Have no fear I will be using all 3 of these tanks.

I guess I turned up the heat a little to much and scared everybody away LOL. I thought for sure there would be at least 20 people signed up for this custom class event already. This is just a little 3 tank project that I've had in mind for a while. I know it's not a straight off the shelf 10gal. AGA tank. But all 3 of these tank's put together hold at least 10gals. of water. And that's what's going to make this fun.

Here's what I got in mind.
Lighting - for the 5.5 is going to be 70watt MH
Lighting - for one of the 2.5's which will also be a fuge. I'm going to use submersible lights. Because I want to keep the fuge covered as much as possible.
The second 2.5 is going to be for chemical filtration / heater and the return pump with a Squid.

The 5.5 is going to have a overflow and durso which drain's into the fuge. The fuge will have a cover to help keep evaporation low. And a seperate overflow box and durso that drain's into the return tank. Thus completing the full cycle. I hope you all like it when I get it finished.

i'm posting mine when i get home! i can't wait to see what you're up to with those tanks!

will you be rdp'ing the fuge?

so is it going to be three successive levels and then back to the top?

Tinyreef Here's a little sketch of what I have in mind. I would like the fuge tank to be on a raised platform. So that I can keep the drop from tank to tank real short. I plan on making a bonsai tree for the fuge out of some chaeto that I have. I figure since I have to trim the chaeto back anyway. I might as well have something else nice to look at. And a small submerisble light will be able to keep it well lit at night. The last tank will have dividers for chemical media, return pump with squid and a small heater.

For the 70watt MH I'm going to screw sections of pipe together. Then slid those sections of pipe over a thick dowl rod. So that I can raise or lower the light fixture by adding or removing a section of pipe. Then by leaving the wires to the ballast long enough. I should be able to turn the light fixture out of my way for doing maintance. I'm moving next summer and I don't want to suspend the light fixture from the ceiling here. Hope this help's to answer your question's.

i like your idea about connecting three tanks together. i thought i would use paint and make this

dang, kevem's showing you up in your own thread!

i like the bonsai tree touch though.

Cool idea! I really like the whole bonsai thing too! How are you going to get the cheato to stay on the rock?



texx

The picture turned out very nice Aquakevem. It explain's pretty much of what I have in mind. Good job

Irishtexan I won't keep you in the dark. Here's how I plan to put together the bonsai tree. Because the tank is small just 2.5gal's. I'm going to take a length of PVC pipe. Heat the pipe up with a torch so that I can get a nice bend to it. The bent PVC pipe will form the trunk of the tree. I have some left over CPVC pipe that I can use to make a branch for the tree trunk. When I get it put together I will give it light coat's of of Krylon Fusion. Just so that it look's more like a real tree trunk with a branch. After that I'm going to attach something like eggcrate to one end of the pipe. And also the very end of the branch. And then melt the base of the tree trunk to the bottom of tank. Next using a sewing needle and some monofiliment fishing line. I'm going to attach the chaeto to the eggcrate and let it grow out from there. The submersible light's should give it a nice glow when viewed at night.

hah, man, my setup seems sooo basic after reading that. GOOD GOSH MAN.

That is going to be awesome! To go along with the whole bonsai thing you could add a little wood rake. Then it could be like one of those gardens! lol


texx

Here's a preview of what I had in mind. I picked these up this afternoon from Menards. To stay with the raised platform idea and to keep the drop short. It's late and it's raining so I'm done for today.

lol..

I got a little bit more work done today. So here's a update of where I'm at for you.
I decided to build the external overflow and durso. On the back of the 2.5gal. fuge tank instead of hanging off the right end. Because having it on the back will give the fuge tank a cleaner over all look.

I got the top turned upside down in the picture. That's why you see the hole in the bottom board. I'm waiting for the dowl rods and wood glue to dry on the long spindels. I should be able to get more done latter this week.

wow, that looks awesome!

i'm feeling distincly outclassed by all these guys, me going with just my 10g frameless. :-(

all of these great ideas!!! i'll have to hit the thinking chair tonight and come up with something.

great job distant!!! i can't wait to see this running!

i guess half the fun of this contest is seeing what everyone else does, eh?

