polarblair2000 Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Bonnie Shallow ReefA Scottish reefers journeyLatest FTS: Tuesday 10th April 2013Display- 265 litres / 70 Gallons - Length: 820mm / 32"- Depth: 820mm / 32"- Height: 400mm / 15.75"- 12mm OptiwhiteEquipment- Radion XR30w Pro - Vortech MP40- Vertex Omega 150 Skimmer- Vertex RX-u universal reactor- Ehiem 1260 return pump- X-aqua overflow system- Kamoer dosing pump Live Stock - Fish - 1 Percula Clownfish - 2 Blue/Green Chromis - 1 Blue Headed Canary Blenny - Yellow Eyed Kole Tang* - Flame Angel* Live Stock - Inverts/Molluscs - 1 Cleaner Shrimp - 1 Peppermint Shrimp - 1 Pom Pom Crab - 1 Emerald Crab - 2 Red Hermit Crabs - 1 Orange lipped Conch - 1 Nassarius Snail - 5 Black foot Trochus Snails - 2 Turbo Snails - 5 Starry Astrea Snails Live Stock - Coral - Acans - Zoas - Duncan - Dendro - Torch - Lobo - Oulophyllia - Blastomussa - Montipora Undata - Red Plating Montipora - Green Monitpora Digitata - Pink Stylophylia - Birdsnest - Purple Gorgonian - Purple Goniopora - Green Goniopora *Want/getting Table of Contents:1. Introduction2. DIY Stand Construction...More on the stand build3. Water Change / Mixing Station4. Tank has arrived!5. Wet and Salty6. Aqua scape round 17. Chromis in Quarantine 8. New Beginning 1 Link to comment
GHill762 Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 these types of tanks are my favorites.. gonna follow this.. 1 Link to comment
polarblair2000 Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 1. IntroductionIts about time I started a thread for this project. I knew it was going to take a while to get this project up and running and I held off putting up a build thread until I had got over the first major hurdle which is almost completed.My Background:I have been fascinated about reef tanks ever since I found out you could keep them. I have never been inspired by fresh water or tropical tanks but one evening about 5 years ago I wondered if you could keep an octopus as a pet just out of curiosity, turns out you can, also turns out you can keep an entire reef in a tank which is how I found Nano Reef and which has in turn led me to where I am know.I have a small 30 litre AIO which I'm running at the moment, I have learned a lot from it and it had been going really well up until we had no heating in the house after a gas leak up the road. I lost a few corals due to the ambient temperature drop and a few others still haven't recovered fully from this. But I'm not going to let that stop me now!This tank Im building is an adaption of the tank I have been dreaming about for the last 5 years, it has to be pretty big, shallow, clean, rimless and look freaking awesome. I love my little AIO but I really don't like having all the equipment on show. All I want to see is the tank, fish and corals on a great looking stand, with a good looking light fixture.My current nano looks like this at the moment and has a good mix of softies, LPS and some SPS. New Build DesignThe new tank will come in at about 270 litres or 70 Gallons. Its 820mm long by 820mm deep and 400mm high. The glass is 12mm thick Optiwhite.The tank will be sitting on a custom built Oak stand that has the same foot print but is 790mm high.The stand has an internal partition that will house all the electrics keeping them separate from the sump area.The sump is 594mm long by 700mm deep and 350mm high. It has a fresh water reservoir built in on the side.The first section is a chamber that the plumbing of from the display tank will teen into, the water then rises onto a filter sock tray holding two 4" filter socks, ofter passing through the filter socks it will then run into the skimmer chamber and then pass through a bubble trap into the return chamber where it will be fed back up to the Display tank.Where I'm at…Right now the bulk of the stand has been built, Im in the process of varnishing the oak frame and the Plywood skins have been cut and painted white. Once the oak frame is dry I will assemble the plywood skin and varnish this.I have still yet to make the top of the stand and the doors.The tank has been ordered and should arrive some time in the middle of January.I'm also setting up a new water changing/mixing station which I will reveal more of later. these types of tanks are my favorites.. gonna follow this.. Wow that was fast! I hope you enjoy the ride Link to comment
metrokat Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Looking forward to this build 1 Link to comment
polarblair2000 Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 2. DIY Stand Construction Well I was going to add this entry later but my wife is reading a book and being boring so heres a little insight in to how I built the stand. As mentioned previously the main dimensions for the stand are 820mm long x 820mm deep x 790mm high. The stands frame is built from solid American white oak and the design is based on the current furniture we have in our living room. I tried looking for some kind of table or sideboard that was close to what I was looking for but I couldn't find anything that was right so this is where my adventure started... Building my own stand I did pretty well in wood work at school and I'm pretty handy with basic DIY so I was up for the challenge. NOw this would of been a lot easier if I could follow what appears to be the latest trend, you know the standard