Crytone's 10 Gal. Nano [New pics/frags added Mar 6th, pg.3]

[Crytone]

Hello fellow canreefers. Come with me as I build my first 10G nanoreef!

Background:
I've always been in love with SW aquariums but only had FW tanks as a kid. I was always told SW was too expensive, too difficult, and too big to have at home. This probably was the case 15-20 years ago when this interest first started (or else my parents were lying to me as I didn't need more pets). I've always wanted one and when I heard about nanoreefs I was sold- it sounded perfect for me! I also now own my own place, have my own money and have some spare time (between studying/University)! Also, Santa was kind this year and I had extra pocket money to help get the quest started. I also lucked out with all the Boxing Day sales going on this past week.
I was on the fence about what size of tank to get but settled on the 10G since I feel it'd fit my space better, be slighty cheaper and offer a good starting point for this adventure. If I upgrade later I have a 10G frag tank then!

Equipment:
Have:
-10G tank
-Hydor Theo 50W heater
-Koralia Nano powerhead
-Argonite sand (~12lbs used)
-~11lbs LiveRock
-Other odds and ends
-Refractometer
-RO/DI unit
-Coralife 24" 2x18W T5 light (will be replaced most likely but it was cheap)
-AC70 (DIY HOB Fuge time!) & AC20 impeller

Live stock:
1- Emerald Crab
3- Hermit Crab (possibly Zebra Hermit Crab)
2- Turbo Snail
2- Astrae Snails
3- Nassarius Snails
Plan:
May become an invert only setup!
Inverts (I like Sexy Shrimp and would like some of them if at all possible), a clownfish (I will NOT call him Nemo) and anything else that will fit and that I like.

Corals:
Candy Cane
Button Polyps
Pulsing Xenia
Montipora Digitata?

Plans:
First plan is to paint the back and bottom of the tank Satin Black. This will be after it's leak tested. I don't like looking into tanks and seeing all the equipment behind!
During the next week, while I wait on things to come in, I'll be curing the ~10lbs of LiveRock I bought [on Dec 31, 2009]. I found an awesome piece that is rather large (9lbs for that piece alone!) with lots of holes in it which the livestock will like I hope. I really like this piece so I had to have it and the price was right this week. I'll likely buy more rock later but figured this was a great start. It's currently placed in a bucket with my powerhead, heater and (less than ideal) SW mix. I'm hoping it'll be fine but the LFS said it should be OK like that for a week. Thoughts?
My other plan is to wash the sand over the next week or more. This way it'll be ready to put in when the rest comes in next week! Figured it was a good time to do this and good idea too.
Hoping to have the tank setup and be cycling by next weekend- Jan 9th, 2010!

Pictures:
Leak testing the Aquarium. Looking good so far! I'll let it go as long as possible to make sure though (overnight at the least). Also considering going rimless but... Thoughts?


My LR! Can't see it but the bigger piece has lots of big holes through it. Just outside the picture frame is my Koralia Nano and Hydor Theo 50W keeping things flowing and warm. I hope it survives in here for the next week or so...


My partner in crime. I have it on good authority that she likes saltwater fish too...


So please leave your comments, suggestions or anything else here and enjoy watching my journey!

[Crytone]

Well, after 2 nights of testing I think my tank is fairly water tight. This is where a problem (or omen?) occurred. While dumping the water I accidentally lifted on the rim of the aquarium and *POP*, it lifted! With very little effort I removed the entire rim. I've heard horror stories about people using razor blades to cut the rim up or breaking glass trying to remove the rim from some aquariums but this was just too easy! The silicon is a bit rough but that can be fixed if I decide to stay rimless! I kind of dig how it looks rimless but now the lid that came with the tank would be useless (a small lid might be nice to have...). The included lid was kinda crap anyways and didn't close properly. What do you think... rim or rimless?!



Needed to get it inspected.. There's some silicon residue left to be scraped off, I'm told.


Plans for tonight is to keep washing the sand and hopefully get the first coat of satin black on the backside/bottom of the tank.

Another question is how deep should I make my sand bed? LFS said "as deep as you want" but using all 20lbs of sand for this tank seems like an abnormally thick bed. I was thinking like in the 10-15lbs of sand used range.

Comments, suggestions or questions are all welcome!

[365seasons]

Welcome to Canreef, and great start to a tank.


I love the rimless look, and your cat is adorable!

[ElGuappo]

Welcome to canreef.


mixing sexy shrimp and clown fish i think is a big NO. from what i have read anyway. sexy shrimp are anemone shrimp and the clowns may eat them. when i moved i was going to put mine together, then started doing a little research. from what i read they will compete for hosts, leading to the shrimp being eaten due to their small size.

if am am wrong please correct me.

people may be keeping them together successfully, this is just what i read.

[Crytone]

Thanks 365seasons. I like the rimless look also and I think it might stay. I meant to clean up the silicon yesterday but I was out of razor blades so I'll have to go out today to get more. And as for my cat- she just wants to get into everything I'm doing. Annoying at times and I hope she keeps the tank alone when it gets livestock!

