I have it... might as well use it!

[BestMomEver]

I have a Fluval Evo V that’s been hanging around and thought I’d set it up. So, I went to the LFS and purchased 10 lbs of CaribSea pink live sand and a 4.4 gallon jug of Nutri-Seawater. I had too much rock in the 32 Biocube so I remove a few pieces and dropped it in. I purchased 2 Nessarius snails and 3 Astrea snails. I’m counting on not really having a cycle... at least not a detectable one but I’m not going to dump a bunch of stuff in there all ar once. For now, I have the five snails and one hairy mushroom. I will be moving a green tree coral, a small hammer coral, a small candy cane coral, and an acan or Aussie lord from my 60 and 32.

I had upgraded the return pump when I set up the tank the first time and I also put a Koralia power head in the tank. Water flow should not be an issue. I’m using the stock lighting. My prior experience with this tank is that the stock light will grow any softie I can find and some LPS, depending on the type. I haven’t decided on what fish I want. I am considering a royal gramma, Helfrichi Firefish or possibly a Goby/shrimp combo. I’m looking for suggestions. If I get the Goby/shrimp pair, I might consider a LA DD bonded pair of gobies and a shrimp. I’m not sure if that will be too much. Opinions?

Here’s a photo.... before the dust settles...

 

[sfin52]

Royal grammas are a great fish but tend to be shy.

 

[BestMomEver]

Royal grammas are a great fish but tend to be shy.

Yea... I had one years ago and he was shy. But he was also a very small fish in a 500 gallon aquarium full of much larger fish. They are, IMO, one of the most beautiful little fish out there.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Looks great. I love the two islands. Only concern is they appear close to the glass. Looks like you have some room to slide them in a tiny bit if you find it difficult to scrape the glass. Anyways, great job!

 

[sfin52]

Yea... I had one years ago and he was shy. But he was also a very small fish in a 500 gallon aquarium full of much larger fish. They are, IMO, one of the most beautiful little fish out there.

Can't argue that. I got one my self .

 

[BestMomEver]

Looks great. I love the two islands. Only concern is they appear close to the glass. Looks like you have some room to slide them in a tiny bit if you find it difficult to scrape the glass. Anyways, great job!

You might be right. The good thing is that there are only two pieces of rock and nothing is stacked. Easy to handle. I hoped to have tiny bit of sand showing instead of piling a bunch of stuff in there.

 

[Devaji]

great start! I am liking the little tanks more and more...

 

[BestMomEver]

great start! I am liking the little tanks more and more...

They’re fun but a lot of work compared to a larger system. When you have a $90 tank it’s hard to justify a $100 ATO so topping off daily is required if you want your Salinity to stay stable at all. And you have to have a tiny insulin syringe to dose it. Worst part is if you put in 1/10th of a ml too much, you could really screw up.

I measured the par of the stock light. At the surface it was about 90 and at the bottom it was 20 something. That’s not enough to grow anything. I purchased a used Kessill A80 and flexible arm for $130. A great price but it still cost more than the tank. Oh... and I ordered an InTank media rack for it. Now that I have all that, I feel ok putting in expensive softies, LPS and a fish.

It’s the third nano we have and by far the smallest. We also have a Fluval M40 15 gallon and a Biocube 32. Like I said, they are tons of fun but they require precision and forethought. I change out a pitcher of water every Sunday. All in all, I highly recommend them. For sure I’ve got a little money in it but nothing like the 60 cube. A teeny, tiny microcosm of sea water. Devine!!