself was around 60l (16 US gallons) and it lasted for a couple months. But enough about me, lets talk about my 25l Softie reef. (Sorry for the Bad quality picture.) The Tank and Equipment: The Aquarium: AllPondSolutions 25l Optiwhite Cube Tank £28 https://www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/ultra-clear-25l/ Filtration: 480l/h HOB filter £10 ATO System: H2Ocean Compact Auto Top Off £70 Lighting: Fluval Sea Nano Marine Bluetooth £90 Heater: Fluval Edge 25w heater £20 Thermometer: Reptizoo Digital thermometer £5 Wavemaker: Jebao sw2 £30 Rock: Caribsea Life rock £25 Sand: Hugo Kamishi Coral Sand Stocking Plan Corals: Pulsing Xenia Green Star Polyp Zoanthids Weeping Willow Leather coral Green Finger leather Different Gorgonians Inverts: Ornamental Shrimp Species (not made up my mind as to which one to get) 2x Nassarius Snails 1x Cerith Snail I Hope that you guys like my tank and the aquascape if you have any advice or questions feel free to tell me. look forward for an update on the tank soon.
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Hello, What are the best clip on lights that will make my coral the most colorful? All the lights I see online seem like they just make everything look blue which isn’t the look that I’m going for. The lighting I see from like professional YouTube channels makes everything look so pretty though is probably too big an expensive for what I’m looking for. Any recommendations for a clip on light $200 or under that can bring out corals? Thanks!
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Hello everyone! Newbie here entering the 365 day challenge. This is going to be a 16g coralife biocube I just received from marineandreef. They had an amazing sell, and I just could not pass it up. I currently have a 54g corner tank in my living room, which was my first saltwater tank and was established 07/2019. I'm still a newbie and am hoping for the best. Even if I am not considered a finalist later, I'm hoping to meet some awesome people and gain some great advice! Reef on, my friends!
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How do i check if my tank is made of tempered glass?
Nathans_Reef posted a topic in Beginners Discussion
Hi everybody, i am planning to set up a new reef tank and it is the interpet aquapod 56l and i wanted to drill the bottom so i can have a sump. Does anybody know if the tank is tempered or can anybody tell me how to find out. Thanks 👍 -
Hi everyone I am brand new here and thinking of starting my first reef tank!!! I want to have a reef tank any where from 20 to 40 gallons and I want to be able to grow all kinds off coral. I also want to only spend $250 on the tank, light, filter and rock. Please any suggestions will help. Thanks!
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Hello. So I'm pitching in, but from the opposite side of the world. Mostly tagging along for fun - it's been a while since I kept a Pico-reef, and even then, my smallest pico reef was 3G++. So this would be both a challenge and a new experience for me. Specifications: Tank: 5mm thick, rimless, crystal white glass, pre-made. (Not a janky tank, I'm afraid ) 12" x 7" x 8" ~2.9G capacity Equipment: Filter: Small Nice288 HOB filter (1.72L or 0.45G capacity) Lighting: 36W PAR38 LED or 16.7W Aquazonic LED *Tentatively no other equipment included. Media: Filter Floss Activated Carbon PhosBan RowaPhos Seachem Purigen* (*Maybe) Rocks & Sand: ~1.5kg++ of aragonite LS ~1.5kg of cured, mature LR taken from the refugium of my 20G Livestock: Simple stuff. Honestly, tbd - and whatever that catches my eye. I'm making this a budget tank, meaning all pieces are not going to exceed $15 in value per frag.* 1 TSB. (currently in QT ) 1 pink-legged hermit crab. 1 interesting shrimp. Any good hitchikers will be retained. (already had my first unofficial hitchiker in QT - turns out to be this tiny crab with blunt claws and striped legs) *I've already acquired around 12 frags today from my LFS. Each one cost me between RM 10 ($2.46) to RM 20 ($4.92). All the frags are currently being held in my 20G and will be moved into the Pico over time. I've fragged some of my own corals in my 20G, so I'll move those over to the Pico too once they're stable. TBC. Theme: 'Rojak' tank. Rojak is a Malaysian dish with various fruits and fried char kuey smothered in thick, sweet sauce with peanuts. 