8 gallon NPS Reef

[BristleWormHater]

Starting this up because my nps sea fan has been suffering in my main tank and I need an excuse to start up this tank anyways. The tank was sent to me for free by @IOAOI a few months ago and Ive had it sitting around.
Anyways, this will be a fun thread! Im going to dedicate this tank to mostly nps (non-photosynthetic) coral, starting with lps like sun coral and dendrophyllia and if I can get everything to do well I may try nepthea and more sea fans. Havent decided on fish yet, maybe a croucher goby. Going to try some cool inverts too.
Here is the current setup, I custom-built this stand today, should be more progress later this week.

 

[Calmwaters]

Starting this up because my nps sea fan has been suffering in my main tank and I need an excuse to start up this tank anyways. The tank was sent to me for free by @IOAOI a few months ago and Ive had it sitting around.
Anyways, this will be a fun thread! Im going to dedicate this tank to mostly nps (non-photosynthetic) coral, starting with lps like sun coral and dendrophyllia and if I can get everything to do well I may try nepthea and more sea fans. Havent decided on fish yet, maybe a croucher goby. Going to try some cool inverts too.
Here is the current setup, I custom-built this stand today, should be more progress later this week.

Looking forward to following along with this build!

 

[ndrwater]

This looks fun!! Cool fish for a tank build like this is a Catalina Goby if you can find them in your area.
They are oftentimes found for sale like any other "reef" fish, but are actually a temperate animal that would do well in a tank set up like you are planning.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Are you going to set up some kind of continuous feeding system? What were you feeding that fan anyway?

 

[BristleWormHater]

Are you going to set up some kind of continuous feeding system? What were you feeding that fan anyway?

I might, could definitely be helpful. Ive been feeding it new life spectrum reef cell smallest size. I also dose oyster feast and phytoplankton in my main tank.

 

[Miami Reef]

Congrats. I wish you success.

 

[Calmwaters]

I'm curious what your thoughts are on the tank and how well it's made. After setting up my first pico back in February I have become a bit obsessed with small tanks and am looking to possibly setup more in the future.

 

[BristleWormHater]

I'm curious what your thoughts are on the tank and how well it's made. After setting up my first pico back in February I have become a bit obsessed with small tanks and am looking to possibly setup more in the future.

I really like it, the angled edges where the glass panes meet do actaully make for a stronger connection to my knowledge. Its got a really nice overflow design too. @tbrown has had his set up for awhile now, he might have more detailed thoughts.

 

[tbrown]

This looks fun!! Cool fish for a tank build like this is a Catalina Goby if you can find them in your area.
They are oftentimes found for sale like any other "reef" fish, but are actually a temperate animal that would do well in a tank set up like you are planning.

I gotta admit, I read your name as Nerdwater. Sorry, not sorry.

 

[tbrown]

I really like it, the angled edges where the glass panes meet do actaully make for a stronger connection to my knowledge. Its got a really nice overflow design too. @tbrown has had his set up for awhile now, he might have more detailed thoughts.

The weirs need to be opened up a bit or you can't go much over 100 GPH or risk overflow.

I love my tank though!

 

[twentyleagues]

Not trying to harp or be a downer, But all the tank weight is on the screws. You should have boards between the horizontals transferring the weight of the tank through the wood to the floor. I dont think it will really matter much with that size of a tank though just for future reference. The tank not being full, it wood (see what I did there.....) be an easy fix. Just some 2x4s cut to the proper length just tight enough to need to be gently tapped into place and screwed into the other vertical 2x4s. A coral croucher is on my most wanted list.

 

[BristleWormHater]

The weirs need to be opened up a bit or you can't go much over 100 GPH or risk overflow.

I love my tank though!

Could you send a pic of how you modified the weirs? This tank is going to need some high flow, would it be best to use a strong pump or just add a powerhead?

 

[twentyleagues]

Could you send a pic of how you modified the weirs? This tank is going to need some high flow, would it be best to use a strong pump or just add a powerhead?

That will depend on what you plan for filtration. I think keeping as much particulate suspended and cycling through the system as long as possible without being filtered out would probably be best.

