snailflipper Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Hello! I'm a Nano reef newbie so bare with me! A beautiful Tennessee landscape to introduce myself! So I finally decided to post my progress! Its been slow (like it should be) and I didn't want you guys to painstakingly watch a slow build progress. It's been about 2 months since I had an Impulse buy on a new tank . Background: I have had about 3 tanks before this one. The first two were duds unfortunately due to lack of commitment and income. First tank was a 29 gallon that was suppose to be a "reef" but never got past some live rock and a clownfish. Needless to say I went cheap and I didn't acquire the proper equipment. Second was a three gallon bowfront. I did a lot better but due to moving off to college and keeping it at home it went south very fast. The third was a test tank for me. I've had reef commitment issues so I didn't want to waste too much money. Gladly I can say it is still a current tank and I'm loving it! I have a fluval spec with multiple corals and its thriving! Without fish though (ich )..... This was the coolest fish I've had so far but due to my parasitic enemies he's no longer with us. Anyways..... New tank build!!! Stand: decided to build my own stand due to being picky and wanting to fit 2 10 gallons underneath (sump and ATO) Tank: My awesome impulse buy! Marineland rimless 25 gallon (18x18x19). Decided to move it to a different spot since picture. The Guts:Very DIYish 10 gallon sump that will hold my skimmer and refug and another 10 ATO Protein Skimmer: SCA-301 (Haven't bought it yet) Lighting: Aquamana 165W Full Spectrum LED (had very good reviews from what I could tell and I already love it) Plumbing: Got an overflow and return from Glass Holes. Both were really well made and the company really left an impression on me when I purchased the goodies. Originally it was going to cost me $15 to ship the items but upon finalizing the order I received an email telling me that they reduced my shipping to the actual cost. They could've pocketed the extra cash but they didn't. They were honest and I will definitely be using them again. So tell me what you guys think! I literally just finished the plumbing tonight and hopefully I'll have water in it and start my cycle this weekend! Current full tank shot for funsies: Sidenote: Got a lot of inspiration from 4x5. Seeing that I stole some ideas from him and had the feeling that I was taking over his thread I figured I should give him some credit. more photos: First inhabitant: Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Hello, and welcome Smoky Mountains- I have a piece of that here too not too far away. Love outside shots like that. Yeah, I'm closest to Cataloochee I believe. Looking really great so far and you've already researched a ton by now. You'll have fun. You get really proud when you DIY. Will be watching your post to see what transpires. Awesome beginning. Link to comment
TheKleinReef Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 very cool. every time i see a cube tank it makes me want to set one up. looking forward to the progress! Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Awesome build! You'll love the sca skimmer! We've all been through tanks that never make it, but we learn from them. I see alot of potential on this one tho! Link to comment
Red_Blenny Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Welcome to NR. You're already starting to have one helluva setup. And that's one heck of a view. How high were you when you took that pic? Link to comment
gabe3eb Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Great start. I absolutely love that you clearly built the stand with an upgrade in mind . Will it fit a 60g? (24x24) Link to comment
cswan19 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Wow, I really like your tank! I'm following this thread, I can see this tank being awesome. Nice job on the stand btw, It looks very sleek with your tank. I'm a fan of rimless tanks Welcome to NR! Link to comment
snailflipper Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 You guys are awesome. I have searched multiple forums getting different ideas and for a very apparent reason I always enjoyed coming to this one out of them all. Thank you for making me feel at home. Hello, and welcome Smoky Mountains- I have a piece of that here too not too far away. Love outside shots like that. Yeah, I'm closest to Cataloochee I believe. Looking really great so far and you've already researched a ton by now. You'll have fun. You get really proud when you DIY. Will be watching your post to see what transpires. Awesome beginning. Thank you! I can always see the mountains off in the distance from where I live and work which is nice! DIYing is definitely more time consuming but you get so much more satisfaction. very cool. every time i see a cube tank it makes me want to set one up. looking forward to the progress! Well get to it! I'd love to see another cubie here . I'll be rooting for you if you ever pull the trigger! Awesome build! You'll love the sca skimmer! We've all been through tanks that never make it, but we learn from them. I see alot of potential on this one tho! Yeah I pretty much designed my entire sump so it would hold a depth of 7 inches like people say. Thanks! I'm really looking forward to making this a sweet tank. Looking into making it a minimalist tank. And hot wife too!! Haha not yet! We've been dating a total of two years since the end of May. Gotta make sure I can get through college and internships before marriage. You can definitely say I out kicked my coverage on this one though (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=outkicked%20his%20coverage Just in case ). Welcome to NR. You're already starting to have one helluva setup. And that's one heck of a view. How high were you when you took that pic? Thank you very much! It coming along pretty nice. That picture was taken at the top of Charlies Bunion trail. It was about a 8 mile high in total and at the peak it is 5,564 feet. Awesome view but I like to keep hikes to a maximum once a year ordeal Great start. I absolutely love that you clearly built the stand with an upgrade in mind . Will it fit a 60g? (24x24) Uh ohhh.... You're putting thoughts into my head already and I haven't even finished the 25 gallon yet! the stand would fit a 24x24 perf Wow, I really like your tank! I'm following this thread, I can see this tank being awesome. Nice job on the stand btw, It looks very sleek with your tank. I'm a fan of rimless tanks Welcome to NR! Thank you! The stand was probably what took the longest out of the build so far. Trying to cut plywood straight is a very.... very time consuming process when all you have is a circular saw. I actually pulled an inception and built a stand inside the stand for my sump as you can tell it being elevated above the ATO. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 You guys are awesome. I have searched multiple forums getting different ideas and for a very apparent reason I always enjoyed coming to this one out of them all. Thank you for making me feel at home. Thank you! I can always see the mountains off in the distance from where I live and work which is nice! DIYing is definitely more time consuming but you get so much more satisfaction. Well get to it! I'd love to see another cubie here . I'll be rooting for you if you ever pull the trigger! Yeah I pretty much designed my entire sump so it would hold a depth of 7 inches like people say. Thanks! I'm really looking forward to making this a sweet tank. Looking into making it a minimalist tank. Haha not yet! We've been dating a total of two years since the end of May. Gotta make sure I can get through college and internships before marriage. You can definitely say I out kicked my coverage on this one though (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=outkicked%20his%20coverage Just in case ). Thank you very much! It coming along pretty nice. That picture was taken at the top of Charlies Bunion trail. It was about a 8 mile high in total and at the peak it is 5,564 feet. Awesome view but I like to keep hikes to a maximum once a year ordeal Uh ohhh.... You're putting thoughts into my head already and I haven't even finished the 25 gallon yet! the stand would fit a 24x24 perf Thank you! The stand was probably what took the longest out of the build so far. Trying to cut plywood straight is a very.... very time consuming process when all you have is a circular saw. I actually pulled an inception and built a stand inside the stand for my sump as you can tell it being elevated above the ATO. Oh wow, yeah, I've done the Charlie's Bunion. Part of some study where I had to hike and at different elevation points they had us take our pulse and breathe into a machine. And of course it was like the stickiest day. We're a good group here. I very briefly checked other ones out, and I didn't like the look of the site which turned me off. Link to comment
Smithjm5 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Looks great so far! Can't wait to see it wet! Link to comment
cswan19 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Looks great so far! Can't wait to see it wet! +1 Link to comment
Illuiix Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Well, I hope you good luck on making through college and the internship. And she's the one. Link to comment
snailflipper Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 But.... A wee bit murky! Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 What a pretty shade of sky blue! Looks like NC skies. Link to comment
snailflipper Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 What a pretty shade of sky blue! Looks like NC skies. Haha to bad its not suppose to be like that! Well, I hope you good luck on making through college and the internship. And she's the one. Well it looks like I've already found my best man right here Link to comment
cswan19 Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 It looks more like some cool light fixture than a tank right now haha Link to comment
Red_Blenny Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Thank you very much! It coming along pretty nice. That picture was taken at the top of Charlies Bunion trail. It was about a 8 mile high in total and at the peak it is 5,564 feet. Awesome view but I like to keep hikes to a maximum once a year ordeal Wow, 8 mile trail @ 5,564ft? I'm planning to do a hike later to a peak that's about 5k+ feet and it's about 14 miles round trip (approx 10-12 hours). Either way, I'm subscribed to this tank build. Any plans for livestock? Link to comment
kguske2 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Greetings from Nashville! Following along for the build Link to comment
gabe3eb Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Uh ohhh.... You're putting thoughts into my head already and I haven't even finished the 25 gallon yet! the stand would fit a 24x24 perf Excellllllent. That means a 60g cube or 50g (24x24x20) would be the next logical upgrade when are you ready to go that route . It would only be a sub $500 upgrade too. Just saying... haha Link to comment
snailflipper Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Wow, 8 mile trail @ 5,564ft? I'm planning to do a hike later to a peak that's about 5k+ feet and it's about 14 miles round trip (approx 10-12 hours). Either way, I'm subscribed to this tank build. Any plans for livestock? Oh wow thats a really long hike! We did Mt. Leconte (10 mile roundtrip) here recently and it was hard. so props to you for a 14 mile hike. Are you doing that in one day or camping out? Planning on a flame angel, snowflake clown pair, and some other fish preferably with a lot of color. Definitely open for suggestions and stocking order as well. LFS said flame angel first before the clowns but I would love a second opinion. Really hoping the flame behaves. I know its 50/50 but with their color its worth the risk to me. I'll just make sure he stays fat with food. Thank goodness for the oversize skimmer. Greetings from Nashville! Following along for the build Ah Nashville! Use to be there a lot for soccer. Beautiful town and full of countryness whether you like it or not! Really interested in going to a frag swap around your/my area. I've never been to one nor have I heard of anyone doing one. Do you know a group or website that do them around our area? Edit: Totally thought my sig said where I lived besides Tennessee! Haha sorry, I'm in Knoxville! Excellllllent. That means a 60g cube or 50g (24x24x20) would be the next logical upgrade when are you ready to go that route . It would only be a sub $500 upgrade too. Just saying... haha Haha you are definitely the demon on my shoulder telling me to spend spend spend! Sooner or later I'm going to cave and listen to you! Link to comment
snailflipper Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 So water has cleared up and I'm playing around with scaping. Trying to get the one-third rule in a cube tank this size is frickin hard. Really only want to have one pillar in this tank but I just haven't gotten it the way I like. Still need to order the wavemaker and skimmer monday. Link to comment
Spiderguardnano Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 i think giga has a mp10 and a skimmer for sale you check it out Link to comment
kguske2 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Ah Nashville! Use to be there a lot for soccer. Beautiful town and full of countryness whether you like it or not! Really interested in going to a frag swap around your/my area. I've never been to one nor have I heard of anyone doing one. Do you know a group or website that do them around our area? Edit: Totally thought my sig said where I lived besides Tennessee! Haha sorry, I'm in Knoxville! I'm not sure about the Knoxville area, but I know there is the Middle TN Reef Club (MTRC.org) They have monthly meetings around the Nashville area, and their annual frag swap was back in April. I went for the first time this year and it was awesome. I know there is a group around Knoxville, but not sure how active they are. Here's the forum where the MTRC and Knoxville one have information http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/tennessee/ Link to comment
gabe3eb Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Haha you are definitely the demon on my shoulder telling me to spend spend spend! Sooner or later I'm going to cave and listen to you! I know how this game works very well Link to comment
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