Entertaining starting a nano

I think the 3 gallon is impossible to keep any fish in.

5 gallons MIGHT let you handle a single fish. But you'll still never be able to do it if you won't maintain it daily with water top off. And even then I think 5 gallons is pretty confined for any saltwater fish out there. At 55 dollars I don't see why you can't upgrade your 24g aquapod to saltwater.
 
Its actually much cheaper to buy your own parts and tank rather than buy a entire aqua setup. I admit that the aqua setups are nice, but if you put a lot of work into your nano then you can make it just as nice. If pricing is a factor have you considered craigslist? I am sure you can find some great deals in your area. You would be surprised at how cheap things will go for. Its also a perfect place to look for a lighting system.

As for top offs, if you decide to go with a very small nano setup then I would suggest a top off system. They run for about $30-60 new. lol I am too cheap to buy one for my 10G setup so I top off about every 3 days. Its not that hard. I keep a jug around with RO in it. It usually lasts me all month.

If you want a fish then I would go no less than a 5G setup with a small shrimp goby. Shrimp gobies usually don't venture very far from their cave. Mine stays within a 2" radius of its rock. IMO they are pretty boring. But I am sure if you got a goby/pistol shrimp pair it would make them more interesting.
 
10 gallons are usually 10 bucks.

You can get a light fixture that would allow you a whole lot of options for around 117 dollars
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~ES53101.html

Say live rock is 6 dollars a lb, you can get 10 lbs for $60.

A hydor koralia 1 is 30 dollars. (wouldn't recommend a normal powerhead since they blow stuff around in a small tank usually)

That's $217 for a decent little setup that shouldn't give you any problems and allow you to grow something besides low light polyps. Plus however much for some sand.

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If you wanna go cheaper, this strip is $60 http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~CU01002.html, but then you're limited again as to what you can grow. Of course with this light you could do a 10g for around $160 plus sand, rather than $217


Either of these options would be better for you personally than the 3g nano which will be a lot more touchy and give you a lot less stocking options. Since you don't feel you will end up testing or doing much the 3g may end up neglected and you probably won't be happy with the outcome. You waste a lot more money if your tank crashes than if you spend a little more on a tank that will be a little easier.

You could get stuff a lot cheaper going used also. We got a 130watt 4ft long coralife aqualight months ago for 50 bucks. It hadn't been used except maybe a month.

Check craigslist, I've found A LOT of deals on there. Often the stuff is brand new and the people just wanna get rid of it.
 
I appreciate the input on this, and based on that I'm going to dump the idea. It looks like goign with something bigger is the best idea, and even 5 gallons may be a bit too small for my situation. Since I don't have a polace for something bigger, I'll just have to wait until I can spend on converting my 24G. Thanks again for all the advice.
 
Well, I've got the stock 64W hood. That may be enough light, but in the simmer I see temps of up to 86*. That can't be good for anything SW. Because of that I need either a different hood (was gonna get the 250W SunPod, just to not worry about what I can't have) or a chiller. Both are going to run around $300 each. But when it comes down to it, stocking the 24G is going to be the killer. Even to just set up a FOWLR I'm looking at (ballparking) $150-$200 for LR ($5/pound), probably now quite half that for sand/live sand, and then the stock. That's a bare minimum and probably more then what I was looking at to start the 3G (not factoring in more then a couple corals in the 3G to start. I know I could go fish only, but that just does not appeal to me. With a FOWLR setup I'd at least be setting myself up for some corals later on.

I've got a good sized raise coming in the future (work for an airline, union thing, who knows when) but unil I know how much and when I cna't afford to do this. I prefer to do things right the first time. I certianly could get a lesser hood, but it winds up being sometihng like $70 (don't remember exactly) between the 150W and 250W. Better in my mind to get the 250W and not have light limiting me. One possibility is to play with having the hood open all day and seeing what happens. That means waiting until July or August (unless we have another weird year and see 117* in June). By then I might have my raise and it'll be academic.

If someone can make this work, I'd love to hear the ideas. But I do feel the 24G isn't doable right now, and the 3G (5G if I push it) is not going to be suitable for my situation (it wil just require too much attention).
 
Ahhh, I see. Well yea, the lighting would limit your coral possibilities. But considering the time it takes to stabilize a tank I think having limited coral possibilities is fine.

As for temperature, didn't you say you keep the temp in your house at 80 all the time? If not, well then I don't know what to say about that : /

For stocking, if you're not opposed to private party sales, you can stock relatively cheap. From what I've seen LR is about $1.50-$2.50 a pound. LS is 0-$1 a pound. So I think you should be able to take care of your LR and LS with that 55 you were gonna spend on that 3g. The money you were originally going to spend on LR and LS was like...15? 20 dollars? Let's say 15 + 10 (shipping of 3g). That should be enough for a fish or two. And I'm hoping you already factored in stuff like water, test kit, food, etc.

Weekly maintenence will still be required btw. And top off should be handled a few times a week. That shouldn't be too hard considering you need to feed your fish a few times a week. Top off and feeding can be done at the same time.

Besides the heat issue, I think running your aquapod as a nano is possible.
 
Have you thought about fitting a couple of 60-80mm computer fans to control the temp when lights are on? I have 2 60mm fans that run in my enclosed hood and I'm running 95w of light and my temp is between 25.5 and 26.2 with the heating on full blast as its winter time plus the room windows are closed. In the summer the heating will go off and the windows will be opened so hopefully the temp will stay in the same regions
 
Here's the temperatue problem. The apartment is kept at 70* in the winter and 80* in the summer (21 winter/27 summer for those on metric).The tank in the summer gets to 86* (30C). The temps are kept like this because at 80*, my AC runs 16-20 hours a day, because it's over 100* all the time. 90* midinghts can be a fantasy. So in the simmer, the tank water hits 86*. This is with the lid closed. I've tried casually having the hood open, but didn't really like the results. I can try it again, but I'll need to wait until at least late spring to duplicate the conditions. I'm not gonna heat the place to 80* when it's 35-50 out. The hood has the stock cooling fan blowing out, and I added a second blowing in. The way the hood is designed, this doesn't blow over the water, but cools the lighting fixture.

I don't necessarily care where I get stock from. In fact, one of our customers (I work in the cargo air freight area) is a LFS. I might be able to score something cheap, but I'll have to look into it. Hmmm...

Weekly maintance isn't a problem. I'm doing weekly WCs as it is. I don't test the water very often, but my stocked tank (the Pod) has been stable for at least 8 months now. I test that occasionally, about once a month. I am also aware that reefs require more testing, adn weekly is fine with me. Top offs aren't a problem. The Pod is in the living room, and I can just keep a gallon of distilled water by it. Salt is what? $8 for a bag, that will last me several months? Food I have from FW, but I'm guessing some SW stock that I'll get will require something else, but that's likely later on, and stock specific. One thing I've noticed about this hobby is food is relativly cheap, it's the equipment that hurts the wallet.

I think the questionable spot is going to be heat. Has anyone run an AquaPod in an 80* room with the hood up? Does it help?

I most certianly appreciate the advice. I'd like to swing this, but I'd prefer to just hold off then do it and run into problems. I can wait. At 33, I'm still waiting to own that Ferarri F40 that I wanted in high school :evil_lol:
 
Well since you've got the patience for it, waiting would be the best thing. Besides Ferrari>Fish ANY day. Good luck with things.
 
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