29g AGA build/journal

[BennyFrank]

Hi all,

I've been planning/building this tank for almost a year now (spare time is sparse these days). I'm at a place now where I feel it's "safe" to start a thread as I wanted to make sure there would actually be water in it at some point. I've been around the hobby for a long time but this is only my second tank, and my first build from scratch. I bought my current tank about five years ago, and besides upgrading from the T12s it came with, haven't done a whole lot with it besides adding livestock here and there. It has EVERY piece of equipment either hanging on the back or inside the tank, and I got tired of looking at it. This served as the primary source of motivation for the new build...

Design Principles:
- modern and minimalist
- reduce (or eliminate completely) the amount of equipment/wires visible in the display

Water:
- 29g AGA display
- 40g breeder sump (~20g of which will be a display refuguim)

Water Movement:
- (1) 1 1/2" drain (700gph glass-holes overflow kit)
- (2) 3/4" returns connected to a SCWD wavemaker
- Eheim Compact+ 2000 return pump
- Vortech MP10w-ES (compliments of the nice folks over at glassbox-design :thumbsup

Lighting:
- (3) RapidLED PAR30 20,000K LED Spotlights (60 degree optics)
- undecided on refugium lighting

Filtration:
- ~20lbs dryrock
- ~20lbs established liverock
- shallow sandbed
- macroalgae
- 50-100g capacity skimmer (not yet purchased)
- carbon/GFO reactor (not yet purchased)

Livestock:
- mixed reef (primarily LPS/SPS). Will probably go with fewer colonies to allow plenty of room for growth.
- fish option 1; pair of clowns, pair of bangaii cardinals, goby/shrimp pair
- fish option 2; species tank for a juvenile marine betta (Calloplesiops altivelis)

Pics to follow...

 

[BennyFrank]

The space where I wanted the tank was originally framed for an in-wall wetbar, so I was limited to a tank that is 30" or less. Here are some of the original sketchups; quite a few things changed from these, but they were a good starting point.

 

[BennyFrank]

The sump is in the room behind the display, so for the stand I just used 2x4s and sheetrock that were leftover from finishing my basement.

A buddy of mine does stone work and got me a great deal on a granite piece for the top.

Next was drilling and painting the tank.

 

[BennyFrank]

Sump and plumbing.

 

[BennyFrank]

First set-back. Got everything plumbed and did a FW test. It ran fine for about 3 hrs and then I noticed a slow drip from the drain bulkhead :thumbdown. Disconnected the tank, tightened the fitting, and then replumbed it. No leak to date :smokin:.

Second set-back. I decided to use 1/4" acrylic for the fuge baffle as I didn't want to wait to have the glass cut. Upon filling it up, it bowed WAY beyond comfortable levels. I tried to wedge two pieces of eggcrate between it and the next baffle. It held for awhile but eventually cracked the glass bubble trap baffle. I would not recommend acrylic in glass sumps. Got a 1/4" piece of smoked glass cut for the fuge baffle and all is well. :beer:

 

[BennyFrank]

Here is the tank in relation to the rest of the room.

The other side of the room (really just want to show-off my new table :lol2.

Aquascaping and Lighting. Used a combination of superglue gel and epoxy to create the aquacape with ~15lbs of dryrock. Overall I'm pretty happy with it. Overtime I hope the corals fill in enough that you won't see any rockwork. The lighting consists of (3) PAR30 LED bulbs mounted in a standard light fixture. It is suppossed to be mounted to the ceiling so I had to MacGyver together a few parts to turn it into a pendant.

 

[BennyFrank]

This takes us to the present. I've been transferring over some pieces of established liverock into refugium. Already getting some goo.

 

[Raoul5Duke]

Like the lights, sweet setup.

 

[greech]

Very nice job all around. Love the room. Play you a race to 9 for the setup?

Congrats!

 

[abfleck]

Very Nice Set-up. Will be tagging along I am too in the process of building a 29 Gallon Reef with a 10 gallon sump/fuge.

AJ

 

[Felix1021]

wow. sick set up.
f.

 

[huskerreef]

Thats super sweet, it looks clean, sleek and well thought out. WOW, great man cave setting up.

 

[jamierk]

Love the scape you have there, looks like the build is coming along nicely!

 

[BennyFrank]

Like the lights, sweet setup.

I'm happy with how they turned out also. Let's just hope the corals like them.

Very nice job all around. Love the room. Play you a race to 9 for the setup?

Congrats!

Thanks for stopping by Graham. Be careful, I'm a betting man. What are you putting up?

Very Nice Set-up. Will be tagging along I am too in the process of building a 29 Gallon Reef with a 10 gallon sump/fuge.

AJ

Cool. Don't be surprised if your sump doubles in size unexpectedly. I planned on a 20g and ended up with a 40g!

wow. sick set up.
f.

big up.

Thats super sweet, it looks clean, sleek and well thought out. WOW, great man cave setting up.

Thanks Jim. I think it should be ready for an Earlei any day now. Know anyone who has a spare? :fish1::fish1::fish1:

Love the scape you have there, looks like the build is coming along nicely!

Thank jamie. The last remnants of the glue/epoxy concoction are finally working its way off my fingernails.

 

[cooper13]

Great job. I really like the stand and how it isn't just built into the wall. It has more character and is certainly more unique.

 

[Cody Ray]

Awesome room!

 

[lvpd186]

Sweet setup, very cool! All I can say is wow, I look forward to seeing how you fill it will coral and fish!

 

[BennyFrank]

Great job. I really like the stand and how it isn't just built into the wall. It has more character and is certainly more unique.

Thanks cooper. Honestly I was worried it was going to turn out as just an ugly drywall box while I was building it, so I'm glad you like it.

Awesome room!

Now if I can just figure out how to keep my wife/kids out of my man cave...

 

[BennyFrank]

Sweet setup, very cool! All I can say is wow, I look forward to seeing how you fill it will coral and fish!

Thanks Brad. I am getting anxious to get something in there, however I've also thought about quitting while I'm ahead and just admiring the bare rocks for awhile . I'm a huge proponent of taking it slow and allowing the chemistry/biology to adjust to the amount of life present, so stocking will probably be few and far in-between.

 

[refeerkram]

That is really clean looking. I am just worried about someone hitting a ball off the pool table... maybe rack them on the "couch side" of the pool table...