Jumping In

[Slick Fork]

Thanks for all the replies so far and keep 'em coming!

I checked out some Aragonite Sand and the price wasn't as bad as I thought I should be (I think the small 15lb bag should be lots but I can play that by ear) and since everybody seems to have a pretty strong opinion on the benefits I'll go that route.

I'm playing around with some ideas on a simple DIY skimmer made from parts I already have lying around. Once I have something I'll post it for everybody to OOH and AAAAH over! So that will bring my total filtration to 1 aquaclear Mini HOB filled with LR rubble, 1 DIY Skimmer, and a 150 GPH powerhead. I think this should be lots, how about you guys?

I'm picking up the tank tommorow and then I'm gone for vacation for a couple of weeks so I don't think I'll have any real progress until I get back. I played around with the idea of setting it up with the liverock in there and just letting it sit and cycle until I get back, but without any top off device to maintain the proper salinity I think I'll just wait. Don't want to go and blow 120 on LR just to have it killed because I wasn't around to keep things topped off!

Flusher: You mentioned getting a refractometer over a hydrometer, I'm not entirely sure what the difference is, do they not both measure gravity and salinity? Or am I thinking of something else!

As far as the path to upgrading components, this is tank will be a bit of an experiment in convincing my wife that a large salt water tank would be a good thing! Part of the reason I'm trying to keep a lot of the hardware costs down are once I can upgrade to a bigger tank and transfer my livestock over, the 10 gallon is going to turn into a Q tank or maybe even a sump/regugium for my 33 gallon!

Cheers

[Flusher]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

Flusher: You mentioned getting a refractometer over a hydrometer, I'm not entirely sure what the difference is, do they not both measure gravity and salinity? Or am I thinking of something else!

They both do the same thing, just in different ways. Refractometers are far more reliable. There are a few types of hydrometers, but they just don't compare in reliability.

this is tank will be a bit of an experiment in convincing my wife that a large salt water tank would be a good thing!

Ah, I see. Ha ha. Let her pick out the fish, then.

Here's a decent list of fish that'll fit in a small tank:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/s...fm?pCatId=2124

Avoid the Court Jester and Hector's Gobies, though. They feed a lot like Mandarin Gobies, and aren't that easy to take care of...

Firefish are cool. I'd get one if I had room. I'm happy with my two Occelaris clowns, though.
________
LovelyWendie99

[Slick Fork]

Just thought I'd give an update,

Got my lighting figured out the other day. I opted for a DIY style lighting system and got it done fairly cheaply. I had a 24" 20w 18000K fixture sitting around from when I upgraded my freshwater to t-5 lighting so I decided to try and make use of that.

I ran out to the hardware store and bought a chunk of 1x8 lumber, a galvanized steel stove-pipe, found an 18" fluorescent fixture on sale for $10 and bought some phillips 27watt compact fluorescent screw in bulbs (6500K colour) Total bucks spent at the hardware store.....$45 Then off to petsmart where I grabbed a new t-8 actinic bulb for the 18" lamp, came home and put it all together.

Here's what it looks like (quick sketch, not to scale)



The ducting I cut in half and screwed on to the bottom of the 1x8, It was already sort of parabolic so all I had to do was bend it to the 10" wide I need for the tank, the 2 fluorescent fixtures I ripped apart and mounted the ballasts and starters to the top of the new hood to get them out of the way and away from the heat. This thing is frickin bright, I filled the tank with water and set this thing on top and am very very pleased with the results. I hope to be able to have most coral's now as I have 89 watts going into this little 10 gallon setup (and that's not considering the "actual light" being produced by those power compact screw-in bulbs). Total cost for the fixture $58

I'm gone for holidays tommorow so this is as far as I'll get before July probably (lots of time to think up a DIY skimmer!)

Cheers

[Flusher]

Nice DIY lights. Can you post some picts of it? I'd love to see how well that lights up your tank.
________
IOLITE VAPORIZER MOISTURE CONDENSER

[prosnow]

go for the refractormeter they are way more acurate, which is very important especially in a nano,

oh, personally i dont think that will be enough flow, i have 2 canister filters rated @ 300 gph in my 18 gal, and theres noooo way thats even enough flow, looking for a sieo 620 to drop in there as well,

[Slick Fork]

Hi again,

Got back from Holidays last week and made it in to Gold's today to pick up my Live Rock and a few other goodies (great people at the store there, first time I'd really spent any time there!), got the tank set up tonight and it looks good so far! I'll try to post some pic's tommorow!

[prosnow]

looking fwd to seeing some pics