Josh's 8g Nano in 90

[7FootReefer]

Hello Everybody, I am excited to be able to participate in this competition. Just the other day I picked up a used 8 gallon Biocube,and saw this thread right after and thought I'd give it a shot. I was not really planning on buying another tank, seeing as I'm about to upgrade from a 90g FOWLR and a 75g reef to a 250g acrylic tank which is sitting on my porch waiting for me, but it was a steal of a deal soo I had too. The tank came with a hood, pump and lights but no ballasts. Soo.... I did a little craigslist searching and found 2 ballasts for $3 each, or so I thought.... When I went to pick them up I handed the seller the money and she laughed at me :sad: and told me they were $30 each (just a little typo in the ad), she felt bad and gave them to me for $10 each. She was really nice and I am glad to have met her, The ballasts are brand new never been used. So I put this tank together for about $50 total.

I cleaned the tank up and got it set-up last night. I used some live rock from one of my existing tanks and added a few pieces of dry rock I had lying around. I also used some water from my existing tank in hopes of trying to minimize my cycle. I went to the fish store and purchased some live black sand, I have used white sand in all my past tanks and thought I'd try something different.

I plan on modding the chambers a little bit and putting some chaeto back there as soon as I find a light, but right now I have a few bioballs (will be removed as soon as I find a fuge light) , some liverock rubble, some filter floss and a bag of chemipure. The tank is still a little cloudy but is clearing up nicely. I will also have to modify the hood a little and find some better fans to try and keep the temperature down.

Future Fish Plan:
Some Type of Clownfish
Yellow Watchmen Goby

Future Corals Plan:
Not sure yet. Probably some zoos, xenia, mushrooms....

I have 8+lbs of liverock and am constantly changing the layout, I am hard to please when it comes to aquascaping

Here are some pics of the current layout.

If you have any Questions, Concerns or advice on aquascaping or anything else, feel free to share you thoughts. Thanks.

 

[Mike J.]

And the competition begins. Great, this should be a lot of fun.

 

[7FootReefer]

Haha ya I'm pretty excited about this, I mean I'm not planning on winning anything, but it will be a fun experience and am looking forward to seeing the progress of all these other nano tanks.

 

[revhtree]

Cool! Welcome to the contest!

 

[justgotwet]

Great looking nano!

 

[revsgirl]

Looks good!


Chasing the Dream Giver, not the dream! Tonya

 

[7FootReefer]

This Florida heat is cooking my tank, I need to purchase some better cooling fans asap. My tank just hit 90 degrees!!!!

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Nice looking tank!! Good luck in the contest!!

 

[glb]

Can someone explain the contest to me,


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP
12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps and two clownfish.

 

[Mike J.]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/nano-90-build-off-competition/115368-nano-90-2013-a.html

Can someone explain the contest to me,


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP
12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps and two clownfish.

 

[7FootReefer]

Update: Cycling is over, water parameters are perfect, 0 Nitrates and 0 ammonia. Just placed an order with Reefs2Go, should be arriving within the next few days.

Here is the empty tank confirmation pic.

 

[mainereefer]

looking good

 

[7FootReefer]

I have been busy adding things to make tank over the last week or so. Last week I added a small green clown goby who is incredibly shy and I haven't seen much of him, but he comes out every now and then. Along with the goby I purchased a fuzzy green mushroom, a golden frogspawn, and another coral which I will need help identifying.

My order from Reefs2Go came yesterday, I live like 15 minutes from their location so it only took a day to get here. I am very pleased with what received for the most part, I purchased 5-6 different types of zoanthids and all of those opened within minutes of putting them in the tank after acclimation, They were having a sale on an GBTA and clownfish combo, I put the clownfish in the nanotank he was pretty small and the GBTA in my main tank, both are doing great. The acan that I received from them is doing good as well. In addition I ordered some daisy polyps, these I am a little disappointed in, it is a very small frag with a few tiny straggling polyps that are barely visible I am hoping that they survive and grow some, I am going to monitor them over the next couple days and see how they do. I will update with pictures a little later when I get a chance.

I added another small clown to keep my other one company, they are doing great and seem to like each other for the most part. I fragged a little piece of gsp from my main tank and added it as well. I decided to increase the flow of the tank and added a small Koralia 240. I am very pleased with all the corals that are in my tank and am looking forward to watching them grow.

In the future I plan on making a cheap diy led lighting system to upgrade the stock pc lighting that I am currently using.

 

[7FootReefer]

Here is a list of my build thus far:

Tank:
Biocube 8

Filtration:
small bag of Chemi-pure
small bag of Phosgaurd
filter floss
live rock rubble
Equipment
minijet 606 return pump
Koralia 240 powerhead
Computer Fan to keep the tank cool
stock pc lighting

Fish:
2x juvenile Ocellaris
1x Clown Goby

Coral:
Zoas
Darth Maul
Dragon Eye
Candy Apple
Radio Active Dragon Eye
Fire and Ice

Other
Golden Frogspawn
Fuzzy Green Mushroom
Green Star Polyps
Green + Purple Acan
Daisy Polyp Coral

 

[7FootReefer]

Now for the pictures. Still working with the settings on my camera, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

This the coral I need a little help identifying.

 

[CindyL]

That's a gold torch. I just got one today to surprise a certain someone. They run right about $100 here. Very rare, apparently.

 

[7FootReefer]

Unfortunately I have some bad news, one of my clownfish has died. A few days before its death it was showing signs of being diseased and I knew things were not going well. I took him out and tried quarantining him but unfortunately he did not make it. The other fish still appear to be fine with no sign of being sick, I am hoping they will remain healthy. All of the corals are doing great and are very happy. I just ordered the parts for my budget led build and they should be arriving within the next few weeks, they are coming from china so it may take a while.