Caught the bug....

[Airborneguy]

Over the last few days I cleaned out my two 10gal tanks and started spray painting them. One is getting just the back, the other is getting back and sides (both in black).

I think I am going to do a Nano with one of them, probably the one with the sides painted. Gonna be using a 36w PC fixture that I have with a 50/50 bulb, hoping to put in a few easy corals, live rock, a mix of black and white sand and a pair of clowns with a shrimp or two. Just a power head, no filtration.

I previously attempted a nano a few years ago, but wasn't as diligent then, so it lasted a few weeks!

Any advice?

 

[MOsborne05]

You should do a built-in fuge like this Reef Central Online Community - my 3.5 gallon build

It looks really crisp and clean, and hides all of the equipment. I'm thinking about doing one as well.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

I was going to do that ^ but went to a 10gal instead of a 5.5gal. I still have everything cut and ready to be siliconed into the 5.5 for that project.

Advice? Take it slow. I'm probably the worst to be giving this piece of advice but just take it slow make sure your params are stable before you start adding a bunch of stuff. The frags will really scream at you to take them home. In most cases i do, i'd advise just telling the LFS to hold them for you until you are ready. A nano tank can fool into thinking that since its so small and your costs are much less comparably to a larger tank that you can throw it all up in a day and have it thriving and pretty to look at. Avoid this thinking at all cost, learn your lessons through me.

I use a Maxijet 400 (came from my 5.5 all in one build) and it works quite well. If you are doing just the powerhead you might look into getting a more powerful one. I run that with a small AC HOB and a Whisper HOB and i am just getting enough flow. Of course i guess it depends where the powerhead is aimed and how much the rocks block it.

 

[Lotus]

I've got a small 10g nano that I've been running for a month or so. The rock had been in another tank, so it was well cured. I'm running a Koralia 1 in there, and doing weekly water changes. I currently have stock lighting (15 watts) and somehow have a few zoas, mushrooms and some braierium GSP doing well in there. They're all frags from the main tank, but so far, so good.

 

[Airborneguy]

I found a small side overflow I am trying to get my hands on so I can use the other ten gallon as a refugium. this may work out good where I can double the volume of the tank, while still using the original plan I was working on. I'll let you guys know. I plan on this being a slowly developed project.