pine frame clad with plywood coated in a nice smooth silk or gloss finish but apparently they look horrific (wife's words not mine) so in my efforts to please my wife I came up with the following design. Thats the basic frame of the stand, I have got designs for matching twin oak doors that will be on the front and left hand side of the tank to gain access to the sump and the electrical partition. The four legs are made from two lengths of solid ok and are doweled together at right angles to make an L shape. Observe... This then turns into this... I made four of these in total which make up the four corner legs of the stand. You may notice in the above pictures some funny shaped mortice's (holes) which were created using a router and the trend mortice and router bench jig. I then made what seemed like and endless amount of matching tenons. The trend jig allows you to create "perfect" mortice and tenon joints. Well it did at first but the stupid plastic bush guides that come with the jig for your router wore down after four or five joints and it wasn't till I was finished I realised most of my joints were slightly slack... But I continued on, glued and clamped the stand together and its rock solid! So this is how the frame turned out (sorry for the iPhone pic) And BAM! This is what happened next! (Again another iPhone pic) Yes this is the workshop. Well temporary workshop much to my wife's delight. Actually I'm quite sick of it myself, it seems to be a source of endless wood shavings and sawdust But back to the stand build... You can see above two sides of the stand have been inserted and the base has also been placed in. I used some white primer to paint the plywood. I also rather crudely routed out two holes which I will be fitting in some PC fans for air circulation. The circles are far from perfect which really annoys me but I have a plan to mask over my imperfections which is yet to be implemented. So I hope that gives you a good idea of how the stand came to be. Heres some pictures of how the stand looked the other day after I moved it into position. I had to move my nano over to the other side of the room first whilst also painting the living room which was a two day operation. You can see I have also made the electrical partition, thats just made from plywood again. Two parts glued and screwed together at a right angle to create a separate box which is then screwed into the other panels to hold it in place. Right now you can see the dosing pump and a glimpse of the fancy bailing vessels roughly in place (obviously the doser will be inside the cabinet not above it) You can also see the vertex media reactor, return pump and the MP40, oh and the big black snake thing on the floor is the X-Aqua overflow. And to finish up a comparison of the old and the new... * You see the TV stand on the right? Yeah thats what the stand will kind a look like. 2 Link to comment
JR! Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 this might just be the best build ever. calling it now. 1 Link to comment
fishstick41 Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 looks good!..so far Link to comment
CJBuckeyes Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 Nice craftsmanship! Looking forward to seeing this develop... Link to comment
Rustycorals Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 cant wait i am following this.. and are u going to tear down and sell ur small set up if you do let me know!! Link to comment
ChouDawg Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Your other tank was awesome, cant wait to see how this one turns out. Love your photography and posting style. I use the reverse mount nifty fifty too 1 Link to comment
polarblair2000 Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 this might just be the best build ever. calling it now. Haha I hope I can live up to your expectations! looks good!..so far Thanking you. I just hope what I have inside of the tank looks good. I sometimes forget that's why I'm doing it whilst I'm to busy concentrating on making the sump area look good Nice craftsmanship! Looking forward to seeing this develop... Thanks, hope you enjoy what is to come. cant wait i am following this.. and are u going to tear down and sell ur small set up if you do let me know!! It's good to have you following along. I haven't fully decided as yet what to do with the small tank. I might use it as a QT for my first few fish I will be adding but I want to get a proper QT set up. Would you want it? I'm in the UK. Your other tank was awesome, cant wait to see how this one turns out. Love your photography and posting style. I use the reverse mount nifty fifty too Oh thanks very much. I'm hoping the next tank will be much better than the last one, more corals, more fish! I'm glad you like my posts. Haha reverse mount nifty fifty all the way! Once I have the new tank set up and need to spend less on it I may get myself a 100mm macro though, and defiantly need to get myself a tripod. Link to comment
JR! Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Haha I hope I can live up to your expectations! i have no doubt you will Link to comment
