Matt's 8 gallon work build thread

sh0tyme83

sh0tyme83

Member
After a 3 year hiatus, I'm officially back in. I ended up picking up one of those aqueon evolve 8 AIO's at Petco for $49.99. This tank is going to be sitting at my work while I'm still setting up the JBJ 28 at home. I'm excited to be back into this fun hobby. Hopefully should be able to start adding critters soon. I started with all dead/dry sand and rock, so probably need to get a nice piece of live rock in there to get the bacteria in the tank. Let me know what you think of the scape. I went with the black sand to try and make the colors of the corals pop more hence the rock debris on the black sand. I'll be upgrading to a new LED fixture here in the next week or two. I'm thinking about just getting one of those par 38 bulbs. I plan to do a mix of Zoa and maybe some basic SPS for the top.

Matt

View attachment 2511
 
At that price you might as well get a Par 30 (or 38 if you want) from Coral Compulsion with a goose neck. Proven results and great customer service at a closely matching price point.
 
cute tank....I have one myself....
chit can the stock light quick and don't waste your hard earned money on those garbage ebay lights...do yourself a favor and just get a quality/proven LED fixture and avoid the hassle of being unhappy and not being able to recoup the money you threw out the window....
I run an AI Nano with controller over mine and for what I am keeping (shrooms, nems, LPS and macro algae) I am thoroughly satisfied.
However, the single most important piece of equipment you MUST get on that tank is an ATO.......ASAP!!!! (presuming of course that you don't already have one)

the evaporation rate is enormous given you are working with less than 5 total gallons of water with the displacement of rock and substrate....your SG will rapidly increase during evaporation and your corals and fish will suffer...trust me....I tried to go without....no gouda....

I installed an Elos Digital OsmoController and I love it....no bulky float switch. just a small digital probe that senses the water line as it drops....

GL and feel free to ask questions...hope to see this turn into a tiny jewel :)
 
Yea, I was thinking about one of those. I don't know if I like the either A) on or B) off. I'm used to having the fixtures where I can do different functions. Might able to supplement with some moon strips or something.
 
cet98 said:
cute tank....I have one myself....
chit can the stock light quick and don't waste your hard earned money on those garbage ebay lights...do yourself a favor and just get a quality/proven LED fixture and avoid the hassle of being unhappy and not being able to recoup the money you threw out the window....
I run an AI Nano with controller over mine and for what I am keeping (shrooms, nems, LPS and macro algae) I am thoroughly satisfied.
However, the single most important piece of equipment you MUST get on that tank is an ATO.......ASAP!!!! (presuming of course that you don't already have one)

the evaporation rate is enormous given you are working with less than 5 total gallons of water with the displacement of rock and substrate....your SG will rapidly increase during evaporation and your corals and fish will suffer...trust me....I tried to go without....no gouda....

I installed an Elos Digital OsmoController and I love it....no bulky float switch. just a small digital probe that senses the water line as it drops....

GL and feel free to ask questions...hope to see this turn into a tiny jewel :)
Click to expand...

I hope so too. I have an old ATO that I might bring in and use. I was looking at the JBJ as well. I do agree that I need one. I've been topping off every Friday before I leave for the week. I only have 3 crabs in there now so nothing to really worry about yet. Isn't a AI Nano like way overkill for this little tank? That's something I would use on my JBJ Nano cube 28 gallon.
 
it's dimmable and the footprint of the fixture is small so the overall footprint of light is not that wide/deep....works great for me ;)
 
oh...almost forgot, as you already know, the rear sump sections are rather small so placing a float switch like the one on the JBJ worries me...
I have had those switches get hung up before on my 40B with sump and empty out my RO reservoir into my system....with this size tank, it would have overflowed :(
 
cet98 said:
oh...almost forgot, as you already know, the rear sump sections are rather small so placing a float switch like the one on the JBJ worries me...
I have had those switches get hung up before on my 40B with sump and empty out my RO reservoir into my system....with this size tank, it would have overflowed :(
Click to expand...

Good thinking. Probably shouldn't hook a 10 gallon top off tank to a 8 gallon tank. Overflows would not be nice.
 
So time for alittle update. Tank is up and stable. I have added a few zoa frags from ReefWise. One of the frags started as 2 polyps and now has a 3rd, so I'm assuming everything is going good with the tank. :) I'm still looking for a good light to get, still running the stock light with the zoa high up on the rocks on the plugs for now. Any idea if a 14 watt par 30 bulb would be enough for zoas and polyps?
 
Update time... Have about 5 or 6 zoa frags in the tank. The yasha goby and pistol shrimp are doing well. Still looking for a good par bulb for over the tank. I am running one of those Chinese par bulbs from Amazon and I seem to be getting cyno so I'm hoping it's from the light. I'll take a picture when the lights come on tomorrow.
 
Update time again. Got a new Coral Compulsion light (thanks again Tom!!!!) and now the lighting on the tank seems alot better, but still having cyno problems. I leave for vacation tomorrow, so hopefully while I'm gone the cyno will magically disappear.. :) Did a small water change before I left today. I'll post pics when I get back.
 
Ok update time. Tank has been up for a year and a half now. Having problems keeping zoas alive. They like to "melt". They are there one day and disappear over the next few days. I have 2 SPS frags (an acro and a monti) and they are showing no signs of being ill. Anyone have any ideas? Mushrooms are also shrinking. Could it be possible that the tank is too clean? Don't softie corals like the water alittle "dirtier"?

Everything else is happy and healthy. The 2 clowns are growing and developing their black. I started feeding spectrum grow to hopefully color them up alittle more.
 
That is my first thought after hearing both zoas melt and mushrooms are shrinking. Dirty it up a little and see what happens. Just hang on as your sps might not like it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top