What else should I add to this prop tank ?

Avalanche Wolf · #1 09/16/2007, 12:12 AM

My son has wanted a salt water tank for awhile so I bought a tank setup from a local member so that he could start a little store to sell corals to me. This way he is learning reef parenting skills and something that we can share together and I can reward him for his work as well.

Here is the tank.

12.5" x 24", 6" inches tall.

It has a Coral Life deluxe 65wx2 PC fixture that fits the tank perfectly, a mini filter and a 50 watt heater ( heater in pic was replaced as it was a preset heater that was letting the tank get to 74' by morning)

So far I have added a digital themo and a rack for the corals to sit on.

I have maybe 1/2 lbs of LR from my 100g and 1lb of live sand and there is chetao in the filter

The pumps are Aqua 302s turned all the way down with one pointed along the back side and on point diagonal to the center of the front.( been changed since the picture was taken)

The rack is 4 squares high which I have been thinking with this tank having only a depth of 6" might be high and thinking of taking it down to 2 squares.

So far the tank has been sitting at 80.1-80.6 steady durning the day.

I have to say because of the rules here and just want to clarify he is not selling these commerically but to his father so it is more being paid for his reef chores than anything.

Any input will greatly be appericated that is constuctive. Thanks again

Avalanche Wolf · #2 09/16/2007, 01:51 AM

tonight i shut off the pump in the last pic on the right off so now the only one on is the flow from the filter and the powerhead on the leftwhich is running at minimum flow along the back panel. so far the zoos are liking the flow a lot better.

redox · #3 09/16/2007, 08:26 AM

thats a great idea and your son looks like hes enjoying it and learning from it. So when he grows some great stuff is he gonna jack you on the cost

Avalanche Wolf · #4 09/16/2007, 12:05 PM

yah I had to explain to him that a kenya frag is not worth $50 bucks lol

Avalanche Wolf · #5 09/16/2007, 03:12 PM

Should I add more Live rock or sand ? I notice most tanks are also running the flow under the rack

moonyguy · #6 09/16/2007, 04:15 PM

Great way to get your son involved. I dont think you need to add some LR unless you plan to keep some fish...but LR is always good. I have it in my sump for my frag tank that I am putting together.

loosbrew · #7 09/16/2007, 04:23 PM

awesome! He looks like a real character!

Luis

redox · #8 09/16/2007, 04:58 PM

It will be easier too keep clean without sand. And... no sand and plenty of current do well for prop. I cant wait to see how this turns out. I would love to do this with my son as well, hes 6

MikePowell · #9 09/16/2007, 09:52 PM

Same here i too would like to do this with my wife, she's 21. J/K no but seriously she hates my reef, she thinks it's a waist of time and money.

Avalanche Wolf · #10 09/17/2007, 07:54 AM

He is 6 years old and loves corals . When ever I visit the site and he sees it he comes running.

He has 2 differant types of zoos, a kenya , Green seastars , a red and a green mushroom and a pepermint shrimp in there right now.

The sand is a mess and I am seriously thinking of pulling it out of there when i lower the rack.

I am also going to have it so the flow is below the rack as I have seen this on a lot of tanks.

Thanks all for the input. We will upload some more pictures soon.

robwsup · #11 09/18/2007, 12:30 AM

That's a pretty small filter. Add more live rock for bio-filtration.

Rio makes a little nano skimmer that might work real well in this setup.

Awesome little reefer!

Avalanche Wolf · #12 09/18/2007, 11:40 AM

I found that and is what I am going to pick up. Thanks for the tip . Still going to leave the other one on there to run water through the chateo.

Again thanks for the tips , keep them coming

Avalanche Wolf · #13 09/19/2007, 02:35 PM

Well I sucked out all the sand , man that was a chore and I might have a rio nano skimmer lined up but alittle apperhensive with the seller as they have no posts on the site but have been a member since may 07 .

Working on adding some more live rock from the main display as well. Also did a massive water change today as the tank just didnt smell right and the corals were very unhappy. Checked all my levels and everything looked on target.

I know with the rio skimmer it will help a lot I keep trying to think how i can tie this tank into my main but I want this tank displayed at well.

Will figure that out later.

robwsup · #14 09/20/2007, 02:31 AM

Check your LFS for the rio skimmer, as most LFS buy from a Taam/Rio carrying distributor. It should cost $30-$40.

Kuzujanakis · #15 09/20/2007, 12:31 PM

Where can I purchase a tank like that? I would love to have one just like it!

russ49merc · #16 09/20/2007, 01:35 PM

don't get one of those rio skimmers I have one they suck. you'd be better off just running some carbon on it.

and that tank is awesome very cool

Avalanche Wolf · #17 09/20/2007, 03:02 PM

You can get the tank from Glass cages.c om they call it their 20L half.

Thanks for the tip Russ , I will keep looking around.

RIght now I am doing 75% water changes ever 3 days from the main 100gallon tank. I also dropped the rack down to 2 squares and turned one of the power heads into a spraybar pointing down and to the front.

I also added about 2lbs of LR. I am picking up another tank this weekend for prop setup.

But i am thinking a tank slightly larger on a rack 3 high and a 25g sump would give me enough room for a real skimmer but hey just a thought and a dream , 3 tanks is plenty to keep up for right now.

storrisch · #18 09/21/2007, 08:14 AM

why change the water with water from your display instead of newly mixed?

Avalanche Wolf · #19 09/21/2007, 05:13 PM

Because of the skimmer that is in the main tank. This tank has no skimmer. But when it comes to doing water changes yes I will do newly mixed.

It is just a temp thing until I get a skimmer for this small tank.

lotsoftats · #20 09/22/2007, 05:48 PM

avalanch...i saw that tank and started to buy it myself. but it looks like it found a good home and a new reefer.

I love what you r doin with your son. i have all girls and they don't really care to much for the hobby.

if you r willing to cover the cost of shipping i will frag a couple of zoos from each one i can spare and give them to your son.

that way he can sell them to daddy when they multiply.

i live in ky so shipping should not be that much i have extra stryo coolers and ice packs from when i ordered frags.

i have about 50 different zoos i can frag.

pm me if you r interested.

Avalanche Wolf · #21 09/25/2007, 08:49 AM

PM sent

Avalanche Wolf · #22 09/26/2007, 07:49 PM

Well after all siad and done the smal tank was a bit too hard to keep all the params in check so we upgraded and lucked out at a garage sale.

The new frag tank is 40g and we combinded the equipment from the smaller tank and other to the new one. I am still working on the finishing of the stand but the new tank is up and running and doing so much better than the small one. May just end up turning the small one into a pods or something tank to help the larger one.

Gonna start a new thread for the new tank.. Link to follow soon.

roblack · #23 09/27/2007, 02:06 PM

It is hard to keep a small tank stable and get the parameters correct and keep them there. My 12 gal nano took quite a while to establish. Liverock and sand from established tanks help. I also grab stuff out of old established filters and place them in new tank filters to give them a biological head start.