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Dropped's Reef


dropped

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End up moving house, no real place for a tank during the move so shut the tank down. A shame really as the tank was mature and hitting its stride, was easy to maintain and fairly bullet proof.

 

Tank dimensions are:

1000x550x600 with a total display volume of 330L

 

October 30th 2018 

Top down view pre shutdown as i moved house

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September 2017 FTS - 1 year old

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September 2016 FTS

 

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New VS Old

 

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Last FTS before the upgrade

 

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FTS 1 Year old

 

 

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FTS 10 Months

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So after 10 months in the fresh water side of this hobby i thought i would try my hand at a reef.


I already had a custom 600x450x450 low iron tank for my fresh water tank, so i though i would make an exact copy for my nano reef, this would mean i can have them sitting side by side sort of like twins.

I placed the order for my new custom tank, 600x450x450 low iron glass, but this time with black silicone, the only issue was i forgot to tell the builder to polish the edges.... so at some point before i fill it with water i need to pull it apart and send the glass away to have the edges polished which is fine as i'm in not rush.

Not polished edges, will get these polished and the rear of the tank drilled for the over flow at the same time.
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The new soon to be reef tank
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And my fresh water tank which will sit beside the reef.
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Ive also started to build two stands, one for each of the tanks, once again these will be identical.

Here is my progress so far...

Picked up the wood for both of the stands.

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Bottom bracing

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Top bracing with mid support for the tank

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First side panel screwed on

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Last side screwed on


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Left and right panels on, so far everything is square so pretty happy

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Starting to install the front panels, top and bottom panels installed, still need to buy some hinges to install the door

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Turns out i messed up the measurement for the rear panel so ill need to get that recut which sucks as i could have finished the stand this weekend!!!

Test fit of the tank sitting on the stand, super happy how it has turned out so far.


No door on

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Door sitting there, just so i can see how it looks

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Screw holes all filled, learnt a good lesson here.... dont use heaps, or before its set slice the extra off with a knife

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Magnet latch on

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Door hinges on

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The twins
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filled and sanded screw holes, hope these come out ok....
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first coat of stain
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  • Like 3
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Has anyone got any recommendations on an LED light that will cover a spread of 60cm x 45cm?

 

I may end up putting hood on these tanks, so it might eventually go into a hood if that makes any differences.

 

something that fades into night mode etc would be great.

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I have been offered a Kessil A160WE Tuna Blue at a decent price, does anyone know if this will work well on a 24inch by 18inch tank?

 

 

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Awesome tank - bummer you didn't ask for the edge polish. Why can't you just transport the entire tank to have the edges polished? Seems like a pain to take it apart and then have to put it back together. I'm sure there's a glass shop in the area that could do it...

 

Nice job on the stand as well - looks simple and effective!

 

I've learned my lesson with wood filler as well - it's usually not stainable, even if the product claims to be! So because of that I either hide the screws or I stain and then fill last with some tinted putty, and being very careful to only fill the hole.

 

The Kessil is a pretty cool light, I'm sure there's someone on here with a similar sized tank that can give you a better opinion, but I would think the fit would be decent.

 

Finally, nice FW planted. At some point when you've gotten some experience with reefing I would be interested to get your opinions on the similarities and differences between the 2 styles.

  • Like 1
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Awesome tank - bummer you didn't ask for the edge polish. Why can't you just transport the entire tank to have the edges polished? Seems like a pain to take it apart and then have to put it back together. I'm sure there's a glass shop in the area that could do it...

 

Nice job on the stand as well - looks simple and effective!

 

I've learned my lesson with wood filler as well - it's usually not stainable, even if the product claims to be! So because of that I either hide the screws or I stain and then fill last with some tinted putty, and being very careful to only fill the hole.

 

The Kessil is a pretty cool light, I'm sure there's someone on here with a similar sized tank that can give you a better opinion, but I would think the fit would be decent.

 

Finally, nice FW planted. At some point when you've gotten some experience with reefing I would be interested to get your opinions on the similarities and differences between the 2 styles.

