Melev's new Nano!

[melev]

It's been a while since I've had a cute tank, so last December I decided to build a new one. Once it was done, it sat and waited for me to continue with the project, while I spent my time trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

I saw a similar tank on www.reefvideos.com, which was my primary motivation.

Wanting a tank in the foyer of my home,it had to be tied into the main reef as well. That way I don't need any more equipment nor worry about parameters as both tanks will remain stable.

I ordered some 3/8" acrylic and used some 1/4" as well just because this isn't a huge tank. I've not verified this yet, but it appears to hold about 20g based on some math and some guessing.

Its dimensions are 24" long, 16" deep, and 18" tall. I made the front panel 6" tall before it slopes back. The top opening is 6.5" wide - I wanted it wider, but as I planned and glued it, I didn't remember to take into account the thickness of the acrylic.

The front angled panel needed to be heated and bent or cut. I decided to go with the cut thinking it would be more accurate. After more sketching and real-life layout, I decided the cut had to be 38 degrees. I made the cut on my tablesaw on the bottom edge as well as the top. I got it pretty darn close.

When gluing, I knew that front seam would be a pain and I was right. It looked like all was going well using the pin method, but when I removed the pins some Weld-On ran down the interior front panel. ARGH.

Plowing forward, I just finished gluing everything, and then decided to try out a scratch removal kit that I had on hand. Amazingly, it did a pretty decent job. It isn't perfect and is just a hair hazy, but it's clear and that's good enough for me.

I wanted the stand to be stone and metal. I found the legs at Ikea for $5 each, and the stone is the sink cut-out from a marble countertop. Perfect!

I drilled the holes in the tank, which I have to say was the biggest hurdle for me for some time. I just couldn't make up my mind how I wanted to drain the water from the tank, but I decided to just <i>git 'er dun</i>.

I painted the PVC black with Krylon Fusion spray paint. It's safe to use.

 

[melev]

First the wall was drilled where the bulkheads plumbed through. Spaflex travels through a closet to the fishroom. I'll fill the gap around the plumbing with Great Stuff later to keep humidity from seeping into the closet and home.

I decided to use a Mag 7 instead of a Mag 9.5. Ater hooking it up, I may even change it down to a Mag 5.

 

[melev]

The water drains to the skimmer section of my sump via spaflex.

The painted plumbing was dry and ready for the install.

And the sand was added next.

Here is a close up of the drain pipe. I saw a similar idea recently thanks to Lukinrats, and decided to give it a try with this tank. The drain has a black gutter to act as a surface overflow, and the locline hops over it currently.

After plugging in the Mag 7 to one of the new GFCI-protected waterproof outlets (that was nice to have handy), I turned on #6 on the DJ powerstation. Next I opened the ballvalve slightly.

I had to add another 20g of saltwater to my sump as well.

Here you can see the water coming out of the anti-siphon hole.

Water was added to the tank in a vase standing on a plastic bag to keep the sand from being disturbed.

I totally forgot to add the Durso on the other side of the wall, but that was corrected easily enough.

 

[melev]

I got the in-line Durso installed, and then got it running. The Mag 7 is more than enough flow. Really it is too much. The drain line is probably 11 feet long and the end is not submerged and still it doesn't drain steadily. Then again, it is brand new plumbing so it probably will slime over in the next week or so.

I found three pieces of LR in my cooking vat that will work in the new tank.

The next day I put in the Houston Black Onyx Percs I got in January, the Rose BTA I got last Thursday, some corals, and a Purple firefish.

While thinking about the lighting situation, I rigged it for now. The Aqua Medic 150w DE fixture is balanced on the metal reflectors that come with it.

 

[melev]

So here are the final pictures of the tank as of today.

I found the Purple Firefish finally.

The clowns haven't discovered the Rose BTA yet.

Some ricordia

Some zoanthids, including the obligatory Mean Greens.

Some acans

And the mini Carpet anemones I brought home from New York.

 

[mpoletti]

Thank you for sharing. That is a sweet set up. I love how it is tied to your system.

 

[JotaDe]

Man you're hardcore... anyone who drinks that much Coke is just crazy
Looks cool so far, I'm sure I'll enjoy tagging along to see how many hours it takes for you to surpass my nano in quality

You had a Rose BTA in your old 29G right, did that one get too big for it?

 

[melev]

Just keep in mind that coke is only good with Crown Royal. :beer:

 

[b0bby1]

very nice, i have one question for you though. do you ever order your livestock or corals online and if so where?

 

[Moonstream]

hey, where'd you get the mini carpets? what burrow, what store, ect? live in NY, like the mini carpets. what would you say would be a good light for em? tank is a 29(hence me wanting small nems).

 

[Rue]

Very ingenious!

 

[melev]

Hi Bobby - my usual answer is no. I always buy my livestock locally. Until this week! I ordered 8 Lyretail (Squampinnis Anthias) from LiveAquaria.com and that order went well. Then again, they arrived yesterday so it has only been 24 hours. Here's my thread about it:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1165728

 

[purebullet417]

love the tank would u be willing to part with some of those mean greens lol

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10375174#post10375174 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Moonstream
hey, where'd you get the mini carpets? what burrow, what store, ect? live in NY, like the mini carpets. what would you say would be a good light for em? tank is a 29(hence me wanting small nems).

I was visiting the URSNY club in Rochester N.Y. and got some from Scott. He posts as bosborn1 on RC. I believe Gary Majurak has them as well, but you'll never find his post because I butchered his name badly just now.

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10375190#post10375190 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by purebullet417
love the tank would u be willing to part with some of those mean greens lol

If they would grow like crazy, I'd be more apt to share the darn things. I have some in my prop section that are trying to grow out, but man are they lazy.

 

[Cozzmolot]

Looks amazing melev. I am going to be updating my thread here soon, and I would appreciate another post from you if you could to give some advice because some is definitely needed on the different things that are happening to my tank. I love the setup though. I'd like to see a clam in there because of how they look so different at the different view angles.

Tank looks great though.

 

[Jeff]

Nice Marc!

 

[phurst]

Hey Marc, tank is looking nice. I wonder if you could give a little more detail or some closeups of how you have the drain set up. I have a 12 gallon JBJ nano on my desk at work, and since the back panel is plastic, I've been thinking of doing somthing similar to what you have done here and connecting it to a spare 10 gallon glass tank under my desk to act as a sump/fuge. I was just wondering about the logistics of it. Is there a reason one hole is lower than the other? How exactly is that black piece working as a drain? Is there a hole in the end? How are you making it surface skim? Do you think I'd be OK just letting water flow into a bulkhead, or would you recomend I have somthing similar to what you have on the in-tank side? The drain would be back in the filter compartment, so no worries about livestock getting sucked down it.

Thanks!

 

[melev]

I'd like to add a few small clams once I have some extra money again. And of course I'll be happy to help, just point me to the post or thread in question.

 

[kkyyllee]

awesome tank!, man you have a lot of chords and outlets