My 8g Cad Lights Work Tank.

[IronRising]

Hello Everyone

This is my first time on here in a long long time. I had a 170g total system with a 9og display tank, but alas 2 years ago i had to shut down because of traveling for work.

Now i am going opposite side of the spectrum and going with a 8g total system.

The tank i chose is the 2013 Star Fire glass Euro Pico 8G LED reef system from CADLights.I have read a lot of problems online with customer service about ordering tanks with shipping to Canada, But i decided to try it any way. Aside from a small miscommunication at the beginning (which was partially my fault) They where great to deal with and answered my emails fairly quickly.

The tank itself showed up in good condition (there was some slight bubbling on the black vinyl wrap that covers the outside of the rear filtration compartment) they did an awesome job on packing it for shipping. It came in a box within a box with more than ample padding in both.

Now some specs on the tank

*Modern Slim Profile LED lighting system 6.2W. Quad panels design with light output of 150PAR.
* Tank dimensions are 12" x 12" x 13"
* Multi-Chambered Reef system with Powerful Organic Ceramic (Low nitrate production) filtration media.
* 100% Acrylic filtration for a true deep black background.
* 187 GPH pump for a turn over rate of almost 23X per hour.
*NEW Linear + Seamless design.
*High Starfire glass Clarity seamless single panel.


The Good



I love the look of this tank.

Its small does not take up a big footprint.

I like the all in one filter compartment

Lights are Nice and sleek looking
Just big enough to make some interesting aquascapes
Pump they send is more that enough
they send a sponge filter and Mesh bag full of the Ceramic rings(don't know if ill keep or turn into a mini Fuge)
Tank is so silent! only noise you can here is if you put your ear right on the glass lol
Starfire glass is nice and clear and the edges are bent perfectly



The Bad.


the rear filtration takes up a big chunk of tank space (see Pictures)
The light is nice, It lights up the tank no problem but i don't think it will be strong enough to grow SPS.
The overflow has two inlets one at the surface and one halfway down the tank. the only down side i can see is reduced surface skiming. Could fix that with a quick mod but does not seem nesccisary.
Out let for the pump is on the left hand side (not the problem) but its halfway down the wall. make it more difficult to place rock. (see Pictures)


So far very pleased with the tank. The pictures are of Day one set up after the water has mostly cleared.


Stocking Plans


So far i have

5Lb of live sand placed in bottom
7lb of dead rock. Going to get another half lb or so from a buddy to seed.


Future plans
I have not decided exactly what i want in there but this is the general idea.


1-Helfrichi Firefish, I know i might be pushing it on this fish. but he should be ok as he has lots of places to hide in the aquacape and there is a glass top
1-2 Wheeler's Shrimp Goby or some other paired goby.
1-shrimp Probably Bloodfire
1 Crab Probably porcelin
in a couple months to make sure i have a stable system Assorted softies like candy canes,mushrooms,Frog spawn Colorful rics.


I plan on freshwater top ups daily and a 50% water change weekly may switch to 25% twice weekly depending on how the parameters are working.



I will be posting often i hope as this is my first excursion into a nano of this size. Feed back will be most appreciated. My first fish will not be going in till 2-3 week depending on cycle


Pictures will be in second post

[IronRising]

[JmeJReefer]

Love the nanos!!!

Any mods u can do to the filtration chambers?

a par38 will grow sps in that tank.

Thats a great chunck o rock ya got there....

following

[IronRising]

Originally Posted by JmeJReefer

Love the nanos!!!

Any mods u can do to the filtration chambers?

a par38 will grow sps in that tank.

Thats a great chunck o rock ya got there....

following

Ya i think i will defiantly be upgrading the lighting when the time come to dive into SPS. I am thinking of doing a DIY LED fixture for an upgrade. I know Everyone swears by CREE LED but since this is such a shallow tank I might go with the cheaper BridgeLux LED. Since it only has 12" to bottom and those should be more than enough to pump some par to the bottom. and i will only need a small fixture with more focused lenses.

as far as shrinking the the filtration it barely fits the pump as is so i think that is staying, and there the black vinyl wrap on the back that i could cut out and to make a window for a light to run a hidden Fuge.

I had to dig to the bottom of a bin to find that rock . the top right section is another chunk that has been glued to the main bottom piece. you cant really see it in the picture but there is an awesome little shelf right on top that will make for some prime mounting spots.

Thanks for Following

[IronRising]

Hello all

So the start up cycle has taken a little longer than i have anticipated. My Nitrite would not leave!

But know we are good to go. My PH is high right now. but my lights have been on for about 48 hours. (power Outage rest my timer)

First inhabitants will be placed in this weekend/Monday morning. will have some pictures then.

Just look at those test results

[IronRising]

Hello all

So i got my first tank inhabitant on Tuesday. I was really hoping to get the Helfrichi Firefish but alas nobody in edmonton seems to be able to find one for me so i settled for a Semi Rare Elegant Fire Fish (AKA decora Firefish or Purple Firefish) He has very interesting colors. he is a little shy and does not come out to much yet.

I have not given up on my flaming prawn goby as he will be my main attraction for fish in the tank. i have a couple stores looking for one right now.

Now here is a picture for your viewing pleasure.

[IronRising]

Hello again all,

Just added two new tank mates

Hectors Goby


and a Cleaner Shrimp


Over view of Tank



Gonna start adding corals next week! will post some pictures

[mohammadali]

is it a aiptasia in the middle of the rocks ?

[IronRising]

Originally Posted by mohammadali

is it a aiptasia in the middle of the rocks ?

Better not be! lol. No there is not. i started with dead rock and grabbed a seed rock from a buddy's tank that is aiptaisa free.

[IronRising]

Hey all its been a while.

I had a a tank crash after a water change... lost everyone. Sad Day.

I have now added two Black Clowns and a few corals. The picture below is as of two weeks ago.



This picture is From the Weekend a day after adding the corals ( Thanks craigwmiller )




Mini Reef Here We Come!