 

[NC AL]

This will be a neat build. I am following all of the Coralland 8 g builds!

I'm curious what your thoughts are on the tank and how well it's made. After setting up my first pico back in February I have become a bit obsessed with small tanks and am looking to possibly setup more in the future.

Here is my review if you are interested.

IOAOI Coralland 8g build

 

[NC AL]

The weirs need to be opened up a bit or you can't go much over 100 GPH or risk overflow.

I love my tank though!

Could you send a pic of how you modified the weirs? This tank is going to need some high flow, would it be best to use a strong pump or just add a powerhead?

If you ditch the filter socks you can have way more than 100gph. The weir can handle more if there isn’t any water building up behind it.

 

[exnisstech]

This will be a neat build. I am following all of the Coralland 8 g builds!

Here is my review if you are interested.

IOAOI Coralland 8g build

If you ditch the filter socks you can have way more than 100gph. The weir can handle more if there isn’t any water building up behind it.

And mine. Its also NPS but is a work in progress. Opening the weir up was the first thing I did. Even with no sock I wasn't able to get enough flow for my taste but I have no idea about GPH I'm a visual guy poor at math.

EDIT: I just remembered with the weir in the stock form the water level was too high for my comfort and why I modded mine. Just sticking my arm in would cause the water to overflow. With the weir modded I can run the same flow but the level is lower.

AIO Build - IOAIO 8g Nano budget build

Figured it's time to start my own thread and stop cluttering up @tbrown thread 😉 which has quite a bit of activity with a lot of ideas. I received the tank as part if a promotion from one of our supporting vendors @IOAOI and my goal is to spend as little cash as necessary since I have a lot of...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Calmwaters]

This will be a neat build. I am following all of the Coralland 8 g builds!

Here is my review if you are interested.

IOAOI Coralland 8g build

Thank you!

 

[BristleWormHater]

And mine. Its also NPS but is a work in progress. Opening the weir up was the first thing I did. Even with no sock I wasn't able to get enough flow for my taste but I have no idea about GPH I'm a visual guy poor at math.

EDIT: I just remembered with the weir in the stock form the water level was too high for my comfort and why I modded mine. Just sticking my arm in would cause the water to overflow. With the weir modded I can run the same flow but the level is lower.

AIO Build - IOAIO 8g Nano budget build

Figured it's time to start my own thread and stop cluttering up @tbrown thread 😉 which has quite a bit of activity with a lot of ideas. I received the tank as part if a promotion from one of our supporting vendors @IOAOI and my goal is to spend as little cash as necessary since I have a lot of...

www.reef2reef.com

What pump are you running? I think im just going to copy your flow setup.

That will depend on what you plan for filtration. I think keeping as much particulate suspended and cycling through the system as long as possible without being filtered out would probably be best.

I think im just going to put some rock and crushed coral in the back and remove the filter sock.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Not trying to harp or be a downer, But all the tank weight is on the screws. You should have boards between the horizontals transferring the weight of the tank through the wood to the floor. I dont think it will really matter much with that size of a tank though just for future reference. The tank not being full, it wood (see what I did there.....) be an easy fix. Just some 2x4s cut to the proper length just tight enough to need to be gently tapped into place and screwed into the other vertical 2x4s. A coral croucher is on my most wanted list.

So another beam here right?

 

[tbrown]

Could you send a pic of how you modified the weirs? This tank is going to need some high flow, would it be best to use a strong pump or just add a powerhead?

I didn't modify mine, I'm simply running my Syncra 0.5 at speed 1 along with a 90 GPH return pump running with a 1/4" RFG running in-tank as a powerhead.

Some people removed every other weir but that can allow for smaller fish to swim through. I have a weir guard that I've designed. If you remove all the weir teeth you can slip the guard over and allow significantly more flow.

Even with the extra 90 GPH my tank looks like it could easily handle another 100-200 GPH powerhead. I believe Hygger has a Nano powerhead that's somewhere around 250 or 300 GPH. That could potentially blow some sand around though.