the wait is almost over isnt it? roughly 2 more months left. At least your tank is progressing very nicely. After I added a green Nepthea, my tank's growth has completely stopped. The only thing that grows is the Nepthea itself. You've pretty much got this in the bag as I see no other tanks being updated.
GL

Eric,
Sheesh. Nice tank. You are one talented guy with building those nano's! Wow.
Eric built me a nice overflow box for my 40g breeder. Looks good too. Very well priced. Great service. I wish you luck. I'll vote for ya. RC is doing a nightly back up right now. So you feed those shrimp your starfish? Poor little babies. Okay, yes I know. I'm a wimp. I know the legs regenerate, I just feel bad for the little guys. Well, I'll be doing the same thing with copepods soon. Guess I'll have to feel sorry for them too. LOL okay sorry.
Hey, I see you have a torch (at least that's what I think it is) does it bother any of your other corals? I personally would like to keep a wall hammer in my 40 breeder, but I'm afraid the sweepers might destroy all my other corals. =( I wouldn't want that. I'll have some Candy cane's, Micros, Clams, Pocillopora, Montipora Capricornis, and others. I currently only have about 5 different types of Zoanthids and star polyps. Yes, I finally got the thing running. =) Purchased a new skimmer too. The BM150! So far it kicked my Remora Pro's bootay! Okay Eric, just wanted to touch base and say I'll vote for ya. Love the tank. Can't believe how beautiful it is. I just nodded my head when I saw it because it's gorgeous.

Weeeee....Calvin Is blowing some of the RC ppls mind by the size of this tank.

I must admitt it does look a LOT larger than what it actually is

Izzue

Thanks nip! Sorry to hear about your growth issue, that's really sucks! There are a lot of sweet tanks still out there and anything can happen come voting time so I'm not betting on anything until the last day of voting, I just wish March 31st would hurry up and get here. LOL That and I wish I knew what the prizes were.



Haven't heard from you in a while, glad you got your tank up and going and that BM150 is sweet!!! Thanks for the vote and I added a reply over on RC about the Euphyllia family corals.



LOL!!! Thanks Izzue, yeah I had a local reef club meeting at my house yesterday and most thought it was a lot bigger until they saw it in person. I should take a pic some time with my hand filling it up. LOL!

I reckon you'll win it. Will you feed some one the corals a day before the final or something?

Not sure I understand your question???

that's a great idea! some kind of visual size reference so they see how small it really is.

or maybe how gigantic you really are!


jk

great job!

damn calvin. things are coming along nicely. i will be setting up a pico here pretty soon! while i work on my "DREAM SYSTEM" lol!! but if my final comes to even half as bad @$$ as your tank i'll be a lucky dude!!

if the LPS get fed won't they colour up some more for your final photo?

How long has that starfish been kept alive for? Why do so many people use CC stars; are they alot hardier?

Oh man, I think you have already won the contest, by a truck length.

LOL, I'm a really small guy, but I'll try to get a pic taken soon.



Thanks bro!



LPS really need to be fed on going IMO, a last minute feeding I doubt will do much... The star fish was kept alive for about 4 weeks, it's all eaten now though. CC stars are used because they are cheap, it's not a star you want in a reef tank so there isn't a huge demand keeping them cheap.



LOL! Maybe on RC, but certainly not here. This is the contest that means the most to me, you guys are the ones who knows what is tough to do and what looks good. I hope I can earn enough of the N-R votes.

of the tank, right? i'm kinda worried how you interpreted that.

Ha ha ha!!! Yes I will be taking a picture of the tank, get your head out of the gutter. Where were you when everyone kept calling it so long!!!

That panoramic shot is incredible

hey calvin ,,,,,,,,,,i have been following your progress,,,,,,,,,,,very impressive.i had to make sure i stopped by rc to cast yet another vote u'r way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!!!



Thank you very much!!! I truely appreciate the vote!

absolutley amazing tank!

Tank is even nicer, if you see it in person!!!!

omg wow what can i say im sorry i kno this is bad sportsmanship but wow this is the clear winner. props and more props dude, u earned it. the tank looks stunning, it looks even natural, big plus on that. all i can say is how much did u put into this, like money and time. and its only 17g! those wall shots blew my mind there was so much in there. great job dude u perfected nano-reefing congrats.

Thank you very much!



Thanks bud, glad you were able to make it over to see it.



LOL! We'll see how the voting comes out... I really don't want to say how much $ as I've gotten a lot of freebies, but so far I've got about 20 hours in the build and another 3-4 hours a week working and tweaking...

*Clapclapclapclapclap* And the winner is......undecided... for now *dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn*. *awkward silence* Interesting tank, although these competition tanks always are. Do we get to vote in the end?

I think voting will be at the beginning of April???

Absolutely awesome design. If you have time let me know how to get a copy. Congrats again over at RC, you got my vote here.

Thanks navyav8tr, shoot me a PM if you really want one.

Here's a couple updated shots for now, nothing spectacular but wanted to give you something to look at.

nothing spectacular....yeah right. looks awesome!