'Rojak' generally means 'mixed' in local slang - which means I'll probably have anything and a bit of everything included. (Well, within reasonable means, of course). *Updated Livestock List (Subject to change at any time): Corals: Red Pavona Red/Blue Lobo brain Red Acans Green Acans Orange Clove Polyps Assorted Rhodactis Mushrooms Assorted Ricordea Yuma Mushrooms Green Hairy Mushroom Neon Green Star Polyp Green Japanese Nepthea Green Weeping Willow Toadstool Leather Orange Polyp Toadstool Leather Pink Finger Leather Green Blasto Ultra Green Zoas Eagle Eye Zoas Pink Zoas Dragon Eye Zoas Red Zoas Utter Chaos Paly Rainbow Implosion Paly Anemone: Red Mini Carpet Anemone/Bali Anemone (*bleached but recovering) Macroalgae: Galaxaura Fern Caulerpa Grape Caulerpa Inverts: Pink-legged hermit crab (Calcinus sp.) - Derp Golden Banded Coral Shrimp (GBCS) (Stenopus zanzibaricus) - Zanipolo (Zani) Nassarius Snail (Nassarius vibex) Hitchikers: Microbrittle stars Red spaghetti worms Tiny duster worms Various sponges and tunicates 1 xanthid crab (Paractaea monodi) - Scarlet 1 unknown crab - Grump Fish: Circus Goby (Priolepis nocturna) - Prowler Tailspot blenny (Escenius stigmatura) - Miko FTS: 1/4/2019: 2/5/2019: 1/7/2019.
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So I have decided that I would set up another Pico tank on my desk at work, mainly because I do like to have a back up plan in case my original idea crashes. Last week I picked up a Fluval Spec 3 (2.6G), knowing full well that I would need to replace the light and stock pump, the tank was a grand total of £10.00 and included a Nano 50W adjustable heater. So i got to rummaging through my spares bins and pulled out an old Mini 404 Pump. I also noted that the existing Output from the pump to output nozzle someone had made a series of cuts to dampen the flow from the pump (Probably a Betta Fish house at some point) so I cut a new pipe from suitably sized air hose and re fit to the pump and output nozzle. So on my lunch break I nipped down to my LFS for some more pre mixed water (this is now my Monday Lunch Time Task), picked up some more live sand, approx 0.5KG (which I "sprinkled" over my dry sand) 0.5KG as well as took a hammer to a really ugly bit of Live Rock again another 2KG ish. I have stacked this randomly in my Spec 3 with Saltwater and letting the Cycle start. I will most likely not test this again until Thursday/Friday at the earliest. The smallest Frags of this live rock were donated to my Contest Pico once i had super Glued the Macro to it. The rest I piled into a double "Tower/Island" with two smaller outcrops taking up the space in the front and rear left corners. I also added some Egg Crate to the back panel and far side (furthest from me) as I have seen some gorgeous tanks with Xenia and Green Star Polyps climbing th tank walls, I figured that Egg Crate would allow this process to take place faster? My Desk also occasionally takes a knock from time to time so the Egg Crate will also aid protecting the Glass from any potential falls. All in all I have roughly 1-1.5 inches between the Glass/Back Walls and the Live Rocks. Softies I want to Try Pulsing Xenia (Have purchased 2x Frags) Kenya Tree Green Star Polyp Toadstools Mushrooms Zoa's (Zoe Garden on rock with Xenia/Green Star "background")
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I had to do a tank transfer after my 10G broke and dumped water all over my bedroom floor. I purchased a new tank, so I thought I might as well start a proper thread for it. Tank specs: 20" x 15" x 15" = 20G Equipment: Boyu mini skimmer (1000L/Hr) Dophin HOB Filter (1000L/Hr) Wavemaker (4000L/Hr) In-Tank Refugium (~2G) SOBO Marine Light (9W)* SOBO Marine Light (3W) for refugium *Replaced by my older AquaLED marine light (20W) Fish: Scissortail Dartfish YCG Grammistes Blenny Inverts: Daum's Reef Lobser (2") 4x dwarf brown legged hermits 1x blue legged hermit x1 Tuxedo urchin 1x Nassarius snail 1x Turbo snail 1x Halloween Hermit 1x Saron Shrimp 1x Feather Duster Worm Corals & Nems: Purple Hammer Green Yuma Green Rhodactis Mushroom Greenish-Purple Rhodactis* Blue Hairy Mushroom Purple Mushroom Duncan Orange Long Polyp Toadstool Leather Green Weeping Willow Toadstool Leather Green Finger Leather Neon Green GSP Green Mini Maxi Carpet Nem* *Bleached but recovering - both of these were pulled from my mantis shrimp's tank Macroalgae: Caulerpa peltata Chaeto Galaxaura First Day of 20G (30/5/2018) -All LR is the same, LS alone is brand new FTS on 12/6/2018 My Long-Term Plans: Get a dwarf brittle starfish Get a Porcelain Anemone Crab or White Spotted Shrimp to pair up with the Mini Maxi Nem Add more Softies and Shrooms *Might add 1 or 2 more LPS frags *Might create a Zoa garden *Definitely will create Mushroom Garden
