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[Len]

NoLimit's official thread:
Use this thread to document updates to your Nano Reef Buildoff project.
Please note: this thread is reserved for the entitled registered member only. Open discussion about ideas or specific entries should be posted in the Nano Reefs forum or the General Reef Discussion forum.

[NoLimit]

OK -- Here's the plan. We'll see how close I get.

I'm going to use either a 15" cube with a 3" "sump" at the back, or a 16X19X15" almost-cube, also with a 3" sump-area to hide all the equipment. That's ~18G in the 15", and 19.7G in the bigger one. I can have the 15" right away, and would have to wait for the bigger one...

Definitely MH lighting, either a 175W 20K + a 6700K PC, or 1 70W 20K and 1 6500K 70W (don't know how I'll keep it cool under 2 70's...

I'll use the Remora that's on my 37G right now (its coming down in favor of the new nano).

I'll plumb 2 returns through the back wall, probably just on a simple split from the main pump. Then I'd also like some flow from the front, so I think I'm gonna try to have a separate return wrap along the surface (hidden by the hood) which will point back and down into the tank. I'm thinking the main double return will be running on a ~200-300GPH pump, and the other one on a ~150-200 GPH. I want LOTS of flow.

I'm hoping to place some nice zoo's down around the outside of the aquascape, and several small SPS frags higher up.

Inhabitants will be a couple crabs, several snails, and my Ocellaris from my 37G. I'll also prbably keep my yellow neon goby, since he's so small.

OK that's all I can think of for now -- I'll update when I decide on which tank and lights.

[NoLimit]

I'll use this post to keep a running record of what I purchase, and what it costs me.

Existing Equipment:

Aqua C Remora Skimmer w/ MJ 1200 ~$150
20-ish # of live rock (from my current tank) $100
200W heater $15

New Equipment:

Tank -- 16X19X15 (20G) $240
2 CAP-800 Pumps @ $16 $32
SCWD $30
Oddysea 17" 150W pendant $183 (shipping included)
Lockline fittings for SCWD returns ~$15
Assorted plumbing parts ~$15
Coralife Double-timer power center $28


Existing Livestock:

Occellaris Clown ~$ 25

New Livestock

20# Live Sand $45
2# Live Rock rubble $19


Total So Far (including stuff I already had): $872 (WOW!!!)

[NoLimit]

...and I deceided to go with a ready-to-go tank, rather than custom, as I didn't want to wait. It will be a 15" cube, with a 3" "sump" section at the back.

Shound be able to pick it up Tuesday or Wednesday.

I'll post pics when I get it home.

Now to start figuring out how I'm gonna do the transfer from my existing system, which this will replace...

[NoLimit]

OK -- I'm picking up the tank tomorrow night -- WOO HOO!

Now to figure out how I'm gonna run the plumbing.

I want to have two pumps, each running through a split (SCWD??) into two outs, so 4 outs total.

The plan is to have one pump returning through two bulkheads in the back wall. I was thinking about using one or two of those Hydor FLO rotating thingies, to see if they're any good.

Then, to avoid having any powerheads in the tank, I think I'm going to use the second pump, split into two, and use Lockline flexible tubing to run those around to the front of the tank, pointed back across the aquascape. Because there's to be an integrated canopy on the tank, these lines will be completely hidden, and will maybe even be out of the water a bit, with the actual outlet "nozzles" underwater, of course.

Now I'm wondering if I want a SCWD on the front returns to create a pulsing pattern. I don't know though, I'm probably making it too complcated.

Pics of the tank to come tomorrow....

The idea is really chaotic flow patterns, with no hardware in tank.

[NoLimit]

Sorry no pics yet.

I picked up the tank yesterday evening, and it seems it will do nicely.

Seeing it has given me a chance to finalize the plumbing plan and the lighting plan, so things are coming together.

Left to do on that front:

Order the light -- Oddysea 17" Pendant - 150W HQI/2X18W PC actinics.
Order the pump(s).
Order the plumbing parts and SCWD

Also to do to get water in the tank:

Set up a temporary home for the rock and two fish I'm keeping -- Its coming up to temperature as I type.

Move the rock and fish out of the 37G into the 10G temp home and also into my sump. Everything will be there until the new tank is ready for it. Don't know which rocks I'm gonna need, but want to have it all available when I start aquascaping.

Drain the 37G and tear it down.
Put the new tank up, and fill it.

Hope to be done filling by Saturday afternoon.

