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ArabTanker

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FTS

June 12th 2014

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July 2014

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Display Tank
  • 11/2" drain
  • [2] 1/2" returns
  • Painted back panel (black)
  • Sitting on a DIY stand


Sump/Refugium and Biological Filtration

  • Long 20 Gallon
  • 1/8 glass baffles
  • 13 lbs of BRS Reef Saver base rock
  • 40 lbs Reef Cleaners base rock
  • 60 lbs of Fiji Pink sand


Lighting

  • Hamilton T5 HO and metal halide combo fixture
  • [2] T5 HO bulbs
  • [2] 150w metal halide bulbs


Water Movement

  • Ocean Runner 2500 (625 GPH)
  • Mp10es


Temperature Control

  • Cobalt Neo-Therm Submersible heater


Water Level Control

  • JBJ ATO
  • Aqua Lifter pump


Tank Management

  • Mr DJ PSC300







Three Feet and 12 Gallons of Learning Capacity [retired]



Background:

Time to get this bad girl up and running.
I have been anticipating my first nano reef build for 3 years now but school and lack of funds kept those ambitions at bay. Although I am still a broke student :D. I've learned from a past attempt to start a reef tank that its okay to take my time and collect equipment over time; so thats what I did. Over the past few months I've been spending a lot of time in the classified section looking for some nice toys for this tank. I've also been talking to a lot of the members on here looking for advice and ideas. Big thanks to those who helped me out.

So this is the glass box I've been drooling over for years; the Mr. Aqua Long 12 Gallon.

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Beautiful.

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Here's what I got to show for the past few months of trolling around NR and talking to patback. Thanks bud. :)



FTS

April 23rd 2013 - Initial Start Date


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May 2013


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June 2013


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July 2013


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August 2013

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September 2013

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October 2013

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Things marked with a * are not yet obtained or finalized.

Display Tank
  • 1 drilled drain with a strainer
  • 1/2 drilled return
  • Painted back panel (black)
  • Sitting on a DIY stand


Sump/Refugium and Biological Filtration

  • Long 20 Gallon
  • 1/8 glass baffles
  • 13 lbs of BRS Reef Saver base rock
  • 20 lbs of Fiji Pink sand


Lighting

  • FishNeedIt 3' Dual T5HO fixture
  • I think I need better bulbs down the road. Suggestions?


Water Movement

  • Eheim 1000 Compact
  • Deciding on an mp10es or 2 nano powerheads (leaning towards mp10)*


Temperature Control

  • Shoot. I just realized I dont have a heater.*
  • Well, I do have a few. Just none that I know are reliable. So Ill use them to cycle.


Water Level Control

  • JBJ ATO
  • Aqua Lifter pump


Supplemental Filtration

  • (2) Two Little Fishies Phosban Reactor 150s

Tank Management

  • Mr DJ PSC300 :D
  • RKL or Apex*




Stocking list will come later... way later. Like when I actually know what I want. But I think I did an alright job in setting up a system that could handle most corals. We shall see soon.

Right now I need to start the stand and finish the sump.

Is this silicone okay to use?

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FishBrawler

So you are using 1/2 inch return? Why not 3/4? A one inch drain is going to suck a lot down! That means you gotta put a lot back up!

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Nice! Yes that is the correct silicon.

 

Thank you! And thats good to hear. Ill try getting it all done tonight.

 

excited to see what is to come from this

 

Haha. You're a character man, you don't pm me back but you post on my thread :lol:

Me too man. I've been waiting way too long to do this.

 

So you are using 1/2 inch return? Why not 3/4? A one inch drain is going to suck a lot down! That means you gotta put a lot back up!

 

Well, I've talked to Scorched_Ice7 and patback, who also have the same tank, and they have proven 1/2" returns are fine on this tank. Actually, check both of their tanks out. Both are beautiful and I adore their setups.

 

The way I understand it, return size doest matter; I think you are concerned with the GPH of my return pump.

 

Here are some snippets of information Scorched_Ice7 kindly shared with me (I hope he doesn't mind me sharing it with everyone :huh: ). Take a look if you're interested in the reasoning behind his decision.

 

Most drains are about an 1" even larger tanks. The really big ones 100-200 gallon+ ones will use 1 1/2 or 2". You want to drain as much water from your tank as possible. Then let the pump equalize the amount of water in the display.

