Smaller is Better! (5.5 gallon desktop nano. Lots of pics.)

[kevxross]

Hey guys. I haven't been very active yet on this overwhelmingly large forum, but I figured I'd share with you the reason I'm here.

I had always wanted a marine aquarium, but was always told it had to be a large tank. When I bought my 29gal with my gf I was even told that would be too small, so it currently hosts freshwater. A few months ago though, my eyes were finally opened and I discovered the art of the Nano Reef!

So to work I went. I was limited for space, so decided that my desk was the best place for the tank, and so went with a 5.5 gallon tank. The decisions were made and the plans were set, so purchases and construction began.

I built a wooden canopy to house my lights, fans, and floatswitch.


I then got a piece of acrylic and cut out overflow teet to create a false wall for a built in fuge.


I concocted an automatic top-off system out of a float switch, a battery powered air pump, and a gallon jug of water.


And built this stand for it to sit behind my desk out of sight, but within reach.


Here you can see the inside of the unfinished hood, where the floatswitch is mounted. You can also see the track for the acrylic splash guard I made to protect the lights.


The light retro finally came and I wired everything up and installed them. 2 x 32 W PCs. I also wired up two blue LEDs and mounted them behind the reflector.


-Too Many Pics-

[kevxross]

To battle the heat I mounted some computer fans. I had to put them on hinges to allow my splash guard to still slide back and forth.


Finally everything was built, setup, and good to go! Off to Dr. Mac's I was to get my first two pieces of coral.


In the following weeks, many more pieces were to be added.

Platygyra Maze Brain


3 Pipe Organ Frags (not entirely open here)


Blue with Yellow Skirt Zoos and Blue with Orange Skirts


More Zoos

[kevxross]

GSP


Vibrant Pink Zoos (Pic does no justice to the amazing glow)


Awesome Purple and Yellow Zoos


Some Pink Chalice


Poor shot of blue zoas


Hammer


Fox Coral


And finally a couple full tank shots:


Whew! Sorry for the long post! I just wanted to share my (very) little piece of the ocean. By the way, everything in this tank (including the sand and LR) is from Dr. Mac (PacificEastAquaculture.com) since I'm lucky enough to live so close. Awesome people, awesome facilty, and great livestock!

[ENraged]

how many months old is it now?
that beauty grows out a more you will have to update this thread with even more pics you have some very nice corals in there.

[Tihsho]

Where did you get your floatswitch from? Or is it DIY?

Nice tank! And glad to see another person from Maryland here!

[kevxross]

Thanks guys. Water and LR went in on May 20, so I guess that makes the tank about 2.5 months old.

The floatswitch came from http://floatswitches.net/ then I just modded a housing for it out of PVC pipe and an endcap that I drilled. I used a PVC strap to mount it to the hood.

Tihsho where do you go to school? I'm going to Salisbury University, though I'm sure you're on the other side of the bay like everyone else.

[Brian da Lion]

Nice!! My only complaint is that the brain looks kinda randomly placed. Other than that, it's perfect.

[CamBarr]

sweet nano

[PowderBlue518]

very nice nano, I think its cool looking

[doxyman]

Very nice, you put alot of thought into it and it really shows. Keep us updated with its progression.

[Tihsho]

I live in Mt Airy :P So yeah, its a trek!

BTW could you post pics on how you wired the float?

[M.Doshier]

I like the tank.....some how it still amazing how such a little tank could look so big. lol

[loyalty]

that's a very clean set up, regarding both equipment and livestock..it's nice to see reefers really planning things out, and that patience being paid off with a beautiful tank

[mr.bear]

smoot looking nano

[oddiseus]

I am interested on how you plumbed wired and run your auto top off set up. Can you post any diagrams or some more pics. I am really having a hard time coming up with a solution for my 20 tall. Thanks,
-Odd

[jasutton]

likewise. On another note, mine will be up soon! Making the hood!! WOOO

did you have heat issues? I dont know if i want to put fans in or not...

[kevxross]

Thanks for the comments all.

Originally posted by Brian da Lion
Nice!! My only complaint is that the brain looks kinda randomly placed. Other than that, it's perfect.

I wanted it on the substrate and that's pretty much the only area of substrate it could go.


About the auto top off, here's a pic of the wiring:



I just got a battery powered air pump, snipped one of the wires, then spliced each of the two wires from the float switch to each of the ends of the wire I cut (1:1). When the float switch drops, it activates the air pump. From the air pump I have airline tubing running to a gallon jug of water into a hole I drilled in the cap. The air from the pump then pressurizes the gallon jug of water. I have a second tube coming out of the jug (through a second hole in the cap) and to the tank. When the jug gets pressurized, water escapes through the second tube and into the tank to top it off until the float switch floats and shuts off the air pump.

I hope I described that well enough.. I can draw up some diagrams if anyone would like. I can't take credit for this design as I learned it from someone else, but it works great for a tank this size.

As far as heat issues the truth is, I don't know. I WAS having heat issues, but I recently discovered it was due to a faulty Visi-Therm heater. Since I set this tank up at the beginning of summer, I just figured it was the increasing heat. I have since replaced the heater with a Jager bomb and temps have been perfectly stable. I intend to test without the fans running, but only when I can be home to monitor it to be safe.

I'd say with my exact set up, if your AC is on you should be fine. When I have my AC off though, the fans have come in handy.

[kass03]

really looks nice. Good Job!

kass

[Tihsho]

Thanks for posting a pic and an explanation!

[STsONpERs]

Way nice.

dont suppose you want to send me the layout before you made the stand/ canopy do ya, if ya did that it.

i have a lil 5gal i was looking to setup.

[easye123]

where did u get that ric

[kevxross]

Originally posted by STsONpERs
Way nice.

dont suppose you want to send me the layout before you made the stand/ canopy do ya, if ya did that it.

i have a lil 5gal i was looking to setup.

I don't have a layout or anything, I just measured out the dimensions I wanted and cut the wood to size. I can figure up all those dimensions which should work for any standard 5.5 gallon though if you'd like.

Originally posted by easye123
where did u get that ric

Like I said, everything in the tank so far I got from Dr. Mac.

The ric is pretty annoyed with me right now though. It was happy and attached to a rock for a while, but a few weeks ago it detached itself and ended up face down on the substrate. I tried placing it several different places, but every time I'd come home it was sitting on its face. It has finally reattached, but has still been shrivelled and annoyed for the last week or two. I hope it recovers soon.

[Cyclone123]

Damn that is a very nice tank. And im from MD also

[kevxross]

Ok it didn't take long, but I'm really itchin' for metal halide now. I know I want 70W, but I don't know how I want to pull it off. I'd really like to keep my canopy, but that'll be difficult to do. I could try to mount a fixture on the top of the lid with a rectangle cut out of the lid, but I don't know if I can make that look nice.

Other than that, can you recommend any clip on fixtures, or better yet a good desk lamp to retro a MH into? I've found some good desk lamps, but they range from $100 to $200! That's more than I want to spend on just a housing for a retrofit.

Basically I'm looking for ideas and suggestions. Tell me what you would do if you had my tank and wanted to upgrade to MH!

Originally posted by Cyclone123
Damn that is a very nice tank. And im from MD also

Cool, what side of the bay?

[jasutton]

how did the lights effect your heat? You ever try the experiment without the fans on?


I wouldnt go MH...JMO