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Tim's 15 Gallon College Swag Tank


timothymarsh

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This tank is a source of therapy for me as I go through a rigorous Biology program at the University of Central Florida. As a pre-med student in a few years I know I'm going to have to take the tank down, but for now it offers me an outlet for relaxation and reflection. My underlying theme of the tank is to let the system develop itself and only add livestock that really "speaks" to me. Keep it simple, and try not to spend all of my hard earned money.

Equipment:
- 15 gallon AGA tank

- Ocean Revive U120 LED Fixture

- AC 70 w/ inTank media basket and surface skimmer
- Hydor Pico 180 pump

Fish:
- None right now, planning on getting a Sixline Wrasse soon

Inverts:
- Crabs
- Peppermint Shrimp

Coral:
- Zoanthids
- Florida Ricordea
- Orange Acan Lord.
- Palys

- Acropora cervicornis

- Purple and green Torch

- Frogspawn

- Green Hammer

- Pipe Organ Coral

- Pulsing Xenia

- Brown and Green Toadstool Mushroom Leather

 

 

Ocean Revive Review


Current FTS (2/10/2014)

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ApiratenamedJohn
SWAG- Super Whiteguy Attempting Greatness

As long as there are no more rectal hermits.... I cant take anymore anal crustaceans.

On a more serious note, I like the wood canopy idea. Post pics of how that turns out.

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instead of the PC get 2 T5HO 24WATTS and 15gal is better that 10 lol

 

I already have two of the PC fixtures (from older tanks) so I think I'm gonna go with those. And my dorm has a 10 gallon "limit" but I don't think they'll know the difference between a 10 and 15 gallon tank. It's amazing what a difference there is with that extra 5 gallons of room.

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SWAG- Super Whiteguy Attempting Greatness

No, no, no..... KRAG - KRackers Attempting Glory.... :lol:

 

 

See what I did there... :slap:

 

:D

--------------------------

Edit: we need a 'pencil moustache' smiley... Like this: :ID

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Woah! That's a perv if I ever saw one... Creepy...

+1 to no more anal hermits... As a matter of fact you may want to remove the "SWAG" from your tank thread title... for more information look up posts by N-R.com member "SWAG", specifically his hermit smuggling from Hawaii...

 

The custom wood hutch is a neat idea. At first I thought this was a stand and the tank in the model was just the sump, but I quickly realized that wasn't the case.

 

Anyways, I like your idea of trying to sneak in an extra 5 gallons... That's a good idea.

 

Unfortunately though, I see some issues with the livestock list still.

1) Is the blue chromis singular or plural?

2) Sebae and Maroon clowns both get too large for a 15g... Percula or Ocellaris are popular clowns for this size tank, they stay small, and they're less aggressive than other clowns.

3) be careful with the blennies... Some of them get pretty big!

4) Which kind of cardinal? Some, like the PJ or banggai need more room really, and some of the smaller ones from what I recall do better in groups, and they might get picked on by the clown.

 

So maybe do a little more research on your stocking. You really don't want to overstock because you'll be plagued by nuisance algae and other problems.

 

Next, I have some questions for you on your tank design...

 

I'm assuming that the black box hanging off the back is your aquaclear? I like your idea of using an overflow to feed the filter. This would keep the water surface from getting scummy and IMO surface skimming is just awesome.

 

The only bad part about this is that since the water level in the main display area will be fixed by the overflow height, that means that all the effects of evaporation will be transferred to your overflow. So if you lose 1 gallon per day due to evap.(just an example), normally that would drop your water level by 1/2". But since the water level in the display is fixed the result is that the water level in your overflow will drop more like 6", and then the filter will just suck air. The same principle applies to the other overflow with the circulation pump. Unless you install a very accurate and reliable auto-top-off you'll leave the pump and filter sucking air pretty quickly.

 

If you're interested in still having a surface skimmer, look into this:

http://www.hagen.com/pdf/aquatic/Surface_Skimmer.pdf

 

It's good because you can adjust how much it skims the surface and it also sucks from the bottom so you'll never suck air.

 

Next, I like the look of the hutch being really close to the sides, but remember that you're going to want to clean that glass on occasion. Since the top is pretty low you might not be able to fit a stick algae scraper through the top, so you may want to leave enough room on the sides to be able to slide a mag-float or something along. I suppose you could just take the whole hutch off, but that would get to be a pain, wouldn't it?

