B1N4RY's 8 Gallon Reef Aquarium.

[B1N4RY]

So living in an apartment in the Bronx is not really conducive in my opinion to setting up the incredibly large reef aquarium of my dreams. So instead of staying out of the hobby cold turkey, I decided that I would challenge myself a bit by setting up an 8 gallon pico reef aquarium in my dining room. until I can no longer stand the urge and decide to go bigger. So I'm curious to see where this goes.


So I found a suitable location for the aquarium in the dining room just behind our kitchen table, which I thought was excellent because its the central hub of our apartment. Maybe when this thing start growing crazy I can setup a 20 gallon long aquarium right next to it. But all in due time.


I actually only ended up using a single bag to fill the aquarium. So I have an extra bag should I need to top off the sand level if it ever drops.


I know this is kind of like cheating... but I wasn't entirely sure how much live rock I need and especially what type of live rock I wanted to purchase. So I figured I could circle back around with that, but I didn't want to leave the aquarium bare. So in comes the coral insert and I have to say I'm not entirely displeased with it.


I know I just pulled the alarm on the "oh it's a nitrate factory" but I really couldn't pass it up. I have maintained aquariums in the past with canister filters and with routing cleaning I have had no issues. I just couldn't stand the thought of placing a hand on back protein skimmer on this aquarium and have it look like a little house with a chimney. Plus I got it for an awesome price and I couldn't pass it up.



So here is my full tank shot. Came out pretty nice so far and I have some upgrades planned down the line but I'm pretty happy.

 

[thirty6]

nice little tank, you pick it up new someplace?
i have a buddy that has a 9g tank similar, he swaps out a solo cup or two of water a few times a week and the tank looks tremendous. enjoy setup. i would imagine having kids a clownfish is in the mix? what are you thinking to stock with

 

[B1N4RY]

nice little tank, you pick it up new someplace?
i have a buddy that has a 9g tank similar, he swaps out a solo cup or two of water a few times a week and the tank looks tremendous. enjoy setup. i would imagine having kids a clownfish is in the mix? what are you thinking to stock with

Thank you. A Clownfish or a mated pair of Percula's is most likely in the mix. Maybe a Yellow Clown Goby. Not trying to go to crazy as I would like to throw live corals in the mix after a lighting upgrade down the rode. To be honest I would love a pair of Mated Premium Snowflake Clownfish from ORA. As for the aquarium itself I purchased it new on sale for $65.00 at Pet Smart. It's an Aqueon 8 Evolve setup. Couldn't beat the price. I was originally looking at the cadlights but I figured that with the acrylic being so thin that clarity shouldn't be an issue.

 

[B1N4RY]

New Livestock Aquarium Additions.

I managed to get to a local fish store yesterday and pick up a few things. I'm absolutely in love with Nudibranchs and I understand they have very specialized diets and with my aquarium being fairly new I was concerned that they would not eat algae sheets. But I was very happy when I say the very small baby (smaller than a dime) starting to find his was to the green algae sheet and chow down.


I also managed to find another one of my favorites, the Yellow Clown Goby. He perched exactly where I thought her would and I think he is happy with the artificial reef insert as well.


I Found another Nudibranch which I have never seen before and it is much larger. Haven't seen him too interested in the algae sheets. If anyone can identify it that would be helpful. I apologize for the impulse purchase in advance.
http://s1340.photobucket.com/user/B...eef Aquarium/Aquarium-11_zps15522d0e.jpg.html

I also found this little guy fending for his life in a tank where he shouldn't have been in so I decided to take him home. He is not the most vibrant and his hidden away for the last day and is starting to slowly warm up but he is mine.

 

[B1N4RY]

Power Conditioning & Battery Backup.

So as my little journey with this aquarium begins, I started thinking about what equipment I needed to address various aspects of the build process. So obviously the first thing that I thought about was power. With the recent power outages my first thought was that I need something to not only protect the equipment by conditioning the power coming from the outlet but also give me some backup power in the event of a power failure. So I purchase an APC Battery Backup that covers both of my power concerns. The one unit gives me approximately just under 5 hours of power to the entire aquarium. That includes the canister filter, internal sump pump, 50 watt heater and the LED light. All I need to do is add additional units to form a bank of backup batteries by daisy chaining them together and I can extend the run time as much as I need.

 

[B1N4RY]

Searching for a Protein Skimmer.