[NoLimit]

OK -- Had a little lull in the planning as this last week was crazy.

Decided to go with a custom tank -- 16"X19"X15" for a 19.7 gallon tank.

It should be ready mid-week.

My lights came on Friday. Aquatraders "175 Watt" Halide pendant with 2 18W PC Actinics. For the price (150 + shipping), I don't know how much better it can get. The quality seems decent, and overall, I'm really happy with it. Now to figure out how to mount it over the tank...

My Coralife dual timer power center cam last week too. I'll be ordering another moonlight this week.

I also think I've narrowed down my choices for pumps. And my SCWD is ready to go.

I'm almost done tearing down the old tank, so if all goes well I'll be filling it around next Friday.

I have a couple ideas to run past you all, so I'll be starting a thread in the Nano's Forum to get some feedback.

[NoLimit]

Here are my most recent plans for the flow in the new tank.

I'll be running one ~300 gph pump through a bulkhead in the back wall, with a 2.5" fan-style outlet. This will be directed to flow accross the top of the aquascape, at roughtly a 45 degree angle, diagonally across the tank.

Next, another 300-350 gph pump through an SCWD. The oulets form the SCWD will be run with Lockline up and out of the water, to the front right corner and the back left corner. These will be directed right at each other from the corners, This will have 3 streams, all at 90 degrees to each other. With the pulse from the SCWD, this should produce some really random patterns.

All of the fittings will likely be Lockline, and the two outlets from the SCWD should be completely hidden by the canopy.

[NoLimit]

Well I finally picked up the tank today, as the guy finished it yesterday.

Hot Damn!

Here's a few shots.

The dimensions, sice you can't really tell...

16" X 19" X 15"

Display area is 16"X16"

[NoLimit]

OK, at looooonnnnnggg last, I've managed to get everything together, functional, up and running!

I'm letting it run for a couple days to plot out the temperature extremes with pumps and lighting, so that I can determine what, if any, temperature control I'll have to implement. So far, its only gotten as hot as 78 with the halide ~6" from the water. IT will be ideal if that's as hot as it gets. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and see how warm it gets after having a heater set up to maintain about 78 overnight. That will let me figure out if I need to ad a couple fans to the canopy, just to keep cooler air flowing throught, under the halide.

I think that after its all together, it looks pretty damn good. Now I just need to figure out how to agitate the water surface, and rout out (from the canopy) a place for a skimmer in back, and decide if I want to fashion a hang-on fuge from an Aquaclear filter. That would make for a lot of stuff crammed anong the back of the tank, so I don't know about the fuge. I acutally was thinking I might just put a stand of macro in the display somewhere.

Anyway, here's the picture of my (finally) running tank:

[NoLimit]

Here's a shot of the SCWD and returns. I ran one return through a bulkhead mounted through the top frame of the tank. The other is run with Lockline to the opposite corner. I've got a pretty good kink in the 1/2" hose going to the left return, so I'll have to work out a way to keep that section round. I'm not sure what works best, but I'm thinking some tape would make that 1 inch section a little stiffer.

I kinda thought the SCWD would alternate quicker, but its OK the way it is. I certainly can't push any more flow through the tank. Two ~430 gph pump is about all she'll take throught existing set of overflow teeth.

Oh yeah -- the water is all cloudy cause I added some sand and LR rubble to the tank today, too.

[NoLimit]

OK, today I put in 20 lbs of live sand and 2 lbs of LR rubble. Waiting for everything to settle out. It looks to me like the LS has a whole lot of detritus settling on top of it. Looking more and more like I'll have to do some aggressive vacuuming over the next couple water changes. Once everything settles, I'll run a battery of water tests to show my params. Judging by the slight smell of the sand, I'm guessing I'll have to wait out a small cycle.

Anyone have any good ideas for getting a good deal of the detritus out? If you do, please post in my thread in the Nanos forum. I won't know til tomorrow how much there actually is, but I don't want to start the tank with a bunch of nitrate fuel, so I want to get as much out as I can. I wish I still had my H.O.T. magnum, which had a diatom filter insert -- that would do the trick in no time. I'm NOT going out to buy yet another piece of equipment...

The sand was supposed to be fully cured, but I think they need to clean out thier holding tub.

I just took the pic, and it shows the tank with only the actinics

[NoLimit]

I finished vacuuming this morning, made up new water and got her filled back up. Thought I'd take a few more snaps to share.

