smallreef November 25, 2012 Share November 25, 2012 I am loving this tank....and stand...just the whole concept is fun! now..you really need to stop changing things so we can see this thing setup with water in your house! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas November 25, 2012 Author Share November 25, 2012 Haha I know! Here is the latest from Adam: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef November 25, 2012 Share November 25, 2012 I LOVE the flat black! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B) November 25, 2012 Share November 25, 2012 That flat black is a waterproof rubber paint so also serves a function on top of the awesome aesthetic . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas November 28, 2012 Author Share November 28, 2012 Thought I would post my inspiration for this tank: http://reefbuilders.com/2012/01/04/reef-dropoff-aquarium/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBVette November 28, 2012 Share November 28, 2012 what do you plan to do for flow, and to make sure there is water movement on the bottom level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B) November 28, 2012 Share November 28, 2012 With his tune 6055's and only a 30x18 footprint the flow from them should be plenty sufficient to lower level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas November 29, 2012 Author Share November 29, 2012 Yes, I plan on having a 6055 on either side of the overflow to have a high-flow area up top for SPS and medium to low flow on the bottom for soft corals and polyps. I did consider putting a small closed loop on the bottom, but I think Adam would have killed me if I made another change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B) November 29, 2012 Share November 29, 2012 Lol, I would never kill a customer...but I'm not beyond torturing one slowly . J/K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas November 30, 2012 Author Share November 30, 2012 Starting to come together: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas November 30, 2012 Author Share November 30, 2012 So it turns out Tunze makes magnet mounts that will let you mount Turbelles on 1" thick material. So my plan is to mount them directly under the overflow and they will be nicely hidden, on either side of the rock base. I was decided on going T5 for this but I am now considering going back to LED.....my original plan was to get a Sfiligoi mini stealth but I can't seem to find a US distributor. Aquarium Specialty stopped carrying the line. I'm thinking the Radion Pro version may be the way to go. Open to someone convincing me either way! I have a Sol Blue on my 11.4 g. It grows corals, no doubt about that. I'm just trying to think what is best for long-term coloration. MH's are out due to high heat. I'm also firmly set on using live rock for this tank....I'm tihnking a fair bit on Tonga shelf rock on the top, and some tennis-ball sized pieces with small Tonga shelf ledges on the lower step. I've used dry rock on my 11.4g and although cheaper and easier to work with, I just think I get better results using live rock. Does anyone else have this experience? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni December 1, 2012 Share December 1, 2012 For Sfiligoi stuff, send Tim at AquaticsElite a call. I've got his email somewhere if you want it. He's the NA distributer and good guy. Eric has a fixture from them. For soft corals, you may want to consider one of the 150 DE MH + T5 fixtures (I like the giesemann). I think the color is fantastic and I don't think you'll have significant heat issues. The other option that would work really well imo would be a 4 x 24 sunpower from ATI. I'd go with live rock in a small system. It's nice to skip a heavy cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM December 1, 2012 Share December 1, 2012 Here's an example of a tank using Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock. The guy even went from Texas to Tampa to go diving with Richard from TBS to get it. Fun stuff. They collected it during the day, packed it and brought it to the airport that night, and picked it up from the cargo area in Texas the next morning. Neat. Months later he's still finding stuff that he didn't know he had (including a mantis, yikes). http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20706252&postcount=466 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas December 2, 2012 Author Share December 2, 2012 For Sfiligoi stuff, send Tim at AquaticsElite a call. I've got his email somewhere if you want it. He's the NA distributer and good guy. Eric has a fixture from them. For soft corals, you may want to consider one of the 150 DE MH + T5 fixtures (I like the giesemann). I think the color is fantastic and I don't think you'll have significant heat issues. The other option that would work really well imo would be a 4 x 24 sunpower from ATI. I'd go with live rock in a small system. It's nice to skip a heavy cycle. Is Aquatics Elite still in business? I thought they had gone out. I had been considering a Giesemann or an ATI. I'm just not convinced either way yet. The good news is that I'll let this tank run for a couple of months before I mount a light on it, so I do have time to decide. Here's an example of a tank using Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock. The guy even went from Texas to Tampa to go diving with Richard from TBS to get it. Fun stuff. They collected it during the day, packed it and brought it to the airport that night, and picked it up from the cargo area in Texas the next morning. Neat. Months later he's still finding stuff that he didn't know he had (including a mantis, yikes). http://www.reefcentr...2&postcount=466 Man that does look nice! I'm thinking