New baby

[Treehumps]

Hey all.. first time poster long time lurker.... have finally decided to set up a new tank & its gunna be a nano.. am going all out as its going to be my only salty for a long time yet (have to build the house for the next one first)

The tank is a 8G all in one. It has a wet dry filter compartment in the lid, pump 75g/h and twin standard aquariam tubes. I also have a box filter i intend using... it is shockingly slow, about 25g/h, but a good 2g chamber for added volume. 300g/h pump to run the skimmer bucket (nother 2g LOL) and during summer that flow will also be diverted thru the chiller (aka converted bar fridge).

I have loads of base rock & going to let this tank grow slowly,, dont want anythign much just shroom's, algae, a garss if i can find one suitable (sizewise) and maybe a few low light corals and one or 2 fish .. OR MANTIS YAYAYAYAYAY but hubby would prefer fish (i showed him a video, from someone here i think, of one feeding i loved it he wasnt impressed)

Have the basic plumbing & setup worked out but a few things naggig in my head.. will get them soon enough i cant have the tank for a few months yet, hubbies damn cichlids wont stop breeding :) ONE that is really nagging me is do i NEED a fuge?? i know they are great on larger reefs where there is a higher bioload, but i am a plant man anyway i dont mind if my tank is full of them...

anyways i have waffled enough will update you as things come together. M

[shouldabenacowboy]

[welcome]

SBC

[Treehumps]

Ok... so things have changed just a tad since the other day.. see attached plan.. which also btw needs modifying... but will give the general idea...

Tank being visible from 3 sides i wanted minimal pipework etc showing so would really like to come thru the base... is it going to be a problem to drill 6 or 8 holes in the base of this size tank? i am thinking central overflow to sump.. then intakes either side of this for the C/L with the returns being opposite cnrs of the tank and vice versa for the sump returns.. i am hoping this will do a number of things.. A) force more water thru the l/r, b) a more random current due to the differencial of the 2 pumps flow rates... Any thoughts?? corrections??.. (pls i am lost with water systems) btw c/l intakes will be placed a coupl of inches above the sand bed and all returns a bit closer to that lvl...

onto lights... am thinking LED for number of reasons.. but mainly would like to try my hand at designing a decent dawn/dusk/moon cycle with them.. I have managed to track down some with an output of 10k @ 16000mcd (i dont know wat this means) and blue lights of same brightness & 465-470nm... so 30 white & 12 blue over the main tank and 12 white, 4 blue over the sump/fuge... i am hoping to set them up to start up every 5 mins till fully lit then reverse for dusk and have the moonlights work in synch with them as well... and of course reverse the cycles on the sump... Does anyone have any exerience setting up led's.. i have found some info form here that will be of much use but am having trubl finding info on how to or where to find the control device to drive it..

Another factor with these particular led's is that they have a very narrow dispersal pattern (20 deg).. another reason for the mass number of them... now i was thinking of setting them all to focus in the middle of the tank... hopefully this will eliminate any flat spots in light & create more contrast during the dawn/dusk cycle.... btw i mean middle thru 3 dimensions not just the surface...

Any help or suggestions or even criticisms would be greatly appreciated. i have had prior experience with larger reefs but never attempted anythign from scratch this involved... nor in the last few yrs either & things have a way of getting away from one....

Look forward to hearing from any & all..

M

[Treehumps]

hope this works

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114233tankplan.jpg

[timschmidt]

I like your ideas so far but I think your top off should probably be at least a 2 gallon jug. I think your evaporation will be a bit more that half a gallon. I'm not a light expert but I really am impressed with the LED idea, if they do work maybe istall a reflector and have all the LEDs point upward into the reflector to spread the light evenly. For drilling holes I've noticed that you want to limit the amount you put on one pane. Maybe only two on each piece of glass and make sure to have at least an inch of glass between your holes and anything else like the edge or another hole. Hope that helps, and I vote for the Mantis!!

Good luck!

Tim

[Treehumps]

and I vote for the Mantis!!

Good luck!

Tim

Hey tim so do i but hubby has vetoed my getting one...

so to that end.. and i guess in frustration at trying to figure this damn thing out all by myself i wandered off to my LFS, Reef and River in East Geelong... Bruce is a fantastic source of info & is going to be building the tank anyways so who better to help me sort it all out finally.... and to that end i will try and get a sketch done up of wat we have come up with.. i have to say its going to be fantastic i cant wait... but i am going to have to , he is flat out at moment.

Now onto the rest of the projest... to get my base rock out of storage and get it live again... and finish the filtration & closed loop setups ready for the day the tank arrives.. am hoping i can just sit it str8 on cupboard, hook plumbing up and fill ready to go.. if i have my rock & filters ready & cycled am i still going to get another cycle when i hook the tank into it? i am adding a 4" DSB to the tank.. the rock and bulk of the water will be from the temporary setup.