I've resolved the problem with kinks in the SCWD output hose, and split the main return outlet, extending one upward to direct at the surface, as it looked a little too still to me, even with the oveflow. I ran the other oulet out and around a bit, as the Lockline splitter sticks out a bit further than I'd like.

This way, I'll be able to aquascape around the return, and still have some variability in flow.

The water is almost fully clear now, but still looks a little cloudy.

Looks like I got the flow going pretty much the way I had planned, so I'm rather happy about that. I can see that I've got random, even coverage of the entire display area.

The rock you see is not the aquascaping for the tank, it just the rubble I bought to seed my sand bed. When I do aquascape, most of those pieces will be imbedded in the sand bed, providing some lift to the live rock structure. Sorta like feet to keep the sand bed accessible to sand sifting critters. The rest I'll just scatter around the finished aquascape and let it be. I already see several varieties of worm, and glanced a couple pods, so it looks like the seeding effort will be at least somewhat like I'd hoped. I case you're wondering, I bought 20 # of sand from the bottom of one of the LFS' live rock curing vats, and am adding 1# each of Tonga Branch and Alor LR rubble. The idea is a live sand bed with a good deal of biodiversity to offset the sort of settled biodiversity in my ewstablished live rock. I may also add a pound or two of the sand from my old system's refugium.

I plan to be aquascaping Monday or Tuesday night, after which I'll post more pictures.

[NoLimit]

Still can't get a very clear picture, as the light coming up from the sand bed is very bright.+..-

[NoLimit]

Well, I just finished my first set of tests, and I'm rather dissappointed in the results...

Here they are:

Salinity 1.024
Calcium 200ppm
pH 8.0
Nitrate 0.0ppm

So I mut have a bad batch of Reef Crystals... WTF with 200ppm ca and pH 8.0???

That's pretty frustrating. My calucium was never that ow with the Instant Ocean, and I figured it would be even higher with the Reef Crystals. Well, I guess I'll be picking up a new bag of Reef Crystals, and doing some tests. I even did the calicium test twice, cause I didn't believe it the first time.

In the meantime, I'll be starting to correct the calcium number with some B-Ionic if the numbers are that low tomorrow... I'll post then. I'll also need to go get some new test kits. I think I'm going all Salifert, since theirs seem to be the best equipped.

[NoLimit]

I ended up at work until 9:00 tonight, so no progress today...

I did manage to get all of the rock in the tank yesterday, and the water wasn't clear enough for a good pic, so I was planning on at least doing that today. Also need to adjust the salinity, but didn't make it to the LFS to get some RO. They;re closed tomorrow, so I won't be able to get water until Thursday after work. I think its time to buy an RO unit of my own...

I'm only about 80% happy with my aquascaping. Most of my LR pieces are too big to allow me enough options. I got the gentle-sloping part right, but also want a fairly tall structure at the back, and the pieces I put on top are kinda too big -- might be going at them with a hammer tomorrow. I was happily able to hide most of the return piping -- all you see are the outlets and a little bit of the line pointing up to keep the water surface moving. The wide output jet sort of wraps around the reef structure -- looks really good.

I'll post some new pictures tomorrow, so you all can see what I'm gabbing about. I'd like some feedback on the aquascape, so please feel free to give some!

[NoLimit]

OK -- Made it home just in time to get some pictures taken before the halide went off. Woo Hoo!

here we go

This one's a shot of the tank from the couch...

[NoLimit]

Up close without and with the flash

[NoLimit]

So I go9t out the handy hammer and chisel, and went at several pieces of live rock. Apart from it being fun, just trying to shape the rocks, I found a hitchhiker crab!!!! Broke off a piece of rock, and there he was, all curled up in a crannie.

What's interesting is that the piece of rock I found him in has been in my tank for about 18 months! I'm guessing its his molts I've seen, thinking they were actually a dead crab. Don't know much about what kind it would be, but it had the general body shape of an Emerald crab, but was more or less pinkish-orange in color, and kinda fuzzy. Anyway, I made sure he made it into the tank, not knowing if I would have a spot for his rock or not. Hopefully, he'll come out and be seen more often now that I took away his hiding place.

At any rate, here's a series of pictures of the new and (hopefully) improved aquascape. I broke several large rocks into smaller chunks, so that the top layer of the 'scape is composed of small pieces, rather then big ones. That way, I'll have more options for making space when I buy coral.

[NoLimit]

Couple shots