Dorm Nano

[Divinewings]

Hi all, I'm eighteen and currently have a 38 gallon reef tank in my room. I'm going off to college in the fall and will be living in a dorm, and I am wondering the most effective way of setting up a nano in that setting (in terms of equipment, cost, method).

I would plan to house my current royal gramma in the tank...what minimum tank size requirement should be considered for this species? (Obviously, the smaller and more compact the tank size in a small room, the better, but I don't want stressful conditions).

It may be difficult to do water changes, would it be possible to invest in a very nice protein skimmer like the AquaC Remora to remove organic waste, and then just top off the aquarium as I need to?

Could I move a small tank (say 6 gallons) efficiently when I need to without removing every species and dismantling the setup? Could I siphon out, say, two thirds the water in the tank and then transport the aquarium as it is?

What style or method of setup would be most effective? (\Tthe deep sand bed and plenum method on my current setup has worked great, and kept nitrates at 0)...would that be possible on a smaller tank?

I've seen ads for this line of "Nano Cubes" that come in 6 or 12 gallons, three stage filteration, and lights...how are these? Is there a way you could install a hang on skimmer on the back of one of these?

Sorry for the scattered post, I just have a lot of questions, so thank you immensely for any help!

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to RDO!

There's alot of stuff here about nanocubes. Lots of people are loving them. I'd go with a 12. (a little more room for error.

But honestly, my first semester at college, I wouldn't have had time to care for the tank. Too much to do (beer) and other things (women) that kept my mind focused elsewhere. But I did have a 10 gal freshy livebearer tank that (amazingly) survived! So you might want to find someone to keep your tank for the first semester to see how it goes. Then bring it back over christmas break (think of all the reef things you can put on your christmas list)

But, For just the fish, You could go with a 10 gallon with a factory strip light. Throw in some rock and a bit of sand, and you're good to go. but if you're going to keep corals, that means more lights (more money, hotter tank) Which brings up a good point. My dorm room was about 80 degrees year round. SO you'll end up cooling the tank (most likely with a small fan) and that's going to cause lots of evaporation. Which brings up water quality. I don't think you'd get away with an RODI in your room. Maybe you could get a regular water filter, but it's more $$. But you also might be able to get it from a hottie in the science dept for free. (Hey, you want to come see my reef tank? my roommate has a rugby match out of town. . . )

The DSB/Plenum is up for debate now. (use the search button) and you'll see that there's a trend of getting away from it. I have a 20 with 1" or so of sand. I like the natural look of a bit of sand.

Hope this long diluted post helps. Stick around, there's lots of good people and answers here!

B

 

[Anonymous]

My latest 2.5 gallon tank i went with a shallow sand bed, less then an inch..i also like the natural look of sand

 

[Divinewings]

Thanks for the replies!

As for the shallow sand bed, how to you denitrify your tanks without the anaerobic bacteria? Macroalgae? I suppose I could try that, but I don't think I can afford a refugium...any slow growing species that are good at sucking up the nutrients and won't suffocate the tank?

As ridiculous as this sounds, I don't think I can be doing many water changes, so I hope to rely on low nitrogen levels from a deep sand bed, a powerful protein skimmer to rid the tank of organic nutrients, and macroalgae to purify the water even more. I'll also use a small penguin filter with a bio-wheel and media for extra biological and mechanical filteration. Fish-wise the bioload will consist of only the gramma. Will this combination be successful with few or no water changes?

I'm looking for a relatively low maintenance (but effective) design, it should be possible without water changes as long as there's another means of nutrient export and the top-off RO water I'll use is supplemented with appropriate additives...

How's this setup sound...

10 Gallon tank:

-5 pounds of live rock or so
-4 inches aragonite DSB with appropriate amount of live sand included in that 4 inches...
-Odyssea Pro Pack Skimmer (apparently a blatent ripoff of the CPR Bakpak, but just as well made and effective for half the price)
-Small Penguin Power filter
-Ebo Jager heater
-Coralife 20 inch 28 watt 50/50 bulb power compact lighting fixture

Stocked With:

-Royal Gramma
-A few zoanthids, mushrooms, and other softies (no GSP on the warpath)
-Some various detrivores and mobile invertebrates (possibly a larger shrimp, assuming the gramma wouldn't eat it)

I wouldn't mind the DSB, it's a dorm tank, it can't be perfect (all that matter is it works, assuming it would)...

Maybe the cute little reef tank WILL attract the women, then I'll really be happy with my plan... :wink:

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Denitification is done via the LR in the tank and a DSB in a nano just isn't effective. If you do some research, you'll find that a DSB doesn't function well in such a small tank. Not to mention the loss of space due to the 4-6" of sand that is in the tank. I have about 1/2" of sand in my 2.5 (running since Jan '04), but am getting ready to syphon it out and go BB. IMO, 5 pounds of LR is no where near enough for sufficient biological filtration for a 10 gallon tank. The goal here is to aim for as much biological filtration as possile, with the mechanical picking up the slack. Aim for 15 pounds or so. The skimmer will help for sure.

