College Tank Idea

[JoshuA c]

Am going to college in a year and a half and I want to start thinking about the tank I will set up there.
Definitely a nano of some sort. I was thinking a fluval spec or ecopico. If I get the spec I would make a custom hood with new lights. I found a diy kit for $53 and it has 3 white and 3 actinic lights. I want a tank with the filter in the back. I can't put a sump together in college.
Black sand. That's a certain. Many mushrooms and polyps and zoas. A couple sexy shrimp. I will probably take pieces of coral from my existing tank right now. I have trumpet coral and hammer coral also.
If I can find a jbj 9g (it may be a 6g, I'll check on that) tank only for a good price, I'd pounce on that. A custom hood and the diy lighting on that. That would look awesome. I would add a gbta first and let it move around. Maybe add a diamond goby or a Banggai cardinal.
Any additions or suggestions from anyone would be awesome. Thanks

 

[Gboy66]

Dudethis is exactly what im doing when i go to college. Only 3g in the dorm? Pico reef!!! Haha

I love the idea, and think it would be very cool. Maybe a neon goby?

 

[Badfishofbabylon]

The spec makes a great pico of you plan to mod the lights. I have 2 spec pico reefs up right now, I love the tank.

 

[JoshuA c]

The spec makes a great pico of you plan to mod the lights. I have 2 spec pico reefs up right now, I love the tank.

you should attatch a photo of your tanks and share them here, cuz i am curious as to what they look like now. i followed that build thread for one of them and they looked really nice. i love the black sand idea. i think i am going to make a custom hood and attatch these lights in the link. how high of the surface of the water should i place them? http://http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-61/06-Ultra-Premium-LED/Detail

 

[Badfishofbabylon]

Thanks, but those 2 Picos that I had build threads for are no more, the corals out-grew the tanks so I moved everything to my 45 cube. Here are the last pictures I took of them.

My wife is currently using one for a Mushroom only Pico, and I am using the other for a Nano contest I entered last month. I can take a photo of them when I get home if you would like.

That kit might work but I would suggest getting dimmable drivers, the tank is pretty small, so 6 LEDs on at full power would probably cook everything. I made my hood dimmable with 5 LED (3blue, 2white), and I only run the blues at 70% power and the whites at 20%. I have the actual LEDs about 3" off the surface of the water, but I made a acrylic splash guard to keep them safe from the evap.

 

[JoshuA c]

The first picture is using 50/50s or did u change to LEDs? I'm curious as to what the tanks look like now so yeah if u could post those pics that'd be awesome.

 

[JoshuA c]

on the same website, they have a dimmable set also. did you make you hood usign a kit, or did you go and find your own stuff? what did you get if you got a kit, or if u found your own stuff what did you get?

 

[Badfishofbabylon]

Here's them now, the 50/50 is a mushroom only. And the LED tank is only a month old, I took the black sand out so I could add some from my fuge when I started it back up. I kind wish I kept it black, definitely made the corals pop.

I have a thread on my led build some where in the DIY section. It says where I bought it all from

 

[JoshuA c]

I agree, the black sand is better. I wish I had done it on my main tank.

 

[JoshuA c]

could i use these lamps for a pico reef. i would be looking at holding mushrooms, polyps, zoas, bubble tip anemone, hammer coral, xania, but no acapora or birdnests. would these support the corals i just listed? and wich one wold be better for the fluval spec?
http://http://www.dtpetsupplies.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=10187
http://http://www.dtpetsupplies.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=10186

 

[Badfishofbabylon]

Sorry I can't get the links to open. But I don't know if would try a nem in this small of a tank thought no matter what light you have.

 

[JoshuA c]

would the ecopico led arm with one led strip be able to support zoas, hammer coral, acan, trumpet coral and mushrooms?