my nano inspired by ninjafish (pics included)

fella1320 · #1 10/23/2005, 04:31 PM

Here is a build log of my 5.5 nano inspired by the incredible tank that ninjafish has at his job (which i think he is luck to still have) haha. soooo

the first thing i did was drill holes for 1/2" bulk heads and drill holes in the night stand that i used as a tank stand

the next thing i did was assemble the 1/2" bulk heads and the threaded adapter to the male slip connector and finally the 5/8" inside diameter clear tubing and finally the tubing to my fluval 304

i then took the bottom of the canister and drilled a small hole in the side where the heater wire would go through. I cut the end of plug off to fish the wire through the small hole then i reattached the plug using wire connectors, liquid electric tape and then finally regular electric tape so i had a fairly secure water tight connection. I then re sealed the hole using silicone. its a bit hard to see but the hole is on the left side.

And finally here is a picture a day later with sand in it i am currently using a 50watt halogen desk lamp just so i can look at it however i am in need of some other light just not sure what i can get yet

fella1320 · #2 10/23/2005, 04:33 PM

if anyone has a light they can recomend that is fairly cheep i would appreciate it. or if anyone has a spare that they would be willing to sell that would be great. im only looking to do some zoos, mushrooms, and softies. thanks for looking

Henry22 · #3 10/23/2005, 05:55 PM

How much flow do you get out of that? Is it enough? Looks cool too

fella1320 · #4 10/23/2005, 06:11 PM

i get about 300gph which is a turn over rate of about 50 times per hour. it is pretty much flow

Henry22 · #5 10/23/2005, 09:09 PM

Yeah, thats pretty good, you could keep sps but thats alot of light and prob a chiller. If you want lights look at Bennerkla's thread about his 5.5, he built a custom hood

rbrice020378 · #6 10/24/2005, 03:23 PM

Pretty slick, keep up the good work.

fella1320 · #7 10/24/2005, 03:36 PM

thanks for the compliment the goal of the tank is to not be able to see any wires or equipment the thermometer is only in there untill i know the temp is stable. i think im going to go with the 2x 18watt pc by coralife. i noticed it doesnt fit exactly but i think i can get it to work for now untill i can afford to make a canopy

fishman805 · #8 10/24/2005, 06:26 PM

Have you got a strainer to go over the input to the Fluval..??? Looks like you've just got a clean pipe....

Good start by the way.... Ask Chad how he rigged that desk lamp over his tank...

Bob

fella1320 · #9 10/24/2005, 10:06 PM

yea i put a strainer over the intake tube but i still have to be fairly carefull about where the sand lands or some of it will get sucked down into the filter which is not too big of a deal because it is a top mounted impailer but it is a concern.

fella1320 · #10 10/24/2005, 10:09 PM

i also have a question about stocking. What fish could i consider putting in the 5.5 i already have a pair of clowns in my 65, so i was not really considering another clown. however i did see some really nice goby's on live aquaria would they be ok and how many fish or how many inches of fish i would really like to have a goby and a cardinal but i dont know if the cardinaly would be a good idea any other ideas?

also thanks fish man for sticking with me!!!

WendyMc · #11 10/24/2005, 11:17 PM

Hey, I'm certainly no fish expert, but IME cardinals don't appreciate that high of flow. Anyone who knows better, please correct me (I only had wild caught ones for 6 wks before they finally wasted away...) I'd try something that 'perches'. A goby or small blenny might be good, & a goby/pistol shrimp pair would be an awesome display in such a tiny tank!

fella1320 · #12 10/25/2005, 06:02 AM

ahhh i do believe you are correct about the cardinal completely slipped my mind about all that flow really glad i asked. are pistol shrimp reef safe?

jcopp24 · #13 10/25/2005, 06:58 AM

Great looking tank so far, if you are looking for cheap lighting... that also looks good like ninjafish's tank they sell PC desk lamps at Sam's Club ( I dont know if they have those where you are...) but they are boasting 150 watts for 49.99 and it looks like a desk lamp.
I know you want to run a Reef tank how about an Undulated Trigger Fish

That would make a great addition to your nano... obviously I am kidding... I have a 20GL Nano that I have been modeling after K9's 20GL, check out his thread too...
I got it a Stomapod and a Undulated Trigger fish that would be the key to a successful tank

fella1320 · #14 10/25/2005, 11:53 AM

hahaha lol i was going to sudgest a sohal or clown tang but i didnt want to get arrested (tang police) opps i have already said too much. hahaha ill also take a look at k9's tank thanks for the tip

