Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Well... Finally.. and i mean Finally... my reef tank is underway. After researching for almost 1 1/2 years, and lurking around NR since last July, I have begun my first marine and first reef aquarium. This is my 5 gallon flat-back hex. This tank is actually pretty special to me (as special as a piece of plastic can get). I bought it 6-7 years ago and it was my first freshwater aquarium. It's taken care of everything from bettas, goldfish, baby African cichlids, live plants, a couple of tadpoles, freshwater puffers, crabs, to even my Red-eared slider for a day and a half. And now it gets the special privilege of becoming my first adventure into the world of saltwater. Seeing as how my flat-back hex has such a unique shape, I've done alot of DIY and still have more planned (like a WTO system). First DIY was constructioning the canopy. It's 6" tall, and my dad for the longest time wanted nothing to do with helping me. "It's not gunna be pretty," He'd say, so i bought some wood filler, some sand paper, and spray paint, and told him "If you can make it functional, I can make it Beautiful." Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 There were 5 pieces total, (i decided to leave the back open for oxygen exchange and to help control heat issues) each 6" tall for the walls, and then a long 1.5" brace along the back, (my dad was convinced it would fall apart without it). Each side had a 1" piece if wood on the inside, set to rest upon the edges of the tank. The top also has 1" stripes overlapping the walls just a bit. It's a very simple yet pretty design. Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 We nail-gunned the pieces together (my dad is a nail gun manic and shot his finger twice... ouch! He's tough though) The edges we also sealed with GENEROUS amounts of liquid nails. (I ended up taking a razor blade to the large chunks once it was dry, I think he went a little over board on the glue.) Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 After it was all dry and sturdy, I filled the gaps with wood filler (I love this stuff) and sanded it smooth. Here it is setting on top of the tank. The top can be easily lifted off. Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Here's a view from the back, you can see the top fits loosely, and you can see the edging that lets the sides of the canopy rest on the edge of the tank. Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Next came the spray paint (p.s. 93 cent exterior paint from Wal-Mart was perfect, and cheap!) I painted the outside a dignified black, (went with a matte finish, over the glossy.) and the inside white, to help reflect light (I should have used glossy white on the inside, but all well) I was generous with the paint, I wanted it really water resistant. Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Tah-Dah!! not bad I think. Doesn't look professional, but a very nice frame for my aquarium. (also, I've already measured out the wood pieces for a little black base. I thought it would kind of tie the top and bottom together better. It will be about 3.5" tall) Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Next, It was time to paint the back of the tank. Here I've taped off the tank COMPLETELY. Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Unable to decide between black or dark blue (even contemplating smokey purple for a while I ended up blending the two colors, so that it looked like sunlight shining down into the black ocean. Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 And the finished background! It's illuminated with a 15w NO, and should look good with metal halide as well. The blue was a little bit lighter then i originally wanted, but looks nice nevertheless. I Threw in the pop can for good measure... haha Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Next comes the exciting stuff! Water and ROCKS! (I prewarned my friend who went with me to get my LR saying, "Don't even say anything about how much I'm going to spend on rock.") The tank is almost 6 total gallons when my skilter250 fuge is added, So i was planning on getting 8-9lbs. Well, the only saltwater guy in town, was getting a shipment of liverock in a few days and only had a bit left. Actually it worked out really well. I got some nice small pieces, and I was surprised at how much volume of rock I got (He only had about 6lbs) I had about the benefits and pains of a DSB and said.... nah.. i bought 5lbs of LS for a tiny 1/2"-1" sand bed. (BTW this isn't lit with my MH yet, it's still the 15w NO so not very bright, and the sand cloud is still settleing) Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Here's a really nice piece of rock. It's very light and porous. I'm going to add more rock to the tank later on as this is only 6lbs. Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Desired Inhabitance: Citron Goby skunk cleaner porcelain anemone crab maybe a hermit or two snails lots of yummy sps's blue, green, and/or purple acropora lots of different zoos a red open brain a short tentacled plate coral (or fungia?) some photosynthetic gorgonians a pink birdsnest wish me luck... and... LET THE CYCLE BEGIN!!! Link to comment
Yves Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Lookin' good...dig the backround too-Yves Link to comment
CU_Reefer Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Great work! But how in the world were you ever able to wait that long?! A year and a half, I couldn't stand it that long, after less than a month I was in. I can't wait to see how it turns out. If you can wait a year and a half you definitely have the patience for a nano. Good luck! Link to comment
