Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Here are a few pics of the nano I built. Its a 10g but im thinking about buying a 19g that will fit the stand instead of the 10g. what do you guys think?

awesome set up. i like the way you did the lights... looks great

well I went and did something crazy...I bought an 18g that fit the stand perfectly and got it set up tonight. I took some pics but the sand isn't settled yet and the LR was just set in there until the water is clear and I can see to reefscape it. Here are the pics:

Here she is this morning Almost cleared up all the way...I think Im gunna add more LS though.

I would put about 4 inches of sand in in it. You will get better nitrate reduction and also you would be able to add tube anemones with a deep sand bed. Another thing to consider is that your sand will slowly dissolve over time so it is better to add a little more now than having to add more sand later. That is just my opion.

the light sand on the bottom is 8lbs dry sand and the darker sand on the top layer is 5lbs LS.

Im thinking about laying down a small layer of aragonite and the adding 3lbs of Florida Keys LS mixed with 10lbs of little fuji pink on top of that to get a layered look what do you guys think about mixing different types of sand?

I would have stayed with the 10 gallon but you didn't so it will end up looking good. You should have done a plennum system and a lot more sand to get all your stuff a little closer to the lights. Plus you won't have a problem with nitrates that way either. but thats just my opinion and i am sure it will end up looking awesome.

well Ive been thinking that with a tank this tall, I may add a small MH in the hood. Im Not totally happy with the stand and canopy right now. I'm kinda limited on how big of a sump I can have in the stand. I may build another stand..a wider one and make it somewhat of a glorified light stand..with drawers and the sump inside.

That sounds like it would work. The hight of the tank is what worries me too. i think your going to have to add more lighting depending on what your planning on keeping in there. how many watts are you running right now 40?

2 10w Corallife 50/50s and 2 19w daylight. I don't really like the tank being so high either(built the stand with a 10g in mind) Although I have that sucker strapped to a couple of studs in the wall.

I think I will start building the new stand soon. I will drop some money into it and spend a good deal of time on it. And when i get it done...i can take out the LR empty out a lot of the water.. get a crew of strong guys lift the tank up carefully move the existing stand and then put the new stand down and then install the tank.. and try to do this without disturbing the sand bed.

You should be able to fit a couple of 36 watt pc under that hood possible 2 55 watt pc bulbs. You can get pc bulbs and ballast combos on ebay cheap. You might have too much heat with a MH for a tank that small. I prefer sand over aragonite and something to consider is that the aragonite might work it way to the top. I think your set up is going to look good. I would have chosen the tall tank also.

Nice looking set up but will second or third the fact that you either should go bare bottom or add good bit more sand. Same reasons as above...better filtration and to get closer to lights....I would recommend this before you get too far in the project that way it will have time to cycle and not kill anything.

Im going out and buying about 15 more lbs of sand today.

Hello all...
I bought more sand yesterday.. 15lbs of dry Keys sand and 2lbs of Keys LS. and I did some landscaping. this isnt going to be the final layout completely but its already pretty close to what I want. The dust from the new sand is settling and when thats done I will be able to start "polishing" the layout of the LR Here is a pic I just took this morning.

Here is a pic of the whole tank... notice the layers of sand.