Ziggy's Nano

[Ziggy953]

Well as much as I tried to avoid it, as much as I worked to not think about it. My 3yo wouldn't let me forget that I owe him a tank in his bedroom. UGH!

Here is what I'm doing.

Some of you may know already I have a ton of tanks laying around the house. Well I decided to take one of the acrylic 5g tanks and modify it and use that as a mini-reef in my son's room. I've had the tank sitting on a shelf for some time now and everytime someone comes to visit my son quickly informs them that that is his tank.

This is going to be a very simple little tank. I've decided to go with a clown goby and maybe one other very small fish like a neon goby. I'll also put a cleaner shrimp and maybe another shrimp, probably a sexy shrimp. Then I plan to load it up with zoas and a couple of my lower light LPS corals.

All the rock I'm using has been in the sump of the 120 for a long time so it is fully cured. I've also modified an aquaclear HOB filter to house LR rubble. I'll pull water out of the 120 to fill the tank and will do my water changes this way also. I figure the 120 can filter an additional 5g tank. When I had my previous 5g tank up and running I changed about 1g twice a week via the 72(at the time) so I figure I'll do the same thing with this tank.

Lighting:

This is one of those Hex-style acrylic tanks, that comes with a flip top. It was a kit I picked up several years ago when I was nuts into breeding guppies. I've rewired the light to hold 2 10w CP 50/50 bulbs. I think 20w of CP light on a 5g should be more then enough to handle the few corals I plan to put in the tank. This lighting worked great on my other 5g tank. I'm in a holding pattern at the moment waiting for my wife to get back with the bulbs. I'm also waiting for my dremel to charge up (hate the wireless...give me a plug any day). A few more modifications on the hood and I'll have the lighting taken care of.

Flow:

The flow is going to be generated from the aquaclear and one tiny power head. I'll hide the power head behind the rocks and allow it to push water through them. I'm thinking a loose open style rock structure. I'm glad I bought all that tennis ball sized rubble a year ago.

I've taken some pics along the way and I'll post them later today.

[HoCkEyGmC]

cool!

[Ziggy953]

Yeah...I'm not thrilled about it...more work for me but we do what we promise for our children....

[HoCkEyGmC]

lol it'll be a nice project.

[Ziggy953]

Well my son has been really good and I promised him I would if he was good. Plus I got extra hugs and kisses when we got started.

Here is the tank: It is 16x9x11




The modification on the hood. I removed the white housing that had the electronics for the florescent tube and replaced it with a double socket to hold the 2 10w CP 50/50 bulbs. I have another reflector to put on the other side I just took this pic before I had it in place. I'm not really concerned with the reflectors but wanted to add them just to help direct the light down. I have a feeling this is going to be a very bright tank. I'm going to also have a 15w mini heater in the tank behind the rock work to keep the temp in check.



Right now I'm working on getting the LR out of the sump and picking which ones I'll put in the tank. I figure I can get about 12-14lbs in the tank and still have lots of room. The rubble I'm using is about the size of tennis balls. I've picked out some corals for the tank as well. I have a small head of frogspawn that is going in as well as some green star polyps. Those along with some zoas and mushrooms and this little tank should look pretty good. If I can keep my sons hands and toys out I think it will work out nicely.

[neilanh]

Looks like an interesting little project. Too bad it couldn't easily just be plumbed into the main system, then you wouldn't even have to mess with small water changes on it.

[Ziggy953]

Yeah I wish that could be the case. The water changes aren't that bad. I can siphon the water out of the nano and into the sump of the 120 and then just pour new SW in from the 120. That is what I did with the last nano. Two times a week and the water parameters stayed in check.

[melosu58]

Very interesting Allen. Hope all goes well.

[Ziggy953]

Well here we are at the final stages of the nano.

Rock in place...



Part way filled. (This is water right out of my 120 system)




Completely filled with the aqua clear running. I decided against the tiny power head for now. I want to see how things go with just the aqua clear. I believe it moves something like 94gph. The heater is all the way at the bottom in the back.

[Zagz]

It looks fantastic! Your son must be so excited.

[Tank2379]

Very nice Nano. I hope all goes well for you...

[Ziggy953]

Originally Posted by Zagz

It looks fantastic! Your son must be so excited.

Thanks. He is pretty excited. We have been talking about it for some time now and he has finally gotten to the point where I think he can leave it alone. I hope!

[Ziggy953]

Originally Posted by Tank2379

Very nice Nano. I hope all goes well for you...

Thanks. This is actually my third nano. The first two worked out really well they just got to be too much work. This one will be a lot of work but I made a promise.

[Zagz]

I am sure your son will be so proud of the tank he will leave it alone. Such a good dad keeping your promise.

[Ziggy953]

I got fancy and put the lights on a timer. Since I work nights and my son doesn't always sleep in his own bed I thought it would be a good idea to have the lights programed for on/off so my wife doesn't have to remember when they need to be off.

One of the rocks that is in the tank is actually a rock I had in the 72 that was covered in pink zoas. During the tank debacle I stuck that rock in the sump and forgot about it. Well after how ever long it has been there is actually 1 polyp that I can see still kicking. It opened up and is rather strange looking. I hope to see a come back as they were really nice looking.

I'll probably work on putting a few things in the tank tomorrow and do a PWC on Monday. I figure I'll do a few this week just to get things jump started. I can't imagine seeing a cycle as everything in the tank was cycled and fully cured. I'll check things out tomorrow and see what kind of numbers I get.

[pat8you]

If that zoa survives it will end up growing into the most indestructable colony there is. haha. Tank looks good so far.

[Ziggy953]

I just looked at that rock again and there is another polyp that has opened up. You are right they will end up being the toughest zoas on the planet. This rock was at the bottom of my Rubble tower and got pretty much zero light. How they survived I have no idea. Absolutely amazing.

[Tank2379]

Originally Posted by Ziggy953

Thanks. This is actually my third nano. The first two worked out really well they just got to be too much work. This one will be a lot of work but I made a promise.

I understand very much. it's hard to break a promise to your our kids. I have three girls and they loved that they have Nemo...lol... That was a promise I could not refuse.....

[Ziggy953]

Ok.

Day 2 of the 5g nano.

I test the water:

Ammonia - 0
NitrIte - 0
PH - 7.9
CA - 480
Alk - 10
NitrAte - 10
Temp - 78.9
SG - 1.025

I didn't test mag but I would assume it is close to my main reef since the water came from there.

I have decided to wait a few days before putting anything in the tank. I'll probably do a PWC on it day 4 (Tuesday). There was very little evaporation over night so that is a good sign. I'm hoping to only have to replace about a cup or so per day.

I've selected most of the corals I'm going to put in the tank. I'm going to go with mainly zoas, mushrooms and a couple very small LPS. I have a tiny frag of frogspawn and I'm going to frag a head of trumpet to go in there.

We haven't decided on which fish will go in the tank yet. I know for sure there will be one neon goby. My son loves them and they are very cool little fish. I would like to put a couple of sexy shrimp in the tank as they stay fairly small.

That's all for now...

[DJLiquid]

Originally Posted by Ziggy953

he has finally gotten to the point where I think he can leave it alone. I hope!

Are you going to weld the lid shut? My three year old would have it filled up with match box cars in no time!