My Nano Tank In The Makin

[InS@nE]

right post might take a while to load depending on ya connection speed due to the pics but here goes. if any one would like to do the same then hopefully it will give them a quick idea etc

heres all the stuff that i bought some aint used in the end some is kinda thing.

tank, ecco, wave maker power heads etc etc.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic005.jpg

heres the tank as it came out the box with the lighting etc. not to bad but wanted sumin a bit better

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic002.jpg

heres the lighting unit that you get in the lid as standard, in the lid, there is a single 11w twin style bulb thats 50/50 white and blue. the starter etc is under the metal under the bulb

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic003.jpg

so they get ripped out in favour of sumin more shiney the whole of the lid was stripped out tubes starters etc etc

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic004.jpg

i opted for the rs electronics method of starter etc as i managed to get these for free, lol, but if i was doing again and paying i would go and buy 2 sinlge interpet 18w starters then you could change the lighting pattern etc if required. i bought the starter, clips and bulb holders and my old man gave me the cable etc.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic001.jpg

that was wired up per instrucitons on the starter and then the tubes tested for fit, the tubes used are 18w asl compact tubes as there smaller than the interpet ones but are same connection etc and brightness here they are laid out in the lid, the original metal shield that was in the lid was stripped down and bent flat and then shaped to fit the lid

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic006.jpg

everything fit fine but i knew from other people doing this method before me that things could get quite hot under there so while it was all stripped down a hole was drilled in the lid for the fittin of a fan. the back of the lid was also cut away completely as i was originally fittin a prizm skimmer in there as can be seen in the pics. then once that was cut i added the fan, just a normal pc 12v 40mm fan. i went to "instore" and bought a 12v convertor that i chopped the end of and connected to the fan. i can alter the voltage on this so i can make the fan spin slower or quicker to suit the needs and thus makin it quieter. i also drilled 3 holes each side of the lid to let the air blow out etc

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic007.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic008.jpg

and here we go lid on lights in fan connected etc etc, dont look alot brighter but you can see the difference thou in person. old bulb was 11 this is now a combined 36w

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic009.jpg

heres my old tank in place bless it, not the best as i had shoved more rock in to let it cure and that ready for when i get this one

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic010.jpg

and now the new boy in it's place, and yes the lights are switched on in teh old nano, lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic011.jpg

found some old egg crate that i had gathering dust and made up a little shelf to help space stuff out, dead easy really to do, 3 bits of crate and 4 cables ties later sorted

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic012.jpg

original bit was to wide so chopped it down a bit so not as wide. added that to the tank and a bag of marine sand. had some crushed coral sand in the old nano but the sand has smaller parts so looked more natual and also be simpler to seed i hope in there. plus it was only about 3 quid a bag, lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic014.jpg

all that was left was add some water and watch it go cloudy, must remember to add water slowly next time, even thou i always say that!! here it is about 2 hours later after the water had started to clear. i did have the tank painted blue but put the paint on to think and it kept running so took it all off as best i could and thought would leave the back clear

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic016.jpg

followin day saw it and thought nope dont like it so then painted it again but this time did it with a propper roller not just a paint brush!! also took teh skimmer off as the output of the skimmer was to much as blowing stuff about loads and adding some micro bubbles so that got taken out and i'm goin to do water changes etc
here it is now with heater, cannister and eheim etc. the external has a few bits of eheim pro in there to hopefully seed and help slightly but there is only a few bits and a bit of poly pad jsut to help catch crap really. main reason for it was it's 600lph so give me a good turn over, bit of filteration and adds water volume which can only help.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic017.jpg

and here we go, water in, rock placed in nice and firmly even thou it looks like it's about to fall down, the rack was a great idea i think as allows plenty of flow around the rock and also adds some depth to it aswell as a cave for a bit of variety and that. all in all i'm quite chuffed with it, tonight i'll be puttin some of the corals out my main tank that i fragged off into it to add some color and that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic018.jpg

bit of a closer up of the rock. had a look last night found a few freebies. some kinda of crab looks like a mithrax but aint sure is it ran off when i went near, sumin that keeps pokin out of a hole. looks like atube worm but not sure as it seems to have funny little tenticels on it and also sumin that looks like a peanut shall that i'm sure i saw open and then shut but dunno.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/pic019.jpg

so there we go folks if you have any opions etc then let me know or any questions feel free to ask. hopefully it will be if use to some one if not i posted all that for nothing, lol

[instantsquid]

I can't believe you've already got this far - I've got no further with mine for about a week!

Looking good matey! :thumbsup:

[Smart82]

looks great :thumbsup: thanks for the great write up of what you've done, really good :thumbsup:

Are the Aqua 40's about 12" cubed? love the look of them :)

Martin

[InS@nE]

instantsquid, told you once i got started mate wont take me long, would have liked a sump on i but just no room where it was goin etc and didn't wanna start drillin the desk etc :(

smart82 yes mate roughly 12" cubed. i'm well impressed with the tank, quite well made and looks nice too, if any one is after a small tank i can defo say get one. the curve on the glass makes things look massive too :lol:

[NICJAC]

Hay, looking good, I need one for my desk, beats the crap out of looking at E-Mail all day, never get any work done though :lol:

[dirk053]

Originally posted by instantsquid@Nov 1 2005, 17:48
I can't believe you've already got this far - I've got no further with mine for about a week!