I'm glad you like it so far Charlie. Last night I was thinking about making a turn table. So that all 3 tank's could be turned about 180deg. at the same time. To make it easier to work on the plumbing in the future. But the weight of all 3 tank's fully loaded would be to much for that. And I would hate to lose anything in the event of a accident. So now I'm planing to put all 3 tank's on top of a small dresser. I just have to make one. Or find one that is the right height for viewing.

Don't let yourself get discouraged or feel outclassed by anybody. Your 10gal. frameless tank looked just fine to me. In fact I haven't looked at anybody else's custom tank thread yet. I saw your name come up under the custom class. And you mentioned that you were going to wait until you got home to post. So I wanted to see what you had to say about this contest. Because I never entered a contest like this before. But now I'm waiting until after the contest is over. To read about what everybody else in this contest did. I think that is the only fair way to do it. Because I don't want the other people in this contest. To think that I took any of there idea's.

I entered this contest for 4 reason's. Number 1 Is watching the coral growth over the time period of this contest. Number 2 Is trying my seperate fuge and chemical media tank's idea. Number 3 Learning from this experiance so that it can make a better reefer. And Number 4 Hopefully inspire other people to buy some AGA tank's a dremel tool. And give nano reefing a try.

So don't let yourself get discouraged just do the best that you can do. It's your aquarium and your idea's.

Well for everybody following along on this salt water adventure. I didn't get much done today except making the spindels for the fuge tank platform even. So that now the platform dosen't wobble anymore. Of course I will be using a differnt material to set the tanks on when it's finished. But for right now the MDF and particle board. Has been doing a fine job of helping me layout the final postion's for everything.
The taller spindels are just 24" long. The top MDF board is 22" x 14" I wanted to leave some room behind the 5.5 for a small MH stand. So I thought 4 extra inches wider than the 5.5 would be ok.

I also spent a while taking pictures from differnt angles this afternoon. Because I've been thinking about adding a small water fall. The water fall would be built on the very top back corner of the fuge tank to go along with the bonsai tree theme. I'm not sure which top corner I will build the water fall on yet. Of course the pump for the water fall would have to be very small. But I should be able to find one that is tiny enough to fit inside a external overflow box.

Here's a couple pic's I took this afternoon. With the fuge platform brought out a little farther from underneath the display tank. It give's me a little more room to work on the inside of the tank. And it would give me a little more room to work on the water fall. From the top of the fuge tank to the bottom of the MDF there is about 4 inches of clearance. Again I don't know if my water fall will work it's still just a idea at this point.

This looks like it will be a really neat project. I've always liked the "stacked tanks" idea.

I'm a little confused though on one point. Don't the rules for the custom category say your display tank needs to be between 7 and 12 gallons? How did you get around this? Did the admins let you count one of your 2.5s as display volume?

Your right Rene the rule doe's state that the display tank need's to be between 7 to 12 gallon's. I also belive that the total system volume can not be more than 22 gallons.

I didn't get around anything. I just bought 3 tank's with a total system volume of 10 1/2 gals. When there viewed together as a completed display then that's what you have. Plus about a half gallon extra for the external overflow that's needed. So it put's this systems total volume closer to 11gals. The admins haven't said anything to me yet. And I have never talked to them directly so I really don't know.

I belive the spirit of this contest. Was to see what people from all over the world can do with 10gals. of water. And then using a limited amount of light document there coral's growth over a period of a few months.

And trying to keep this contest fair. I haven't seen what anybody else has been doing. Except for the few min's. that I saw charlie97L tank on his first post. And the only thing's from my tank's that I plan on using is the chaeto needed to make the bonsai tree. And my refactometer.

I'm not using a skimmer. Or a RO/DI unit just the bottled water from Walmart for everything. And I'm not using any of my corals or aquacultured corals. Because I want the challenge of taking care of the corals that average people buy everyday. And I think other people want to see what's going to happen. When I get this system up and running also.

So if you or someone that you know is planing to enter this event. And you think what I've done so far. Dosen't qualify me for this custom class event let me know.

I'm asking because I just don't know. It seems like an interpretation of the rules issue to me. If all three tanks are meant to be displayed and viewed, then that's more than enough volume, I would think. But there's nothing in the rules about split tanks, and Chris just said no to someone else's question about using a 5 gal. in the custom category.

What you are shooting for, for your enjoyment and to show others what can be done, is great. But it would be really harsh to see you disqualified close to the end of the competition over a technicality that could have been so easily resolved in the first few days.

