Tuesday, October 30, 2012

AquaOne Mirage 50 Nano Reef Aquarium


Another day another tank... at least that's the way it seems to be working out! Although I had been stalking this tank for a about two weeks before I pulled the trigger and bought it xD It's an all glass aquarium, with curved front corners, and it a little over 43 Litres (or 11 Gallons for those that aren't metric). It'll be staying as it is, with very few moddifications to the tank.

Measurements:
Length: 49 cm
Width: 29 cm
Height: 30.5 cm
Glass Thickness: 5 mm
Fish:

I'll be using Hang-on-Back filters and skimmers so as to keep it at that 43 litres / 11 gallons. By doing so I'll be given the opportunity to keep a pair of anenomefish! Either:
And then I have room for one more little guy, so I'm deciding between one of these:
**My stocking limits stemming directly from lgreen's "Fish Stocking Guide For Nano Reefs" article**

Invertebrates:
The back of the tank will be painted a flat black in whatever I can find that will do the job as I'm yet to find Krylon for Plastic in Australia (at least not where I live), which will make the tank look good as well as hiding my filtration.

Hang-on-Back Eqiuipment:
Filter: an AquaClear 70 (if I can put my hands on one) with media basket, such as inTanks, running both Chemi-Pure Elite and Seachem Purigen.
Protien Skimmer: an AquaC Nano Remora (hopefully)
Lighting: 
QUOTE
3 x CREE XT-E 3UP (2x XTE Royal 1x XTG Neutral)
3 x True Violet 390-430nm w/ 120° optics(?)
1 x Ocean Coral White w/ 120° optics(?)
3 x Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA
3 x pots and knobs
1 x 6" MakersLED kit
1 x DIM4 Sunrise/Sunset Controller V1.0

QUOTE (uglybuckling @ Oct 29 2012, 02:38 PM) *



Costings:

AquaOne Mirage 50 - 43 litre Tank = $74.00
------------------------------------------------------------------
2 x Krylon Fusion for Plastic - Flat Black = $12.95
                                              Shipping = $18.86
------------------------------------------------------------------
Hydor Koralia Nano 900 = $69.00
Hydor THEO 50w heater = $35.95
Aquaclear 300 ( 70 ) Hang on Filter = $79.00
                                        Shipping = $7.95
------------------------------------------------------------------
AquaC Nano Remora Protein Skimmer = $199.99 USD
------------------------------------------------------------------
AC 70 inTank Media Basket = $43.99 USD
                            Shipping = $19.63
------------------------------------------------------------------
Lighting Fixture = $287.55 USD
           Shipping = $69.50
------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Total = $931.32


I'll update this post with more information as I get closer to starting the tanks cycle.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The AquaOne Cube 30 All-in-One Marine Pico Aquarium

Of late I have been bitten by the fish keeping bug (or should that be water keeping?) and have started a few freshwater tanks. That was until my LFS (local fish store) started getting ready to start stocking marine fish and related equipment. Well boy did that hit me hard!

I present to you my first attempt at a marine aquarium, first pico reef, and my first DIY aquarium related project... Well, a SketchUp model and a photo of the cube tank filled with water (to test if it held water, which it did). The tank is an AquaOne Cube 30 (30cm x 30cm x 30cm or 11.8" x 11.8" x 11.8") and is all glass. Un-modded it holds around 27 litres (or 7.13 U.S. gallons) and I expect the final volume of the DT once modded to be 18.2 litres (4.8 gallons). 

The rear partitioning is going to be black 4.5mm acrylic and will hopefully be laser cut by Ponoko



It'll be setup to have either the heater or filter floss in the first compartment, a little in-tank protein skimmer in the second compartment, Chemi-pure and Purigen in the media racks in the last compartment, with the heater sitting in the return channel on the far right (if the heater isn't already in the first compartment) along with the return pump. 

What will be in the tank is as follows:

Return Pump: Resun SP-850
Protein Skimmer: Not settled upon yet. Maybe soon though ^_^
Powerhead: a Hydor Koralia Evolution Nano 240
Lighting: 6" MakersLED kit
QUOTE
3 x CREE XT-E 3UP (2x XTE Royal 1x XTG Neutral)
3 x True Violet 390-430nm w/ 120° optics(?)
1 x Ocean Coral White w/ 120° optics(?)
3 x Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA
3 x pots and knobs
1 x DIM4 Sunrise/Sunset Controller V1.0

QUOTE (uglybuckling @ Oct 29 2012, 02:38 PM) *

As for stocking it I have no idea. I am now thinking about maybe one of the following:


Along with some corals, but as I'm fresh off the boat in the world of saltwater I have no idea (ask me about freshwater and I can at least tread water xD;;) so suggestions/recommendations are most and whole heartedly welcome.

Clean-up-Crew:
2 x Dwarf Ceriths
1 x Nassariu
2 x Florida Ceriths
3 x Antillean Nerite (Nerita fulgurans)

**Based on Reef Cleaners Pico "Quick Crew" CUC**

Oh, and here is the actual model files: https://github.com/punklibrarian/AquaOne-Cu...O---Marine-Pico  if you wanted to give it a twirl, or if once I'm done and you kike it you can make your own =)