Researching for a new nano build.

[uslanja]

We have a 5 gallon freshwater aquarium that we are thinking of turning into a Maxi-Mini Carpet Anemone tank. We are planning on a deep sand bed that we will deliberately populate with as many sand bed critters as we can. Rock work would just be a couple of pieces of Tonga rock. Just enough pieces to give the carpets someplace to perch. Not sure about lighting yet and we're still researching the maxi-mini needs to learn if a 5 gallon would be large enough. If anyone has information or a link about nems, we would love to check it out!

[Sharpie]

The maxi-minis are great little animals. I would avoid trying a DSB in such a small tank. If you research a proper DSB you will realize how much space in such a small tank gets consumed.

As for the lights, because it is such a small tank, you will be hard pressed to find a fixture or solution that really works. A DIY LED fixture would be perfect for this application. Speak with Luigi about the lights as he just put one together.

[uslanja]

Hi Sharpie! Thanks for the response! I know what you mean about the DSB and the 5 gallon being so small. We wanted to do something with it but we're starting to think that we might just set it aside as an emergency QT tank or something should it ever be needed. We read Coral magazine and there was an article a while back about Deep Sand Beds and the various life found within it. It is actually that life that is found within a DSB that we wish to observe, study and photograph. But, just to add some daytime interest we thought a maxi-mini would be a good candidate. Commercially available Lighting is proving to be a challenge for a tank that size and so we started to think about going a little larger in size. And we all know how that goes........next thing you know were looking at an expensive build for a larger tank that we then need to figure out where to put it!! The thought is still there and we talk a bit about it every now and then but..... maybe just a bare bottom with some live rock and watch to see what develops, or maybe some type of breeder set up for amphipods and copepods to seed our other tanks with, or?????? Other than an emergency QT tank, anyone have any ideas about what a 5 gallon could be turned into? My, but this is one very addictive hobby!!

[Andrew D]

I'm soon going to use one I have to grow phyto. In the past, I have also used it to cluture pods, before I had a refugium.

[scholar]

This was a 5.5Gal build i did awhile ago it may bring some insight to your build.
http://www.reefescape.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=4928

[uslanja]

Hi Andrew D! Would love to see some photos and details about how you set it up to culture pods and then more photos and details about how you are now setting it up for phyto!!

Hi scholar! Nice looking tank build! So, what ever did you do with it and please pardon my brash question..... but why? Your pics have me thinking we should start thinking about using it for a nano build again!! Would love to try a DSB and see how well it can help to balance the parameters.

[Andrew D]

Sorry, no photos because it's been a few years since I did this for pods, and I haven't yet set it up for phyto. It really is quite easy. I filled the tank half full with tank water, and added a heater and an air stone. I purchased some pods at ORG (before I knew how quickly they would grow out of any live rock) and then kept adding small amounts of DT's phyto blend. As the pods consumed the phyto, the water woudl get lighter and I woudl add some more. Every once in a while I dumped half the tank into my system and sucked up the scum that collected on the bottom of the tank. The hardest part of this was maintaining the water temperature on such a small tank, and keeping salinity relatively constant. It really is much easier to plumb something into your main system.

I am considering a phyto tank for much the same reason as you are asking these questions. I have a small tank that I have an itch to use, and I have such a nice collection of mysis and pods in my refugium that I want to keep adding phyto to keep them going. The store bought stuff is unnecessarily expensive for something that is so easy to grow. I did buy a bottle of DT's to getthings going though.

[uslanja]

We tried to get some arctic pods going in a large bottle with an air stone once, but didn't have much luck. It would be nice to do something like that again, but be successful!

We checked out some of the phyto generators that are out there but its just a bit more involved then we want to get at the moment. Are you going to photo and document your build? It would be interesting to see how you set it up and maybe even give it a try if its not to complicated!

We saw a gorgeous piece of tonga rock that was encrusted with a brilliant green zoa with an even more brilliant yellow centre that was the perfect size for a 5 gallon nano and so that got us thinking about this build some more.

We were checking out the CaribSea live sand and I know some folks say this stuff isn't alive, but we have had great luck using CaribSea along with cured live rock in every one of our tanks. So we're thinking 20 lbs. of CaribSea Ocean Direct Oolite substrate should give us a depth of 3 inches. We have never tried their "Ocean Direct" line of substrate before and the advertising states that it has some type of breathable vented bag to keep greater numbers of bacteria alive. The thought of possibly discovering some unique substrate critters is pretty exciting for us!

A commercially available lighting solution is proving to be difficult to find. We have seen where some folks have used a screw in LED bulb in a swing arm lamp type of set up on refugiums. The swing arm lamp is very affordable but we have no idea what type of screw in LED bulb would work well. Anyone have any experience or ideas about what a good screw in LED bulb might be? There will only be about 6 1/2 inches of water column above the substrate.

We have a couple of small HOB filters and we could probably bring one of those into play fairly easily for a tank this small. A washable filter pad to catch any suspended particulate and a place for some carbon or purigen would be nice to have. We're not sure what kind of flow rate it would produce but the thought is to have the return flow deflected across the water surface as long as possible before its deflected down into the tank and try to get as slow a moving water column as we can. Keeping the surface agitated should allow good gas exchange and give the water column some shimmer.

[scholar]

Thank you. I tore the tank down due when the ex and I split cause I was never around. I built it for the canreef nano contest they had. With working in the auto industry I always wondered if the HID would sustain a reef and they did. I stil have the tank some were. (no coments from you know who! lol) The hardest thing i found was keeping the salinety up the tank had to be toped up with ro water twice daily and with that I added small amount of seachem trace elements.

[uslanja]

Hi scholar! Top ups can become a chore! We top our tanks every 8 hours to try and minimize the salinity swings. We had thought about building gravity fed Automatic Top Off's (ATO's) but didn't want to see them (appearance is everything!) and the thought of pump operated ATO's just seemed like greater chance for a flood. Hmmm?? You have an empty tank and it's dry?? You have much better self control than I do!