L8 2 RISE June 5, 2013 Share June 5, 2013 (edited) One of my goals with this thread is to keep a good, up to date build thread, it's been a weakness in the past, but here it goes: When I left for Virginia Tech two years ago I broke down my 160 display but managed to convince my mom to take care of a little 11.4g tank with some of my favorite frags in while I was away at college. That can be read about here: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/43617-sams-rimless-114-gallon-led-nano/ I have the best mom annnddd.... She "liked" it enough and it was easy enough for her to take care of that I managed to convince her to upgrade. She had spoken about putting an aquarium in the living room so that you could actually sit and see it, instead of having it in the hallway, so that's the plan. While she's "OK" with it, I'm trying as hard as possible to not make it seem like a huge deal or like it's anything special that can fail. For that reason I'm going to be completely setting the tank up at work (I work for our awesome sponsor Reef eScape when I'm home) and making sure it's ready to go so that one evening a co-worker and I will install the aquarium at home while my Dad brings her on a date and a friend babysits my baby sisters. The date for that is June 11, so this will be a very quick, hopefully easy to follow (if I keep up to date with this) build! The System: -57g Deep Blue rimless aquarium and stand -6x 39W ATI Sunpower Dimmable T5's (4x ATI Blue Plus, 1x GE 6500K bulb, 1x ATI Purple Plus) -2x Vortech MP10 powerhead -Eheim 1250 Return pump -Reefkeeper Light -NO skimmer (for now, room to add one if necessary) -Cobalt 100w Neotherm Heater Fish and Invert Stock List (Updated 1/3/15) -Clown Pair and RBTA -Flameback Angelfish -White Tail Tang -Goby/pistol shrimp pair -Lyretail Anthias Trio -Ruby Red Dragonet Pair -Cleaner Shrimp Pair -3x Peppermint Shrimp -Serpent Star & other CUC Current FTS (6/4/13): In the Reef eScape showroom for now: Edited January 3, 2015 by L8 2 RISE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin June 5, 2013 Share June 5, 2013 wow, will all those angels get along? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy June 5, 2013 Share June 5, 2013 I could be wrong, but that's a pretty heavy stocklist for no skimmer isn't it? Other then that looks awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 5, 2013 Author Share June 5, 2013 (edited) First project (T-7 days to install): (I guess the first project was actually painting the back black, but no pics of that!) The overflow that came with the tank was WAY too big and it would end up annoying me, so I fixed it. I stripped the silicone off, Phil from Reef eScape discovered that a tile saw also works on acrylic reinforced with GLASS (minus a couple chips that were no big deal)! Then I siliconed it back into the tank. This happened last Friday and I filled the tank with water to water test earlier today, so I'll let everyone know how that went when I get into work tomorrow. As you can see, a lot of unnecessary space, doesn't make sense to me. To the tile saw! Much better! Edited June 5, 2013 by L8 2 RISE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 5, 2013 Author Share June 5, 2013 wow, will all those angels get along? I'm a little worried about it. The goal is to get the venustus (in quarantine), and a multibar (died in quarantine unfortunately from, I think, flukes) to pair. The flameback is on the list because I already have it in the 11 gallon. It is small and not aggressive at all though. It's also not very similar to the two paracentropyge, so I'm hoping they will be ok. I could be wrong, but that's a pretty heavy stocklist for no skimmer isn't it? Other then that looks awesome. You could be right! We'll see, that's why I have room to add the skimmer; for now there will just be two refugium compartments. I've seen so many tanks flourish without a skimmer that I think consistent water changes and a good refugium will be enough for now. I also don't know how much my mom would like cleaning a skimmer. The 11 gallon has been running completely filter-less and is growing acro's like crazy with this regime. Also the water changes will be easy enough, that it wouldn't be a big deal to do them more frequently if necessary (watch for some of the projects to come!) I can see needing one in the future, but the fish will be added slowly enough and the tank will mature slowly enough that I will have time to make changes... at least I hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin June 5, 2013 Share June 5, 2013 pretty cool. any shots of the finished overflow from the top down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime June 5, 2013 Share June 5, 2013 Love what you did with the overflow, you're correct, it's a tremendous waste of space. It is, however, great for temp acclimating fish when you don't want them floating all over the tank FWIW, I don't believe those MP10's will fit the DB 57 glass thickness, that's why i went with an MP40. Looking forward to this build, I enjoyed what you and your mom did with the nano! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 5, 2013 Author Share June 5, 2013 Oh noooo, that's a huge miscalculation if you're right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime June 5, 2013 Share June 5, 2013 I'm 100% positive they will not work, I can clarify that an mp40 will work. Check with monkiboy, he's selling some at a good price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 18, 2013 Author Share June 18, 2013 pretty cool. any shots of the finished overflow from the top down? Top down shots: Notice I also painted the top of the overflow area that was originally not painted. I realized you could see through the teeth and I didn't want it to be a black overflow with white teeth... I'm 100% positive they will not work, I can clarify that an mp40 will work. Check with monkiboy, he's selling some at a good price. So here's the plan now: It's only 1/8" thicker than ecotech recommends for the mp10. After reading around online I've decided to still go ahead and try the mp10 (actually just bought a second one too). I'll just use the sticky square on the outside and possibly glue the inside to the glass, or see how it goes. Will update here. I would probably just go with an internal powerhead if the mp10 doesn't work. I don't want to spend that much for a mp40 on such a small tank and I don't like how loud the mp40's are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime June 18, 2013 Share June 18, 2013 You must have been the guy who beat me on that one FS yesterday! Nice grab. Lmk how it goes, I heard they fall off frequently. Tagging along Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime June 18, 2013 Share June 18, 2013 Also, fwiw, mp40 is super quiet on my tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 18, 2013 Author Share June 18, 2013 (edited) You must have been the guy who beat me on that one FS yesterday! Nice grab. Lmk how it goes, I heard they fall off frequently. Tagging along Hah, yeah for that price I couldn't not get it. I will let everyone know how it goes though. Really? No whining noises or anything? Maybe it's just when they ramp up more. Edited June 18, 2013 by L8 2 RISE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 18, 2013 Author Share June 18, 2013 So obviously I'm behind with this thread already, but Project 2: I had an old 20g long sump lying around (from Yauger before he got out the first time...). My plan was to use that, but that would only give me 3 inches on the side for a top off container, and no other space. I also had a 20g Tall that wasn't a sump yet, so I thought about that too. Here's a pic comparing the two as well as showing the space left on the side with the 20 long: Another problem with the 20 long is that I calculated if the power went out, the 20 would literally be full to the brim. Not being one to take too much of a chance or give my mother a heart attack, I decided to make the 20 tall a sump: The left section will be for a skimmer if I ever decide to add one. For now, both left sections will be refugiums, and the last chamber will be return. The baffles are "under, over" first to prevent bubbles from going from the skimmer to the fuge and also to lift the water to the surface. The next set are also "under, over" so that the water has to flow diagonally from the top to the bottom of the fuge, giving the most contact area, and keeping any dead areas in the fuge from forming. Flow through the sump will be about 200 gph with an eheim 1250. This is super slow, but since the refugium is a part of the sump, I didn't want to send too much flow through it and I also didn't want to worry about noise from the water going over the baffles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 18, 2013 Author Share June 18, 2013 RO/DI set up: Originally I had the RO/DI in the furnace room, and a water barrel set up in the adjacent storage room: Well this tank is set up on the opposite side of the house, so I had to figure out how to get water over to the storage room that is on the other side of the finished part of the basement. Luckily, there's an I-beam to run the RO/DI line across (notice the storage room on the other side of the finished area- open door): Out of the other side: Using only the most specialized tools, tent poles taped together: Then all run across the ceiling and down into two barrels. The larger of the two will be for saltwater, the other for freshwater and just there in case of emergency (top off tank will be under the tank). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 18, 2013 Author Share June 18, 2013 (edited) Lighting: ATI 6 bulb Sunpower Dimmable (super cool being able to dim T5's! Plus they are the best lighting option available... Just saying....) Bulbs from back to front: ATI Aquablue Special ATI Blue Plus ATI Actinic ATI Purple Plus ATI Blue Plus ATI Aquablue Special Didn't want to go into the roof, but hate having lights on legs (such a pain to move, can't adjust height, etc), so bent electric conduit: Had to use wood screwed into the back of the stand to attach them to the stand: Painted them black, and voila: Edited June 18, 2013 by L8 2 RISE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 18, 2013 Author Share June 18, 2013 For the rock, I wanted to have as little as possible on the sand while still having a lot of surface area to mount corals. To do this I decided to drill the rock. I used 1/2" pvc for the first structure, similar to how I built the structure for my old 75: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/29820-sams-350-gallon-system/. The result: For the second structure I discovered carbon fiber rod. Used an adapter for the pvc on the ground, and it was much easier to drill the smaller holes: I used marco rocks, cured at Reef eScape for the aquascaping. Anyone looking to do anything like this should come out to the social this Saturday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 June 18, 2013 Share June 18, 2013 (edited) Nice build. Very clean and well thought out. I also love the ATI fixtures. I have a 4 bulb powermodule with 2 coral+ and 2 blue+. What combo are you running with? Edited June 18, 2013 by BowieReefer84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 18, 2013 Author Share June 18, 2013 I think that pretty much gets me caught up to the install. The night of the install we didn't manage to completely finish everything for various reasons, but I'll go through everything we did. Drilled a hole through the false wall behind the tank and then down through the wall to a hole in the floor / ceiling of the store room. Using the tent poles again, we passed a 3/4in tubing line for new salt water, an extension wire so that I can flip a switch on the DJ switch to turn on the pump to push water upstairs, and an RO/DI line for the top off water. The problem is that the hole in the floor had to go through both the 1in plywood, and a 2*4 that was supporting the false wall. The batteries in all three drills in the house kept dying, so it took about 45 min. Finished the plumbing job and painted everything behind the tank black (including the plumbing, minus the valve), so that it looks very clean: I went with a siphon overflow so that the tank runs completely silently. Smaller hole on the right is the main overflow and goes to the far left of the sump. Bigger hole on the left goes straight down and is just for if the first overflow cloggs (no floods here!). I put in several L braces and used a piece of acrylic to make a shelf in the stand. I'll use this for my Tsunami ATO box, Vortech battery, Vortech controllers, and Reefkeeper Lite. The innards: Right (ATO Reservoir, DJ strip, shelf, and storage space): Left (Overflow and valve to control siphon speed- will be switching this to a gate valve, pipe for new salt water from basement) And the finished product that night (3am): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 18, 2013 Author Share June 18, 2013 After drilling the rocks for the left side of the tank and adding sand: Just letting the tank cycle for about a week then I will add everything from the nano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 18, 2013 Author Share June 18, 2013 Nice build. Very clean and well thought out. I also love the ATI fixtures. I have a 4 bulb powermodule with 2 coral+ and 2 blue+. What combo are you running with? Yeah, it's really nice so far and I can't even explain how much I love the dimming feature in T5's! Bulbs from back to front: ATI Aquablue Special ATI Blue Plus ATI Actinic ATI Purple Plus ATI Blue Plus ATI Aquablue Special Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef June 19, 2013 Share June 19, 2013 Ohh I like it! The rocks seem like they are floating...very very nice...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epleeds June 19, 2013 Share June 19, 2013 Sam. That looks awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 June 19, 2013 Share June 19, 2013 Check out the Coral+. It is an amazing bulb imo. MUCH better than Aquablue specials. Either way, great tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime June 19, 2013 Share June 19, 2013 Dude, really nice. This is going to be a killer dt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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