Melev's new Nano!

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10375293#post10375293 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 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!

Look closely at this picture:

The horizontal black drain pipe was cut carefully on a table saw to create an gap that is 3/8" to 1/2" wide. That was some risky work on my part, but I got lucky and didn't lose any flesh & blood.

There is a cap on the end. By not pumping too much water to the tank, the drain works well. When I open the valve in the plumbing (hidden in the closet), it raises the water level to high and the surface is not skimmed. Then again, the plumbing is new and maybe it will get better over the next couple of weeks. If it doesn't, I'll make some type of change.

The reason for the uneven holes was because I wanted to not see them when you view the tank from the side and front. So the lower one is kind of hiding under the upper drain. The trick to making that work is to glue the bottom fittings into the bulkhead and be sure to drill an anti siphon hole around the same height as the water level & drain line. This prevents too much water from exiting when the pump or power fails. Here's a picture of that fitting squirting out water during the fill up:

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10375337#post10375337 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kkyyllee
awesome tank!, man you have a lot of chords and outlets

There are many more, located in various areas to keep the fishroom as clutter-free as possible. You could see more in this post:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=10208613#post10208613

 

[phurst]

That's pretty damn brilliant!

Thanks!

 

[jnarowe]

rbta looks like a really nice specimen. rics are cool too.

 

[Apachie]

do you have a cleanup crew yet

I have green algae growing close to my live rock.

I have some hermits and an emrald crab, but i cant scrape it .
any suggestions?

 

[bleedingthought]

Joining the ride. Looks great!

 

[purebullet417]

you just let me know when ever u need to unload anything and ill be sure to pay for it and to ship it lol if you havent seen it yet check out mine and my uncles 210 upgrade thread. we both learned most of what we know about reefing from your sight and took alot of ideas from your 280 for it
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1157869

 

[bklynmet]

Marc, I've been giving your drainage system some thought and have the following advice/precaution to take...

I'd throttle down the water coming in and possibly go with the mag 5.. the logic behind this is the following.. over time, your drains will clog.. heck, you may have a snail block some of the drain opening... if there is blockage, and it is draining at a rate near its peak drainage rate (determined by opening size and pipe diamter), then you risk overflowing because there's water coming in at a pretty decent flow rate.... and since your sump is part of a much larger system, you may face a lot of water on the floor.. it's the same rule of thumb where you do not use a return pump rated for more than what your drain can handle at the given head height..

I may be overthinking it and do not know how it's actually draining because I'm not there to observe... but, you very likely considered this.. but figured someone else can learn from this...

One question, will you be target feeding some of the corals in this tank? The reason I ask is because of the narrow top and am curious to see how you would do it if you do plan to target feed..

As always, best of luck with it because I'm looking forward to seeing some more awesome photos of zoas, rics and clams!
-Joe

 

[FUA]

great concept. I have also seen that tank on reefvideos.com. I will definately be following this thread.

 

[chkit]

you are my hero

 

[Andrew]

Looks sweet! You need to make me one of these Marc!

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10375527#post10375527 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Apachie
do you have a cleanup crew yet

I have green algae growing close to my live rock.

I have some hermits and an emrald crab, but i cant scrape it .
any suggestions?

Since I want to add interesting creatures to this tank, I've not made up my mind on anything specific at the moment. It's going to be tricky not to overfeed this tank. Today I tried just using a pinch of frozen cyclop-eeze.

I guess a few tiny snails perhaps, and a Tigertail Cucumber. I have three in my reef so I'll nab one for this tank.

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10375880#post10375880 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bklynmet
Marc, I've been giving your drainage system some thought and have the following advice/precaution to take...

I'd throttle down the water coming in and possibly go with the mag 5.. the logic behind this is the following.. over time, your drains will clog.. heck, you may have a snail block some of the drain opening... if there is blockage, and it is draining at a rate near its peak drainage rate (determined by opening size and pipe diamter), then you risk overflowing because there's water coming in at a pretty decent flow rate.... and since your sump is part of a much larger system, you may face a lot of water on the floor.. it's the same rule of thumb where you do not use a return pump rated for more than what your drain can handle at the given head height..

I may be overthinking it and do not know how it's actually draining because I'm not there to observe... but, you very likely considered this.. but figured someone else can learn from this...

One question, will you be target feeding some of the corals in this tank? The reason I ask is because of the narrow top and am curious to see how you would do it if you do plan to target feed..

As always, best of luck with it because I'm looking forward to seeing some more awesome photos of zoas, rics and clams!
-Joe

Joe, thank you for your input. That was an excellent post with good foresight. I've already considered swapping out the Mag 7 with a Mag 5 as the 7 is being restricted at least by 50% (estimate).

And this is being pumped into the tank with 1" plumbing with zero elbows except after the 1" bulkhead. So the only headheight is the rise of 14" out of the sump, the horizontal run that must be 6' and then another rise of 18" to the tank.

Imagine if I could do this with a Mag 3. :lol:

I hope to not have to target feed much in this tank at all. My arm does fit easily with the 5.5" width and since the substrate is maybe 13 to 14" from the surface, it isn't a stretch. Of course my light being balanced currently isn't what I'd consider a safe move! That needs to be resolved when I get back in town.

I'm leaving tomorrow for a collection trip in Port Aransas, and won't be back until Sunday evening.

 

[Ebisan]

Nice nano.

 

[kysard1]

I always thought about building a tank like this, but can you reach in there to clean the front glass?

 

[melev]

Yes. I'll have to post a picture with my arm in the tank.

 

[mrapisura]

Love the look of the tank. You'll have a great view with that angled front.

 

[NanoClown]

shweet!

 

[NanoGurl]

I love your nano! Gives a whole new meaning to "nano reef" I really like your acans too! I want some of those =)

 

[Apachie]

You made me want to get a clown.

I went to my lfs and got a small percula.

MY FIRST SALTWATER FISH!!!:rollface: