Feeling that itch again.

[biomekanic]

Hi folks!

 

I'm going to be planning out my next setup over the next couple of months, and thought I'd post what I'm planning/thinking about here.

 

It's also where I'll be asking advice

 

Where I am now:

 

I have 2 nano tanks, a (tanks 1)15.5g and a (tank 2) 21g. The very tentative plan is... doing a DIY foamwall on the back of both, after they've been drilled for coast to coast overflows and have returns.

 

The foamwall will have acrylic rods so I can have the LR suspended above the bottom, this is a maybe for tank 2 and a definate for tank 1.

 

Hardware to follow, after I tell you My Plan.

 

Both tanks are going to be "Floribbean" tanks. I'm a fan of our native species.

 

I'll be ordering Live Rock and sand from Richard at tbsaltwater.com. I've ordered from him before, and I like his product.

 

The Plan(TM for Tank 1 is to have either some yellow headed jawfish, dusky jawfish, or a pistol shrimp with fish. Tank 1's corals... most likely the shipment will have gorgonians. They'll be going into this tank. In addition, I would like to get some of the Carribbean proto and palythoas, including the grandis. Possibly some Ricordia as well.

 

Under the "overhanging" rock, I may place some pieces of thin baserock so any of the burrowing fish can have roofs.

 

The sand bed will likely be about 3" - the fish need somewhere to burrow.

 

Tank 2:

I was thinking about having a bonsaid mangrove. Or I might have this tank for the stony corals that come in with the shipment and just forgo the mangrove ( unless I can get them both in there... ). I've found a source for aquacultured Carribbean brain corals - Manicina areolata. For fish in this display, I was thinking of Barnacle blennies. I had one before, and he was a cute and very personable little bugger. The foam wall on back would therefore have a lot of holes for them to hide. Or, I might just get one of those fake barnacles from Petsmart/Co and mount that on the back.

In additition, I was considering a small school chalk bass, 5 or 6.

 

Plumbing:

Well, first, before plumbing, I'll need a stand. I need to measure off my space and the tanks so I can get a nice, roomy stand. I want to put all the equipment in there, and have a nice sized sump/refugium as well.

 

I'll post a pic of my preliminary design sometime Real Soon Now. The plan as it stands is to have the return feed SCWDa. The return from SCWDa will feed 2 SCWDs(b), one for each tank. The return lines from b go to the returns that are drilled into the back of the tanks. I was planning on using Y nozzels from Locline.

I was thinking the pump would be about a 1200gph - the 2 SCWDs do reduce the pressure. There would of course be valves to control the flow as well.

 

I might use some of the new Rio prop pumps as I have a Rio controller, to get more flow in tank 1.

 

Lighting: I'll most likely bite the financial bullet and go with LED. While more expensive in the short run, the cost of MH bulbs and 2 tanks will save me money.

 

Filtration:

Here's where things get... interesting. Much of what I'm interested in keeping alive from the shipment are filter feeders. While I firmly believe skimmers serve a very useful function, for what I'm after, I don't want to much skimmed out of the water. I'm considering using an underpowered skimmer ( such as a Rio nano ) and supplementing it with ozone hooked up to a redox meter. Carbon would of course be run with this.

Primary filtration would be a DIY algae turf scrubber. A popular way to build one is to use a small trashcan, the kind with a spring loaded hood. I have 2 64w 6500K LOA security lights, so lighting is taken care of. The filter would have it's own feed from the main drainage line.

 

I've considered using a 5g bucket filled with base rock and seeded with LR as a refugium. I'm looking to maximize plankton production for all the filter feeders. Or, would a refugium filled with macroalgae serve that better? Thoughts/opinions? ( or both of them, nothing says I only have to do 1 ).

 

Of course, all this requires me getting a full time job, but I have several prospects finally lined up.

 

I would like to have all the hardware in place some time in July, and then make the order to Richard.

 

I plan on letting the system sit fallow for at least 3 months, if no longer before adding any new planktivores. I want the pod population to have plenty of time to build up before opening up the buffet.

 

As always, any thoughts/opinions are welcome.