CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano

[MizTanks]

Hmmm "CSQ Concept" sounds like a title of some sort

[CalmSeasQuest]

Hmmm "CSQ Concept" sounds like a title of some sort

I have to call it something - Just imaging how hard it is to explain this tank to someone who hasn't seen it. I get lots of strange looks

This tank has really been an adventure and a series of pleasant surprises. I say surprises because I had no idea what to expect having had no experience working with acrylic, or much of any DIY background. What I found is that if you allow your self to "screw up" enough times without quitting, odds are that in the end, you'll come up with something good . Here are my observations thus far...

Foam Fractionation
The skimmer turned out to be a real surprise - I hadn't initially planned on including a skimmer on this build, especially when I realized I would only have about 2" available in the overflow area. A quick look at all the commercially available nano-sized skimmers returned little of interest. I had seen very small skimmers made by Mame and a very talented DIY'r named Glazier, but decided they didn't fit the needs of this tank so... I ordered acrylic - lots of different sizes and shapes to start testing with. I'll be the first to admit that I'm surprised at how well this little skimmer performs. I think the key was using the largest possible diameter drain line thereby minimizing back pressure, allowing it to "breath" properly.

Bio-Filtration
As I thought about this build, the greatest initial challenge was how to handle bio-filtration without any live rock. The location where this tank resides doesn't allow for a sump, and I wanted the display area to be free of traditional aquascaping....hence the problem. I had used bio balls and other variants years ago during the inescapable plenum and wet/dry days and swore never to return, yet I had to find a way to make this work in a very tiny overflow area. As I researched bio-media, I came across the MarinePure ceramic spheres and was impressed by the porosity and surface area claims. I reasoned that if I could create an area that pre-filtered water passed through extremely slowly (I'm banning the word trickle), I could create an aerobic environment for processing Nitrites, and just perhaps an adjacent anaerobic area (center of the spheres) that might provide some level of denitrification. So I built a vertical tower using acrylic that holds staggered columns of MarinePure ceramics that is constantly fed a very small volume of skimmed and filtered water. It's still far too early to draw any conclusions, but so far so good. The filtration plan appears to be working with no measurable Nitrates or nuisance algaes.

Acylics
I used to think I spent a lot of time when aquascaping a tank, spending hours on end arranging and re-arranging rocks. That time sink pales in comparison to how much time can be spent working with acrylic. Between the various skimmer and bubble plate designs to the 20+ coral mounting pieces that were created (not including those that ended up being destroyed by dropping, being stepped on, sat on, melted or exploding under a saw, drill bit or Dremel.) And then there were those that failed stress tests, or succumbed to my OJT flame polishing methods....the do-overs were plentiful. Out of sheer embarrassment, I will never admit how many hours I spent on this project.

With all that said, I've had a blast with this built. I love the fact that I can tinker endlessly with it (although I've found it a major distraction at work.) Because each coral build is modular, it's easy to move things around, replace entire pieces or swap out individual corals with ease. While I'll never give up my "traditional" tanks, from a reefing perspective, It's forced me to think in the most non-traditional, "Abbynormal" terms. What I discovered was - It can be fun coloring outside the lines.

Thank you to everyone that has spent their time tagging along and for all the kind comments.

[MizTanks]

Thank you CSQ for taking the time to share this wonderfully awesome build with us. I've yet to enjoy one as much as I have yours!

[CalmSeasQuest]

Friday update - Tank's been wet for 90 days.

I have some very sad news to share. On returning to my office Monday, I was able to locate only one of the Clowns. After some searching, I found the other about 3 feet away on an office chair. At some point over the weekend it had jumped out of the tank, onto the desk and flopped several feet before ending up on the chair.

I struggled initially with the decision of whether or not to have fish in this tank having had none in the prior version. The shallow depth and open top would obviously be a risk but in 20 years of Reef Keeping, I'd never had a clown jump. After doing some research and talking with Tal (Clownfish Breeder) I decided to go ahead. This decision was also made based on the fact they would be the only fish in the tank and not subject to any harassment.

In observing these two for the past couple months, I saw no concerns - they rarely spooked and spent virtually all of their time along the substrate. They had seemingly settled in very nicely. I don't know what happened to cause the jump, perhaps the cleaning crew that works over the weekend spooked them somehow.

To make matters worse, the remaining Picasso now refused to eat. It's as if he was in mourning for his lost partner. I was faced with a decision. I had no other suitable tank to move the remaining Picasso into as my DT has a pair of much larger Darwins that would have made quick work of him. After talking with Tal, he suggested placing another Clown in the tank to hopefully "cheer" up my Picasso and encourage him to eat. As Tal had no other Picassos available, he volunteered a very new, tiny Percula (still developing it's stripe.) I drove a couple hours to get the little one and by 7pm Monday evening, my Picasso had a friend...by 8PM, they were both eating.

I'll ultimately look for another comparable Picasso, but in the interim, I'm just happy they're happy. All else is doing well, Corals continue to grow and envelop the acrylic. Water parameters are rock solid with no signs of algae.

I'll try and post a few photos later today.

[MizTanks]

Such sad news CSQ I'm very sorry for your loss ((HUGS)) Anyway to make a temp cover for just the weekends? Like some mesh with weights attached to the 4 corners and like drape in over the top? Just an idea

[adalius]

Is there any way to do any sort of a netting on top without affecting the aesthetics from the side view? Clear thin strand bird net might be light enough to be not noticed if you could figure out a way to build a frame that doesn't stand out (or a small amount of weight at each joint, like a fishing sinker size might keep it taut enough)...

[adalius]

I see Miz & I think alike with the weighted top idea. :D

[Tom@HaslettMI]

Sorry for your loss. I wonder if the two clowns were trying to decide who was going to be the lady in the relationship. I have had clowns get pretty mean toward each other when they reached sexual maturity. It seems to be most common when both fish are about the same size.

Tom

[AJ :)]

Sorry to hear about the jumper. Tom's thought does seem possible.
Glad to hear you have both fish doing well now.

[CalmSeasQuest]

The tank is pretty much on autopilot. I did have to manually increase Alk a bit. I've now got the ATO maxed out with Kalk.

A few quick cell phone shots showing things "settling in"...







I think I'm most excited about how well the skimmer and filtration tower have performed (Nitrates are still un-measurable.) I think this might open up new options for handling filtration in nano/pico tanks.