My First Tank Build - 10g Nano

MissMere

MissMere

New Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2015
Location
Guelph, ON
I'm bitting the 'slow' bullet people! I feel like I should smash a bottle of champagne on my tank!
I've decided to go forward with my 10g nano and 10g sump. It's lots of equipment to start searching for, but it will be worth taking my time in the long run I think. Really glad I found this forum!

After a few months of research, and more to come, I'm feeling a little unsure. In the end, if it all fails, it's only a 10g and the equipment can be re-homed and or converted into my freshwater setup. I think some of my main trepidation comes from the uncertainty of the future and where my money is going. As a teacher, I have my summers "off", so if a trip abroad comes up, I'm not going to say no. I also really love camping - winter, summer, any season. The rest of the time I'm a complete homebody. I can definitely see a dosing system and ATO in my future.

Goals:
1) Achieve Success
2) Create Something Beautiful
3) DIY What I Can
4) Keep It Thrifty
5) Share & Enjoy

Equipment for Start-up: (For now) Used/Cheap Stuff Welcomed :p
10g Display Tank ✓
10g Sump Tank ✓
10g Sump "Pieces/kit"
10lbs Live/Dry Rock
Live/Dry Rubble
Miracle Mud
Live Sand ✓
Seed Sand
"Lights"
Fuge Light ✓
Protein Skimmer (DIY in the works)
Pump(s)
Air Pump ✓
Powerhead(s)
Heater(s) ✓

I left off the small and random start-up bits, but I'll keep track of all my costs, I've found a few examples of someone doing this, and it would be nice to see how within budget I can keep myself. Eventually I would like to add upgrades and changes, but for now it's giving a good foundation to the start of my nano. I have a new planted tank also in 10g so I thought it would be cool to have them side by side on display.

I really like the OceanBox Acrylic Sump Kit - It's just so pretty. It's 90 $ USD yuck.
http://oceanboxdesigns.com/product/dlux-sump-kit-for-10-gallon-aquarium-ruby-red/
IMG_2225.jpg


I know it's WAY cheaper to make it out of glass, so we'll see. I would like the entire set-up to look great - custom makes for the ultimate setup. I'm also looking into the costs of making my own from acrylic sheets- as the neon green and hot pink colours are available that way.

http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/Plexiglass_Acrylic_Sheet_Fluorescent/ACRY90950-125PM24X48
http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/Plexiglass_Acrylic_Sheet_Fluorescent/ACRY90930-125PM24X48

I'm thinking about a custom stand made from an ikea hack - I wish they still stocked this desk top because it would be so cool with an led light run under the glass as an accent light. To the drawing board!

ikea-desk-top-glass-640x483.jpg


I think the next couple of months will be gathering supplies and building - So much to think about!
 
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MissMere

MissMere

New Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2015
Location
Guelph, ON
Found my sump/fuge acrylics! Lime Green & Pink - going to get the specs tomorrow! It's a PD Day yall - bit of teacher work and then reefing muahaha! Btw the Lime green & pink are going to look sick I think. Really inspired by the MACNA frag display tanks and how the royal blue LEDs and actinic light hits the neon transparent acrylics.

edge.png
matchedge.png


Inspiration Images:
fragniappe1.jpg image.jpeg IMG_9110.jpg synergy-reef-fluorescent-sump-5.jpg Untitled-11.jpg
 
chief hill

chief hill

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2013
Location
Windsor, Ontario
Looking forward to seeing your build. Many on the Internet will tell you that nano tanks are harder to maintain. I haven't found that is the case. I only find things can go south quickly on a small tank. (nothing good happens fast in a reef tank) I started with a 29 gallon biocube with sump and had great success. I didn't even use Rodi water till I upgraded. Larger tanks are more forgiving timing wise to deal with issues but cost is always factor in them as well. Keep your eye on the forum and Kijiji you should be able to find lots of great deals on used equipment to make your first tank a success. Once it's all up and running and your happy with your setup the bug will bite and you'll want to upgrade or add more tanks. lol I'm on my 4th upgrade now.

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk
 
BIGSHOW

BIGSHOW

Super Active Member
Website Affiliate
Joined
Sep 2, 2012
Location
Hamilton
Website
www.bigshowfrags.com
Looks like you got a good plan and list of items needed. What direction is the tank headed? Mixed reef, softie, SPS? Knowing what types of corals/fish will help you plan your equipment better.


Nice signature! fancy :)

Oh ya and welcome!
 
Dr. Zoos

Dr. Zoos

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Location
Woodstock, Ontario
Good luck with your nano tank. They can be just as amazing as any big tank. I had one for about a year befor I upgraded but I still miss that tank. I ran a ac100 for a fuge, hydor nano cir pump, Aqua remora nano skimmer and a 70mh that had blue led night lights. I think it was a sunpod. If there was one thing I would have done differently it would have been to add an ATO well 2-I woulda drilled it
I post this pic here already but it's the only one I can find from it.
image.jpeg
 
MissMere

MissMere

New Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2015
Location
Guelph, ON
Thanks BIGSHOW! So far I love the look of all corals right now - although the daily feeding of the non-photosynthetic corals seems a bit daunting. I definitely like zoanthids, and acans, favia, most softies really, LPS and macro algae. For now the "beginner" corals are what I'm focusing my research on.

My livestock wishlist isn't set in stone, although I really would like some cool inverts - sexy shrimp being one. Maybe a snowflake clown, something "reefsafe" small, simple. I'm moving pretty slow, I don't want to see any crashes and I'm still learning about how some corals hate each other ahaha. A nice mix of well balanced colour and texture, making sure everyone gets along. I'm working on having premium lighting and all my gadgets in order so I don't have to be too restricted.

BIGSHOW said:
Looks like you got a good plan and list of items needed. What direction is the tank headed? Mixed reef, softie, SPS? Knowing what types of corals/fish will help you plan your equipment better.


Nice signature! fancy :)

Oh ya and welcome!
Click to expand...
 
scubasteve

scubasteve

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Location
Cambridge, Ontario
welcome. looks like you are off to a good start. lots to look at for ideas on here. it sounds like your fuge will look as nice as your tank will lol
 
MissMere

MissMere

New Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2015
Location
Guelph, ON
Made an "interesting purchase" today after an annoying night last night. I ordered a new (I'll admit cheap) canister filter for my 10g planted tank and I simply cannot get it to work. It won't pump water, wont prime, I've tried everything, reviewed dozens of forums of trouble shooting. I think it's just faulty. It's not my first canister, so I'm just super disappointed at it's failure. I even have these gorgeous glass lily pipes - looks like I'll have to finance another canister - which sets me back from my saltwater goals.

Feeling super defeated this morning - I purchased a smart light from best buy. You can program it via smartphone -which is awesome, saves money on a fancy controller. It's only rated to 6000k tops - but I bought it as more of a mood/night light over the 10g, you can program it to one of thousands of colours - or make a sequence of slow changing colours - teal - blue - deep blue - violet - aqua. End result should be gorgeous.

http://www.bee-wi.com/bbl227,us,4,BBL227-A1.cfm

On my planted tanks I use - Belkin's Wemo Switch to control and sequence the light schedule from my iPhone. I have it set up for optimal time for the plant's needs, but also the cheapest times in the day to run extra electricity. Plus - if I want to goto sleep early (lights run until 11pm) I can just slip into bed and turn them off from my phone and not have to get back up - it's different kind of lazy.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=36c1ccb98212fb781580e4dcaf81edd3en02
 
MissMere

MissMere

New Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2015
Location
Guelph, ON
It was an ebay purchase and the return shipping is more $ then it's worth - I've requested they pay return/replacement but I haven't heard back yet.
 
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