--

The returns are always smaller than the drain because like I said before you want to always drain water faster than your pump can fill your tank, otherwise your tank will overflow. So we use large drains. But we also want some flow coming from the pump so narrow tubing is used to create more pressure. If you had a 500 gph pump hooked up to 1" returns you would get 500 gph flowing through the tubing at a normal speed. If you force 500 gph (the exact same amount) through smaller tubing, the water has to move faster to get out. Think of it like putting your thumb on the end of a garden hose, you are making the hole the water exits out of smaller and then the water shoots our faster and farther even though your faucet isnt making more water.

 

Also. Worst case - Ill reduce flow of the drain via a ball valve. :P

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Haha. You're a character man, you don't pm me back but you post on my thread :lol:

Me too man. I've been waiting way too long to do this.

 

haha i read it then was going to return it but got sidetracked :lol:

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FishBrawler

 

Thank you! And thats good to hear. Ill try getting it all done tonight.

 

 

Haha. You're a character man, you don't pm me back but you post on my thread :lol:

Me too man. I've been waiting way too long to do this.

 

 

Well, I've talked to Scorched_Ice7 and patback, who also have the same tank, and they have proven 1/2" returns are fine on this tank. Actually, check both of their tanks out. Both are beautiful and I adore their setups.

 

The way I understand it, return size doest matter; I think you are concerned with the GPH of my return pump.

 

Here are some snippets of information Scorched_Ice7 kindly shared with me (I hope he doesn't mind me sharing it with everyone :huh: ). Take a look if you're interested in the reasoning behind his decision.

 

 

Also. Worst case - Ill reduce flow of the drain via a ball valve. :P

The only thing that is catching me, is, not that I don't trust him, but when I had mh custom 30 gallon tank made, they used 1 inch with a 3/4 inch return. Now i know there are other factors but that is my reasoning. :)

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haha i read it then was going to return it but got sidetracked :lol:

 

Still no answer. :huh:

 

The only thing that is catching me, is, not that I don't trust him, but when I had mh custom 30 gallon tank made, they used 1 inch with a 3/4 inch return. Now i know there are other factors but that is my reasoning. :)

 

Im glad you learned something.

 

And that being said. I learned my first tank build related lesson tonight.

Don't buy cheep caulk guns. I was trying to finish up my sump's baffles when this happened:

 

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:rolleyes: Well, Ill try to get a new one in the next day or so. My family from Egypt decided to surprise me tonight by showing up at my front door :D. So, I'll be pretty busy for a while. But still. Ill try to get some work done on the build.

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following..i have a similar tank. check it out if you want.

 

Thanks for tagging along man. I appreciate it.

I took a look at it a while ago actually. I remembered seeing it. Low maintenance tanks are the best IMO. I have a freshwater Red Cherry Shrimp tank in my room and I do nothing too it. Top it off every now and then and do a wc when I'm bored. Wouldn't trade it for any high maintenance fancy shrimp tank.

Also, you hid that heater really well from what I could see. I like it.

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What up buddy! Nice equipment list. That should really rock that tank. You sound like your taking it nice and slow and being patient with everything. That's the way to do it. Holy moly, ''My family from Egypt decided to surprise me tonight by showing up at my front door''

I live in a small town where's there's a lack of restaurants. My lady went out of town and surprised me with good eats from out of town tonight. Your surprise trumps mine,lol. Looking forward to your build, man.

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What up buddy! Nice equipment list. That should really rock that tank. You sound like your taking it nice and slow and being patient with everything. That's the way to do it. Holy moly, ''My family from Egypt decided to surprise me tonight by showing up at my front door''

I live in a small town where's there's a lack of restaurants. My lady went out of town and surprised me with good eats from out of town tonight. Your surprise trumps mine,lol. Looking forward to your build, man.

 

Hey. Thanks man. I really hope so. I am taking it slow. I think a little too slow haha.

No way man. A surprise from someone special is a special surprise no matter what it is.

Thank you. I hope I dont let you down.

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FINALLY!!

 

 

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you. I've been sick and just started responding to people last night.

Can't wait to see this get wet.

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FINALLY!! Sorry about the delay in getting back to you. I've been sick and just started responding to people last night. Can't wait to see this get wet.

Its not problem man. Im glad you're feeling better. :)

I cant wait either.

 

I learned something else... I shouldn't be aloud to use silicon. My sump is all covered in silicon residue. :unsure:

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FishBrawler

Its not problem man. Im glad you're feeling better. :)

I cant wait either.

