Darko's + Grandma 24g Nano Cube

So some may remember this SCORE I got last spring... Well this summer has not been friendly to me as far as temp spikes, stray volts, lights from hell w/ the 6g... So time to set up this because the others are under control, well the 6g is in the dark still lol... Well you may want to know what the + grandma is, well this tank is at grandma's / my parents house. Grandam is the reason why I love fish today FW tank I grew up watching was hers... she move out of the house when my dad was young and he kept it up after that... So this weekend is moving day, the tank has been sitting 1/2 empty keeping the LR live... but there is a snail living in it!!!!

This is grandma and Henry my nephew


So this is not at my house but this is a way for me to spend sometime with grandma and I am going to be taking care of it other then daily top offs...

I am tanking grandma to the LFS end of summer sale / bbq in a few weeks so you should be seeing lots of updates soon... also I don't know much about the tank and upgrades you can do so any tips would be helpful. I am thinking we are going to upgrade to a CPR HOB skimmer I can get one use cheap - pump... I was also thinking about a simple ATO? This is going to be a softy tank, due to light restrictions and pretty sure and I am trying to convince her she wants a Blue Spotted Jaw fish.... The tank has a tight lid?

Cool...we look forward to the build. I set my grandmother up a 20gal in the kitchen when I moved back here a few months ago. Nothing in it but live rock at the moment.

whats up darko me and fast have the exact same tank he has given me quite a bit of advise on mine and i seem to be doing very well with this tank

you can took up my build (send link in a few) it is only the first half because my camera died went out bought new one and my computer wont accept pics...

well the story behind my nano is it was super cheap and in :pooh: shape. i tore it down cleaned everything, and started my build got my cycle over with added some softies and the factory light died dont know what happened bulbs ballast what ever...so i said hell with it ordered a 150 watt MH/ 2 24 watt T5 combo for 99 bucks ( which i can also send link for)

anywho the standard lid is ok except:: under the lid from tank to filter has a gap which small fish can jump over and get traped in filter

well my new light acctuly will be here tmrw so as long as i can get a camera to work ill get pics to you

Wow what a move that was... So I went and picked Grandma up we loaded up the car (my mom CRV)

1-Tank / Stand
2-buckets of rocks
1-RODI - and a small toolbox of fish tools/stuff

On the way home we had to pick up a few things, so I showed her my 5 favorite LFS!! By the time we left the last one you couldn't fit ANYTHING in the car!!! I will be updating my other threads because I got new toys too :)!!!!

So right now the status of the tank is the salt is mixing.... I am going over tomorrow night to put the sand in and set up a few more things, NO pics I forgot my camera at home but I will have some tomorrow...The first thing I am going to set her up with a DJ power strip, I can't have Grandma crawling under the stand to unplug power heads to feed. I am also setting up an aqua lift so she will be able to top off easily she got 7g water jugs and they are to heavy for me to try and handle let alone her.

Skimmer... I was gonna get her a CPR HOB but now I am thinking about Reef Octopus Hang-on-the-Back 2000 OCT-BH2000 - English I know its a lil overkill :mrgreen: its only rated 101g over what we have? Since its a small tank and I don't see it every day I would rather know its got a kick ass skimmer. We have a WC schedule but I see that getting disrupted at some point since its not my house...

Grandma can't read the refractometer... to small, bad eyes.... any other ideas? I don't really want to go digital? My little sister said she would help but I would like to get something she can see?

If Grandma has lots of money this would work:

Hanna Instruments Digital Seawater Refractometer

dcantucson said:

If Grandma has lots of money this would work:

Hanna Instruments Digital Seawater Refractometer

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yeah... grandma has some money she makes 2 times as much as I do per month and she is retired.... I will show her that tonight and see what she thinks. thanks :)

Donna, on the skimmer I have 1 word for you and that tank..................TUNZE! The best skimmer available for those little tanks, and they fit in the rear chambers. Look for a Tunze 9002, that will cover that tank easily. GL to both you and grandma, I'm pulling for her.

Cant wait to see that tank come together.:D

SeattleDarko said:

yeah... grandma has some money she makes 2 times as much as I do per month and she is retired....

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Ouch! hahaha :D

Good luck with the build!

OK so update on grandma's tank. I am pretty sure we only had a mini-cycle we never had any spikes and there is a snail that made it... So this weekend I am picking up a CUC her tank has new sand and pretty clean LR so I am going to start with this.

3 Scarlet Hermits
3 Nassarius Snails
5 Astraea Snails
1 Emerald Crab

Even with that I will have her toss some nori in to keep them happy. She has her first fish picked out.... ANOTHER Nemo, Clementine (4yr old great grand daughter) had something to do with this I am sure of it.... lol

Well Grandma got a score last night! After getting lost because the guy mixed up his house # when he sent me his address... She got a RKL 3 for $200... We are going to get the salinity (module) probe so she can read it!!! One problem solved!

Way to go Grandma! :D

I think it's really cool how you are trying to make this hobby accessible to your grandma even though she has vision and mobility problems and stuff! That's awesome.

lol u can never resist a new clown :)

Not much is going on with Grandmas tank its done cycling and has started growing 'grass' as my 4yr old niece Clementine says... we have a small CUC but I think we may need more....

Bifferwine said:

I think it's really cool how you are trying to make this hobby accessible to your grandma even though she has vision and mobility problems and stuff! That's awesome.

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Thanks, I am trying she is really excited about this... she was not happy about me telling her to keep the lights off more to get the hair algae to go away.