mapv281 Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 heh, nice tank, i love the background sunset paint scheme you got going on there, i might give that a try sometime in the future, i also have a 5 gal, well 5.5, i remember you asking about ro water @walmart, i told you to get it from the culligan machine, i'm pretty sure it was you, not a 100%, anyways i went to get my water on sat and i remember that post, so i picked up a booklet from the machine to scan here so that people can see that it is ro, if you wanna see it just ask, anyways if you want an effective clean up crew, do like i did, 1 mexican turbo, 2 astreas, 1 margarita, 2 ceriths, 2 nass, 2-3 hermits, i don't keep more because they harass the snails sometimes, etc, the ones i have stir up the sand a little, but the ceriths and nass can do all of that also, keep some dried seaweed incase you need to feed your snails, esp the turbo, i feed mine on the weekends with one of those veggie clippers, a lot of people will disagree with the turbo, but it's done a hell of a job for me, it's by far my best snail in my tank, it does everything, sand, glass, rock. get the smallest one you can get. hmmmmm...i'm pretty sure you know what to do after researching for that long, i did for 4 months and i'm still doing it when i have some spare time, if you have any ?'s ask me if you want, good luck with your tank. Link to comment
mapv281 Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 ps: what did your dad say after it was done? it's funny because a lot of people doubt/disagree or don't believe until they see it coming to life, my gf gave me a hard time about it, now i catch her staring at my tank every now and then. Happens more often each time she comes over. Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Awsome job! The background looks great. I gan't wait to see the follow up pics. I'm thinking that if you can handle waiting 1 1/2 years to start your tank then you will definitely have a great tank. You have the patience and you have definitely been willing to do the homework before getting started. Congrats on your first nano! Link to comment
Victa Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 very nice DIY WORK!!!! @_@ im amazed.... anyhoo justwondering about something u said... are u really going to put a metal halide bulb over that? that would be pretty cool but wouldnt MH bulb melt that really easily? i have an eclipse 6 gal and the only reason i never opted to putting MH over it was because plastic=lowmelting point. maybe if i had a AGA or someting. if u decide not to get MH i would get powercompact. a csl 32 watts pc has been enough for me and i have rics zoos leathers and a monti grow perfect with it. you prolly cant get acro's tho if thats what u really wanted then again people like gilman have clams in his 7 gal so maybe its possible just my 2 cents. Link to comment
nanocat Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Excellent job. It's really looking sweet. Metal halide is sure going to produce a LOT of heat in a canopy though. You may have to add an iceprobe chiller. Link to comment
jojopus Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Just add a couple of 40mm fans to the canopy to get rid of heat, one sucking in, one blowing out the other side. that should keep your heat issues under control. I fyoure going with a double ended halide (which i assume you are in a canopy that small) dont forget you'll need glass betwee the bulb and the water to filter out some of the UV that's given off by bulbs with no outer casing like a DE bulb. You're off to a great start. good luck. Link to comment
IllusionaryDreams Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Great Job, I'm impressed. You've put a lot of time and energy into your planning and I think you'll end up with a fantastic tank. As for you saying your hood doesn't look professional, It looks great, fits in well with the tank. Keep up the great work! Link to comment
MarLooney Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 something i haven't seen done with a background before. i'm gonna steal your idea for my 30 HAHA! much props ;D Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Thanks for all the compliments! Every one keeps saying how could you wait 1 1/2 years, and Yah it was hard. But mostly i couldn't do it because I was broke Since I'm moveing away to college next year, I had to sell my horse I sold him in january. So I didn't until now have the extra money to spend on a saltwater tank (especially with 4 freshies to maintain). Horses pretty much eat money. Durring the cycle I'm going to spend my time (and $) getting extra equiment like a refractormeter, some salifert test kits, and putting together a water-topoff system. mapv281 Yes, I read one of the booklets from the Culigan machine, and that's what I've decided to use for water. It filters the water several different ways includeing RO, carbon, and uv light. I think the canopy turned out better then my dad thought it would. I'm not sure if he's seen the rocks yet, but I'm not thinking he'll be as impressed by them as I am Victa and jojopus About the MH... yah I was a little worried at first about my tank being acylic, and haveing a melt down. But it's a DE bulb and I'm going to enclose it in a regent type fixture like I've seen alot of people here doing in the DIY section. I have a buddie who is a complete computer hardware guy so he is going to help me install a few fans after I get the fixture set-up. I found 3 little feather dusters on this one piece of rock. They're red and tiny. They suck back into their tube when ever I move near the tank. Link to comment
Chyendra Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 This is the last picture i got in before my camera ran out of batteries... There is alot of tiny bubbles comming from the filter. I know it's from the limewood airstone I put in the skimmer tube, but the bubbles don't go away unless I turn it completly off. I've tried controling the airflow, and moving the airstone higher up near the cup. Will the bubbles hurt anything? I don't really like them, but I'd like to still beable to skim my water..... once I get more batteries I'll take pics of the fuge set up.... i need to find some Chaeto... Link to comment
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