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So im flip flopping like crazy about what tank to get, and I have a set budget for the tank and equipment, which is $700 maybe $800 if I convince the "boss of the house" to let me spend more. I already have RODI machine (Use it for my freshwater tanks, but it will still be great), and sand and rock (Friend had extra from setting his up, like 20lbs extra of both.. hehe. So basically from all of you peoples experiences, what size tank could I comfortably afford, I was looking at a fluval evo, and the nuvo line, but if you guys have any good ideas, let me know. Im not just asking about those tanks just what size should I go for, and if its a AIO which brand? Any thoughts and experiences much appreciated.
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Dirt Cheap DIY Pico Peninsula How it happened: I've been keeping fresh water aquariums for an year now, mostly pico and nano planted tanks, while they are great fun they are now all mature and pretty much take care of themselves, so I've been looking for a new challenge. Since my house is pretty much strapped for aquarium space and we have a baby on the way the only option was a nano/pico reef. Luckily during a random trip to a big box hardware store I found the perfect little 2.5 gallon (10 litter) tank. Well 3 months of research and bargain shopping this is the result: The Gear (approximate price in dollars) Aquarium: 2.5 gallon (10 litter) 12$ Filtration: Old noname HOB that happened to fit the aquarium perfectly ~15$ Filter Media: Seachem Matrix leftovers from fresh water aquarium bought it bulk so i'd say it's about 3$ worth Lights: 2 noname white and blue led lights 6W each 18$ 1 strip of 18 high powered blue actinic leds 6$ Heating: Aquael Slim 25W 20$ Cooling: Single 60mm 12W pc fan 3$ Thermometer: JBL slim 3$ ATO: Airtight cereal box 3$ Air tubing & 2 valves 2$ Timers: 3 digital timers 15$ Aquascape; 2 small pieces of dry Zanzibar rock 8$ 2 litters of dry Zanzibar 3mm sand 5$ Other random bits & bobs: wires, plexiglass, super glue etc. 7$ GRAND TOTAL: ~120 $ The setup Lighting Since the 2 LED lights I found in a LFS didn't have blue and white channel controls and seemed a bit under powered, I decided to augment them a bit with a led strip I found in a hobby shop. The strip is SMD2835 12V and claims that each LED outputs 100 lumens also it's IP67 water resistant and comes with double sided tape pre-attached, should be more then suited to light this little tank. All I did is solder a power connector to the led strip made sure it's covered thoroughly with shrink wrap, plugged it in to a 12 power supply I had laying around. I've mounted them to a thin piece of transparent plexi (wish I had a white piece but what can you do), glued some standoffs and then glued the whole thing in between the two lights I already have. Job done, now I can have the blues on one timer and the whites on another. What I would have done differently is add a switch to the LED strip cable so I don't need to unplug it to turn it off and use a white piece of plexi to match the LED lights. ATO For an ATO I decided to go for a simple gravity fed drip system to keep the cost as low as possible. I got an airtight cereal box container, used my soldering iron make two holes the size of the air tubing. I threaded 2 pieces of tubing one that goes close to the boom and a short one that goes in about one inch into the container. Because the tubing tended to curl up I threaded the long one in a plastic straw to stiffen it up. After I made sure that the lengths of the tubing are right I super-glued around the holes to make a seal as air tight as possible. (inert silicone would have been a lot better but I didn't have any at hand) At the end of the tube that runs to the aquarium I put two valves for a more precise control of flow. In order to figure out how many drops per second I needed to keep up the evaporation I let the aquarium run for 24 hrs then measured how much it evaporated. As it turns out it evaporates exactly 0,5 litters... lucky me the maths will be easy. Assuming a drop is 