WendyMc · #15 10/25/2005, 01:23 PM

I haven't ever heard about a pistol shrimp causing harm to a reef (except if you have a sm. tank w/ a deep sand bed, they burrow through & it would greatly affect the denitrification). I had one in my old 50g seahorse setup, it came in the rock, I'd hear it all the time but never saw it. My fav LFS carries the goby/shrimp combo as often as possible, & they are very charming, the owner says he hasn't had complaints about them. I trust him wholeheartedly (his user name is kevinpo, he's about the nicest guy in the hobby), as I've NEVER heard him give hoakie advice or take advantage of a noob. If he hasn't done his complete & thorough research, he doesn't recommend it to others.

haha, I've heard the shrimp prefer to buddy up to undulated triggers over their gobies anyday

jcopp24 · #16 10/25/2005, 02:27 PM

that is the problem with you fish people... Undulates want friends too... Shrimp, fish, corals... he likes them all... for supper

fella1320 · #17 10/25/2005, 03:48 PM

ok i just took apart my 2x 65 watt coralife light and realized the ballasts just come right out of them. unfortunately the bulbs are 21 inches long and my tank is only 16inches long does anyone know of a shorter bulb ???

Henry22 · #18 10/25/2005, 04:58 PM

Yeah, try the yashe haze goby or my personal favorite, the red banded hi-fined goby with or w/o a pistol.

fella1320 · #19 10/25/2005, 07:42 PM

ok i have decided i am going to use my 2 65 watt ballasts with 2 x 24watt power compact bulbs i am gong to cut down the reflector to size and use the two 2 inch fans. so thats 48 watts on 5.5 gallons or about 8 watts per gallon. what do you think?

Henry22: i really do like the goby/ pistol idea

fella1320 · #20 10/26/2005, 05:55 AM

how far off of the water do you think the bulbs should be?

fella1320 · #21 10/26/2005, 06:05 AM

also i am having trouble keeping the tank temp down so as it is. right now there is no light on it and it is like 82 degrees. i turned my heater down to like 76 and have a glass canopy on it but my house right now drops to 65 durring the day when no one is home and when i get home it is still 82. could it be the fluval making too much heat?

ninjafish · #22 10/26/2005, 07:04 PM

fella,
Holy freak! I didn't even know about this thread until just now. I am very flattered and it looks like you have a great start. If I were you, I would cut off the flex line on the return bulkhead closer to the bottom and have it shoot straight up. If you let the return flow lose near the bottom of the tank, it will have more room to tumble and break into random turbulence before hitting the surface. This should give you better flow patterns in the tank without the geysering effect that you are probably experiencing now.
As for your temp, have you tried taking off the glass cover? Your canister (and even lights) shouldn't cause a problem as long as the tank has room to breath and cool. The only time I ever had temp problems with any tank is when I ran it with the cover.

Best of luck bro!

- Chad

fella1320 · #23 10/27/2005, 06:09 AM

ohhh my the master has come!!! thanks alot chad any compliment from you must mean im doing something right. and you are correct about the "geyser" effect that im having i'll cut that down tonight when i get home. and as for the temp it is actually my heater i tried unpluging it last night and the temp fell to nearly 70 i guess ill have to turn it down again. i thought it was set at like 76 but in my experience the temp on the heater is never what it actually heats to. Last night i started on a canopy for the tank ill have to post some pictures tonight as well.

the reason i have the glass top on is because i wanted to minimize evaporation and salinity swings do you think mabey i could just dremel some holes in the top of the glass? or would that just be too much work for what its worth?

thanks much
--Matt

fella1320 · #24 10/27/2005, 06:10 AM

PS i can only hope to have a tank nearly as nice as yours!!

ninjafish · #25 10/27/2005, 06:50 AM

Matt,
Wow, good job tracking down the overheating culprit. If the heater was causing the trouble, just disregard what I said about your glass cover. Using it to slow down the rate of evaporation is a great idea. I found that the cover on my 90 caused a greenhouse effect with my lighting but now that you have fixed the heater, I would stick to your original plans.
I really like the tank you are using, looks like two of my cubes side by side. Are you going to view it from all sides? Kinda reminds me of the world's smallest "room divider" tank, with the rockwork piled up down the middle of the tank and swimming/crawling room along the sides?
I will definitely be watching this thread.

- Chad