Pocket holes are the way to go IMO. In regards to planted tanks and reef tanks, I feel like planted tanks are a bit harder to keep. With saltwater you are given pretty specific measurements of Ca, Alk, and Mg to keep and you're pretty much in the clear. Not sure about clams and SPS since I have no experience with them. With a high tech freshwater tank it is a bit more difficult for me to find a good balance between your micros, macros, CO2 injection, and light cycle.

  • Like 4
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Awesome tank - bummer you didn't ask for the edge polish. Why can't you just transport the entire tank to have the edges polished? Seems like a pain to take it apart and then have to put it back together. I'm sure there's a glass shop in the area that could do it...

 

Nice job on the stand as well - looks simple and effective!

 

I've learned my lesson with wood filler as well - it's usually not stainable, even if the product claims to be! So because of that I either hide the screws or I stain and then fill last with some tinted putty, and being very careful to only fill the hole.

 

The Kessil is a pretty cool light, I'm sure there's someone on here with a similar sized tank that can give you a better opinion, but I would think the fit would be decent.

 

Finally, nice FW planted. At some point when you've gotten some experience with reefing I would be interested to get your opinions on the similarities and differences between the 2 styles.

Yeah i was gutted i didnt get them polished the first time around, i think the way they polish the edges is with a V shaped grinder which covers both edges of the glass, meaning if it was polishing the bottom piece ( horizontal) it would also grind into the side of the vertical panels.

 

As for the putty it has stained.. yay! it has stained pretty dark though, ill find out just how dark when i get home from work today, as i did the final coat last night and im yet to see the results.

 

Yea im really interested to see how reefing compares to the FW side of the hobby, the salt side currently seems way more high tech and a bit daunting so we will see how i go.

Pocket holes are the way to go IMO. In regards to planted tanks and reef tanks, I feel like planted tanks are a bit harder to keep. With saltwater you are given pretty specific measurements of Ca, Alk, and Mg to keep and you're pretty much in the clear. Not sure about clams and SPS since I have no experience with them. With a high tech freshwater tank it is a bit more difficult for me to find a good balance between your micros, macros, CO2 injection, and light cycle.

Pocket holes you say.... ill have to look into those, its a bit late now to change it up but im sure at one point or another ill end up with a bigger tank and will need to build another stand.

 

I would agree with you if my FW was hi-tech, but its sort of midway, i.e i dont run Co2 but do run a dirt substrate with Hi-Lights and dose ferts etc. I could honestly not do a water change on that tank for a month and it would be fine, the only thing would be that all the plants would turn into a small forest haha, i need to trim them every week they grow that fast!

 

Will have pics up tonight of the tank sitting on the completed stand, then i need to decide if im going sump or all in one.....

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For the pocket holes I ended up getting a small kreg jig and it worked really well. Hid all my screws on the inside of my stand. My 40 gallon used to run E.I. dosing with pressurized CO2 but I stopped dosing the ferts. Have a dirt substrate as well and it gives my plants more than enough nutrients. Plus I feed them a lot which helps some what. When I start seeing deficiencies in the plants then I'll add the appropriate fert but if not I just let it go. The big thing is that I need to trim my S. repens carpet regularly or it starts losing leafs towards the bottom of the stems. Didn't know I had to do that at first and I ended up with a bald spot in the middle of my carpet...

  • Like 1
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Spiderguardnano

damm awesome stand man looks so professional

 

what size plywood did you use?

did you glue then screw it or just screwed it?

 

 

also did you stain then paint it black?

  • Like 1
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Great looking stands! I hope they're beefy enough to safely carry the load.

 

Here's a tip next time you need to fill some holes. Forget the wood putty, save some of your finer saw-dust and mix it (about 50/50) with wood glue, then use it like Spackle. It'll be the same color as the wood you cut, and it'll accept a stain.

 

+1 for the Kreg Jig and pocket holes. They're super easy, give you a nice strong joint, and are really easy to hide!

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damm awesome stand man looks so professional

 

what size plywood did you use?

did you glue then screw it or just screwed it?

 

 

also did you stain then paint it black?

 

I used 14.7mm Plywood, the stand is only screwed... which might be a mistake... but the load is directly placed onto the outer walls so all of the pressure is going downwards. I will be putting a few more screws in though from the inside bracing into the outer walls.