My Summary:

I've always tried to find the ultimate setup ranging from simple to very complex and I've gone through 4 different reef setups in the last 2 years trying to find what would work best and they all worked just fine, I can't really say anything worked better than the next. Finally I just wanted a tank that was simple and worked, providing plenty of room for corals and just as much of a viewing area, all while keeping costs to a minimum. In the end I had to build the tank I wanted, but I'm thrilled with the results.

pH: 8.3
Temp 79*
S.G. 1.025
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0
Ca 390-400
Alk 8 dkh

The Tank

Outside Dimensions 48x11.75x7.875 made of 3/8" acrylic leaving
Inside Dimensions of 47.25x11x7.125 for those of you who have an issue with this, when you build your own nano tank and have almost 20% of your display volume tied up in materials (2 gallons) you can measure how you like.
Sump Dimensions of 36x5.25x7.125 (1/2" thick)
Resulting in a display volume of 10.2 gallons and sump volume of 2.5 gallon (sump is 1/2 filled)

The Build

First the plan...



Then, fabricating it...



and polishing (by hand takes a while...)



Plumbing was equally daunting as some of the pieces were still to large to assemble and required some serious dremel work to get it to fit.



My original plan to have the black background removable was a great idea IMO however it's not realistic once the tank is up and running. The two biggest hurdles is the sand and the rocks, and as I've discovered now is the lack of support for the front of the tank. Mine is still solid but it bows way more than I'd like it to, if anyone plans to do something similar please fore-go the cover and add a crossbrace.

The 2 ViaAqua 1300 pumps provide plenty of flow as you can see here:


And a back shot of what is actually going on in the overflow box...
The sump overflows in two places on each side for a total of 4 overflows all which direct water through a HOB filter cartridge. The remaining room from the filter cartridge to the return pumps is for refugium and is loaded with Chaeto.



Setup

Next came the task of mounting it on the wall. I was able to find steel brackets each capable of holding 500lbs each (total of 1500lbs w/ 3 of them) and mounted them to 2x6 studs using 3 lag bolts per bracket. Please mind the cables in this pic, it was just setup and didn't take the time to clean up with wiring.



I added rock which had been cooking in my basement for the last 6 months and with the help of a hammer and screwdriver I was able to get 3 large rocks to fill the tank.



This barebottom look lasted about 15 hours (long enough to sleep on it and go to work the next day) I was sick of it that quick and added sand immediately.




Lighting

Next task was to build a canopy which took me another month to do, but in the mean time the rock was able to really set up...

I ended up going with a 3x54w T-5 setup (11k:Act:11k) compliments of GrimReefer (thanks again bud!) and installed it in a black acrylic canopy which I also built.

[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN2814.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN2819.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/NanoPanarama.jpg[/img]

Stocking

Coral additions started small 3 or 4 at a time here and there, a big thanks to all those who helped by providing corals and helping with the tank (Russ, Robert, Scott, Dan, Todd, and Paul)

Here's a list of most of the livestock, I'm sure I'm missing some, but last count was 61 corals/clams...

Fish
• Target Mandarin (only for flat worm control then will be moved/traded)

Inverts
• Asst. Snails and Crabs
• Emerald Crab
• 2 Harlequin Shrimp
• 2 Peppermint Shrimp
• 1 Pistol Shrimp
• 5 Crocea Clams
• 1 Derasa Clam
• Asst Stars for Harlequins to eat

Corals
• Emerald Zoanthids
• Green w/ brown skirt Zoanthids
• Red Ring Zoanthids
• Fire & Ice Zoanthids
• Pink Mouth Red Skirt Zoanthids
• Orange Mouth Green Skirt Zoanthids
• Green Mouth Green Skirt Zoanthids
• Yellow w/ purple mouth Zoanthids
• Yellow Mouth Green Skirt Zoanthids
• All Green Zoanthids
• Red w/ Purple Mouth Zoanthids
• Bubble Gun Zoanthids
• Green w/ Yellow Skirt Zoanthids
• Orange w. Yellow Mouth Zoanthids
• Green Polyp Toadstool Leather
• Orange w. Blue center Candy Cane
• Purple w/ Blue center Candy Cane
• Neon Yellow Candy Cane
• Green/Purple Hammer
• Yellow Tip Torch
• Green/Purple Frogspawn
• Puple/Blue Acan
• Neon Green Acan
• Green/Red Acan Lord
• Peppermint Acan Lord
• Oranage Enchinada
• Rainbow Enchinada
• Alien Eye Enchinada
• Puple Blue Micromusa
• Tri Color Acan
• Blue Mushrooms
• Green Stripe Mushrooms
• Tri Color Ricordia Yuma
• Green Florida Ricordia
• Orance Florida Ricordia
• Teal Florida Ricordia
• Blue/Orange Florida Ricordia
• Blue Florida Ricordia
• Rainbow Florida Ricordia
• Pink Green Blasto Merletti
• Red Blue Blasto Merletti
• Red Purple Blasto Merletti
• Pink Yellow Blasto Merletti
• Light Pink Neon Green Blasto Merletti
• Purple Green Blasto Merletti
• Pink Green Blasto Welsi
• Purple Blasto Welsi
• Purple Blue Chalice

And some pics of a few of my favorites as they were added.

[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN2646.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN2650.jpg[/img]
One of my favorites was this Goniopora which was traded after outgrowing the tank in about 6 weeks...
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN2667.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/NanoPanarama-1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN2842.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN2859.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/Panorama-1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN3083.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN3085.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN3087.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN3091.jpg[/img]

FTS's
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/DSCN3120.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/Panorama2.jpg[/img]


One of my two harlequin shrimp.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/Harley.jpg[/img]

And a few closeup's.
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/Blasto-1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/Derasa.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/FrogSpawn.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/GPL.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/GreenandOrangeRic.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/OrangeRic.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/TealRics.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/calvin415/Zoanthids.jpg[/img]

And some shots from tonight...

it makes me feel really inadequate about my tank.......... gosh your tank is amazing!

Awesome.