My first Nano, 20 gallon high

[stevenp]

My first try at aquascaping... Almost 40 lbs of LR.

 

[holry7778]

how did you attach it all together?

and I assume the paper justs lable the rock and its position

 

[stevenp]

I didn't use anything to attach them together. It took quite a bit of work, but I found the 'sweet spot' on all the rocks to lock them together.

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Do they lock together tight enough to hold up against bulldozing critters? - If not, hope they're not in a spot where they might punch a hole in the glass if they fall. 8O

 

[holry7778]

I would't rely on any sweat spot. the set up looks to nice to let be be ruined by some odd vibration or fish tumbling the rock through the glass. I'd epoxy or drill and tie the structure together. it looks really good

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, it does look awesome.. - I wish mine looked half as good and I've been tinkering for a couple years now.

Get it secured firmly. - It never hurts to err on the side of caution.

 

[stevenp]

Good point, I'll pick up some underwater epoxy and stick this bee-yatch together...

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

You definitely want to stick this stuff together.

 

[lexisoleman]

That is a really great job of aquascaping. I'm just getting into the hobby (researching etc, ) BUT, I know a great looking set-up when I see one...I hope mine will look as good! Please update when possible...for us "newbies", seeing a project in action is practically priceless...(IMHO)

 

[spsmike]

What type of corals are you going to keep?

 

[stevenp]

Seems my thread came back to life!

Since the pictures, I've re-aquascaped. I had too much rock and not enough room for corals. I still have an arch but it looks much different. I'll post a picture when I get home (on the road now).

So far I have 2 false percs, watchman goby, peppermint shrimp (which swims to the surface to feed, really fun to watch) and some hermits and snails.

For corals, I have green star polyps, 6 head hammer coral, red zoos and green zoos.

I've also added an AC500 fuge and ditched the skimmer. The coraline is really taking off now!!

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Pics!

 

[stevenp]

Ok, for some reason these pictures didn't turn out nearly as nice as the first ones. I think it's becuase I changed the background from blue to black..... I think the blue background is more photogenic, although I much prefer the black background in person.

 

[stevenp]

Some more...

The Coraline was non-existant before I removed the skimmer. This growth is only after one month.

We're buying a house this summer and I think I've already convinced my finace to let me put up a 180 gallon tank with a basement sump/ fuge.... "Come on, what's another couple thousand dollars when we're spending X$??)

 

[Mihai]

You caught my attention here - how does the pneumatic topoff work? I'm interested for a nano that I mean to keep in my office and I'd like to avoid placing RO containers on bookshelfs...


M.

 

[stevenp]

Mihai,
It consists of a float switch with homemade bracket and snail guard, air pump and 3 gallon glass carboy. You can see the snail guard/ bracket in the last picture I posted. It's just a drilled piece of PVC and some DIY acrylic work (I can post pictures of the adjustable bracket if you want).

This is the float switch I used:
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/produc ... 05&ccitem=

I wired it right in the 110v power cord to the air pump. The switch is CE Certified and rated for .28 A @ 110VAC which is more than enough for an air pump.

I'm a homebrewer as well so I have tons of carboys laying around. I opted for the three gallon becuase it fits under the stand and gives me about a weeks worth of water. I have a 7 gallon carboy I use when we go on vacation.

One of the stems on the orange will be the "in" and the other is the "out". As the head pressure increases, the water is forced out.

Steve

 

[Mihai]

Cool! Thanks. The snail guard is pure genius - how did you think about it? A mishap?

M.