# My New Exciting Nano Reef



## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)

After being away from salt water for over a year, I finally got the chance to start over again.
Nothing big, a brand new nano system!

Day One:
Super excited with my new tank....
Filled with salty water, started the pre live rock cycle with a cycled sponage filter taken from my cichlid tank, yeah..who cares about them (cichlids) now....

















An AquaClear 50 is used here as a filter and keep the water moving, later on, it will become a tiny refugium.









Marineland Reef Capable LED is used to light this tank up, believe or not, it is way brighter than I originally thought. 
I think LPS might just do well under this light...









I got this rimless tank from IPU, it is a really nice tank and comes with a glass cover. 
Well, to reduce water evaporation, I cutted a piece of plastic board from RONA to fit the gap that glass cover does not cover.









An AquaClear surface skimmer is attached to that AC50 to skim the surface.









Day Two:
Added a bag of live sand (10lb) to help the cycle while I am still looking around for live rock.









Yeah yeah...cloudy water....

















Day Three:
Finally something new. I bought four small pieces of live rock from J&L which is on sale.
Also got a Tunze 6015 water pump to add some current to the tank.









Day Four:
Now..looks a lot better. Thanks for Anthony for the nice pieces of live rocks, now I have about 20 pounds in a 14 gallon.
I could add more, but it took me almost an hour to figure out how to landscape this 20 pounds in this tiny space.









In order to minimize fresh water top off, I precisely cutted more plastic boards to cover all the open gaps where water could evaporate. 

















Hope you enjoyed the pictures...
Stay tuned for more.....


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Looks beautiful, u should come help me with mine lol


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Cool aquascaping job Gavin. I like the caves and the way you have an overhang that optimizes space above for coral placement and yet leaves a lot of open sand bed/swimming room.


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## big_bubba_B (Apr 25, 2010)

i went from a 180g fresh to a 70g reef and i tell ya i wouldnt give it up. i love it and hasent been to hard on the wallet


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

Nice looking set up Gavin, like the overhangs you did!


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

That looks great man!


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## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)

SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> Cool aquascaping job Gavin. I like the caves and the way you have an overhang that optimizes space above for coral placement and yet leaves a lot of open sand bed/swimming room.


Thanks, that is the best way I could think of to nicely fit all of the rocks in there. Borrowed some idea from your tank too...


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## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)

*Modded an AquaClear 50 into a mini refugium.*

I modded an old AquaClear 50 into a mini hob refugium over the weekend, and here are some shots.
Also got a 10 bucks Ikea LED light for the refugium...


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## rickwaines (Jan 2, 2011)

ohhhhh I sure would like to set up a wee salt set up.
yours is insipiring.


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

Marineland reef bright LEDs do fine for SOME lps from my personal experience


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

Awesome job scaping! i cant believe imissed this build! this is why we need to seperate marine and fresh water tank journals


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## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)

well..a little update on my nano reef..
Added a pair of Clown fish, a couple Green Chromis and a Cleaner shrimp.
And for corals, I have a Neon Green Hammer, a dark green hammer, a pink tip Frog spawn, a bird nest and an unknown sps (forgot its name).
More to come....


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## jay_leask (Apr 22, 2010)

wow, i really like that set up.


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## sakurachan1 (Mar 12, 2012)

haha nice setup gavin! I really should start a salt too !


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## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)

Added a Rose Bubble Tip Anamone two days ago...
Surprisingly, my tank raised clowns start to host it today!!
Enjoy the pictures...


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Very cute.


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

Looks awesome gavin


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

Thats a really cool idea for a refugium. Nice shots too


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## covertune (Aug 10, 2012)

Very cool tank. I absolutely love watching the little clowns play in the anemones, so cute!


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## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)




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## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)

*Another month later, more corals and everything is booming.*


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## bcorchidguy (Jan 14, 2011)

Well thought out, really nice set up. 

Douglas


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

That's beautiful Gavin.Good job.All your tanks,that I have seen have been well put together.


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

So Gavin! when is the next reef going to happen?
LOL just kidding.


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## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)

I thought about it, dreamed about it...no plan for it yet....


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## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)

Another update on my 5 months old nano...


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

May i ask which camera you are usig and at which settings/mode? Im having a really hard time with my olympus pen camera 

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2


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## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)

AdobeOtoCat said:


> May i ask which camera you are usig and at which settings/mode? Im having a really hard time with my olympus pen camera
> 
> Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2


Nikon D300s
f/2
1/250sec
ISO 320

A SLR camera may help...


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

Sometimes SLRs help but with most reef tank pics the issue is white balance. Many point n shoots Actually have better success with auto settings but the average new SLR user doesn't know they can use a custom preset. Mine let's you even measure a source 

Sent from my SGH-I897 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

Cichlid2010 said:


> Another update on my 5 months old nano...


Awsome Tank... Now I'm tempted... been contemplating on this a few moons ago :bigsmile:


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

Sorry SLRs may be frustrating for beginners.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

no need to be sorry, just informing some people  took me a while before i realized how useful raw files are.


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