Shallow Reef

[EMUreef]

Well i finally got a 9-5 job, its been a long time coming but has also been an adjustment to my life style to the new job. Went from having a lot of time on my hands, to having little free time. Nothing to look forward to other than i get home, eat dinner than just sit around till i have to go to bed... wake and repeat. I think this new idea i have will atleast give me something to do untill spring/summer.

Alright so here's the plan. Take it slow, do it right. Worked out well for my 90g.

Tank - Haven't Finalized yet. Either 25x25x14 or 25x25x12... rimless, black silicon.

sump - dunno plan is to have the tank drain into a fuge, than skimmer than return. dunno the size of the sump probably just gonna grab something from pet smart and do the baffles myself.

Lighting - i think im gonna go with a DIY LED, rapid LED has a sweet black anodized heat sink on there site.

Skimmer - Bubble Magus NAC6 or NAC7

return pump - probably a quietone 3000

flow - either a MP10 or the koralia's i have, probably the two 1400's to start than if i can get a deal on a mp10 ill switch to that.

stock - 2 picasso's and a flame angel.

corals - TBD, probably gonna use it as an emergency tank for my sps and some sps on the sand depending how they like the LED's.

[EMUreef]

I got the idea to do this as i haven't been very impressed with my nano thats in my room, maybe its my fault maybe i just can't get a smaller tank like that to look how i want it. I think the main this is i enjoy having a sump and skimmer.

So im gonna do this tank and i have a feeling ill have more room to work with. shallow tank might be fun.


ill probably be ordering the tank tomorrow to get build from Great lakes aquariums.

than after that ill work on the stand, dunno how long thats gonna take since its hard to work outside with this weather.

one of the big things im hoping i can do is make it quiet as possible as im a fairly light sleeper.


Other than that it'll be a long process getting this tank going. but it'll be done right.

[creefer]

Looking forward to it! Congrats on the new job!

[larryandlaura]

Sweet let's see this build!

[EMUreef]

alright ordered the tank yesterday from Fish Docs in Ypsi, its made by a company called Deep blue.

24x24x12. Should be here in a week or so. when i get the tank i should be starting the stand build. kinda rough with the weather but hopefully it wont take long.

[creefer]

The deep blue tanks are pretty nice.

[bluwc]

I like the 12"but didn't want black silicone

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd410/bluwc/2012-01-27_19-40-47_94.jpg

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd410/bluwc/2012-01-27_19-41-28_665.jpg

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd410/bluwc/2012-01-27_19-42-24_632.jpg

Sump is dark...all crappy cell pics but simple 20g,, reef octopus 160 in the right, rubble/chaeto in the middle and return on the left

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd410/bluwc/2012-01-27_19-41-10_605.jpg

[EMUreef]

nice troy.

Alright got the skimmer ordered well paid for i should say as i got it used but in great condition off RC. also comes with an extra pump too. i went with the bubble magus NAC6.

[EMUreef]

skimmer got delivered to my work and i picked up the tank today. talk about a long day of waiting.
might work on the stand tomorrow, might now. depends how i feel after draining the sump on the big tank so i can switch out skimmers

here's the tank.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qQxAQT6STjg/TyyJtUh2mmI/AAAAAAAAAY0/mTh901zyvjA/s800/2012-02-03_20-03-16_262.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FaFVjOLK-_g/TyyJxckWamI/AAAAAAAAAY8/xDoBe_SiqvQ/s800/2012-02-03_20-03-22_477.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0BtZ5pTXALs/TyyJ1cyWjVI/AAAAAAAAAZE/Rxzo4FYxwo0/s800/2012-02-03_20-03-35_223.jpg

and the skimmer
a Bubble Magus NAC6 100-160g's figure thats perfect.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-aYsW3xewXOg/TyyJ4tWF8jI/AAAAAAAAAZM/Y5l_4m1U-Kc/s800/2012-02-03_20-19-13_98.jpg

[creefer]

That's going to be a great tank to work with.

[Sir Patrick]

Very nice tank man!

[EMUreef]

bought the lumber today for the new stand. I plan on building it wider than the tank so i can fit a longer sump in there. Alright have a acrylic one waiting. was gonna start cutting today but by the time i got home it was dark and i just wasn't motivated anymore to start cutting. so tomorrow ill start slicing up some 2x4's. i plan on using kilz on all the pieces before i actually put them together.

so far i've spent like 27$ on wood and screws total cost will end up being about 50-60$... not to bad for a DIY stand. if you have a little bit of know how, its a good way to save some money on a custom stand. It helps cause you can use whatever size sump you want.

