AJA Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 Here are some images of my Nano reef after months of research and weeks of hard work. I purchased a 7 gallon Mini-Bow aquarium and then tossed the original hood. I built a custom hood not an easy task...(notice the front of the hood "bows" to conform to the tank). I have 64 watts of Powercompact lighting and cooling fans built into the hood. I also have a CPR Bak-Pak 2R and installed an Ice Probe chiller into the protein skimmer. The Ice Probe is controlled by a seperate thermostat. A small 50 watt heater is also sitting in the skimmer. For additional circulation I added a Rio 180 powerhead but I'm thinking about using something smaller as the current may be too strong. So far the skimmer/Ice Probe combo work great. The tanks stays constant at 78 degrees. The Live rock was added 3 days ago and I'm looking forward to completing the cycle so I can add some livestock. I'll post updates once the cycle is complete. Chris this is an awsome site! Link to comment
Meowpowerkitten Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 Looks great! I really like the way you arranged your rocks, it gives an interesting and open "airy" feeling. How did you make a bowed canopy??? Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted February 27, 2002 Share Posted February 27, 2002 Great looking nano reef AJA, I love how you have arranged the rocks. Keep us all updated with photos as your tank progresses! Link to comment
AJA Posted February 28, 2002 Author Share Posted February 28, 2002 Thanks for the nice comments everyone! :-) I made the bowed canopy by gluing several pieces of wood together and then cut the bowed shape from them. Then using a belt sander and bench sander I ground the final shape. Here is a photo of the front of the canopy before I started carving away.... Link to comment
nitritetest Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 Dude, You went WAY overboard with that canopy. What is that, 2 feet high?? I've got a 2x32 watt retro over my 7 gal bow front and my hood is 2.5 " high. Cooling fans for 64 watts of lighting?? What the hell are you thinking??!!? Link to comment
KoAps Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 Give some credit, if it floats your boat to build a foot long, you should be proud that the effort was put into the tank, and didn't end up with the lights and ballast mounted in some half ass way. Maybe upgrading the box and lining it with mylar and a series of blue lights and red lights and purple lights and a strobe effect... Have lighting storms and sunsets and sunrises all in your bedroom.. Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 Cool down nitritetest. Link to comment
Korbin Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 somebody's jealous. beside's me. Link to comment
AJA Posted March 7, 2002 Author Share Posted March 7, 2002 Wow somebody grumpy? Yea I guess 8 inches is almost 2 feet.....not!!! I built the canopy tall and installed both fans because I didn't want heat to be an issue and it hasn't been. The tank stays 78 degress no matter what the room temp is. The other issue was having enough clearance for the protein skimmer. If the lights were closer they would heat the feed and return PVC pipe thus heating the water. Link to comment
maroonclown05 Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 haha- well i think your hood is great, i was wondering if you could tell me how you wired up the fans? (Edited by maroonclown05 at 8:35 pm on Mar. 6, 2002) Link to comment
gabe3eb Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 I will say it! Best DIY hood I have seen! I am getting a 28 gallon bowfront maybe and I wont be able to do that! Nitrite, get a life man... 2 feet high? Hardly. Awesome looking canopy, better safe than sorry with the fans! :-) gaber Link to comment
AJA Posted March 7, 2002 Author Share Posted March 7, 2002 Thanks for the support and positive comments guys! I am no electrician but I wired DC fans off of one of the hot (Power) leads from the lights and then wired the fans to their own switch. The lighting is a PC retrofit kit so I more or less wired the second fan the same as the first fan that came with the kit. I have had other tanks that I wired the fan so that it did not have a switch and that works good also. Again I was worried that I may need the ability to turn the fans off if the temp in the house dropped. It hasn't been the case so far. Link to comment
nitritetest Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Why does no one ever admit that someone's tank looks bad when it does? None of these posts of member tanks says ANYTHING negative regarding how they look. Why not?? Everyone suddenly agrees? Every tank posted looks good? Since when does everyone agree? What planet is this message board from? I think the tank looks ugly. I mean, the viewable height is less than 10 inches, but the hood is 8 inches high??!?!?! Really. It just looks so funny. Like a little kid made it. I wish someone else who thought the hood looks bad would step up and back me up on this one. Maybe we could help the guy out so people don't laugh behind his back when they see it. And guy, you DON'T NEED cooling fans for 64 watts of PC lighting if you make your own hood. You can make it so there's open spaces and air flow, and everything remains VERY cool, and the water temp isn't raised one degree because of the lights. And you can do all this WITHOUT making the hood 8 inches high. 2 or 3 inches is fine! I know someone else HAS to think this hood isugly. Come on, back me up. And if you're one of the people who originally said it looks good, but were lying, it's not too late to tell the truth! You won't hurt his feelings. You'll probably save him from being laughed at behind his back by anyone who sees it (they probably won't admit if it looks bad either to his face, they'll just laugh secretly like you're all doing) This is like that Sienfeld episode with the ugly baby, but no one would admit it's ugly. Guys, admit this is one ugly baby!... Link to comment