on this one I'm going to need to go to the Marine Scene or somewhere similar with a good rock selection....the limited size here makes it necessary to ensure each piece is appropriately sized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas December 6, 2012 Author Share December 6, 2012 I was in Mannassas this week and took the opportunity to swing by Adam's shop and new store. Man, the tank is looking great! Bigger than what the pics give an impression of as well. We decided to incorporate Coral Hind's suggestion of bringing the black edging up both 2 front curved edges of the tank. We also started discussing the sump build. I'm going to need to collect all of the equipment to be located in the sump so it can be built precisely around it. One thing I would like to do is build a frag tank into the sump located under the small step. This way I could mount a small LED light like the Sol Nano on the stand interior and have my own hidden frag tank. The challenge comes into fitting it all underneath. So far I have the skimmmer (7x8 footprint or so) and the return pump. Other pieces of equipment are 2x heaters, 2x reactors (biopellet and GFO), and 1x calcium reactor (thinking Tunze Comline with a small footprint). It's going to be tight but I think the results will be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incredible Corals December 6, 2012 Share December 6, 2012 How about a drop off sump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B) December 7, 2012 Share December 7, 2012 I was in Mannassas this week and took the opportunity to swing by Adam's shop and new store. Man, the tank is looking great! Bigger than what the pics give an impression of as well. We decided to incorporate Coral Hind's suggestion of bringing the black edging up both 2 front curved edges of the tank. We also started discussing the sump build. I'm going to need to collect all of the equipment to be located in the sump so it can be built precisely around it. One thing I would like to do is build a frag tank into the sump located under the small step. This way I could mount a small LED light like the Sol Nano on the stand interior and have my own hidden frag tank. The challenge comes into fitting it all underneath. So far I have the skimmmer (7x8 footprint or so) and the return pump. Other pieces of equipment are 2x heaters, 2x reactors (biopellet and GFO), and 1x calcium reactor (thinking Tunze Comline with a small footprint). It's going to be tight but I think the results will be great! It was a collective opinion/suggestion from a few different parties regarding completing the black acrylic up the rounded edges as well. It will certainly be a bit more work for me molding the acrylic to match those bends, but we will get it done =). We will certainly need those other items in stock to do the sump build though as you are certainly right...TIGHT fit it will be. Here the community voice would certainly be a big help. I am glad you decided to have us build the sump and handle plumbing as well vs Life Reef, but more heads are always better than two with the vast experience we have in this community when dealing with such a unique build as this. Ok all, so we have approximate dimensions of 28x16 on the bottom to work with and 24 in height on the bottom step and 29 height on the top step (due to interior shelf for controllers). We need to fit in what Tom would like to fit there, and will likely need to do it in a "horseshoe" pattern with skimmer in back and return ending in back. The overflow is a bean animal setup so micro bubbles shouldn't be an issue at all so luckily no space eating "bubble walls" will be necessary. Does anyone have thoughts on things/concerns we may not have considered on this unique setup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas December 10, 2012 Author Share December 10, 2012 All I have to say is three cheers to Adam for making such a great tank!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 I seem to recall you once saying that this would be wet in February. You're late!! Any updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBVette March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 The update is that its still at the shop. I saw it there the other day, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 Me too! I did sprinkle some water on it last Friday when I was there...so it really was wet in Febuary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 Well someone needs to get some water sand and rock in there soon. I want to see it functioning like a reef tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B) March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 LOL...you guys are all terrible, but too funny! Yes, it is still at the shop. Tom just dropped off a few of the sump components (i.e. Skimmer, etc..) a little over a week ago. He still has one or two more components going in the sump that he has to narrow down and get shipped out to me. Once they are in my hands I can design the sump. Due to the tight confines under the stand we both found it best to have all of these components in hand prior to designing and building the sump so as to be able to maximize the chambers within the sump accordingly. But feel free to come out this weekend and sprinkle a little more water on it in person if you desire seeing it wet sooner rather than later just as STEVE did lol . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 I will when I pick up my tank Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBVette March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 I'll pull a Rob and pee in it this weekend to get the cycle started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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