My Eheim Aquastyle 9 Gallon Nano

Keno

Member
I've started work on my Eheim Aquastyle 9 Gallon Nano. Here is where I am at so far. I am probably 2-3 weeks from starting up the tank.

Tank: Ahem Aquastyle 9 Gallon Nano.

HOB Fuge: CPR Aquafuge2 - I swapped out the Rio 200 pump that comes with it for a Rio 600. Much better flow. Plus the Rio 200 seemed underpowered and would hum when connected to the pipe that flows into the huge. Not crazy about how the pump looks hanging in the main tank. May need to try to hide it with some rocks or something else. Any ideas that people might have on how to hide it would be helpful. Not sure if I can drop it lower in the tank.

Flow: Sicce Nano pump. In addition the return from the Aquafuge2 with the Rio 600 pump provides some additional flow.

Lighting: 1 Eheim Actinic LED bulb and 1 Eheim Daylight LED bulb. I am going to try these and see how they work. If needed I can either build an LED light or get something else.

Media: Marine Pure BioMedia - I cut a 4"x4"x4" block from a 8"x8"x4" block. I have the block soaking in my 45 gallon SW reef to load it up with bacteria.

Filter: I may use the original filter unit that came with the tank. I can put carbon or a PO4 media in it if needed. I fits perfectly in the Aquafuge2 compartment.

Sand: Tropic Eden mini flakes - 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep. Really like this sand. Very clean so little rinsing required and tends to stay in place better than other sands I've used.

Rocks: I am using dry base rock from Reef Cleaners. I did make an arch and used NYOS reef cement to hold the shape. Right now I have the rocks and a few loose ones in a bucket of SW with a pump, and a bunch of Phosguard in a mesh bag. I want to pull any PO4 that might be in the rocks. I am using waste water from my 45 gallon in the bucket to see if I can get some bacteria colonies to colonize the rock.

Testing my CPR Aquafuge2.



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Keno

Member
My original plan was to use 1 Eheim Actinic LED bulb and 1 Eheim Daylight LED bulb. I did some PAR readings and decided to use an LED light that I built for this tank instead.
 

chipmunkofdoom2

Well-Known Member
Hey Keno, great tank, and great rockwork! You put a lot more work into it than my lazy self, and it shows.

Just curious, what kind of PAR readings did you get from those Eheim lights? And which ones did you have?
 

Keno

Member
Hey Keno, great tank, and great rockwork! You put a lot more work into it than my lazy self, and it shows.

Just curious, what kind of PAR readings did you get from those Eheim lights? And which ones did you have?

Thanks!

I have the Eheim actinic and the 6500K bulb. It was getting a par of 20 16" down in air. I figured once I added water it would only go down. I didn't measure it higher up. I have an Apogee MQ 200.
 

Keno

Member
I have the Tropic Eden mini flakes. I pre-rinsed the sand, which didn't take much. The tank is crystal clear. First time I've had this happen with a new setup.
 

Keno

Member
I have a yellow goby I will be moving into this tank once it has finished cycling. Any other suggestions on fish?
 

chipmunkofdoom2

Well-Known Member
Thanks!

I have the Eheim actinic and the 6500K bulb. It was getting a par of 20 16" down in air. I figured once I added water it would only go down. I didn't measure it higher up. I have an Apogee MQ 200.

Ah okay, yeah the water only kills the PAR further. Good information though, thanks for sharing. I wish I had a PAR meter... I have an AI Sol, so the PAR numbers are pretty easy to come by for that.. still, would be an interesting piece of information to have. Following along intently!
 

Keno

Member
Ah okay, yeah the water only kills the PAR further. Good information though, thanks for sharing. I wish I had a PAR meter... I have an AI Sol, so the PAR numbers are pretty easy to come by for that.. still, would be an interesting piece of information to have. Following along intently!

If you have any specific LED light questions, just ask. I've been building LED light systems for SW and FW tanks since 2009. I had also setup a company for awhile building custom led light systems.
 

DonG

New Member
Looking good! I have a 8 Gal IM tank with all stock features. Been up almost 2 years. I'm running Purigen and Chemi-Pure with carbon between. Clean and clear!
 

Keno

Member
Looking good! I have a 8 Gal IM tank with all stock features. Been up almost 2 years. I'm running Purigen and Chemi-Pure with carbon between. Clean and clear!
I have plenty of room in the hang on fuge for carbon, etc. It's good to know what's been working for you.
 

Keno

Member
The pump for the hang on fuge, hangs in the tank vs being in the fuge. I did see some mods where people moved the pump to the fuge. My concern with moving the pump is when it needs to be cleaned. There is not a lot of room to get my hands into the fuge to remove the pump. So I needed to come up with another solution. I started looking at add on in tank overflow boxes. I found a couple that would work, but I still wasn't happy with the sizes I was finding. I had an extra overflow box and tried it in the tank, it was a bit big, but my concern was with the water flow into the box. The water needed to come in from the top, so I could still see the pipe and wire for the pump. I could put a hole in the bottom of the box, but I didn't want to mod the box I had.

I noticed that CPR, the company that makes the fuge, makes a bubble trap box that would connect to the slide where the water flows back into the tank. The size of the box seemed to be a good size, plus it is open at the bottom. With it being open at the bottom, I could push the box up to be level with the tank top. This would hide the wire and pipe for the pump. So I ordered one. I installed the bubble trap box today using a magclip to hold it in place.

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You can see the pump on the right side in this image.
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This is looking in from the right side of the tank.
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Front view, the pump magically disappears. I had to also move the rock work. I had to twist the rockscape clockwise to make it easier to get the box into and out of the tank. At some point I might cut the height of the box down. Right now I don't have the right tools to do it. Mission accomplished, the pump, pipe and the wire from my heater controller are all gone.
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Keno

Member
Ammonia and Nitrites are now zero. Nitrates stayed at zero. I want to see if the marine pure block is denitrifying, so I dosed enough KNO3 to raise my NO3 to 2ppm. Tomorrow I will measure my NO3 levels.
 
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