DigitalWeight's 28 Gallon Nano That I Wish Was Bigger

[DigitalWeight]

I am 9 months into this hobby and can't believe how much fun it is (and freakin' expensive - don't tell my wife). I am starting this journal to try to get some sort of timeline that will show my progress over time. As I do, please chime in with your comments, suggestions, and criticisms as I want to learn as much as possible.

That is what I love about this - I work a pretty stressful job and this hobby is a great release from that. It is relaxing in the way that it is all consuming. I wouldn't call it a passive hobby; it requires constant learning, attention, but the rewards are pretty cool.

So, 9 months ago I went nano. Wish I would have gone bigger at the time but who knew. One day I am sure I will upgrade but that time is not now (see wife above).

Equipement:

28 Gallon AquaEuroUSA AIO Nano with lid removed so I can use the EcoTech lights
Homemade Arcylic Cover for AIO built in sump
Matching Stand
JBJ ATO
TLF 150 Phosban Reactor running GFO and Carbon
Slim Skim Nano Protein Skimmer
BRS 4 Stage RO/DI System - 75 GPD
VorTech Propeller Pump - MP10 ES
EcoTech Radion Gen 2 LED Lights

Tank Readings:
Temp: 80
Calcium: 480
kH: 8.0
Mag: 1250
Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 5 (need to get this down)

Next Steps:

1. Build a DIY sump that will fit in the new Ikea cabinet that I built just for this purpose (more on that later).



Some Pics:

Here is where I am at today (first shot is 9 months ago). Still trying to figure out the best way to take pics (need to learn from Kien - that dude is the master) and ignore the particles in the water - moved some stuff around earlier and the tank was still settling.

[kien]

Looking good. That little cube is going to fill in nicely. :-)

We all wish that it was bigger but what can ya do..

[Goatman]

Originally Posted by kien

Looking good. That little cube is going to fill in nicely. :-)

We all wish that it was bigger but what can ya do..

too easy Kien.....


That is most assuredly a mighty fine tank you have there DigitalWeight

[DigitalWeight]

I tee'd up the bigger joke nicely! Well played guys!

Ok, I am planning the sump I am going to build. First time doing this, and after some research I have come up with the attached design. This is going to sit in the cabinet beside the tank so will need to plan the plumbing next (stayed tuned!)

It is a 29 gallon sump which I think should be a good size. Here are my question that I need to answer - if you have any suggestions please let me know:

1. Baffles - the height of the sump is 19" and the two sets of bubble traps has the middle baffle at 16" with 1" off the bottom. Each outside baffle is 14" and go right to the bottom. I am paranoid about flooding so want to make sure the baffle height is right from that perspective.

2. My skimmer is a Reef Octopus NWB110 4" pinwheel - the drawing is based on dimensions. Have I left enough room on either side?

3. I am going to attach a BRS GFO and Carbon reactor - this will go in the skimmer section I think.

4. I am going to get a BRS Biopellet reactor - is that ok to feed and drain into the fuge section.

5. Debating using a UV filter I have had from my freshwater days. Not sure where this will go, but thinking in the skimmer section as well?

6. The inlet area I plan to make a media tray with filter floss and purigen in there.

That is the plan as of now - any comments, suggestions on the above questions, or things I am missing I would appreciate your feedback.

[kien]

What is your purpose for the refugium? If you run bioPellets in conjunction with a refugium you may find that macro algaes will struggle to grow in there.

[DigitalWeight]

Right, because the sole purpose of a fuge is nutrient transport and the removal of nitrates. Looking through your tank journal, looks like you went with pellets over having a fuge. Is one method deemed as better than the other?

[kien]

Originally Posted by DigitalWeight

Right, because the sole purpose of a fuge is nutrient transport and the removal of nitrates. Looking through your tank journal, looks like you went with pellets over having a fuge. Is one method deemed as better than the other?

Well, I wouldn't necessarily say that it's the sole purpose of a fuge. A lot of people set up fuges to help grow/culture pods as well. Mind you I haven't found a need to run a fuge to grow additional pods either. They seem to do a fine job populating my DT even with strict pod hunters like my three pipefish and Mandarin.

Ya, version 1.0 of my sump had a fuge because I planned on that being my nutrient export method. I quickly found that chaeto didn't grow all that well In there tho (for reasons unknown to me). And then 6 months later BioPellets came out and I gave them a shot. They pretty much worked for me right away. It was at that time that I decided I no longer needed a fuge so scrapped my sump and built a new one without a fuge in favour of a larger reactor chamber to house a larger BioPellet reactor.

Anyway, lots of people use fuges with success but if you already plan to run BioPellets you may be negating a fuges nutrient export function.

[Mike-fish]

your skimmer chamber is probably way to deep check that against the specs for it

[DigitalWeight]

At the risk of derailing my sump questions above, I had to tell a tale of my adventure. I have been suffering from a good sized brown hairy crab in my tank that I picked up somewhere along the way. I was dealing with him, but getting more and more frustrated as my cleaner crew kept going missing and there were broken up shells all over the place.

The last straw was last week when my cleaner shrimp, which was the oldest inhabitant in my tank, got its ass kicked and succumbed to this beast.

So I tried the bottle trap trick, the glass jar trick, and even tried to bait it with a net in the hope that I would be able to humanely dispose of him to one of the stores in town. Alas, it was too quick or too smart for me.

Tonight though I triumphed. I found one of his hiding spots and flushed him out with a coat hanger and chased him around the tank for a good 45 minutes. I think I tired him out and all his usual hiding spots felt no longer safe. He ended up coming out into a clearing when I impelled him with a shish kabob skewer. Here is the photographic evidence.



Feel kinda bad for him, but he was not very nice to me or my other tank inhabitants. Good riddance....

P.S. My wife is ****ed and I am no longer allowed to take any more kitchen utensils for use with the tank.

[kien]

Nice. I keep a skewer on my euro brace for this reason. I've hunted a lot of these guys over the years and I think I'm down to my last two. I see them at night with a flashlight but they're a bitch to catch. They sense the skewer hit the water and they're gone into the rock.