My 12 gal $20 budget nano

[bchbum189]

I think ive done pretty good for not spending anything other than $20 on plumbing parts. My lack of planning caused me to have about $15 in extra plumbing parts left haha. Its mostly all stuff ive accumulated over the years, so who knows how much it truly cost in the long run.

The set up, custom 12 gal with 8 degree sloped front I built with scrap pieces.
Custom sump I built from scrap from my last 15 gal tank i had running.
Seaclone, seaclear? skimmer given to me at a local reef meet
Assortment of left over parts from the 15 gal.
Water from my 125 gal, along with lr and ls from there.
Put a pink spot goby whos all alone for the time being with a couple hermits.

I had a heater but stupid me turned it on before i had water in not thinking, pored water in and bam it exploded.

Im currently hagling with all the local reefers for trades for a 20" light and a heater as I plan to not spend another penny on parts for it.

 

[murfman]

very nice DIY project.

 

[StunnaShadez]

it looks great

 

[hammerswinger]

i love the slope!

 

[bil2k]

Pretty cool system with that sump. What are you going to keep in it?

 

[ricanboy57]

wow thats a very different looking tank, i like it. The slope was a great idea. I'm not that good and would be way too scaired to make my own tank, about 100% sure it would leak or break. What is "T"-ing off your return? Also what kinda of pump are you useing for the return?

 

[vuanhquoc]

cool

 

[bchbum189]

its just a maxi jet 1200 as a return. I tee'd it off so i could have flow going to both ends, there seems to be enough flow that i wont have to put any power heads in the display, which was what I wanted to happen.

What i keep in it all depends on what I can come up with for a light, originaly it was going to be a mantis tank since its acrylic, but no one locally has any. So im gonna settle for a fish or 2 and if i get a good enough like, then ill bring some frags from the 125 over to it.

thanks for the good words. And yes the sloped front works great

 

[dendro982]

Great looking tank!
But about the $20 - it's like "good to have a friend, who gave me the tank, LR, livestock, equipment and supplies (salt, test kits)"

 

[bchbum189]

nope nothing was given to me, i either had it already from my 125 set up ie sand rock and salt, or I traded other equipment or corals for what i needed.

Just built an overflow box for someone in exchange for a new coralife 96w pc set up! corals are already being moved in.

 

[dendro982]

That what I mean, you paid already for everything, and reused parts.
Not confronting in any way, just smiling to myself - I was expected (again!) to see the budget reef nano for $20...

 

[bchbum189]

oh got ya, no worries. It certainly wasnt made from $20, or else it would be a trash can full of some salt water haha.

 

[bchbum189]

Update:
to keep with the min $$ spent, i traded some acrylic work for a coralife 96 watt pc
Helped a friend out for a couple hours in exchange for some more LR
Combined several busted seaclone skimmers into one working one.

 

[StunnaShadez]

nice! i wish my tank was as less expensive as yours.

 

[pledosophy]

The skimmer on that tank is hilarious.

 

[bchbum189]

it doesnt work worth a damn either... pulls like 1/4" of skimmate every 5 days

 

[Jadams]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9709756#post9709756 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pledosophy
The skimmer on that tank is hilarious.

LMAO!!!...dont be mean now pleder!..LOL :cheers:

 

[Inflames]

Cool tank but why a blue background?

 

[bchbum189]

why not?

Actually this was a tank i built from scraps and clear is to ugly and didnt have any scrap black at the time. I like the blue though, id use it again.

 

[Rosseau]

Though you're working spare jobs to pay off the cost of this tank I think it's great!

You know you're addicted to the hobby when you'll work for live rock. I can almost picture a homeless reefer with a carboard sigh with that written on it.

Keep up the good work.