CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano

[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.

[CalmSeasQuest]

I guess that a wrap - I see Jim has put up the voting thread. I hope everyone will take time to review each contestants build thread and vote for your favorite.

One of the challenges with this tank are the proportions - Because the tank is so long (when compared to other nanos), trying to get a FTS results in the photo being taken from very far away making it difficult to make out details within the tank. This is also the case for the final contest photo. I apologize for the photo seemingly being so far away, and I hope I've provided enough macro shots throughout the build thread to give you a sense of the tank and it's design.

I've had a lot of fun and learned quite a bit with this build. Far beyond the "unique" aquascaping, I never imagined I'd build a skimmer - even more surprisingly, one that actually works very well . I'm also excited about the filtration tower. A very compact and easy-to-do idea that I've found to be effective in helping maintain water quality. I think it's playing a large role in the success of the tank - especially since there is no live rock whatsoever.

Thanks again for tagging along and for all your comments and suggestions throughout the build. I hope you'll take a moment to determine your favorite and Vote for the Best Nano Build

[jstan]

SO, is the tank still running or did it get torn down, as soon as the contest was over.

It'd be nice to see this fully grown in and mature. Especially with all the neat acrylic base structures.

UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE !!!!! please

[MizTanks]

It's like CSQ has dropped off the face of CR