polarblair2000 Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 I have just finished giving the main part of the stand its first full coat of polyuthreane varnish. It's taken a few days to make my way around the stand but it's done. Going to give the inside of the stand a few more coats to really protect it from an humidity and water spills. TOP TIP: Polyuthreane varnish is strong stuff and no doubt, like me you will get it on your hands. My tin said extra tough varnish, protects wood from alcohol and boiling water. After I finished varnishing my stand my hands hand a water proof seal over them which wouldn't come off. If you wash your hands first in Olive oil (or any kind of oil but olive oil smells the best) and then wash your hands in warm soapy water you should get it off no bother Something I wish I had known before I had to search the Internet with varnished hands on my iPad! Link to comment
metrokat Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 If you put those furniture moving sliders under the cabinet, it will help with moving it here and there when it has weight on it. I bought a spill mat from DFS, it absorbs water and has a rubber backing, you know to please the wife. Link to comment
polarblair2000 Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 If you put those furniture moving sliders under the cabinet, it will help with moving it here and there when it has weight on it. I bought a spill mat from DFS, it absorbs water and has a rubber backing, you know to please the wife. I never knew about those, I'll defiantly look into it. Anything that can keep the wife happy is a worth while investment Thanks for the tip Link to comment
KeyboardWarrior Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Looks awesome mate and nice DIY skills too, I bet this tank will look just as awesome as the last one 1 Link to comment
polarblair2000 Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 3. Water Change / Mixing Station Whilst I go through another load of waiting for wood to glue overnight and coats of varnish and marathon sand paper sessions I'll show you a little side project I have been working on today. This is where I am at currently with my saltwater mixing station that is located in my spare room's closet. I originally planned to fit it in the utility cupboard downstairs next to the bathroom but once the steel frame was put in position I didn't have enough room to put my hoover so I had to make some changes to my plan. Anywhoooo... The system consists of two 85 litre water storage tanks. The top tank will be where the purified water goes from my ro/di unit and the bottom tank is where I will mix and heat my saltwater prior to making water changes. Features of the system: - Drain ro/di tank into saltwater tank - Mix Saltwater - Pump saltwater directly into the sump of my tank - Separate ro/di tap - Separate saltwater tap The stand was made by a friend of mine who just so happens to be a blacksmith. Its made from 25mm steel square bar. Im just pluming the whole thing together now, its currently dry fitted until I have it all done. This is the first time I have ever done any kind of plumbing but so far it has been an enjoyable experience, but that may change when water is introduced and the whole thing leaks. Time will tell. I drilled a whole in the back of the closet where I have fed a braided hose down the back of the wall. This is where all the plumbing for my shower currently sits and where I will connect my ro/di unit to. The hose runs down behind the shower and is currently tucked away behind the bath panel for now. I need to take up the wooden skirting box thing that hides my toilette and sinks plumbing. I will run the hose along there and then it goes through the bathroom wall, into the living room right beside my tank and into the sump. I need to finish off the rest of the plumbing, order some more bits (forgot to get threaded adaptors for the threaded hose tail connectors i got to put some soft plumbing in-between the connection to the pump) Paint and varnish the plywood boards to protect them from any water spills and eh... oh yeah get an ro/di unit Link to comment
FishBrawler Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 What is that container you are using for ro? Link to comment
metrokat Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 How will you test the salt mix water to see if salinity is appropriate? Link to comment
polarblair2000 Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 What is that container you are using for ro?It's just a basic water container from a uk distributer, I've seen folk in America using similar tanks I'm sure but this is the one I'm using. http://www.tanks-direct.co.uk/85_litre_water_tanks/85_litre_water_tank_-_flat The standard connector is brass unfortunately but I will be sealing it with silicon to prevent it from coming in contact with the water. How will you test the salt mix water to see if salinity is appropriate? The containers have pretty big screw on lids about 9-10" wide, plenty room to get a sample of water to test using a refractometer. Link to comment
Marteen Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 This looks amazing! Following along. Good luck I love these tanks! Link to comment
JR! Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 just dropping by to see whats up. lookiing awesome Link to comment
disaster999 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 im so jealous of people's water changing station...i gotta go something about mine Link to comment
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