Nano Reef Aquapod 24 Gal

[akilles-13]

New year, new tank. I will be using the 24 gal. Aquapod tank made by CURRENT@. Lighting will be the Sunpod (70w 14,000k HQI metal halide, with 6 lunar led lights, and 6 day led lights). The filtration included with the tank is ceramics, bioballs, and mechanical sponge filters. I changed it up a little, and probably will do more modifications later. I will be turning 1 side of the filtration system into a refugium, that will include live rock frags, fiji mud, and macroalgae. Ive done some reseach, and found a great mini compact light system that will fit right over this the filter area. Heres the site for aquapod tank if anyones interested.Current Aquapod

 

[akilles-13]

I couldnt wait. Ordered 25 lbs. of Caribbean live rock but has'nt showed up yet. So, I went ahead and got 7 lbs. of Fiji from my LFS, damn they're expensive. $8 a Lb. almost 3x as much then ordering online. I went ahead and decided on using Real Oceanwater (Catalina water) $9 for 5 gallons. This elminates the mixing of dry seasalt, ro/di water, and contamination while mixing. Obviously this is more expensive, but in the long run I might be able to sustain a healthier reef aquarium. For the substrate Im using 10 lbs. of Natures Ocean@ Live bio-active aragite sand, 5 lbs. of puka shell grade 5, and 5 lbs. of puka shell grade 2.
Water condition before adding LR.
77* degrees
Alkaline 9
Ammonia 0
Gravity 1.023
Nitrate 11
Nitrite 0
PH 7.9

 

[steelhealr]

Looking good. I'm not a fan of putting any shell-like substrate in the tank. In fact, how much weight is that..am I calculating out 30lbs of substrate or 20?

I would get rid of any ceramics, bioballs or sponges. Well, the sponges could stay in during cycling to help remove all the grunge.

Welcome aboard. SH

 

[akilles-13]

Its a mixture of about 20 lbs. combined. I really like the look, it gives it a real ocean bottom feel and texture.
Growing up in Hawaii and now living in Las Vegas, I guess, you can say, this will be the closest I'll be to the ocean . Thank you steelhealr, for your insights. Your thread will be the backbone for my tank.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Sounds like a good start
I think that substrate looks really good
Dan

 

[akilles-13]

Heres more pics, of the bare tank. Again I'm still waiting on a shipment of live rock from International marine fish. If your interested, they have a sale right now $3.15 a lb. on Caribean live rock, with free shipping. http/www.intmarinefish.com/liverock.html
Intro to tank.3 hours laterThe next morning

 

[steelhealr]

Looks good..you can always gravel vac the substrate if needed. Try and avoid contact with the walls when you aquascape...avoids excess wall pressure, less dead spots and will let you get the coralline off later so that one pane doesn't become opaque.

Yahoo.....another member and tank. Welcome aboard. We have some great members here...small..but..great nano-ers. SH

 

[akilles-13]

As Im patiently waiting for my live rock, Id like to see some start up pics of live rock formations, from members here. Just the pics of the LR placement stage.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

If you want some pics of my aquascape click on my signature and go to page 5 & 6.

Just some tips i'd say after learning from my first attempt:

Lots of crevices and tunnels for fish to swim through - It makes the tank look alot more interesting and helps prevent dead spots

Keep a distance of about 2" from the glass - Helps with maintenance and stops too much pressure on the glass

Lock pieces in - Make sure they sit together well. The last thing you want is a turbo snail bringing down your whole structure because of one loose piece.

Take your time - Don't rush the LR into the tank. I did this first time round and the results spoke for themselves... ) Line up your pieces and it will help you visualize how you want them positioined.

Surface Area - The more LR surface area you have the more room for corals and nice coraline growth.

Be Happy with what you have done - Don't be afraid to take it all back down if you dont like the look

My Aquascaping still needs a bit of touching up. Tommorow i'm doing one last good clean and am moving around a few pieces of LR and hopefully it will look alot better.

Have fun HTH
Look forward to watching your progress

Dan

 

[akilles-13]

Thanks Dan, great information, love your tank setup. Looking forward to hearing from you, through my quest of a mini reef tank.

 

[steelhealr]

.er.....'nano reef tank'...a mini reef is any large aquarium smaller than a reef. Nano refers to what YOU are setting up. Picky, I know, but terms are terms. SH

 

[akilles-13]

Still waiting for my 25 lbs. of live rock, called the company up and no one has returned my call yet. Should have been here this past Friday, I dont think Ill be purchasing anything from "International Marine reef co@". But I did add a few things to my tank. Gravel vac, Fiji mud for my refugium, new thermo and heater. I noticed that the recently bought thermo was going haywire, The Coralife thermo was showing readings of 52 degrees and than 42 degrees. Purchased the Lifeguard thermo and its working fine. Also per STEELHLR "Da Man" purchased gravel vac.

 

[akilles-13]

Okay, heres some numbers everyone can crunch on, while your deciding whether to start a nano reef tank.
This is my Itemized price list as of now, I got some good deals on Ebay.

Aquapod 24 gal. package. incl. tank, filtration, Sunpod HQ and Stand. (LFS) $500.48*
5 gallon white buckets with lids (LOWES) $ 6.27*
Catalina real oceanwater. 5 gal. x 5(only used 4 gal. thus far) (PETCO) $ 48.21*/8.99 ea.
Natures Ocean bio active aragnite live sand 10 lbs. (PETCO ONLINE) $ 22.49
Profile Gravel Vacuum (PETCO ONLINE) $ 17.99
Kent marine superbuffer 8.8 oz.(PETCO ONLINE) $ 6.99
Refractometer (snap-on tools) $ 42.27*
Puka shell substrate 10 lb. #2 and #5 (LFS) $ 10.56*
Fiji live rock 5 lb.(LFS) $ 42.90*
Hagen Master test kit (Ebay) $ 47.00
Tetra Whisper AQ. heater (Ebay) $ 14.00
Coralife Powercenter (Ebay) $ 27.70
Fiji Mud 24 oz. (Ebay) $ 14.00
Lifeguard Temp. (Petssmart) $ 19.29
Grand total of $820.15
Consider these prices to be roughly what you might be shelling out, Maybe far less or farmore. Like any hobby you start, you will notice in time, that the amount of money and effort you put into your tank will be PRICELESS.
(*THESE ITEMS HAVE LAS VEGAS TAX APPLIED-7.25%)

 

[steelhealr]

Don't forget to add on for the year:
-replacement media every 3 months
-about one 50 gallon bag of seasalt every 10 weeks
-corals
-fish
-refill test kits
-frozen fish food
-replacement bulbs after 8 months
-MagFloat
-RO water/RO filter/future topoff system

Nicely done giving everyone a general idea about how much a nice nano system will cost. It is quite evident that the costs, no matter how you try, will most likely run into the thousands, even with a nano reef. See the pin on Myths above. Good job. SH

 

[akilles-13]

Like SH said, the list will continue to grow. I finally decided to add more Fiji LR from another LFS, about 4 lbs. I also added in the blue collars of my tank, yep thats right, Cleaning crew. I added 1 cleaner shrimp, 3 blue legged hermits, 3 red legged hermits, 3 Cerrith Snails and 2 astraea snails. also bought from my LFS. But again Im still waiting on that shipment of Live rock. .