OK lights i still havent decided but am starting to lean away from the LED's, is one product left that i need to go thru the specs on & then will make my call.. otherwise its power compacts.. as far as output & light quality IN tank they meet everything i need...add to that cost both initially and over the projected 10yr life of this tank in operation and maintenance. To be honest even if $$ were not an issue & they arent really or i wouldnt be getting a custom tank.. i wouldnt even put MH into the equation.. i have said in another post & will here they are totally unnecesarry unless u have an extremely deep and large tank. jmho & wat i can support from research.. particularly

Now given that the mantis is vetoed, i did happen to see Fire Goby (Nemateleotris magnifica) a pair of these would be awesome but how would they go in my tank re feeding etc... i am guessing let tank really mature b4 adding them... and one of the Blenny's, probably bicolor on recomendation from LFS (help with algae control?) Tho a dottyback would be nice i have had b4 & loved watching it for hrs, is it true u should only put one of these in a tank?

Anyways enough of my ramblings will try get that sketch done in next day or so.. and wait for the quote AAARRRGGGHHHHHHHH :D

M

[Treehumps]

btw i will still be setting up a small led system on my fuge and for dawn/dusk/moon cycles on the main tank if i go with the pc's

M

[louist]

hey, if you want australian specific info, come over and check the MASA forum www.masa.asn.au

[Mark426]

Your setup looks great. As for the LED's, I might just stick with power compacts or T-5's. It looks like LED's are just not workable YET. I have seen several threads where people have tried it and no one has been successful so far, but who knows, you might be the first.

Good luck,
Mark

[Treehumps]

hey, if you want australian specific info, come over and check the MASA forum www.masa.asn.au

Heya bud thanks for the link, i saw you post on another chain & meant to ask if you had any Aust sites...

[Treehumps]

Your setup looks great. As for the LED's, I might just stick with power compacts or T-5's. It looks like LED's are just not workable YET. I have seen several threads where people have tried it and no one has been successful so far, but who knows, you might be the first.

Good luck,
Mark

Thanks mark.. here is a link to the last thing on my list to check specs for.. i have downloaded them but not gone over yet... will let you know wat i decide, your post reminded me its still sitting there waiting for me to look at.. :)

http://www.lumileds.com/products/family.cfm?familyId=5

M

[cmondo]

If the fuge is big enough, why not throw it in there, and keep it dimmly lit? Since you have an over flow connecting the two u woulndn't have a problem with the mantis or fish going back and forth.

[Treehumps]

Ok so heres what i am having built...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/114233tankquote.JPG
(i have tried to attach pics and dont seem to be able to so this will do)

OK yellow area is the dsb, speckled grey section will be the intake box for the closed loop. Bruce is going to fabbricate it i just have to drill the thousand odd holes in it :confused: and the grey is the overflow intake. am still working on the final plans & layout for the cupboard to house everything else and will post as & when i get it done....

Now onto the good stuff.. i collected my base rock out of storage yesterday and got water to start the cookin today YAY.. Worked out i have enough to do the sculpting of main tank as planned and have heaps left over to fill wat i had been planning to use as a macro growing fuge... hhmm

HHHEEEELLLPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!
do i not bother with the macro, not use all of my rock (thats ok btw, some of it is really ugly) or loose my skimmer to make more room for macro and rock???

Also, today i made the first aqua-sition for this tank.. a mated trio (????) of fire goby's... ok so this has me confused i know these guys live in pairs or 3somes but is that mated? Anywho's its moot point the 3 came as a set and as its wat i had decided (and had approval i bought them... SHOOT ME NOW!! I know i dont even have a tank and i have fish, but all is good they have been moved to a friends reef for safe keeping... (getting them back from him is another matter but oh well time will tell) have also firmed on a bicolor blenny for this tank. As far as i am concerned thats it for this tank.

If the fuge is big enough, why not throw it in there, and keep it dimmly lit? Since you have an over flow connecting the two u woulndn't have a problem with the mantis or fish going back and forth. [/B]

Is this a viable option? And wat are the possibilities of the mantis getting back up into the main tank? i would kill it if it ate any of the fish.. gggrrrr And i also wouldnt get to see it much at all. Unless i cut the bottom of the door out & built the fuge out of clear acrylic instead of the red plastic storage container i currently have (it fit :D )

Ok something the LFS did say that surprised me is that with my tank setup (ie dsb, fuge, huge rock base) & fish choices i could support a mandarin.... HHMM Please advise.. this would be an ultimate for me and given that i would have to wait a good 6-12mths for this tank to really settle and mature i have plenty of time to decide BUT OMG :smokin: I had kinda made myself believe that this one would have to wait for the next and final tank to be built(yes its already inplanning). To have one now (compared to 10-15yrs away) would be awesome.. Some one please tell me the lfs is joking

M


PS have decided to go with double 36w power compact fittings for the lights one 10k one 50/50 actinic/10k. will post pics when i get them. also of my rock cooking when i get round to taking one.