Enigma's 2012 Nano Contest Entry

[Enigma]

I'm having a difficult time, in my display system, of balancing the needs of a mixed reef. LPS do very well, while SPS survive but don't thrive. My goal for this nano is to provide an optimal and sustainable environment for my SPS corals (higher light and higher flow).

For this build, I've chosen an all-in-one 24 Gallon Nano Cube DX, which will be filled with 19.5 gallons of saltwater. The remaining volume will be filled with rock, sand, and equipment. The only external component to the system will be the automatic top-up.

Another part of the challenge, for me, is in trying to use as much equipment that I have laying around as possible. The costs of this build are approximately a 50/50 split between what has been purchased new and what is salvage, and the costs work out to around $100 per gallon (before livestock). I have only purchased what I felt was absolutely required to ensure that my goals are successfully met.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Enigma

the costs work out to around $100 per gallon

You're at $2000.00 without livestock for a nano??Is that a typo?

[reefwars]

holy shelley $100/per gallon, is there sleep in my eyes still


i love where tis is going though so far and ill be watching to see what you come up with


good luck

[Enigma]

Not a typo. This baby is getting a full Apex and custom DIY LEDs. Those add up! As do all of the other bits and pieces. In looking at this tank, it isn't going to look any different from any other NC24 on the outside except for one tiny little thing.

[Enigma]

What 19.5 gallons of water looks like in an NC24.



It could be tough to fill up the void.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Enigma

What 19.5 gallons of water looks like in an NC24.



It could be tough to fill up the void.

sandbed??

[Salt2Death]

I love your work on this tank build up!



Sent Via Pirate Ship.......

[reefwars]

a post has been made in all the contest forumns regarding contest rules via the timeline, everyone should read this post as there seems to be some confusion.

[Enigma]

I'm thinking about flow.

A very common practice when dealing with these cubes is to replace the stock return pump with a Maxi Jet (a 900 or even a 1200).

If the water volume is 19.5 gallons, and optimal flow rate through a "sump" (filtration chambers, in this case) is 6.1x display volume, the optimal flow rate for the return pump in this system is ~120 gallons per hour. The stock pump has a flow rate of 290 gph. Replacing the stock pump with a higher flow pump seems foolish, based on those numbers. Ergo, I'll be using the stock return pump and relying on powerheads to supply the flow that the corals require.

I've presently got a Tunze 6015 as the powerhead for this tank. While it is a little large as far as how much room it requires in the display, it is 476 gph. I need at least 20x the water volume per hour for system flow: 400 gph. Combined with the return, I'll have 766 gph, which should be suitable.

I've been testing an "Innovative Marine Spin Stream Return Nozzle" for this system. I think it is a huge improvement over the stock return nozzle: which blasts the water out and has very limited positional range.

[reefwars]

great job so far shelley, looks like your putting alot of thought into this


cheers