Looking good matey! :thumbsup:
Same here

Mine is still in my loft

<_<

InS@nE very nice tank - I really must dig mine out.


:wub: :wub:

[johnski]

Great looking tank, love the aquascaping and live rock , what kind is it?

John

[InS@nE]

thanks for your replys folks :D


johnski. in all fairness i have no idea. just what i got from my lfs as they had some wth decent color on and shapes etc so just asked for that and a load or rubble from the bottom and thats what i ended up with. :whistling:

[slappy]

Looks nice. :thumbsup:

[InS@nE]

cheers.

pic now i added a few corals to the equation

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/ins@ne/aquanano/Img_2210.jpg

[InS@nE]

also broke the tank down to see what it costs, mose of the stuff was bought new apart from the racking and the fan which i got for nowt

ITEM PRICE
TANK £40.00
HEATER £10.00
LIGHTS £15.00
EHEIM ECCO £70.00
EHEIM COMPACT £8.00
THERMOMETER £2.00
EGG CRATE £0.00
SAND £3.00
FAN £0.00
SUPPLY FOR FAN £3.00
T5 CLIPS £6.00
T5 PLUGS £3.00
T5 STARTER £27.00
SOCKETS £10.00
LIVE ROCK £30.00
WATER £8.00
PAINT + ROLLER £7.00
TOTAL SO FAR £242.00

[MaidstoneMarine]

Very nice indeed. Glad to see what it costs too although it certainly increases the temptation level - I've also been thinking about a nano tank in the office.

Are you thinking of adding a fish or keeping it just for inverts?

Cheers

Chris

[Corsetts]

Top Work :thumbsup:

Now I'm sure theres a small tank somewhere in the shed............ :ph34r:

[InS@nE]

ya know ya wanna :thumbsup:

[slappy]

Originally posted by MaidstoneMarine@Nov 2 2005, 07:49
Are you thinking of adding a fish or keeping it just for inverts?

Cheers

Chris
Looks like he's already got fish in there, a humbug damsel.

[InS@nE]

yeah the humbug is out of my old nano tank, he's quite happy in there at the min but thinkin of puttin him in my chromis and gettin a pair of baby clowns for the nano

[InS@nE]

pic as of tonight. swapped a few more bits over from the old tank and got a bargin of 2.55 from the lfs for the sponge some polyps etc etc :)

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/Img_2230.jpg

[Johnymajors]

Great looking nano well done :thumbsup:

[InS@nE]

cheers mate :thumbsup:

[maestro]

very very nice nano tank, looks full of life and colour already

[InS@nE]

cheers mate, looks a lot betterin real life tbh. the front of the tank makes stuff look so much bigger than it is. i tend to just sit lookin at it while i'm on the comp seein what i can see new :lol:

[dougn7110]

nice tank

:bow:

[InS@nE]

thanks mate :D

[mr-jimbo]

That looks sweet :wub: ...maybe i will setup a nano too :lol:

Jim :thumbsup:

[nasotang]

keep an eye on that heater! aquatherms are crap!basicly they struggle to keep a steady temp and the right level :) :thumbsup: Nick

[evilmop44]

surely you can get away without the skimmer and eheim filter ?????
i mean im thinking of having a stab at a nano myself b y im not sure which route to follow

[InS@nE]

jimbo thanks mate even thou diatom(sp) have decided to come over night :(

naso tang i am doing mate as i know there not the best but with the lights on there more tryin to keep it cool than warm, lol

evilmop, aint got the skimmer on there any more mate it went as was to much for the small tank. as for the eheim it's not needeed either but it just gives more water volume extra flow and some where to whack some antiphos and a bit of carbon :D

plus i think i won the worlds laziest turbo snail he just sits there all day lookin out the tank suppose if the glass was a bit muckier it might help!!


http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/insanesnail.jpg

[Warrington-guy]

Love that pic... looking nice now fella

[InS@nE]

aint lookin nice if you could see how brown it is now :angry:

just hope it will die off givin it a few days etc

[mr-jimbo]

Originally posted by InS@nE@Nov 6 2005, 12:34
jimbo thanks mate even thou diatom(sp) have decided to come over night :(
Yeah i have been noticing the same thing on my sand..allthough in the morning its gone compliments to the sand sifter and hermits,but i have reduced the lighting period from twelve to eight hours now...

Your Nano still looks good though,and a little patience and perseverance you will get good results :thumbsup:

Jim

[InS@nE]

cheers mate, i've also took the time down for the lighting etc to see how that goes.

goin to do a water change on it aswell as it's been runnin a week now so bout time for it's 5% lol


how long on average do diatoms take to go then or does it vary as to be fair there aint much water in there for it do live off :lol:

[mr-jimbo]

I am no expert on them,they will never die off,but can be controlled,ie:lighting periods,cleanup crew,phos removers,there is many topics on diatoms searching google.

[InS@nE]

bit of an update but have stuck a few more corals in there since like a few shroom frags etc

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/Img_2351.jpg

[Daza]

Lookin good mate!
Daza :thumbsup: