View Full Version : My 8" Cube
Feb 10th 2006
Tank
12" x 8" x 8", split into a 8" x 8" x 8" and a 4" x 8" x 8"
Lighting
24W PC 50/50's
Filtration
700lph Powerhead in the sump, pushing water through a spaybar.....although i seriously doubt it is 700lph. And Liverock.
The tank, i added the divider myself on a 12"x8"x8" tank, so i have a little sump as well in there.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1389.jpg
First leakage test! Success!!!
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1392.jpg
In a new position, and with crushed coral sand.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1400.jpg
And the hood was cut so the heater could poke through the top (It gets cold here and i couldn't get hold of a smaller heater:D)
Feb 11th 2006
Here are a couple of pics with lights and liverock :)
Front view:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1422.jpg
Right Side:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1421.jpg
Left Side:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1420.jpg
Quite pleased that there is a fair bit of room at the front of the tank to build up with zoo colonies or something similar.
Lofty
Feb 20th 2006
Little update, you can see the Diatoms and even some macroalgae growing (Pretty sure it isnt just hair algae, seems to have leaves if you look close enough. Notice one of my turbos i added today as well, he has 1 other friend in there somewhere as well :)
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1429.jpg
Also blacked out the rear section which looks better.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1430.jpg
Any comments welcome please.
Lofty :)
so far, thats the smallest nano I've seen! Looks good :D
Heheh thanks a lot :D
Got the idea from Nano-reef.com, course, they are all from the US and have access to far more adequate equipment than we do :D
Mountainman01
21-02-06, 12:00
Nice looking little Nano there Lofty. Looking forward to seeing how this one progresses.:D
Any ideas on stocking yet?
I've been given a nice little 14" cube, the front glass is pretty scratched so i'll be replacing that. Thought I may as well for the cost being so little, I wouldn't be happy with it being scratched.
I've got some blue acrylic that i'll fashion into a divider.
Keep it up mate.:cool:
Paul
Nice looking little Nano there Lofty. Looking forward to seeing how this one progresses.:D
Any ideas on stocking yet?
I've been given a nice little 14" cube, the front glass is pretty scratched so i'll be replacing that. Thought I may as well for the cost being so little, I wouldn't be happy with it being scratched.
I've got some blue acrylic that i'll fashion into a divider.
Keep it up mate.:cool:
Paul
Well, i have a little bit of Florida Ric that i have bought waiting for me at the LFS, and a small frag of Trumpet/Candy cane.
I would really like a little bit of Sun Coral in my makeshift cave, and possibly a baby Fungia Sp. or similar, obviously not permanately, might outgrow the tank juuust a little :) I am on the lookout for some nice Macroalgae to keep the tank maintained a bit as well, even with 2 water changes a week it will help.
Other than that probably just a few zoos to fill space.
Thanks for your comments!
Also, if you are just going to change the front panel, i would highly recommend Starphire glass, looks really nice, no green tint like normal glass seems to have :)
Lofty.
instantsquid
21-02-06, 12:18
Really cool little tank you've got there - can't wait to see it with some life in there. :D - Ian.
Thanks for your kind comments :D
JasandJules
21-02-06, 16:08
Just corals? I think that will look stunning. Is that going on your desk ?
Yep, just corals :D There is some incredible stuff to be had! At the moment, that tank is downstairs, although if all goes well i will probably do another one for my desk :D
Especially as it is <£100 including liverock :D Lights were the most expensive at £30, and i found out i could have got them for nearer 20!
Lofty.
not sure, but that rock looks like branch rock to me - not the best for filtration really. Neat little system though!
not sure, but that rock looks like branch rock to me - not the best for filtration really. Neat little system though!
Just did a Google and i think you might be right, unfortunately it was about the best i could get at that size (At least without getting a hammer:p) Hopefully it will be ok :)
Thanks again all!
Lofty.
looks great where di you get your pc lights from and how much were thay so much nicer looking that halides
I got my PC's from Surrey Pet Supplies (http://www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/), i would recommend them. The best bit is this:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1454.jpg
Half actinic half white :D
Unfortunately, the smallest like that they do is 24W, which is 12" long. Luckily my tank goes 12" back, so only a small bit pokes out. It came to £30.75 delivered :)
And yes..... that is tin foil, although i do like the effect it gives :D
Lofty.
Added my first corals a couple of days ago, and they seem to be settling in nicely :D
Firstly, Ricordia Yumas
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1453sm.jpg
And a little bit of Trumpet coral
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1449sm.jpg
And finally, Frank the Hermit crab. Also has a friend in there somewhere, hopefully these two will sort out the hair algae.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1460sm.jpg
Lofty.
looks really nice so far! Maybe you could get 2 or 3 sexy shrimp for livestock?
Thats gonna be a nice little tank, couple of things though that you may want to consider.
You will need to get some kind of cooling fitted. In the summer with a hood and those PC's, the water will overheat.
Are you sure that spraybar is giving enough turnover and giving enough surface agitation, this is important as there is no other method of water oxegenation. Do you have an oily fiilm building up on the water surface?
With that hood and no fans you will get a lot of water condensation build up on the hood and if the lights are exposed, them as well, so they might not last long and you risk a shock.
I'm speaking from experience on the points above as I have a 12" nano myself with a similar setup.
Dave.
Lofty
Do you think that light is ok to use in a sump?
Thx
What a great idea, I'm now thinking of getting one for my desk at work, your nano looks very nice - can't wait to see how it develops!
Thats gonna be a nice little tank, couple of things though that you may want to consider.
You will need to get some kind of cooling fitted. In the summer with a hood and those PC's, the water will overheat.
Yeah, tbh the hood i have is a bit crap, and when i get a spare day i want to try and make a slightly better wooden looking hood :D Fans would be cool as well (Excuse the pun)
Are you sure that spraybar is giving enough turnover and giving enough surface agitation, this is important as there is no other method of water oxegenation. Do you have an oily fiilm building up on the water surface?
As it is there is a lot of flow, i in fact have the powerhead turned down a little! There isn't an oily buildup and there is a goood amount of surface movement. Although the spraybar is poiting to the bottom right corner, because it is so near to the water surface, it is moving it a lot there.
With that hood and no fans you will get a lot of water condensation build up on the hood and if the lights are exposed, them as well, so they might not last long and you risk a shock.
I'm speaking from experience on the points above as I have a 12" nano myself with a similar setup.
Dave.
Yeah, fair point that i had never thought of there! Mind you, it would be easy enough to fit some kind of sealed plastic cover over the light on the new hood :)
Thanks for the comments btw! Oh, and love the sig :p
looks really nice so far! Maybe you could get 2 or 3 sexy shrimp for livestock?
Wow, those sexy shrimp do like nice, nice price as well, £7 a pop! Most shrimps seem to be more than double that! Once it has matured a little i will definately consider those, thanks!
Lofty
Do you think that light is ok to use in a sump?
Thx
I don't see why not, i assume you mean for a reverse lighting cycle? After using these i will never go back to regular T5's, definately not T8's! Highly recommended by moi :D
What a great idea, I'm now thinking of getting one for my desk at work, your nano looks very nice - can't wait to see how it develops!
Yes, definately something different, i'm looking forward to seeing it mature as well, also considering one for my desk!
Thanks for your comments all!
Ben.
what lighting did you use? what a great little tank, i think thats my next project
what lighting did you use? what a great little tank, i think thats my next project
For lighting i have 1 24W 50/50 Power Compact. I ideally wanted 2x 18W's, but they don't do an 18W 50/50, and an 18W white and 18W actinic would have looked silly since one side would be very white, and the otehr side of the tank would be very blue :D
Lofty.
For lighting i have 1 24W 50/50 Power Compact. I ideally wanted 2x 18W's, but they don't do an 18W 50/50, and an 18W white and 18W actinic would have looked silly since one side would be very white, and the otehr side of the tank would be very blue :D
Lofty.
You can get 50/50 18W, I have two of them. I tried one white and one blue but it doesn't work well and two whites are too yellow.
ASL make them and they are available from one of the sponsors on here I think but I cant remember which one. Ask in the sposors requests forum but remember you will have to change the ballasts as well.
Edit - just looked and I didn't buy mine from a sponsor so I wil PM you the link.
You can get 50/50 18W, I have two of them. I tried one white and one blue but it doesn't work well and two whites are too yellow.
ASL make them and they are available from one of the sponsors on here I think but I cant remember which one. Ask in the sposors requests forum but remember you will have to change the ballasts as well.
Ah bugger, i think i will have to live with them as it is for now, maybe change them at a later date :D
Thanks for that though :) Nice to know for the next one :D
Lofty.
Little update for today, picked up a little frag of Zooanthids, nice brown colour with a luminour green mouth, about 5 polyps, and best of all....free! Not quite opened up yet, but nearly there! Sorry about the dark pic, camera batteries are on their last legs, and in a rush i put it on ISO50 not 400.... doh!
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/zoos.jpg
My ric is starting to look beautiful, really opening up. Although the picture dpoesn't show it, in reality it is almost orange :)
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1490s0.jpg
And finally a FTS, hair algae is slowly receding with the 2 crabs, and the diatoms is virtually gone.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1494.jpg
Wow, its been ages since i updated this! Well, i had a pretty grim algae bloom which made the tank look awful (not got any pics unfortunately), although with a bit of pruning, vodka and water changes it seems to be back with a vengeance!
I am shocked as to how much everything is growing, my ricordia has split in 2, although it is helpfully lodged somewhere really hard to get a picture typically! There are about 8 new heads on the trumpet coral, and as seen below, one of them has 3 mouths!
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/trumpet.jpg
Unfortunately i lost (Quite literally! No shell that i can see or anything) one of my hermits, so i am left with the remaining one.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1571b.jpg
Calcium levels must be pretty good, this is a pic of the end of the 'stork' think of the trumpet coral.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/calciumhigh.jpg
And finally a full tank shot, down the bottom left is my new tubeworm who only ventured out for about half an hour before retreating back to the tube. He did only get added this morning though. To the right and up a bit you can just about see the ricordea, and nearer the top there are a few zoo's and the trumpet coral. And some slightly weird algae! Got 3 of them in there.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/wholetank.jpg
Any comments welcome!
Lofty.
Oh, and if anyone is interested, here is a rough list of what i spent on it :)
Tank £8.00
Plastic £3.00
Silicone £8.00
Light £12.99
Light Starter £14.99
Powerhead £5.00
Spraybar £1.50
Heater £10.00
Pipe £1.50
Backing £0.50
Hardware Total, £65.48
Liverock £13.00
Ricordia £28.50
Trumpet Coral £5.00
Green Zoo's £3.00
Brown Zoo's £4.00
Gravel £3.50
Hardware + Livestock Total, £122.48
Thats a roughly what i have actually spent so far, so £120 odd as it is now wasn't too bad i dont think, forgot to include salt and RO etc.
Lofty.
Another quick update, visited Living Reef Aquatics in Dartford (Am i allowed to say their name?) Anyhow, i am just a very pleased customer!
Came back with some orange zoo's-
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1597.jpg
All opened up-
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1605.jpg
Last one, the trumpet thought it was night time when the lights went out to acclimatise the zoos! I don't think its going to be long before those 3 mouths split completely either.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1594.jpg
Lofty.
And another little update, managed to pick up some Tan coloured zoo's with pink centres, still opening up now, but here is a pic anyway. The photo has drained a lot of the colour though, they are a lot pinker in the middle, and more tan coloured as well.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1607.jpg
And my orange zoo's are looking stunning i think! I'm not going to complain, got charged £9 for the pinks and oranges.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/lofty1988/CIMG1615.jpg
Now i just need to work on buying more corals that aren't zoo's :p. I have got my eye on a bit of sun coral that i might try and pick up soon as well. Then i can finally have a use for my cave that i so carefully aquascaped :D
Replies/comments welcome!
Ben
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