nitritetest Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 I just want to add... Kudos to you Christopher for not censoring my remarks...good board... Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Well, everyone is entitled to their opinions... And quite honestly I have yet to see a nano reef that doesn't look good. Everyone's is unique, their own creation, and everyone's tanks are at different stages too. Besides, there's also more than one way to 'skin a cat' when it comes to reef keeping. Sure I don't care for skimmers, but that doesn't mean that those who do use them have bad tanks. I'm not going to tell them I don't like how they skim their tank because there is no point in it. If it works for them that's wonderful! Just like someone who chooses to keep their lighting hood cooled with a fan - some do some don't. If you don't care for the way something is done, just don't do it. While it is also hard to read any text and know the tone that it is set in, your posts did seem a bit aggressive. Don't bother getting mad over something that doesn't concern you directly - politely offering a suggestion or comment would be a better idea. Well, I'm off the soap box now ... Link to comment
AJA Posted March 7, 2002 Author Share Posted March 7, 2002 Hey Nitritetest I guess your entitled to your opinion. Next time I build something I'll be sure to post it on a message board before I start so that I can build the same thing as everyone else. Sorry you don't like the hood but I really don't care. Chris I don't blame you for stepping out of this one... Link to comment
R1 Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 I think it looks good. All it needs is some corals. Good Work! Link to comment
nitritetest Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Yeah, there is more than one way to skin a cat. I think this guy picked the ugly way. Link to comment
Delph Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 (Edited by Delph at 10:05 am on June 3, 2002) Link to comment
Toyfreek Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Nitratetest... I actually E-mailed him to find out how he built his hood. I think it is one of the sleekest jobs I have ever in 17 years of fishkeeping. I Think its height would be perfect for me (I have a 175W 10K MH layin around) Unfortunately I dont have the skill or tools to do it AJA's way, but if I could I would. You have a right to your own taste and to vocalize those tastes. However, to make a blanket statement like "And if you're one of the people who originally said it looks good, but were lying, it's not too late to tell the truth! You won't hurt his feelings. You'll probably save him from being laughed at behind his back by anyone who sees it (they probably won't admit if it looks bad either to his face, they'll just laugh secretly like you're all doing)" You only make yourself look small and insecure. Toy Link to comment
nitritetest Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 I think the way he did the curve in the hood was clever. And yes, if you have metal halides, you probably want a hood that high, especially if you have a tank that shallow, or you'll burn everything in the tank and have crazy evaporation...and if you had halides you probably wouldn't have a tank that small, so a hood that high would be fine, if not too low. (if you're putting metal halides on a 7 gallon tank, you have other, deeper, issues you need to deal with) If you look at the hood, and just the hood, on it's own, it does look good. It looks very well made, and like how he did the bow. BUT when you look at the hood on the tank, and look at it as a whole, it looks funny. They don't go together. It's OVERKILL that doesn't even look good. But my point is he doesn't have halides. He doesn't have a large tank, and he should have made something that fit the one he has. He's so handy with wood, he has no excuse not to... He may be very handy with tools, but has no sense of what he should be making. "If you don't have something nice to say don't say it..." Give me a break. (Edited by nitritetest at 1:09 am on Mar. 7, 2002) Link to comment
rrr757 Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 I like your tank, good job, by the way I think your hood was really creative, and personally I would have never thought of making a canopy out of wood like that, dont have the skills, lol. anyways looks great, good job Mickey http://www.indiahouston.com/tank Link to comment
OscarBeast Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 OK, I will be honest. I think that is one pimped hood. The only thing I think is that I would love to see a stand that was just as pimped. I do think it needs some height under it to balance out the tall hood though. Heck, if you make it tall enough you could add a pimped out 2.5-gallon sump! That would be some nice overkill. You would have all kinds of bragging rights then. Overall, I think it is sweet. I really enjoy the fact that some people go the extra mile and do a good job. That is a very nice rock arrangement as well. Also, I think I am going to put a fan in my hood just because I want to. And just wait till I get in my X10 so I can do lunar lighting cycles as well. I have already built-in accommodations for the lunar lighting into the hood. How is that for overkill on a 10-gallon tank? Originally I installed a 5 watt fluorescent mini light for lunar lighting but discovered that it can’t be dimmed. Now I am going to replace it with a nice incandescent bulb for my X10 system. Eat your heart out! Holes and Trolls, just can’t get away from them. Link to comment
Toyfreek Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Nitrate test, Dude you dont have any Idea what you are talking about do you? If you had ever seen a real Reef you would realize you cant "burn" corals with a single 175W 10K MH i dont care how close to the surface they are. The Sun at 10-15 feet Has alot more Lux and Par than any little 175W MH. I am currently running 400W 10K over a 36 gallon Hex everyone is fat and happy. Fish on the otherhand can be affected but they get used to it quickly. you need to acclimate your animals, weather its new H20 or lighting, acclimation is key. The myth that you will burn your corals is usually propegated by Unknowledgeable or dishonest LFS employees that are selling PC or VHO light fixtures. Thanks for your time, Toy Link to comment
nitritetest Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 And how deep is your hex? How far are the lights from the closest coral? Less than 2 inches away and directly underneath it? Try it, see what happens to them. They'll turn white, if they don't die from the high temperature. Guaranteed Link to comment
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