[creefer]

Good call on the DIY stand. I was going to do that but I figured it would be quicker if I bought one. Now I'm modifying the crap out of it and wishing I would have started fresh.

[EMUreef]

alright the 2x4's are cut for the stand. Before i put it together im using Kilz2 on all the pieces first. Made the mistake of not doing that with the 90g and some of the boards got a weird mold on it, so now that would be happening.

as far as the paneling, haven't figured out what i wanna use yet. that probably will be done next weekend or sometime during the week. The door im thinking of doing will more be just a removable panel.

might assemble the stand here in a couple hours depending on if the boards are dry or not.

[creefer]

Nice. The weather sure is on your side today.

[EMUreef]

Nice. The weather sure is on your side today.

yup i wanted to get this done ASAP while it was atleast decent out... who knows when the snow will hit around here.


alright got everything kilz'd and screwed together. Got the stand in place for the time being just to get it outta the way from everything else, put the tank on the stand and put the sump inside the stand along with the skimmer.

things that still need to be done:

skin the stand
make door panel thing
make base for inside the stand for the sump to sit on.
also need to figure out how im gonna hang the lights, got a few good ideas

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-137yU5bI8MU/Ty78QYYyydI/AAAAAAAAAZU/dOEkgEvSIvo/s800/2012-02-05_16-50-43_767.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-bc6O4D1ZJ7M/Ty78TTUkK4I/AAAAAAAAAZc/pVSQ-tA5P6E/s800/2012-02-05_16-50-48_953.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Es1TLVqfNJc/Ty78WS8W29I/AAAAAAAAAZk/kKwBXNi8x9U/s800/2012-02-05_16-51-24_726.jpg

the view from the bed
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y0zeSQowvi0/Ty78bSCbA8I/AAAAAAAAAZs/ViQJUiTVBrQ/s800/2012-02-05_16-51-39_208.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xdrw7X8SsLE/Ty78fDBvMII/AAAAAAAAAZ0/OlOS6tzKPSA/s800/2012-02-05_16-56-01_538.jpg

[creefer]

Glad you took advantage of the weather today. I was unable to do so.

[bigbill]

great start russ cant wait to see this thing with water in it gl

[jimsflies]

looking good Russ

[MizTanks]

Looking great Russ! That skimmer is a beast :)

[EMUreef]

this sentence alone will explain what i did....

my credit card is melting.... but boy was it fun

things i just got done ordering.

-Reefkeeper, with ph probe, advance lighting control module to control leds.
-50lbs of macro rock
-55lbs of special grade sand
-heater
-my stuff for the DIY leds

the only thing that remains as a large purchase is the mp10.. but no hurry for that just yet, gonna let my card cool down.

still need to do work on the actual tank before i can use any of the fun toys lol. this weekend/week i hope to atleast get it skinned and hopefully how im gonna hang the fixture figured out.

[Heidi]

So Russ let me say this is a sweet build! I hope it brings you much more joy then the nano did. Oh and btw, you gotta shut the underwear drawer before you take the next pictures lol.. I had to go there sorry ;). I remember teasing you last year about your toiletries being out in front of the the nano hehe Regardless, I will be following along on this shallow reef, I really like the thought of this tank.
Heidi

[EMUreef]

So Russ let me say this is a sweet build! I hope it brings you much more joy then the nano did. Oh and btw, you gotta shut the underwear drawer before you take the next pictures lol.. I had to go there sorry ;). I remember teasing you last year about your toiletries being out in front of the the nano hehe Regardless, I will be following along on this shallow reef, I really like the thought of this tank.
Heidi

i only did it for you heidikins

on another note the rock has been shipped looks like im getting it saturday.... i got 50lbs of key largo from macro rocks. On there website it says "hand picked" by people who have aquariums and know what people want....

but for fun in the comments section of checking out, i said "keep in mind when hand picking peices, that this is for a 24x24x12 tank" so will see what they do lol

[EMUreef]

My Macro Rock Experience


I ordered 50lbs of the key largo rock on Wednesday. Free shipping. Made a note of the kind of tank these rocks would be in to see if that effected anything.

The box arrived today...boy was i excited. Opened her up, put a trash bag down for easier clean up as i laid the rocks out to see what i got. Each rock was individually wrapped in bubble wrap. Still there are some rubble pieces but hey i got more rock than i need so no complaining here. I also got a free 1lb bag of rock mortar they have, thought that was pretty cool.

