Planned curing/cycle for AquaOne Mirage 50 (43 litre) Nano Reef

1. Place AquaClear 70 on back of tank, with activated carbon and Hydor 50w heater in filtration compartment.
   • Set heater to 26° Celsius - Will aid in die off.
2. Place AquaC Nano Remora protein skimmer on back of tank.
3. Inspect live rock:
   • Mix up a higher salinity water with a specific gravity of about 1.035
   • Inspect the individual rocks for dead sponge and other dead/undesirable organisms.
   • Place rock into high salinity dip bath and shake to dislodge debris. Leave rock in dip for two minutes.
   • After unwanted invertebrates have evacuated place rock in tank for curing.
   • Repeat for all rocks.
4. Add enough Nature's Own Nutri-SeaWater to tank, as well as to the AC 70 filtration chamber, to cover rocks and turn filtration equipment on.
5. Turn Hydor Koralia Nano 900 powerhead on and face at rocks. 
6. Every seven (7) days submerge a simple pump with vinyl tubing attached and blow debris off the rocks, along with doing a 50% water change while siphoning out any organic matter and loose debris that accumulates at the bottom of the aquarium. Use Nature's Own Nutri-SeaWater for the first two weeks, then switch to Red Sea Coral Pro salt mix and RO/DI water.
7. Measure and monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels in the aquarium weekly.
8. When both ammonia and nitrite levels are zero, perform a 50% water change on the aquarium. After 24 hours, check the pH of the water and adjust as needed to achieve the desired level of 8.1-8.4
9. Add 2-2.5cm of Nature's Own Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Reef Substrate to bottom of aquarium. Continue cycle for a further week and then test water again. If levels are safe stock tank.

Refugium:

1. Install fixtures for a canister filter - the return of the filter goes into the siphon area of fuge.
2. Place two 50w AquaOne ThermoSafe heaters into the fuge (one in the returns chamber and one in the siphon area).
   • Set heater to 26° Celsius - Will aid in die off.  
3. Install an AquaOne Proskim G220 Protein Skimmer to centre chamber, HOB style.
4. Inspect live rock:
   • Mix up a higher salinity water with a specific gravity of about 1.035
   • Inspect the individual rocks for dead sponge and other dead/undesirable organisms.
   • Place rock into high salinity dip bath and shake to dislodge debris. Leave rock in dip for two minutes.
   • After unwanted invertibrates have evacuated place rock in centre chamber of tank for curing.
   • Repeat for all rocks
5. Mix up enough salt mix using Red Sea Coral Pro to fill fuge and add API Quick Start to mixture. Turn on equipment.
6. Every seven (7) days submerge a simple pump with vinyl tubing attached and blow debris off the rocks, along with doing a 50% water change while siphoning out any organic matter and loose debris that accumulates at the bottom of the aquarium.
7. Measure and monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels in the aquarium weekly.
8. When both ammonia and nitrite levels are zero, perform a 50% water change on the aquarium. After 24 hours, check the pH of the water and adjust as needed to achieve the desired level of 8.1-8.4
9. Add 2-2.5cm of a mixture of Nature's Own Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Australian Gold Live Sand and CaribSea Mineral Mud to bottom of aquarium. Continue cycle for a further week and then test water again. If levels are safe stock fuge with macroalgae.
10. Plumb refugium into AquaOne Mirage 50 nano reef.

Krylon Fusion for Plastic in Australia!

So, if you're into nano reef aquariums you may be familiar with the need to paint the rear of your tank black (or blue if that's your thing) to hide your filtration equipment and to make the tank look sharper.

Now, if you're like me and are Australian and also happen to live in a regional area then you may find it difficult to find the paint of choice for most of the community: Krylon Fusion for Plastic. It seems that it's the go-to paint for the American enthusiast and as such you run into flat recommendations of "Wal-Mart carries it", which doesn't really help you.

So after some searching I discovered that Crockers Paint stocks it and that they take online orders! I just bought a couple cans of the Flat Black for $12.95 a can and it cost me around $18.80 in shipping, which is a small price to pay when you have no other options xD

As soon as I get them into my hot little hands two of my work-in-progress tanks will have nice and black backs which will let me get on with the rest of setting them up.

!!UPDATE!!

They arrived today:

They were stated as being posted on the 09/11/2012 and today is the 12th, so pretty nice timing. I'll be taping and painting my 43 litre Mirage 50 tomorrow, after I finish work. Then I just need to get my AquaClear 70 (with an inTank media basket), AquaC Nano Remora, Hydor Theo 50w heater, Hydor Koralia Nano 900 and some live rock and sand and she'll be on her way to being my first nano reef ^_^

The Pico Display Refugium

I'm at it again it seems.

My AquaOne Cube 30 Pico Reef build is coming along nicely; it's had a few revisements and merging of suggestions from kind nano-reef.com-ers. One such suggestion was throwing a submersible light and some chaeto into the first compartment. I liked this idea but incorporating it made it look a little off.

That's when I decided to be all creative and build a little display refugium to sit next to the pico reef. This way I'll get to see my macroalgae grow and also add extra filtration potential to the tank.

The above image is my first attempt at a design. It's based around this design. In case of power outage there is going to be a couple PVC overflows in the main part of the tank and be plumbed to a collection resevoir underneath the tanks.

The tank measure 70cm (L) x 27cm (W) x 23cm (D) and holds 43 litres (11.3 gallons). The actual refugium chamber is 51.9cm (L) x 27cm (W) x 23cm (D) and holds 32 litres (8.4 gallons).

The tank will be all glass, 4mm. The baffling will be made from 6mm clear acrylic and the black parts in the first image represent what will be hidden by a nice stained timber cabinet (which will be incorporated into the cabinet of the AIO AquaOne Cube 30 pico I'm building).

At the moment I have ordered the following for lighting the fuge:

1 x 3w Cool White (6000-6500K)
2 x 3w Warm White (3000-3300K)
1 x 4w Neutral White (3700-5000K)
1 x 3w Blue (460-465nm)

I also got:

10 x 1w Red (620-630nm) - Only need three

Which I'll be soldering into the Coo and Neutral White bulbs:

They are all GU10 LED bulbs from Chinese manufacturers and cost very little to get (with free postage) off of eBay. I'm still experimenting with lighting, and I'm still reading through the GU10 LED Build Thread over at nano-reef.com, so before I finalise anything I think I'll post in the thread before manufacturing anything.

I'll be making a little cabinet for the fuge which will incorporate the hood, and also may be connected and incorporated into the AquaOne Cube 30 cabinet. As such I'm going to use the above IEC power socket (which I picked up of eBay for under $3 w/ free postage) as the power interface.

More to come as more gets done!

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:

• Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) or 
• Percula Clownfish (Amphiprion percula)

And then I have room for one more little guy, so I'm deciding between one of these:

• Purple Dottyback (Pseudochromis porphyreus) or,
• Yellow Watchman Goby (Cryptocentrus cinctus) or,
• Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto). 

**My stocking limits stemming directly from lgreen's "Fish Stocking Guide For Nano Reefs" article**

Invertebrates:

• Porcelain Crab (Petrolisthes galathinus)
• Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)
• Spiny Star Astraea (Astraea phoebia)
• Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit (Clibanarius tricolor)

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.