5.5G AGA AC200 Fuge Pico Journal

Naked Wookie · #1 03-03-2009, 05:48 AM

well here is the start of my 5.5g AGA aquaclear 200 fuge nano..

plans for this tank are.
get 70w MH/LED lighting

I plan on keeping zoas primarily going to try and get my hands on some rarer zoos and get them going so that I can frag for my local reef club.
also once I get the MH/LED keep 1-2 sps small frags.
but for now till lighting changes just basic zoos,gsp,shrooms
this is in a dorm room and is placed on my nightstand thats the reason for it being turned as it will be viewed from the bed as well as from the end from my desk so hopefully I can come up with rockwork that does both views.
I will be modding the AC200 tomorrow hopefully once I get the correct silicone.

still working on figuring out a canopy that will hold the lights I am going to be using currently along with a reflector till such time as I can afford either LED or I make a DIY 70w mh.
I ended up painting the ACs intake tubes as well so they blend quite well with the back wall. Also needing to decide on if the 200 is enough flow or if my maxi jet 900 is needed not sure if the 900 will be to powerful although.

Krylon fusion.

finished product.

my lighting setup for now 4x 23w 6500k CFLs.

more to come shortly when I get sand and rock.
the rock is fully cured so I will be pretty much skipping any cycle if all goes well.

*note this happened yesterday*

Naked Wookie · #2 03-03-2009, 05:52 AM

well I had only thought I was going to get sand today and rock the next day or so buttt we all know how that ends.
kelly at The Reef Shoppe was incredibly helpful, amazing stuff he has at his place very crisp and clean tanks. and that display tank simply wow just beautiful. ( I will def be back in a few days for corals and such once this things ready )
also good thing and yet bad thing is his tanks are only 4-5 blocks from my dorms uh oh

here is sand and rock + ghetto reflector till I can buy wood to build a legit canopy tomorrow.

I will get better photos tomorrow once the water is crystal clear again. that and mod the AC200 into the fuge.

(thinking of looking at sexy shrimp, porcelain crab, been told I could do a yellow tailed damsel or damsel similar sized or a small goby, not sure may just keep it inverts and coral only)

karazy · #3 03-03-2009, 05:56 AM

lookin good nate

glad to see you on these forums

mseepman · #4 03-03-2009, 03:56 PM

One thing I would suggest until you get the opportunity to do your DIY hood with 70W MH, is that you look at aquarium bulbs for your current setup.

Here's a link to what I mean. http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/...5050lamp10watt

Most stores carry these in either 10W or 20W and they will make your corals much happier and "pop" better. 6700k will mostly just help the algae take over.

Naked Wookie · #5 03-03-2009, 04:33 PM

issue with those is once I get 4 of them I probably covered the cost of buying and shipping the MH ballast(let alone the 20w), I will look and see what I can find locally if anything maybe somehow snag a deal..

but looks like I might be running security for a few hockey games so then I will get some cash hopefully enough for the ballasts.

also params this morning where .4 ammonia and .1nitrites .1 nitrates enough colour to not be clear but nothing more for them, so now the waiting game begins

rocketlily · #6 03-03-2009, 06:17 PM

I agree with the 50/50 bulbs. I have been using the 20W on my 10 gal nano for the contest and I have had amazing growth and color with them. Nice thing also is there is very little heat, which will be a big bonus for the summer.

Naked Wookie · #7 03-06-2009, 04:22 AM

well params are near perfect already which is wicked, already noticed some new coraline growth on a few of the rocks as well.
moved the rocks a tiny bit so stirred the sand a tiny bit.
right now I am just waiting on another reefer to get my information for payment of a 70w MH ballast and I will be rolling with that shortly.

likely going to look at getting the start of my CUC saturday if all goes well.

still undecided on if I should get more rock or not just yet if I do thinking a larger piece to complete the right corner of the tank.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #8 03-06-2009, 04:55 AM

Cool little project.

I may have missed it but how are you going to deal with heat and evaporation with a 70W halide over it? That is going to be quite the challenge if keeping sps since they tend to not tolerate temp. and salinity fluctuations. Just curious

Naked Wookie · #9 03-06-2009, 08:30 AM

I am going to see how well the fans I am planning on using work for keeping the MH from boiling my tank.
but my plan is to start softies and see how bad evap/temp is actually sps won't be till summer/next fall unless someone has really cheap frags and I somehow grow money magicall. I havn't had temp issues with 3 23w CFLs sitting not even half an inch from the surface it stays at 79F through the duration so wondering how much worse a MH suspended at 6ish inches off the surface.

and already looking making a ATO unit for the tank being how I figure do it right the first time now, cause I plan on moving this tank back home for the summer and then back here for the following years semesters.

although I am wondering what do other reefers do for christmas break at college? I only ever get 12-14 days off due to my sports and tournaments for break but do people bring it home or just rely on ATOs and timers?

Naked Wookie · #10 03-08-2009, 05:51 AM

CORALS WOOP.
went to get a small clean up crew and ended up walking out with corals funny how that works huh.
so for CUC so far I got 5 blue legged hermits and these are tiny tiny little ones not the larger blue legged, and 1 nassarius snail, and 3 brittle stars he tossed in.
so now for some pics.

brittle star hiding already.

GSP thats supposed to grow up the back well yet.

gorilla nips not opened yet, they are peaking out now although.

yay snail.

my small kenya tree and zoa polyp frag.

baby ric

and tiny little guy.