Got some great pieces, dunno if me mentioning the size of the tank effected the picking of the rocks. But either way im pretty happy with the selection i got. oh and since its dead, its pest free, maybe a bit longer of a cycle but i can wait.




https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LhJzRJ3T7vE/TzaRIQzpoBI/AAAAAAAAAbg/fYkfT37SshQ/s800/2012-02-11_10-56-17_510.jpg

and a little size comparison

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q_JV84oHTNg/TzaRMvoONiI/AAAAAAAAAbo/gZ2e--HuUAA/s800/2012-02-11_10-56-53_856.jpg

[creefer]

Very nice rock for sure.

[EMUreef]

The Tank

Added a black background to it. Got a sticky vinyl back for it from Joann fabrics... dunno if ill do it again and just go with painting it since there are some noticable airbubbles.. oh well coraline will eventually cover it anyway. With the reef keeper and sand on the way, i can start filling it up sometime this week.

The stand

Made a lot of progress on the stand today. Got the paneling i wanted along with some other stuff to try to get it finished up. Today i got it all cut and basically tacked in place. Tomorrow ill be staining. Coming from a guy that doesn't have any wood working experience, im pretty happy with it. I do notice some things off with it but ill live, since its in my room i dont have to worry about to many people seeing it.
For a door i just made a removable panel and it works wonderful.

I do wanna try to make the sump area as quiet as possible, sometimes hard with the drain. so im gonna get some sort of sound deadening material to help out.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ssu2LnPk-X0/TzdDW7qLvLI/AAAAAAAAAb0/P3CtDM-tZOY/s800/CRW_4109.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-xa1-sC_mpcY/TzdDXliXc5I/AAAAAAAAAb8/TO1VehXDejY/s800/CRW_4108.JPG
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-olRSeXc5SIM/TzdDYZyLbfI/AAAAAAAAAcE/W9adUXaoclw/s800/CRW_4107.JPG

The Light

The LED's also came so after the stand was tacked in place, i got to work on the LED's. Got a temp dimming POT so i could atleast get it all ready for the reefkeeper. I got a power cord from work that actually splits into 2, so i only have to take up one space on my reefkeeper now instead of two to turn them on. Everything went pretty smoothly just very repetitive and time consuming. I HATE glueing the Lens's, its very nerve wrecking for sure. So now i just gotta figure out how im gonna hang it.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-v6HHMdhrP_8/TzdDsTjvIFI/AAAAAAAAAcU/saQfDADD1Zs/s800/2012-02-11_23-08-45_499.jpg

[bigbill]

very nice set up

[creefer]

Nice job Russ. I was right....your tank will be wet before mine.

[EMUreef]

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5DdQb3dqKEU/Tzh-6k1JCpI/AAAAAAAAAcc/FDEInorBC3w/s800/2012-02-12_22-09-10_285.jpg

Made some progress with the stand, its complete. Its not the best job in the world but hey im not a professional wood worker. So it'll do.

I'm suppose to be getting the RKL, sand and heater today. On my way home from work im stopping into lowes to get the last of the plumbing, just need to get the vinyl tubbing for the drain. Need to see if i can get this pump i have working, need to get a fitting for it but can't find anywhere what site it might be, looks like 1/2" to me. Than i also gotta get something to hang the fixture, so im sure most of my time is gonna be spent wandering around lowes trying to figure that out.

not that anyone cares about any of that crap lol. But ya might start playing with aquascaping today. so i might be posting a couple pictures for opinions. than once i decide on a good aquascape i can start filling.

FYI 50lbs is a bit much to work with in a tank this big, leftovers are going in the sump and what ever is leftover from that will be going in to the big tank, possibly the frag tank to try to manage this algae i have growing in it.

[MizTanks]

Russ that's a very neat an sweet stand. You did good! Love the look :)

[EMUreef]

Comin along pretty good Russ!

What did u use to glue the lenses on the leds??

its called loctite stick n seal no mess. i guess thats what they recommend.


please give feedback on the aquascape

picked some stuff up today from lowes to get the plumbing hopefully done.

doh. got the wrong size tube for the drain so gotta go back tomorrow.
Also not sure how this spare skimmer pump is gonna do, its brand new but kinda noisy. so ill run it, if i dont like it ill get a new actual return.


as far as hanging the light i got 2 pieces of pipe that are threaded on each end. the vertical one needs to be taller cause i feel like i might need to hang the light higher. I also forget to get stuff to hang it. so i gotta get that tomorrow too. right now there is just string holding it in a temp spot.