 

And finally, you might consider having a piece of opaque material covering the gap between the wood and the back of the tank. If you did this you could run a light on the aquaclear (assuming you're modifying it into a refugium) without it spilling over into the tank. Additionally you could extend the wood hutch back so that it encloses the tank and also the aquaclear. Then the light wouldn't spill into the room either. Of course if you'll be using the auqaclear as a regular power filter then disregard those suggestions ;)

 

Good luck! Start now by reading up on the articles in the nano-reef library, especially on the nitrogen cycle! Seriously, having a thorough knowledge of the nitrogen cycle will help you immensely in starting your tank.

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The stocking options are still on the planning board. I'm gonna have to get the rocks in before I can think about fish. As to the design problems, the overflow should work. I'll have lots of pictures of the building and testing stages, so any mods will be clearly explained.

As to the wood cover, it should be able to slide directly behind the tank for glass cleaning/ getting into the tank.

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:ninja: There ya go!

 

On topic, I do like the wood top/light holder. It's going to be neat to see how it turns out irl. B)

 

Thanks. And I'm really looking forward to making this wood cover. I don't know if a lighter or darker wood is going to look better for the overall display.

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Super bored on campus before I head back home, so here's another sketch-up. Pretty much the same thing except this has the actual cabinet that it will be sitting on, and both PC fixtures are included. Also, I think I am only going to use one overflow section with the filter pulling from there. Other water movement will come from koralia power-head. I am also 95% sure that this tank is going to be 15 gallons instead of 10, now I just have to find the tank once I'm in Miami. Super excited to get this thing built.

 

Back view

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Super bored on campus before I head back home, so here's another sketch-up. Pretty much the same thing except this has the actual cabinet that it will be sitting on, and both PC fixtures are included. Also, I think I am only going to use one overflow section with the filter pulling from there. Other water movement will come from koralia power-head. I am also 95% sure that this tank is going to be 15 gallons instead of 10, now I just have to find the tank once I'm in Miami. Super excited to get this thing built.

 

Back view

 

 

one thing to note - if thats a dresser you'll want to have the arms over the side supports - mine kind of crushed my dresser in (20g) over the course of a year.. glad i had to move that would have proven to be an awful newb mistake

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The dresser that it's going on is super strong, it'll be able to take the weight of the tank and cover no problem.

 

glad to hear! Just sharing experiences to hopefully help you

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Kicking around this idea. I like that it is more open, however the building aspect is going to be tricky in order to ensure that it is fully accessible. I really want to do a DIY LED build also, however I don't think my dorm would like the look of the "exposed wiring" so the two PC fixtures are gonna have to do it. Can't wait to start building, should have pics up in the next few days.post-68085-1323635941_thumb.png post-68085-1323635998_thumb.png

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I like the openness more compared to the other one.

 

What if the top section had the middle spot cut out to fit the heatsink in? Then you could build a box into the canopy with a glass/acrylic bottom the LEDs would sit on and then make a lid with one or two fans that would cover it flush. That way you'd have the LEDs you want without exposed wires.

 

I don't have sketchup or I'd try to illustrate but I'm sure you can get an idea for what I'm going for.

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I get exactly what you are trying to explain (trust me that idea has gone through my mind), however with the LED option it then comes down to spending around $200 to build the fixture, or spending nothing on the two PC fixtures that I already have. I might only go with one PC light and then supplement the other with a stunner strip or panorama pro from Ecoxotic. I like the shimmer that they add to a tank.

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Got the tank! It's gonna be a 15 gallon for sure. Lol who needs dorm rules anyways? Going to start building soon, just need to pick a design -____-

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I'm going to scrap the idea of building the two internal overflow filters. Instead I will use two HOB power filters, and a Current USA Subcurrent filter. This will give more room for fish/corals and should be more efficient in the long run. Also going with the simple wood cover rather than the metal supported stand. Should be coming together soon!

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Do you have any first hand experience with the subcurrent? A member here, Paigee, who isn't that active anymore had the subcurrent and scrapped because of micro bubbles.

 

Any reason two hob and not one large hob like an ac110 and a powerhead? Just wondering.

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This guy is using the Subcurrent and it seems to be working fine. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...266698&st=0 So I guess I'll give it a try, it looks pretty cool. As to the individual HOB filters, it gives me the option to have one run heavy carbon and the other to be moded into a fuge (with some cheato). Also, I will be using different style filters so the intake tubes will be hidden next to each wall, rather than sticking down in the middle of the tank.

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