Even though I have a Fluval G3 Canister Filter that is working quite well for me now, I have been thinking that I would like to replace the coral insert after I have obtained all my other equipment and place in some live rock and maintain some high end SPS Coral. So I'm in the market currently for a new hang on back protein skimmer. I'm interested in the Reef Octopus BH-1000 Hang on Back Protein Skimmer. So I created this little overhead schematic to have one of the online retailers to check with the protein skimmer manufacturer to see if it would fit on the rear of my aquarium and clear all the current equipment I have installed.

 

[thirty6]

If and when you replace the rock wall it looks like you will gain some more space, to be honest it looks nice in that tank though

 

[B1N4RY]

Reply to Thirty6.

If and when you replace the rock wall it looks like you will gain some more space, to be honest it looks nice in that tank though

Yes, more open swimming space. You don't see it too well in the photographs. But there are small openings that allow the fish to swim into the coral insert. I think I am going to have a rough time accepting the new live rock when it is ordered because I don't think it is going to look as nice as the insert at first glance.

 

[duromega]

it's better to have a small aquarium then nothing!!
I'm in love with your little tank

 

[B1N4RY]

Reply to Durommega.

it's better to have a small aquarium then nothing!!
I'm in love with your little tank

Thank you!

 

[thirty6]

Yes, more open swimming space. You don't see it too well in the photographs. But there are small openings that allow the fish to swim into the coral insert. I think I am going to have a rough time accepting the new live rock when it is ordered because I don't think it is going to look as nice as the insert at first glance.

I think it looks nice, I'm not sure I'd change it

 

[B1N4RY]

Reply to Thurty6.

I think it looks nice, I'm not sure I'd change it

I know I think that every time I look at it.

 

[B1N4RY]

Possible High Nitrates.

So unfortunately I have been in the in the hospital recovering from emergency surgery to save my life from a burst appendix. So I wasn't able to tend to my aquarium and my wife told me my fish don't look so well and that my snails are making runs out of the tank. So without any further testing I am assuming that nitrate/nitrite levels may be higher than expected. I have a my Fluval G3 Canister filter running for approximately 3 weeks now with just the stock Activated Charcoal filter and I never had a chance to install the Fluval Tri-Ex (Ammonia/Nitrate0Carbon) cartridge before I was admitted. Does anyone else have a similar issue with such small aquariums?

 

[B1N4RY]

Disaster Averted... Slightly.

Okay, so here is a little update regarding the fish. Everything inside is currently doing well. Right out of the hospital my wife took me to a local fish store to purchase an additional cartridge of Nitrate absorbing media. We came home and I immediately did another small Dixie cup water change. Took the Fluval G3 Canister Filter offline to replace the Activate Carbon cartridge with the Tri-Waste removal cartridge (Ammonia, Nitrate and Activated Carbon). After about an hour everyone resumed swimming with no issues. I did loose 2 Green Chromis and my Yellow Clown Goby sadly. However, I still haven't decided what retailer to purchase live rock from online. Any thoughts.

 

[thirty6]

Hope your feeling better.
I would probly grab some live rock from local reefer or store rather than online just seems to me like you could get in tank quicker with less die off

 

[B1N4RY]

To address the issue of the lacking biological filtration in my aquarium as recommended I have placed an order Premium Aquatics for some Premium Fiji Live Rock. I called and spoke with a very good customer service representative named Jeremy and sent over the schematics of my aquarium and also a photograph of what the aquarium looks like currently with the coral insert. They recommended 7 lbs. of love rock which should be here by Wednesday. I was very happy with the price as well. I expected to pay anywhere from $75.00 to $140.00 for the live rock. But I only spent $38.00 and that was including shipping.

 

[duromega]

good to hear you're gonna put some live rock even that your coral insert looks good;
hope you're doing better

 

[B1N4RY]

good to hear you're gonna put some live rock even that your coral insert looks good;
hope you're doing better

My wife is actually busting my balls because she loves the look of the coral insert. So now she is just pacing around the house saying goodbye beautiful insert and hello ugly drab rock with dying coral.

 

[thirty6]

Ha. Thats pretty funny. Tell her to leave you alone, still on the mend

 

[B1N4RY]

Reply to Thirty6.

Ha. Thats pretty funny. Tell her to leave you alone, still on the mend

LOL :splitspin