Wires everywhere... im gonna drill the pipe and feed the wires through there. got the reefkeeper sorta working with the leds, got them to turn on, i know how to dim them but as far as the ramping features im not to sure how they work yet but ill figure it out... the documentation they give you isn't the greatest.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oQDu7fwu_tc/TzsQj0KcqeI/AAAAAAAAAck/oIWZytRc5fc/s800/2012-02-14_20-46-16_305.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hLDschVTwTM/TzsQow-9ZPI/AAAAAAAAAcs/Jnr5gDiN4X0/s800/2012-02-14_20-46-23_391.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AHkC4PrDLXo/TzsQr80vnxI/AAAAAAAAAc0/AU-EX7mLMk4/s800/2012-02-14_20-49-02_451.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-eS_63JPt7vY/TzsQ9k9TYDI/AAAAAAAAAc8/PIXyoDT8gFU/s800/2012-02-14_20-56-53_695.jpg

[EMUreef]

Alright cleaned up some of the wiring to the LED and reefkeeper. Painted the hanging arm i did. Got the plumbing finished.

ITS BEING FILLED! slowly... so late sat? i might be done, sunday looks like a day for mixing salt and getting the temp up. one last thing i wanna do i wanna make a probe holder for the temp/ph probe.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T1TwoQUwSXE/Tz8cHMdz6rI/AAAAAAAAAdk/GUWv8om03TM/s800/CRW_4110.JPG
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TGs47t15Sxo/Tz8cGstV2gI/AAAAAAAAAdc/ZOejNb8Sn-s/s800/CRW_4114.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z8ra-YfLYOY/Tz8cF7h75wI/AAAAAAAAAdU/iSjg4A_8dPU/s800/CRW_4112.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-RApoe1L1K6E/Tz8cFGFKn-I/AAAAAAAAAdM/Z1edwOoW2Z4/s800/CRW_4113.JPG

[MizTanks]

I'm very impressed Russ. You've done an outstanding job on everything. You should be very proud!

[creefer]

Nice job, Russ. Look forward to seeing this grow.

[jimsflies]

Those cable organizers commonly used for organizing stereo cables would work and leave the wiress easier to pull if necessary.

[EMUreef]

Those cable organizers commonly used for organizing stereo cables would work and leave the wiress easier to pull if necessary.

ya ill figure it out soon enough.

started adding salt, i think i got 10g's worth of salt added already, i just wanna make sure its mixed well before i start the cycle. The tank is active though as far as powerhead, heater running, lights set up for dimming and return pump.

Since this tank is in my room and im a light sleeper.. i wanted to get this quiet as possible. The over flow is a bit loud due to the fact that the durso they supply you with is a little shorter than it should be. So today im gonna make it a bit taller so there isn't to much of a waterfall effect going on. Ill report back.

[Captain]

Looks tight! Get a variety of rock shapes if you want a nice scape. Branches!

---------- Post added at 01:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:32 PM ----------

PS How are you gonna keep the wrasses in? :big_grin:

[Mike]

That looks pretty sweet Russ

[EMUreef]

That looks pretty sweet Russ

thanks mike.

Welp today picked up some plumbing so i could tee off the return to dial it down, got home and got it in place. Def a noticable difference, have it about half open on the loop back into the sump.

I was planning on using an acrylic top for the tank so it didn't take away from the look of being rimless. Well im gonna scratch that idea. The acrylic just collects to much condensation... so im gonna go with the mesh top.
I wish they made an acrylic frame to attach the mesh too but i can't find it.

[EMUreef]

Get ahold of Andy, he may be able to make ya something that'd work ;)

maybe im sure i can come up with something.

cycling has started finally, well atleast i think so i put some sand from my sump on my display into my sump and display in the new tank and put a piece of silversides in there too, since i didn't have any shrimp.

ill test sometime this weekend to see where hte levels are at

[EMUreef]

cycle.... hahahahahahaha, have fun waiting lol

k.........

[EMUreef]

Russ what size heat sink did u use on this?

6x9.....:highfive3::highfive3::highfive3::highfive 3::highfive3:

[redemer123]

Tank looks awesome man

[EMUreef]

Tank looks awesome man

thanks dude, im gonna dose up some mb7 here to kinda get the cycle to kick into over drive.

[EMUreef]

March 9, 2012 5:11 PM - YouTube (http://youtu.be/lQhfST1bPJo?hd=1)

[MizTanks]

Beautiful tank Russ! Is that a Fungia I see?


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[creefer]

Russ, your tank really looks good. Seeing it with water in it really makes me like the scape a lot. Nice job.

[EMUreef]

Beautiful tank Russ! Is that a Fungia I see?


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I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?m43coc

thanks and yes that is.

---------- Post added at 10:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 AM ----------


Russ, your tank really looks good. Seeing it with water in it really makes me like the scape a lot. Nice job.

thanks chris, should fill in nicely when i start getting corals in it.