20 Gal. Long Build

[Brycen97]

Alright everyone this is my first nano build. Hopefully going to do it all right the first time. Today i purchased a standard 20 L at my local petsmart (dont worry not going to get fish or anything from here but tank) and i also got some krylon flat black paint. The tank wont start cycling till the first of the year or so. here is what im expecting to do with the tank so far:

-Standard 20 L
-Hydor Theo 50W
-Hydor 1050 (ill get another one one i stock with livestock but dont have enough money for 2 right away)
-AquaClear 70 (refuge mod, with the L.E.D. mod)
-aquticlife skimmer 115
-1 1/2 sand bed
- 20-25 lb's of LR
-Deep Blue T5HO light 30in

This is some of the stuff left out some of the simple stuff like a thermometer and other stuff but i will post pic's as i get things and updates

here is my paint

Tank starting to get taped off (look how dirty it is from petsmart)

Here is the tank after painted (i know its uneven but i gave it 3 coats and it was my first one

from the front (i taped and covered everything but didnt clean anything but back yet)

Here is a pic of my little fresh water tank just for fun

 

[Brycen97]

Alright now i have my stand in the building process. i also bleached my rocks but i dont like my result im regretting it but all well. today i also bout some things. i still have to get my rapid LED stuff for my filter mod and sand. this is what i want my stand to look like when im done

but heres what i have done so far

and some other building pics

alright so back to my rock. So i bleached it once and it didnt really do anything but i didnt have my power head in it or nothing, so i did it a second time with a power head and my rock has parts that still look like this

but my question is will these dark spots hurt anything or are they anything "bad" for the tank? here is a better pic at one really dark rock

fuzzy but you can still see and other parts look like this

again is this bad? i didn't bleach two of my rocks because i have a good cover of dry corline and green algae but still have dark spots on the bottom. if worse comes to worse i can but the dry live rock in buy another small piece of live rock and then dry rock for the rest. Thoughts anyone? i dont wanna pitch the rock if i don't have to. getting lights,
filter, and heater soon they got shipped today

 

[biocube14g]

looks cool so far, ill be tagging along.

 

[Brycen97]

Thanks! more pics comming this weekend hopefully sand build will be done! still gotta get sand and about ready to go!

 

[biocube14g]

Is the 97 in your username the year you were born? If so, I was born the same year!

 

[alberthiel]

Can you describe that black growth a little in more detail? Is it hard, or slimy or how does it feel when you touch it? Can you call who you got the rock from and ask them what the black is as they should know ... FWIW

 

[Brycen97]

Is the 97 in your username the year you were born? If so, I was born the same year!

yes it is look at my sig

Can you describe that black growth a little in more detail? Is it hard, or slimy or how does it feel when you touch it? Can you call who you got the rock from and ask them what the black is as they should know ... FWIW

its from my old 90 gallon been sitting dry for about a year. i was just ting it might be mod or something just a black splotch thats all
more pics. i told u i was gonna post a lot of pics it always makes the threads more intresting
progress made today but my drill sucks so this is as far i we could get

look from the inside

tank on stand

side view with tank

another look at the really white rock. is this bad?

level in the front

level long ways

and here is my stain

so far so good havent got anything i ordered yet tho

 

[biocube14g]

Didn't see that. Glad to see some more young, but most importantly, independent reefers. I'm fifteen and have payed every penny into my tank myself. Nothing from my parents. I am actually in the process of setting up a 120 mixed reef tank right now.

 

[tommer725]

Didn't see that. Glad to see some more young, but most importantly, independent reefers. I'm fifteen and have payed every penny into my tank myself. Nothing from my parents. I am actually in the process of setting up a 120 mixed reef tank right now.

Lol same thing here im 13 and setting up a 180 i got for cheap. never used my parents money, just sold frags for money. I love the build.

 

[Brycen97]

Lol same thing here im 13 and setting up a 180 i got for cheap. never used my parents money, just sold frags for money. I love the build.

nice to see other younger reefers i only use my own money too dad heped pay for stand tho but its inexpensive,but anyways i goy my new lights today here they are

only 2 things i dont like is you cand run the LED's at same time as t5's and also dont like the legs possible upgrades down the road
also if you guys wanna learn a little more about my past in reefing here is the link to my pre build thread:http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2242965

 

[Brycen97]

Alright every one staining is half way done getting sand this weekend doing filter mod this weekend too. trying to get some fish and coral ideas. im thinking about a clown, blenie, or gobie, possible purple firefish. corals I'm thinking Zoa's, hammer coral, and Xenia. What is some other cool stuff i could add?

 

[tommer725]

You might like a bicolor blenny. It hides in a hole with its head sticking out and sometimes it comes out and perches on things.

 

[Skiquatics]

Xenia will spread, takeover, and irritate other corals. My opinion would be to stay clear of them in a nano.

 

[tommer725]

Xenia will spread, takeover, and irritate other corals. My opinion would be to stay clear of them in a nano.

Yep in my 20 i have it if you want to keep it, just keep it in the sand where it cannot spread onto the rocks and trim it so it does not spread as quickly

 

[Brycen97]

Alright stand now finished and now working on filter mod got my sand yesterday too trying to decide on a overflow to keep things looking nice fish store told me $40 for 2 pieces of acrylic cut to how i want, any other ideas? here is some pics sorry for the fuzzyness its bc i took with my phone

 

[Brycen97]

today i fixed up my filter light here are some pics

this thing is really bright... i really thank rapid LED since i didnt have a soldering iron they soldered it for me really nice of them and nice product

 

[Brycen97]

Alright ready for water and chato this weekend i made the overflow over the weekend but forgot the pic i will post it this weekend

 

[Brycen97]

Alright guys my tank is now cycling... my filter lid looks stupid... i cracked it when i was modding it but alwell.

cloudy when i first put water in... i need to take another pic with the camra not my phone so it dosent look so purple

 

[Sharksfan94]

Thats a good looking tank! I like the look of the black sand.


I do have one concern however. If you don't want to hear it don't read any further.

If I am seeing it correctly it appears that your tank doesn't have any support on the bottom, just on the edges and in the center. I guess from a personal view I am a little concerned that that could cause some stress upon the glass due to the weight of the water, sand and rock. I would recommend a 3/8 piece of plywood and maybe a really thin piece of film. But thats just me..


Good luck with the rest of the build!

 

[Brycen97]

Thats a good looking tank! I like the look of the black sand.


I do have one concern however. If you don't want to hear it don't read any further.

If I am seeing it correctly it appears that your tank doesn't have any support on the bottom, just on the edges and in the center. I guess from a personal view I am a little concerned that that could cause some stress upon the glass due to the weight of the water, sand and rock. I would recommend a 3/8 piece of plywood and maybe a really thin piece of film. But thats just me..


Good luck with the rest of the build!

I added another 2x4 pice before i put water in it. Thanks hope i get a fast cycle