Tiny funny reef on budget

[sikorskys]

Hello R2R from Kiev, Ukraine :)

Here in Ukraine, reef keeping is not that popular and most people out of the hobby believe all corals they see are plastic toys in freshwater :) One may suggest that's because reef keeping is quite costly, but I personally believe the truth is much worse. It's all about turkey blasters! You see, we don't celebrate thanksgiving here, so there is no such thing as "turkey blaster" in our country. That's the reason, no one needs a reef without turkey blaster! :p:D

Anyway, I'm going to start a reef :eek::rolleyes: It will be just 3 gallons and it will be on budget. And when I say "on budget" it doesn't mean something like IM Nuvo +MP10 + NanoBox. No, it means for $50 in total :) So, no jawdropping eye-candy or high-tech fetish here, sorry :) Just dead simple DIY and rather boring livestock.

For equipment I'm going to use my old freshwater tank (no sump), cheapest airstone skimmer, freshwater pump as wavemaker, DIY LED lighting and DIY rock.

Here is how it supposed to look:


As you (I hope) can see, the rock is to have quite "unnatural" conical look. That because I'd like it to be aligned with the shape of the tank to use all available space most effectively. It supposed to be covered with SPS some day (not now, I'll start with softies).

That's all for now :) Stay tuned for updates, much more progression info and photos are coming :)

 

[ITreeferVA]

That freshwater pump is the only negative that I possibly see with this, make sure it can be used in saltwater to, some have metals inside of them where saltwater would rust and corrode causing problem that wouldn't happen in freshwater. seems like a cool build though. good luck!

 

[Khh27]

That freshwater pump is the only negative that I possibly see with this, make sure it can be used in saltwater to, some have metals inside of them where saltwater would rust and corrode causing problem that wouldn't happen in freshwater. seems like a cool build though. good luck!

Ditto
Also be aware @ 3 gallons this will be much harder to control and keep stable then say a 100gallon for someone fresh in the hobby please read up ALOT on water chemistry and maintenence. Also make sure your rock build is reef safe material. Otherwise it sounds like a awsome plan and will be tagging along. Please also note you ride voice will be very limited. Like 1 fish.

 

[sikorskys]

That freshwater pump is the only negative that I possibly see with this, make sure it can be used in saltwater to, some have metals inside of them where saltwater would rust and corrode causing problem that wouldn't happen in freshwater. seems like a cool build though. good luck!

I'll check it, thanks.

 

[sikorskys]

Ditto
Also be aware @ 3 gallons this will be much harder to control and keep stable then say a 100gallon for someone fresh in the hobby please read up ALOT on water chemistry and maintenence. Also make sure your rock build is reef safe material. Otherwise it sounds like a awsome plan and will be tagging along. Please also note you ride voice will be very limited. Like 1 fish.

Sure, I do understand all of that. That's not my first saltwater experience, so I won't put lionfish in this tank :) Most likely ;)

Here is my 2 years old 8g:

 

[Khh27]

Sure, I do understand all of that. That's not my first saltwater experience, so I won't put lionfish in this tank :) Most likely ;)

Here is my 2 years old 8g:

Looks great

 

[steve&mari]

Very nice tank n cool looking build you have started.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Lookin forward to watching this one! Following!

 

[ReefMadScientist]

Very cool. I know I couldn't do it lol. A cup of RODI water and the tank will be at 1.015

 

[sikorskys]

Thank you all very much. No doubt, this place is called the friendliest saltwater community for a reason :)

 

[mochaclownlover]

Can't wait to see some pics!

 

[EzraZamir]

Following, I love nanos!

 

[namkiii]

What's a good cheap light for a pico I keep reading par38?

 

[Khh27]

What's a good cheap light for a pico I keep reading par38?

Definitely. You can even get a dimmable one and use a reg in line lamp dimmer like this
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/6...BaseShopping&gclid=CPW__v7Ju8cCFZYWHwod2qEJuQ

 

[RAD01]

Thats a cool build and great looking 8gl

 

[sikorskys]

So, here is the tank I'm going to use:



Dimensions are 8x8x10", made of regular (not low-iron) glass by Aquael. Aquael is probably not the best known brand in US, but in Ukraine those Polish tanks are everywhere. It's supposed to be freshwater with no background, so I've used black self-adhesive vinyl film for back side to hide tubing and wires.

This Dymax IA5 skimmer from fish-street.com fits my tank nicely:



Well, it doesn't look as sharp as Mame does, but skill should do the trick :) The skimmer will be "powered" by Atman AC-500, the cheapest air pump I managed to find:



And for flow, I'm going to use Aquael Pat Mini pump rated for 400 liters/h (~100gph):



I doubt this tiny pump could run at 100gph, nevertheless it's good enough for LPS/softies 3g.

Here is how it looks together:





There will be no back chamber in the tank, but I'll hide this ugly pump behind rockscape, so almost no equipment will be visible (just skimmer).

That's it, the whole "setup" except for DIY rockscape and DIY lighting, which I'll discuss a bit later :)

 

[steelheader.262]

Welcome to R2R, good luck with the build.

 

[nitro]

Hello,
Nicely done...
Nitro

 

[ls2ttgto]

Nice!

 

[KDawg0623]

This should be very interesting. Following!