qualudethunder Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I wanted to make a custom fuge that would be a little interesting. I have always wanted a planted nano but don't have time for all of the pruning and stuff and don't have time for a second tank so... I decided on just making a fuge/planted nano. Hopefully I will have a cool rock setup. Should be nice. Its a 6 gallons. 28lx6wx8h. 65 watt power compact 50/50 soon to be changed to 65k. aquaclear 802 rated at 400gph running it. Here are some pics of it in testing on an old ten gallon. Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 Im building a shelf or two to hold the fuge and store stuff. I will be hiding the pump and baffles with black acrylic covers. Link to comment
ProFlatlander15 Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 looks good so far, it should be a really clean professioanl lokk when its done, especially going around a corner. aestetically pleasing. good luck Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 Thanks... Im trying to decide now how exactly I am going to introduce it to my main tank. It is going on about a year now for my 15 so I don't want to mess anything up. I guess the best way would be to get all of my rock and sand from a fairly established tank if possible. Or I could start with live sand and some dead base rock... and add well cycled live rock slowly along with the macro. I also have to be careful because I will be removing my AC500 fuge which is packed with chaeto. I guess it will all be about timing and order. Any suggestions? The first chamber to the left will be filled with chaeto and also act as kind of a sponge if you will. The rest will be rock and a bunch of different macros. Maybe a mangrove as well. Link to comment
Pili4444 Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 you could isolate and treat it as if it were a new tank. Place a powerhead in there for circulation, let it cycle, make sure all the paramerters are the same as the main tank, and then just hook it up to the main tank. Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 Yeah your probably right. Thats seems like it would be the safest way. I'll post more pics when it is up and running/cycling. Testing is pretty much done. Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted February 12, 2005 Author Share Posted February 12, 2005 Testing and finishing touches are done. Poor lighting for the photo but you get the idea... Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 Nice fuge. Looks pretty professional. Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted April 3, 2005 Author Share Posted April 3, 2005 Hey all thanks for the nice words. It looks better in the pics than in person. Since it was my first tank I was paranoid and kinda went a little overboard on bonding the acrylic. But it looks pretty good for my first try. This project has been going so slow but I am close now. Hopefully picking up rock w/ macro tomorrow or in the next few days. Anyways here it is with the shelf running by itself(i know crappy pic once again). I just took the surface skimmer off and turned the tube in so it runs alone for now. It would actually make a pretty cool tank by itself. I am looking for some suggestions for making the rock work/macro as efficient as possible. I was thinking maybe having a couple of points where the rock takes up the entire tank so water has to flow through and cannot go around. I'm not planning on using sand, just live rock covering the entire bottom for the most part. Should I build the rock up high in front of the baffles? Just build it up in the middle and sides as to not slow the flow from/through the baffles? These are the things I'm trying to figure right now. Algae placement... things like. I do not want to use a skimmer once this is running so I want it to plan out what will make it most effective. I plan on keeping chaeto in the first compartment to the left before the baffle. It will act as a natural filter pad that the water will flow up through then over the baffle. Let me know any suggestions/ideas for rock/macro placement. Not so much for the way it looks, but what would make it most efficient. Thanks! Link to comment
ProFlatlander15 Posted April 3, 2005 Share Posted April 3, 2005 wow dude, lokks awesome there. nice job, get sum stuff in it and you could make it into a sort of 'planted' display! speaking of, i was thinking putting non-photosynthetic things in a fuge, thatd be kinda like two displays, but with the benefits of a fuge! Link to comment
offsprg01 Posted April 4, 2005 Share Posted April 4, 2005 i love it! i love to watch my fuge. mine sits on a stand right be side my tank. glad to see some on else who's going the same route. Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted April 4, 2005 Author Share Posted April 4, 2005 Yup thats what I wanted... a planted display. I always thought fuges were cool to look at so... I put some rock in today. Flow is really nice. Like a medium to quick smooth current from one end to the other. Kind of like a lagoon or bay. I'm really happy with the way it came out. Can't wait to get a ton of macro in there and hook it up to the main tank. I have to wait for the rock to cycle for a while though. Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted April 4, 2005 Author Share Posted April 4, 2005 Exactly offsprg. I think they are as nice to watch as a regular reef setup. One of my favorite parts about this tank.... No plumbing. There is no visible plumbing in the viewing area. All of it is hidden behind the baffles. Link to comment
FateX9 Posted April 4, 2005 Share Posted April 4, 2005 i have a question for ya so if im looking at it right the water gets pumped to the fuge and then the overflow is directly next to it? what makes it so that the water doesnt just go straight back to the main tank? i dunno, did i miss something here? and what's goin into the left compartment? otherwise it looks awesome Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted April 4, 2005 Author Share Posted April 4, 2005 If you look at the third pic at the top... You can see a tube that runs through the baffles on the bottom all the way to the other side. The water is pumped through this tube and to the other side of the left baffle. Water then goes up and over the left baffle... though the fuge... over the right baffle then out to the main tank. Right now it is not connected to the main tank so the intake is just pulling it from the last compartment and through the cycle again. I probably just made it more confusing but... heh heh Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted April 4, 2005 Author Share Posted April 4, 2005 I just posted that one like a half hour ago hah hah... Just put the rock in today... so nothing too exciting is gonna happen until it cycles a while. I'll post pics when I get the macro goin on in there... and then when it is hooked up to the main tank. Link to comment
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