And thanks ElGuappo. That's some great info to have and I'll definitely look into it more. I have heard people complain that the Sexy Shrimp bug their corals to the point that they start to die and even may eat the corals- unless you put them on a feeding schedule. I'm still probably a month away from getting any livestock so plenty of time for more research!

[Crytone]

Nothing super to report today and no new pictures either but I did get my refractometer in today and was finally able to test the salt mix I made up for my liverock. I've been doing top-offs by eye and was quite pleased with my 1.027 salinity. A little high but not bad for just mixing to the ratios specified on the bag. Hopefully the rock is happy. I really need to get my RO/DI unit in though so I can get things rolling.

I also cleaned all the silicone off the aquarium rim. Rimless definitely looks good! I was a bit worried since I used GooGone so I made sure I cleaned it well (with water only), and when I thought it was cleaned and I was done, I sprayed it down some more. That hopefully did the trick. It'll hopefully be dry and ready for paint tomorrow after school! I don't really have anywhere to paint it though...

I'm also planning to design my own controller in the future. I figure my education (Elec. Eng.) better be useful for something! Most controllers don't do nearly enough IMO, or at least not everything I want them to do. I'm probably a long ways to starting or finishing any kind of controller but it is brewing in my head already. I think I first need to finish this setup and live with it a while first so I can get concrete plans on what I require from a controller.

[Crytone]

It's now Sunday and I got most of my stuff! Here's a few teaser pics since I'm still working on getting it all ready.

Aquarium on it's stand, silicon all removed from the rim and the back painted black. I decided against painting the bottom because it just wasn't going to be worth the hassle. Sorry for the aquarium being so dirty but the cat decided to sleep in in for the past few days...


The RODI unit arrived earlier in the week and I finally set it up. The instructions that came with it were a bit... engrishy. So it took longer than expected to setup. Working great now though!


The plans for tonight is to get this all setup and starting to cycle in it's proper enclosure with proper RODI SW mix. I would have been doing this yesterday but my RODI faucet hookup was female and I needed male so I had to do a run earlier this morning to get an adapter. Hopefully I have another update soon.

A problem arose though.. I need to get a new light for my setup. The light I have will work for now but is far from ideal. If anyone knows of any available for a decent price, will fit a 10G (I kind of want a 24" fixture), probably T5HO's (moonlights would be nice too) then please let me know. Also, would a 2x24W be best or go for 4x24W? Thanks!

EDIT: Wow, the water pressure in my condo SUCKS. Only getting max 25psi so needless to say my 100gpd RODI system is pumping out more like 20gpd. Taking FOREVER. So far I have only ~5 gallons (I washed the sand with some RODI water too.. maybe 1 gallon or so) and I've been collecting the water for about 6hrs now or so.... Doubt I'll get anything done tonight at this rate... LiveRock stays in the tupperware bin another day!

[Crytone]

The RODI unit is working much faster now. I guess it needed some time to sit.
I also got my float switches so just need to get a few other things to get my ATO done!

Got the aquascaping roughed in and 12lbs of sand placed. It's a little murky (was clear this morning when I woke up) because I was messing around with the sand/rockwork right before I took this. I was going to place my larger rock differently but accidentally placed it as shown and liked how it created a small cave at the bottom. Figure this would be a great place for things to 'hide'!

Should I get more rock? Should some be placed higher?

I also checked my params after letting it run overnight;
SG- 1.024
PH- ~8.3
And apparently Ammonia/Nitrates/Nitrites are 0...

I doubt this means my cycle is over. This is new water that the rock's been in for a day now (finished at about 2am Monday and worked on it more Monday night too) and don't think it matters much that I've had the rock in a bin for the past 1.5 weeks 'curing'. I'll keep testing throughout the week.

[lorenz0]

looks like you have a good little start going. Great start to a new addiction as well, its like crack, you start small and a year later you have a 50+ gal tank and just can't get enough of it. I am in the same situation as you, university student but it really keeps you sane between study breaks. Let it cycle for a month and than start looking into adding livestock, its torture but the more patient you are in this hobby the better the outcome.

[Crytone]

It's been a week and I felt I should post an update.

I'm getting a bit concerned. I've been monitoring my params over the past week and they haven't budged AT ALL. SG 1.024 (doing the odd RODI top off ever few days), Ammonia 0, Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0 and pH is about 8.0. I'm starting to wonder if a cycle will ever happen as I expected something to happen within this time. I've had the rock since Dec 31st where I kept it in a tupperware bin for a week (with my heater and Koralia powerhead keeping the water flowing/warm. I didn't monitor params during this time) before I moved it to my tank. I'm really starting to worry that the LiveRock is, infact, dead rock.

Am I worrying over nothing? I don't mind waiting longer but I expected at least some ammonia rise during this time! Should I go buy another piece of LiveRock to try and get things going?