 

 

No paint at all, just 3 coats of black stain which pretty much came out like paint in the end.

 

Great looking stands! I hope they're beefy enough to safely carry the load.

 

Here's a tip next time you need to fill some holes. Forget the wood putty, save some of your finer saw-dust and mix it (about 50/50) with wood glue, then use it like Spackle. It'll be the same color as the wood you cut, and it'll accept a stain.

 

+1 for the Kreg Jig and pocket holes. They're super easy, give you a nice strong joint, and are really easy to hide!

 

Haha i hope they are beefy enough as well! they are only holding 120kg... i was standing on it the other day and im 85kg it didnt wobble or anything like that.

 

i will definitely use that tip thank you very much!

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Someone else can probably explain this better but from what I recall, screws don't hold as well when the screw is parallel to the layers of wood like when you screw into the side of them.

  • Like 1
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Someone else can probably explain this better but from what I recall, screws don't hold as well when the screw is parallel to the layers of wood like when you screw into the side of them.

 

 

hmmm seems there were some floors in my plan, i may plus it apart and glue it all....

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Just had the me (85kg) and the misses (under 60kg) standing on top of one of them and it was sweet!

 

and i dont even have the back panel screwed on...

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hmmm seems there were some floors in my plan, i may plus it apart and glue it all....

 

HAha silly autocorrect...

 

IMO glue and screw is superior, but as long as you used quality screws you'll probably be fine.

  • Like 1
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HAha silly autocorrect...

 

IMO glue and screw is superior, but as long as you used quality screws you'll probably be fine.

 

yea good quality screws 32mm and pilot holes foe every hole.

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getting there slowly..

 

Moved the contents of the FW into the reef tank for a couple of days while i install the corner filter in the FW, then ill move it all back and get started on the reef!!! will break down the tank and send it off for drilling and polishing.

 

 

Reef tank Left, FW right, still need to stain the FW stand.

 

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  • Like 1
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Just placed my order for my sump, i guess that decided if im going for an all in one solution or running a sump.


Sump Details


500Lx300Wx400H

Capacity 60L


I will run three chambers,


Chamber 1, Skimmer and the Herbie return lines from the main tank

Bubble Trap with 3 CM gaps, according to my research this is whats needed, correct me if i'm wrong?

Chamber 2, refug

Chamber 3 will house the return pump


any suggestions?


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Ok so i have lowered the bubble traps the highest one is 75mm from the top and the others are 100mm.


My thinking was that the water would flow over the last bubble trap and then down the glass to the level indicated by the line, could sit slightly higher.



sump2.png

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  • 2 weeks later...

new Jebao pump dc3000, a bit over kill at 3000 LPH... but i can run it at the lowest setting with 1.5 meters head height which should bring it down to where i need it.

 

looking to run it at 5 x turn over which is 600L per hour.

 

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Ok so i have lowered the bubble traps the highest one is 75mm from the top and the others are 100mm.
My thinking was that the water would flow over the last bubble trap and then down the glass to the level indicated by the line, could sit slightly higher.
sump2.png

 

 

Hopefully this isn't too late, but I see some potential improvements.

 

First, it seems the water level might be too low. Unless you plan on using that space above the ~200mm water line I would up the water level to the same level or slightly lower than the baffle coming off the drain chamber. It's better to have more water volume in there in case you want to run a DSB or something but also to keep more water in the return chamber. At the depth you have it I think that you'll be hit by evaporation losses and in the event your ATO stops working for some reason it won't take long before the pump starts to suck air. Of the reason you have so much extra room planned out is because of back siphon from the main tank you could add a siphon break such that if your return pump ever loses power minimal water from the display tank back-drains into the sump.

 

Next, I think 3cm between baffles is a lot. I have a 40b and my baffles have 1/2" (1.25cm) between them - and they're only 8" or about 20cm wide (they don't run the width of the tank in other words). Handles ~300gph perfectly. So unless you have a skimmer that puts out a ton of micro bubbles or you plan on having excessive splashing in there closer baffles would work good.

 

Finally, I've actually thought about getting that Jebao DC pump - let us know how you like it :)

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