The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. - George Bernard Shaw
A bit of an update -
I got word that the tanks should ship on Monday. That will allow me to do the build at home, without tearing down the current office tank.
As I mentioned, I'm new to acrylic fabrication - As I progress through the learning curve, I've found that my existing table saw is not fit for acrylic duty. Its replacement will be here Monday along with an 80 tooth, triple chip ground, PermaSheild Diablo blade. I'm done screwing around with having to spend more time cleaning up every cut then it took to make the cut.
I'm still waiting for quite a few pieces and parts - some coming from as far as Japan. It will likely be a couple of weeks before I've got much to show.
On a more exciting note, although I hadn't yet given much thought to a coral stocking plan, I stumbled on an opportunity I just couldn't pass up. A huge, mostly LE Monti collection - delivered for $190
Tyree Superman monti
Tyree Pokerstar Monti
Tyree Purple Haze
Tyree Sunset
Tyree Seasons Greetings
Copps Vesuvious
Tyree Palawensis
Tyree Undata
LA Lakers
Tyree Pink Sand Dollar
Tyree Setosa
Tyree Flower Petal Cap
Tyree aequituberculata
Leng Sy Cap
Tyree Idaho Grape
Confusa, spongotes
ATL Forest Fire Digi
Greg Hillers Teal digi
Orange Digi
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. - George Bernard Shaw
Wow awesome pack is putting it mildly! MontiNano-has a nice ring to it don't ya think?
There's nothing like being a Reefer! www.upmmas.com
Wow that is quite the collection! I know you said stocking plans are unknown, but is the current feeling to include most of these?
Thanks Jamie, I'm hopeful they look that good once received. MontiNano is cute, but for reasons that will be evident later - I think a different name will apply
Thanks Erika - I'm not sure. Truthfully, I had a somewhat different plan in mind, but when I saw those at that price point - I just couldn't pass them up. I'm trying to adjust the plan to see what will fit.
I can tell you that I'm planning on including these (or at least some of them)...
These were purchased through Colin at Coral Morphologic. That photo was taken during acclimation and really doesn't show the beautiful coloration. Most are multiple-mouths and now that they are happy, have since doubled in size.
I also acquired some Mangrove Propagules that I'm hoping will be part of this build.
That's a great selection to choose from.
Thanks for the updates.
Tanks shipped - I should have them on Friday and be able to sart mocking up over the weekend.
I'm not sure which direction I'm going to take with filtration. For reasons that will become apparent, this tank is going to be a bit atypical when it comes to reef filtration schemes.
For the moment at least, I'm planning on running without a skimmer. The current tank's skimmer produces next to nothing due to the very light bio-load. As this next build will be home to a pair of Clowns, I'll need to accommodate a larger bio-load. I've got an AC50 fitted with an InTank insert that will fit perfectly on the end of the tank, but it's so small, it will limit my media options. I also purchased a Fluval 406 that provides tons of flow and filtration (maybe a bit too much, but it can be dialed back) and gives me much more room and options for media. I'll have to see which method works best as the pieces start coming together.
I ordered a Elos Osmocontroller. My Tunze Osmolators have functioned perfectly, but the sensor and back up float take up a huge amount of space (relative to a 12 gallon tank.) The Elos uses a single, tiny sensor that should all but disappear in this design and as I use an Apex salinity probe as a fail-safe, I'm not worried about the loss of the float.
I also received a few items that I have been waiting on from Japan. So far, everything is as I had hoped - I'm very excited.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. - George Bernard Shaw
Wow!! Awesome livestock, Tom!! I'm even more intrigued than before.
Sweet! Friday!!!
We have glass...
My present challenge is how to hide most of the equipment. This tank will sit on my office desk, and as I travel a lot it has to be as self-sufficient as possible. This includes filtration that can go for a couple weeks without being touched, ATO, 2-part dosing and the Apex probes. As the location doesn't allow for a sump - it all has to be crammed into the tank with minimum detraction from what I hope will be a minimalistic look.
My first thought was to duplicate the filtration used in the 2011 Nano build, which consisted of an AquaClear 70 HOB modded with an InTank insert. I purchased a smaller version (AC50) which fits nicely on the end of the tank.
Although it fits nicely, the drawbacks are that it provides much less space for filtration media and the fact that it occupies all of the tank end wall, leaving no space for dosing, ATO or probes. The filtration concerns are paramount as this tank will be home to a pair of clown fish and (eventually) a BTA.
After consideration, I decided to "upscale" the filtration. I installed a Fluval 406 canister. This allows for far more mechanical, chemical and biological filtration and opens up more space for the rest of the equipment...
I've attached a surface skimmer to the intake of the Fluval that allows me to "balance" the filtration between surface skimming and bottom filtration. In addition to what's shown, I still have to add the pH, ORP and Salinity probes, the Elos Osmocontroller sensor and ATO and the Ca and Alk dosing tubes (I'm going to polish off the brand name on the probe holder.) I've had great success with the Hydor Theo heaters - I'm going to try and use only 50 watts due to its diminutive size. In the 2011 build, 50 watts was not enough, but I think the evaporative cooling from the AquaClear 70 and the skimmer contributed to the heat loss. I'm hoping that the Fluval will result in less heat loss and that 50W will be enough.
It will be a tight fit, but everything should fit on the end wall. It's a bunch of mechanics crammed into a tiny tank, but I'm hoping the design elements of the tank will minimize the impact.
Last edited by CalmSeasQuest; 02-05-2012 at 02:51 PM.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. - George Bernard Shaw