If I were you, I would ask Chris just to make sure you're on the right track. It's probably nothing, but you never know. The competition is only a few days old and you don't have water in the tanks yet. It would be easy to switch to a slightly bigger tank at this stage if you had to and avoid the hassel later.

Just my $0.02 Better safe than sorry.

Thank's Rene I don't know everything about all the rules ether. And it seems like the rules keep changing from day to day. I have never been in one of these contests before. And so far it's been a real learning experiance.
All 3 of these tanks put on raised platforms. Were meant to be viewed as one complete display. With a total system volume of more than 10gals. of water.
I think this type of setup should be allowed. Because there is alway's the possibility that it won't work. And in the rules it stated that if the system crashes for any reason than you where done. But of course that's just my interpretation of the rules and I could be wrong.
Thank's again Rene for the help. I will check with Chris to make sure that what I'm doing is ok.

... chirs marks says no...
run out and get a 10g ??

Well Mr. Marks just answered my question. And he stated that the display tank has to be 7gals. Thank's again Rene

Sure thing! You still have plenty of time to run out and get a 7 minibow, for instance. The footprint is pretty similar to the 5.5 you were working with.

Sorry I can't do that because this contest started Oct. 1 And the other players I'm sure would feel cheated. If I ran out today bought a new tank or found a old tank. Then entered that tank in this contest and won something. I'm sure you can understand where the other players would feel that wasn't fair. Because we all entered this contest within the first day of the start of it.

its in the rules.. you can still be in the contest
GO!!

Yeah, I really want to see how this works out. Keep going. I almost want to copy your design without even seeing if it works.

You have until Oct. 20th to enter a system. That'd why I even mentioned it. And why new people are still slowly entering the contest.

I plan on entering but I'l be closer to the 20th deadline than the 1st.

I'm going to finish building it paneubert. Because it's something that I have been thinking about doing for the last 5 months. And I thought it would be ok to enter it in this contest. Because it's more than a 10 plus gal. nano system. I don't know for sure if it will work because I haven't done it. But it look's like it should work when I draw it on paper. There use to be a old marbel company here in town. And I remember year's ago using a piece of there white marbel. To keep my direct drive turn table nice and level. I'm hopeing to find a couple small pieces of that marbel to use for the tops of the 2 lower raised platforms. And I'm still debateing on which return pump to get for the squid. So stay tuned and you will see this system put together.

I guess I have until Oct 20th to find something else to throw together for this contest.

ditto, i really don't know if i can get it done under that deadline. so you can't do the three tanks now? are you going to upsize one and section it off instead then?

Mkimpossible as I mentioned earlier I have never been in one of these contests before. I just wanted to give this custom event a try. Because I have been into doing custom work on small tanks for a while now. Here's a sample of some of my earlier 2.5gal custom work.

At this late stage of the game. I really don't know for sure what I will be entering. I drew up a couple idea's tonight that would work for a 10gal tank. But I don't want another 10gal tank because IMO they are not nano's. And I don't want a 7gal tank because I have no use for it. And I found out this afternoon that it's suppose to start snowing here on Wednesday.

Sorry about the double picture in my last reply. I snaped these pictures of my earlier work and idea's. With a camera that I borrowed from a friend. Enjoy

I went and looked at one of the 7gal minibow's. And the only thing I found interesting was the curved front glass. The price was pretty steep to 74 dollars plus tax. I also looked at the 9 gallon Iube arcylic cylinder tank Petsmart had online. And I thought that it had custom possibiltys. But I found out from the girl working at Petsmart that they leaked and parts were missing. So they put them on clearance and got rid of them all.
Being still in the mood for a cylinder type tank project. I went to a wine making supply store. I looked at carboys but they were to big and I could not justify spending 55 dollars for a demijohn.

I spent the last 2 day's thinking about having a small reef inside of a bottle. So this afternoon I went to the liquor store. And bought a bottle of wine and tiny bottle of baileys Irish cream. I tryed to post a picture of them but I got a attached files is greater than my per post global limit BS error message. So the pic's will have to wait until I can get that figured out.

I hope this wine bottle dosen't shatter on me. It don't look like tempered glass but I don't for sure if it is or not. I got my dremel and I'm ready to give it a try.

PS I got the pictures uploaded under my name in the members gallery.