Why can't you do many water changes? It takes me 10 minutes...TOPS, to do a weekly water change in my 2 tanks. Surely you have a few minutes to spare once a week to change out some water. As far as biowheels go, they tend to trap nitrates. Speaking from first hand experience, ditch the biowheel and run the filter without it.

 

[Divinewings]

Hi,

If a DSB is a worthless idea in a nano, all the better! As long as the live rock can handle denitrifying (I was thinking 5 lbs. because I didn't know how much sand surface area a live sand bed would take, it seems I've heard they need an open expanse of sand...I've kept a plenum but I have no first hand experience with a DSB). However, it sounds like the DSB is unimportant. I'll plan on adding more live rock. And ditching the biowheel, for that matter, for there's nothing that scares me more than nitrates buildup should frequent water changes be difficult.

Are there any species of macroalgae besides caulerpa that are slower going, effectively remove nutrients, and not frail? Thus, good for a main show tank if a refugium is not possible...if I must though, I will keep enough macroalgae in the main tank, I'm not adverse to digging around and removing it when it grows out...

I have no problem with the time aspect of water changes, I'm just not sure how convenient it'll be if I'm living in a dorm and performing them routinely. I'm not dismissing the idea, I really have no clue (never lived in a dorm before), so I want a powerful water cleansing system should it be difficult.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Chaetomorpha macro is a great macro for nutrient export. Instead of putting it int he main display, make a mini fuge using an Aqua Clear 70. Here's my build log for it. http://www.coralforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6754 I just replaced the one I had running for over a year and when I built this one, I added a bafle to keep tings out of the impeller chamber. Very easy to build, and very effective for smaller tanks.

 

[Anonymous]

i recently set up a 5.5g that's almost all stock. total cost is $150 including light, filter, sand and LR. modified an ac50 filter into a fuge. bought a whisper E for the mechanical filter. easy to care for too.

 

[Anonymous]

All good advice so far!

But you HAVE to do water changes on a nano. No way around it. How hard would a gallon a week or two be? the money you'd be spending on the additives could go to salt and RO water.

I had a 10 gallon skimmerless for over a year. Lots of live rock and a fuge (I built one) PC lights.

http://www.bad-coffee.com/tankmay8.jpg

B

 

[Divinewings]

That's a really cool idea, Magnolia, and I think I even have everything on hand (besides the filter itself)...I'm definitely going to try it...

Bingo, hopefully water changes won't be too difficult, I just have no idea. I'm sure I'll be able to store SOME salt and RO water but not the amount I have on hand now, and I'll need to store a big vat to siphon into (unfortunately I have the smallest room on the whole bloody campus). But the more I think about this, it should be possible...hopefully there will be a decent local fish store where I'm going also...

Your tank looks very nice skimmerless! Did you think the skimmer would be detrimental somehow, or did you just know you could get away with it? (Trying to decide if I should buy one, I still think I will, but there are so many methods...)

 

[Anonymous]

FYI i did exactly as magnolia and others have and it worked out great. except for the "put chaeto in" part - does this stuff actually exist for sale anywhere? lol!

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yep. www.inlandaquatics.com has it for $14.99. http://www.inlandaquatics.com/prod/tr_algae.html Or you can do like I did and lots of other people do, ask another reefer for a ziploc bagful to get you started.

 

[Divinewings]

What size Aquaclear would you recommend for a 10 gallon? Would a 70 be too big? What vendor sells these filters cheaply?

Thanks again for the idea...

By the way Hwarang, I live in the Twin Cities area too...do you know if there are any good LFS up north in Duluth where I'll be going to school?

 

[Anonymous]

Dwings,
I went skimmerless because I had a backpack2 on the tank when it was in a 15 high (10 gallon that's 6" taller)When I sized down to the 10, It was too tall.

Then I set up the tank without the skimmer and realized how quiet it was without the skimmer. (Something to think about when you're studying.

And you could easily store a 1 gallon jug somewhere for water. Use it daily for topoff, then make a jug of saltwater when you're ready to do a water change. Use your garbage can for the old water, and walk it to the bathroom.

B

 

[Divinewings]

Cool, I think I'll go skimmerless and construct an Aquaclear refugium for some nutrient export. I have one question regarding this, however. I want my tank covered (don't want any carpet-surfing). If I purchase a large Aquaclear that's rated far over the size of my tank, say and AC 70, would I be able to fit it through the plastic part of the hood behind the glass if I cut holes in it, or would it conflict for space with the actual glass part of the hood?

That's my major question regarding this.

All the advice has been great so far, so thank you much!