Jester's First Custom All DIY Nano

[Jester75]

Well, this project has been a long time in the making. Its still not quite finished yet but it is very close. Its about 3.3 gallons total for the main and another 3 gallons in the sump. The pump in the sump is a Rio 600. I also got the 2X13watt Bright Kit from AH Supply with a 10k bulb and an Actinic one. It really does put out alot of light in this little tank, I can barely look at the 10k one, lol.

Here is the tank made out of .250 inch Acrylic with a .125 inch brace....

And the hood. It has a .125 inch piece of acrylic in the bottom of it also as a splash guard..

And here is the sump again out of .250 inch acrylic....

And the stand. I was abit worried about this thing being top heavy but with the tank on it and the sump inside full too and a bit of ballast in the bottom of the stand, its not that bad. It will be sitting on a hardwood floor to so that helps....

 

[Jester75]

A little overflow I added later with a 3/4" bulkhead in the bottom of it..

And after waiting for what seems to be forever for approval from the misses (hehe) I finally got all my plumbing parts and pumps and lights in. Im still working on mounting the lights in the hood and I am going to remote mount the ballasts somewhere under the tank most likely in a NEMA enclosure with switches on it....

I also have a video of the flow through this thing which I estimate to be around 100gph. If I could find a way to host it I will and maybe get your opinions on whether or not it is too much flow. Well, back to work on this thing, I think the misses is really tired of seeing pain, drills, and parts lying all over her kitchen.

 

[Jester75]

Here is a full frontal shot of the whole shabang. The door is off right now while I paint it. Hope you like it!!

 

[kabal2]

wow really nice looking tank, i love the stand too, i cant wait to see it with corals in it

Good job jester

 

[dfcjr]

Nice job Jester75! Good color combination for the stand. Simple,yet classy.

 

[kamla]

Nice.. tank and Stand..

Now fill her up...

 

[wav3form]

What size are your return bulkheads?

 

[Jester75]

They are both 1/2" returns. The tube goes from 3/4" at the pump to 1/2" where it "t's" off into the returns. I would love to fill this thing up and get it running but i have to figure out how I am going to wire my lights. I know the ballasts are going to be remote mounted in the stand in somekind of NEMA enclosure, but I am also thinking about mounting some junction boxes on the front above the door and putting in some of those real nice timers from Home Depot. Not sure yet, but hopefully I will get them wired up this weekend and get it filled!!!!

 

[Carl_in_Florida]

What are you using for a return pump and how is your temp with the lights on?

Carl

 

[Agu]

WOW, nice work. Looks just like a real tank but in miniature .

( that was a compliment I got from a guy with a big tank )

 

[Jester75]

My return pump is a Rio 600 and I havent got to run it yet cause I'm not finished wiring up the lights. But hopefully that will change this weekend nd I can finish them up!!

 

[Jester75]

Lol Agu. Yeah my other tank is a 46 bow thats been running for about 5 years now

 

[sir_dudeguy]

that looks awsome! Love how the stand is way tall for that lol. but it makes it look cool i think. Keep posting pics of everything too. And whats gonna go in it?

 

[Jester75]

Thanks for the compliments!! Not 100% sure on whats going in yet. I know I have soo zoa frags in my 46 along with a small piece of GSP but other than that I dont know. I am open to suggestions if you have any thoughts shout em out!!

 

[sir_dudeguy]

you could try to get that gsp to spread across the back wall. I saw that at my lfs here...It was AWSOME. It was also huge, it was on either a 90 or 100, and it was covering the whole back wall, including the overflow (which looked cool the way it curved and whatnot)

 

[Jester75]

I may give that a shot! That would look very cool! I know this thing is too small for a fish at about 5 gallons total ( including the sump) so what other ideas for it?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

hmmm....well i suppose you're gonna get some sort of hermits? Or maybe just a cool shrimp or arrow crab? except those might eat corals, but i'm not sure.

 

[Jester75]

OK, got a pretty good update on the lighting situation. After raiding the local Radio Shack last night, this is where I have gotten!

Here are the ballast remote mounted and left in the open to help keep them cool ( and maybe extend thier lifespan)...

This is inside the hood with the 2x13 watt kit installed along with 2 460nm blue led's and a 40mm micro fan for cooling...

The DC plug in for the LED's and the 40mm fan nice and clean on the outside of the canopy....

 

[Jester75]

A blurry shot with the lights on, those are a 10k and Actinic 03 bulbs....

Electrical nightmare that will be cleaned up.....

Sump light, pretty darn bright too!!!

And the whole thing with the door on it...

Going to put sand and filler up with water tonite!!!!!

 

[Sebea]

Wow, great job!