 

I learned something else... I shouldn't be aloud to use silicon. My sump is all covered in silicon residue. :unsure:

Razor blade will clean that right up! :)
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Subscribed!

Glad you started the build thread Tanker. Subscribed and following along. And of course good luck to you!

Thanks fellas. Hopefully I don't let you guys down.

 

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I got that new caulk gun I needed. Still mad about the first one though. Ain't nobody got the :bling: for that.

 

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Then I finished the sump tonight. :D

 

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This one is for you Brawler ;)

 

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And my lines still came out like ----. omgomgomg

 

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Test fitting the reactors.

 

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Woohoo. Glad I got that out of the way.

Next thing is the stand. Im scared. If it comes out like my sump I'm going to rage quit this hobby. :rant:

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Hot dam, now your just showing off! The picture of the caulk gun and razor blade shot were nutz!!!! U got mad picture taking skillz :bowdown:

Now i'm really glad i subscribed, this will be a fun thread to watch with these 3D HD pics. Well done!

 

O yea, great DIY job on that sump. A 12g with a sump, nice! That should give you some room for error and make it more stable with all that extra water volume. Not to mention the ease of maintenance.

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Hot dam, now your just showing off! The picture of the caulk gun and razor blade shot were nutz!!!! U got mad picture taking skillz :bowdown:

Now i'm really glad i subscribed, this will be a fun thread to watch with these 3D HD pics. Well done!

 

O yea, great DIY job on that sump. A 12g with a sump, nice! That should give you some room for error and make it more stable with all that extra water volume. Not to mention the ease of maintenance.

 

Haha. Thank you man. Im glad you enjoyed them. It felt good holding the camera again after so long. Im definitely not as good as I was but this thread will be a host of a lot of training. :D

I hope it will help out. My family thinks I'm crazy for ruining a tank thats almost twice as big as the one I'm using. But they'll soon understand. :happy:

Now for this stand. :wacko:

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Haha, non fish people and there judgmental ways, lol. I have many in my life. Little do they understand that's the engine of the sportscar and OO how happy happy it makes us. That sump will be all that 12G will ever need and than some. I just realized that's the same sump and baffle system i'm running on my two tanks and soon to be three. :o

 

''Im definitely not as good as I was but this thread will be a host of a lot of training.'' With camera skillz 98% better than anyone else on here, your not allowed to fish for compliments :P

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Jackal_Knight

ill be tagging along as well might get some ideas for my new build. your sump looks great by the way. I am also curious about the 1'' strainer overflow, thinking about doing the same on mine hope it works well for you.

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Haha, non fish people and there judgmental ways, lol. I have many in my life. Little do they understand that's the engine of the sportscar and OO how happy happy it makes us. That sump will be all that 12G will ever need and than some. I just realized that's the same sump and baffle system i'm running on my two tanks and soon to be three. :o

Once they see this tank thrive they'll understand... I hope.

Hahaha. Thats funny. But you still have a behemoth of a water volume compared to my puny (maybe) 17g system.

''Im definitely not as good as I was but this thread will be a host of a lot of training.'' With camera skillz 98% better than anyone else on here, your not allowed to fish for compliments :P

:blush:

ill be tagging along as well might get some ideas for my new build. your sump looks great by the way. I am also curious about the 1'' strainer overflow, thinking about doing the same on mine hope it works well for you.

Thanks man. I hope you enjoy it as much as I'm anticipating.

The strainer is ideal for this tank just because I don't have much room to work with in the tank itself. If I could, without mutilating the ascetics of the tank, I would add a overflow box; mostly because I would be afraid of the strainer clogging.

Check out Scorched_Ice7's build. (You can click on his sig in post 17) I got the idea from him. Although - right now I just have a standard strainer.

 

----

 

Some teasers. I pretty much just (gently) threw rock in there to see how they would look under the light.

 

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Ultimately, the way I plan on placing this tank is going to allow it to be viewed from the front, right and left side, and the back only from the right side. Kinda hard to explain... but I think you guys will understand later on.

 

From the back:

 

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Im really glad I got these... I just like the way they look.

 

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And now for my first official noob question. I added two fish. Why wont my tank cycle?

 

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Sorry for the bad pictures. These things move way too fast.

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And now for my first official noob question. I added two fish. Why wont my tank cycle?

 

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Sorry for the bad pictures. These things move way too fast.

LMAO, that's funny bro.

But on a serious note, it looks like it has Ich. I hope you quarantined that cracker.

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