0,05 ml I end up needing about a drop every 8,3 seconds roughly. That was the easy bit getting the valves closed just right took me about 45 minutes of trial and error, my phone timer never had as much use. The drip rate will most likely have to be adjusted as the seasons change and the light schedule will be set. After two days I'm satisfied with the results the level is pretty much unchanged. The container is big enough that I don't need to refill it for 4 day and It also has a handy dandy flip cap so I can re fill without removing the lid. What I would have done differently is get a "prettier" container as the wife doesn't approve of this (and I quote) "ugly ass bottle of water in between my beautiful plants" Cooling Since my house is basically a sauna all year around, a cooler is a must. I went with a small 12V, 60mm processor fan, as quiet as I could find. I cut a usb cable and spliced the fan the power cables to the USB cable again making sure to carefully shrinkwrap the finished product. Then all I did is plug it in in a old mobile phone usb power brick. Pro tip: use a 5V power supply the fan will work at approximately 40% speed and it is inaudible. I used double sided tape to fix the fan to the HOB filter with some hot glue added for extra safety. The fan is plugged into a timer after some fiddling with duration of on time I got stable temperature 26C (78F) with one hour on one hour off time, as with the ATO the schedule will have to change to account for seasonal temp fluctuations and lighting schedule. What would I have done differently is spring for a 30$ JBL temp sensor to have precise control but unfortunately the sensor only supplies 12V so the fan would be considerably nosier. Filtration & Flow As it stands the filter witch is 400l(100gl)/h is over kill, I'm pretty sure even on the low setting it could easily provide flow for SPS, even on the lowest setting but I intend to fit in a filter pad and possibly a light over it to make it into a mini refugium which would slow down the flow considerably. Heating Heater barely fits in the HOB filter wohoooo! Aquascape I wanted to go for something very simple and that looks good on all sides because the pico-reef sits in between my wife and my desk, so I spent hours looking through the box of rock and measuring each piece till I found the combination we both liked. After I washed the sand and the rocks in RODI water I dried them thoroughly, mocked the layout and proceeded to use gel super glue to fix the rocks to the bottom of the aquarium again silicone would have been muuuuch better. The damn glue takes ages to cure, being a bit impatient and a colossal moron, I thought let's use my wife's blow-drier on blister hot to speed up things ... WRONG! ... Do not do this! not only did it not speed it up significantly, the hot air evaporated the glue making a irritating toxic fume, my eyes were watering and my sinuses were on fire for a couple of hours! Current Status (21.03.2019) Tank has been cycling using Seachem Stability, a bit of seeded Seachem Matrix and daily small ghost feedings for about 3 days. Ammonia is starting to show up so the sit and wait phase of the process is on it's way. It's the first time I use any bacteria in a bottle and I'm really curious if it has any impact. Chemistry: Salinity; 1.025 Ammonia: ~1ppm Nitrite: 0 ppm Nitrate: 0 ppm Temp: 26C/78F I will start test alk/cal/ph as soon as my Saliferst tests arrive. Which reminds me... "Hidden" Costs: RO unit: Aquamedic 2,5gl/hr 50$ Various water tests: Salifert NH4 NO2 NO3 Calc Alk ~50$ Refractometer: Red Sea 50$ Salt: Red sea coral pro 7kg/15lb 25$ (should last me for ages even with 100% water changes) Total: 175$ Future Plans Make a Plexiglas lid, I already have some supports left over this should be easy to do. Make a mini refugium in the HOB filter, might need some further research for this, as I what I gathered it might have low to no impact in such a small space. Define a maintenance schedule: weekly water changes, ato refilling, glass cleaning etc depending on the stocking. Planed Livestock CUC: one blue legged hermit one snail (astrea?) one/two shrimp (I'm quite partial to the cleaners, wife likes the red ones with white dots) Coral: Zoas Mushrooms Palys GSP (on the back wall) Xenia (wife's favourite) Hammer (my favourite) That's about it, I'll make sure to update as things evolve and I'll leave you with a few more pics of the tank:
