Reefers Cafe Forums - View Single Post - The $100 Nano-Reef Project

johnmaloney · 03-07-2008, 02:44 PM

Me and my brother have decided that we will try to create a nano-reef for under $100. First of all let me say we are cheating quite a bit. First, we are using sand and some base rocks from my old tank. They were placed in a 10 gallon aquarium kit from Wal-Mart that cost me $30. I used filter media from another tank to jump start the cycle, and after a week I added 2 lbs of live rock I got off of Ebay that came with some Chaeto and 4 coral frags (2 zoas which I split again, and a unidentified coral which I split 4 ways in a fragging massacre). That was a bargain at $25. We then added grape caulerpa, an encrusting sponge and a few feather dusters. The dusters and the grape were both caught. To help the filter out we placed 4 sprouted mangroves in the tank. That is where we are so far. We don't buy saltwater either, but get it straight from the ocean.

First problem- the lights we got are powerful, but the wrong color. Now I am looking for tubualr aquarium lights that are really skinny, but can't find any locally so far. Let me know if you have them or know where to find them...

Pictures to come....

03-07-2008, 02:44 PM	#1 (permalink)
johnmaloney Reefer's Cafe SPONSOR iTrader: (1) Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 582	The $100 Nano-Reef Project Me and my brother have decided that we will try to create a nano-reef for under $100. First of all let me say we are cheating quite a bit. First, we are using sand and some base rocks from my old tank. They were placed in a 10 gallon aquarium kit from Wal-Mart that cost me $30. I used filter media from another tank to jump start the cycle, and after a week I added 2 lbs of live rock I got off of Ebay that came with some Chaeto and 4 coral frags (2 zoas which I split again, and a unidentified coral which I split 4 ways in a fragging massacre). That was a bargain at $25. We then added grape caulerpa, an encrusting sponge and a few feather dusters. The dusters and the grape were both caught. To help the filter out we placed 4 sprouted mangroves in the tank. That is where we are so far. We don't buy saltwater either, but get it straight from the ocean. First problem- the lights we got are powerful, but the wrong color. Now I am looking for tubualr aquarium lights that are really skinny, but can't find any locally so far. Let me know if you have them or know where to find them... Pictures to come....