Well I got my wine bottle reef well under way. Dremeling the glass was not to bad, it's about the same thickness as a 10gal AGA. I even got one of my favorite drinks inside the wine bottle. File attachment is still messed up on here. But you can find the pictures in members gallery under my name.

Hey distant, watch the external overflow on the tank you have there. I did something like that to 2 29Gs and they both broke in the same way. I dont think the tak is made for that much weight on the back. Just an FYI, I am not saying it will happen. Maybe place a piece of wood under the overflow to absorb some of the weight just to be safe.

Everything else looks great!

Hi Proflatlander it's been a while. I understand what you mean about the extra weight of the water being inside the overflow box. I have never had any of my tanks break from that. But I can see where it could happen if the overflow box was made big. And the 90deg elbow on the standpipe was put a little high inside the box. The overflow box would then be a bit more top heavy. And that would put a strain on the back of the tank thus causing it to break.

I have to drop out of this years contest for a few reasons. Number {1} I messed up when I bought my tanks. Because I was trying to stay under the 22 gallon total volume limit. Number {2} I had a pump stop working on me for no reason at all. And I had to spend the money to replace it. Number {3} I don't need or even want another 10 gallon tank. The one I have now is divided and I'm going to tear it down next spring. And number {4} the weather turned really cold fast. We have snow on the ground and it's only Oct. 11th

But I had fun being in this contest for a while. And when it's over I will read about what the other players did. And hopefuly learn more about this great hobby in the meantime. If I had more time for this contest I would have built my own tank. Because IMO a custom tank is something that you put together yourself. But then I could be wrong there also. Because there are differnt interpertations of things that are custom.

Right now I'm working on turning a 4L Wine bottle into a small reef. It's been a fun project so far and it kinda reminds me of the old ship in a bottle type of deal. You can see the pic's. of it under my name in the members gallery.

Dropping out!? That's too bad, I like the uniqueness of your setup. However, i would love to follow the Wine bottle reef, have you started a thread about that yet?

I didn't start a thread on my Wine bottle reef. I just started working on it yesterday. And I got some pic's of it and put them in the members gallery under my name.
I won't be able to do anymore work on it for at least a week. Because my older brother passed away this afternoon. This saturday I'm flying down to Arkansaw to attend his funeral.

omg! i'm so sorry to hear that! my prayers and well-wishes to your family!

Sorry to hear that Distant. My prayers are with you and your family.

What horrible news!

Thank's everybody it's been real hard on me. Losing my older brother because we were good friends. And I'm sorry I had to remove my pictures. But it was because I ran out of room to post more. It seems Nano-Reef.com has a 20MB limit on pictures posted in threads. And I had a lot of pictures of my work posted in older threads.
I haven't done much lately except stay sober and work. Last week I came up with a idea for a 10gal. project that I'm going to try doing. And I will start a thread on it when the time is right. Thank's again everybody for well wishes.

man...I wish you the best of luck...i'm sure God has plans for him and he is in a better place. I'll keep you and him in my prayers (I'm sure God knows distanfire's name )

Thank you ezcompany it's really hard loosing people in your own family. Because you alway's think that it's going to happen to somebody else. I lost my dad on feb. 13 1992 and now my brother who just passed away. Lost his 18 year old daughter 2 years ago in a car accident. I know my brother is with his daughter and our dad in heaven now. The hardest part for me is not being able to talk to them everyday except in prayer.

I am sure they are mad at you for giving up on the tank! I say you give your tank a special meaning and dedicate it to your brother as an ode to his past. But of course, thats totally your call. I hope you pull through this moment and let me know if there's anything I can do.

Thank's a lot ezcompany for your offer to help me. I will be moving in a few months to be closer to my job. And I'm still building the tank system in memory of brother. He liked seeing my fish and the cleaner shrimp. He also liked all the glass & wood work that I did. And I liked sharing those pictures with him and my mom down there in Arkansas.
I've been keeping myself busy working a new 2.5gal fuge idea. The pictures of it will be in the members gallery very soon. I just have to stay under the 20MB picture limit here on N-R.com. And that's very hard to do because I have lot's of pictures. Maybe N-R.com will see it's way clear to give me more picture space someday.

Get a free Photobucket account. That way, you'll have plenty of space.

Thanks tightrope here is some of the pics I added to my photobucket account. So I'm going to try and post them here.






I hope they show up because I'm new at posting from photobucket LOL
Thank's again for the photobucket information.