My 5.5g pico with built in Fuge

[JohnDinSD]

Algae

It usually goes away after awhile, just be patient and see what happens. Just make sure to keep up with weekly water changes religiously and do not over feed your tank. I feed my tank only one day a week with a mixture of phytoplankton, cyclopeeze and a few mysis shrimp to the ricordea and blasto (with a tweezers). Also check the spectra of your lights. A 10,000K bulb with actinic will produce less algea than a 6,500K bulb with actinic.

 

Mushrooms

They are pretty tough and can adapt to a lot of conditions.

 

SPS

Don't know as I've never had any, I prefer LPS. You could give it a try with a small piece and see what happens.

 

Photo Period

I have mine on for 10hrs per day and don't use the moonlight, preferring darkness for both my pico and my 20g nano.

 

Thanks, I appreciate the info.

[Sandeep]

Some updated images of my pico-reef.

 



 



 

rear view of the coral island

 



 

some closeups

 



 



 



 

newest inhabitant a white spotted porcelain crab

 



 

and a updated picture of my desk, with my 5.5g pico-reef on the left and the 20g nano-reef on the right

 

[c est ma]

Some updated images of my pico-reef.

 



 



 

rear view of the coral island

 



 

some closeups

 



 



 



 

newest inhabitant a white spotted porcelain crab

 



 

and a updated picture of my desk, with my 5.5g pico-reef on the left and the 20g nano-reef on the right

 

 

You are an absolute artist! This tank just gets better and better and those pics are stunning. I especially like that gorgeous blasto and the porcelain portrait.

 

I would never get any work done if that were my desk...

 

--Diane

[danoreef]

I found you over here now. I started the 5.5 gallon tank yesterday, your tank being the inspiration 100%.

The best is that I have my 7 year old and 5 year old sons helping. because this tank is such an easy design, my sons really appreciate being fully involved with it. I really think they will love how this tank grows.

 

What do think would be better should I let it cycle? or should I add water and rock from my 24 gallon AP?

 

PS what type of camera do you use and what lens? great shots.

If I were you, you would make that emerald crab shot your avitar.

Edited February 10, 2008 by danoreef

[SF2K4]

Hey Sandeep, I just recently got one of those 5.5g AGA tanks and I know you're sick of questions by now but I just wanted to ask a few quick questions:

 

1. From the long side of the tank, how long is the fuge? Just for reference.

 

2. I assume you Weld-On'd the acrylic walls of the fuge together but how are you holding the acrylic to the glass?

 

3. Did you paint the acrylic black in that pic? What paint did you use (I've heard Krylon Fusion is good) and how long did you let it cure?

 

4. Did you say that was GLASS on top or ACRYLIC?

 

Thanks a ton!

[Sandeep]

Who says I get anything done at that desk.

I call it my surfing desk - surfing the ocean or surfing the web.

 

danoreef can't wait to see you post a thread about your tank, I want to link as many tanks of this design to this thread so folks can see all of them and their design variations.

 

To help the cycle along, seeding the tank with a piece of live rock from your existing tank would be good. From what I've read, using water from an existing tank does not help that much. Wait about 2 weeks after it's running and throw in a small cleanup crew.

 

I use a Canon EOS 20D camera with Nikon manual focus lenses. This last batch was done with the Nikon 55mm f2.8 AIS Micro. You can get Nikon/EOS adapters on ebay.

 

SF2K4 be sure to post a thread about your tank too once you get a chance.

 

1) Refugium/Sump is approximately 13.5cm wide from the left side. I wanted it to be big enough for easy removal of the maxi-jet for weekly cleaning of it's nozzle. You could still make it a bit smaller if you wanted, just plan for the heater and maxi-jet removal as mentioned.

 

2) I used aquarium silicone on everything. I'm not sure if this was the best option or not? So far I have not seen any detirioration in the glass/acrylic joints.

 

3) I used a matt black spraypaint on a piece of acrylic cut to the dimensions slightly wider than the refugium so that it covers up the silicone/glass joint and glue. It's height is cut to allow a snug fit between the top of tank and bottom of tank black frames. It slides in nicely on the outside of the tank and is attached with two pieces of black electrical tape along the top and bottom edges between black frames and acrylic piece. I had also planned to add another piece of black painted acrylic along the left side/edge of the tank, but decided not to implement it because I want to be able to see into the sump/refugium from the side to check on conditions in there. Depending on where you place your tank, if it's going to be visually distracting when viewed from the side, you may want to cover that side edge.

 

4) I have a glass top with about an inch opening along the entire back edge. It is cut to the exact dimensions to fit into the ridge inside the top frame of the tank. Any glass/mirror shop should be able to cut this piece for you to your specific dimensions for a few dollars. I went with glass as a acrylic top might bend over time with the heat and weight of the lights, no issues with the glass. The glass top is cut short in the depth dimension allowing about a 1" gap along the entire back edge of the tank. This allows for gas exchange, feeding and water quality measurements while still maintaining a significant barrier against dust and evaporation.

[scot63us]

Hi Sanddeep,

 

Your tank is awesome! If you dont mind me asking, How thick is the acrylic used to create the fuge? And what are the dimensions?

 

Thanks,

 

Scot

[Sandeep]

I picked up the acrylic from Home Depot, it's about 2mm thick. They also sell a blade to cut acrylic for a few dollars. If I remember correctly they had three sizes. One was way too thin and flexed in the hand easily, the other sheet was really thick and heavy duty, more appropriate for a larger tank I would think (and harder to cut), the piece I used is the middle thickness one they had.

 

You can make the refugium/sump part as big or small as you want. Mine is approx 13.5cm from the left side of the tank. It's big enough to have a decent size refugium and allows for easy removal of the Maxi-Jet for weekly cleaning of it's intake nozzle.

Edited February 15, 2008 by Sandeep

[Sandeep]

For reference the build variation by member danoreef with pictures.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=1319391

[Drumachine09]

GREAT tanks! If I could only keep my desk as clean as yours, I might consider putting an aquarium on it.

 

 

 

You have inspired me to think about starting a small 5.5 as soon as I get my 10g up and running.

 

 

Bravo!

[midna]

I wanted to thank you for making my salt water aquarium possible for me . I really wanted to have an aquarium but didn't have the huge amount of money needed or the space needed for other setups. I'm a college student and this setup runs beautifully in a corner of the room. I just added my cuc and it's doing great . The ease (and low cost) of having the fuge and "sump" built into the tank without paying the $$$$ for an aio tank was critical.

[Daemonfly]

Display area looks nice. Tank looks to perform nicely, function wise. Clear background with no equip also looks quite nice.

 

I'll go against the grain though and say that even though I hate the look of powerheads in the display, I don't like the sectioned off area thats hidden by the black paint. Too visually distracting, overall.

 

I actually like your first pics a bit better, without the black paint. I would possibly have used a piece of black acrylic to hide the pump area, yet keep the fuge area clear to be seen. But, I think if the fuge area can be kept clean enough, it adds to the look better than a blacked out area.

[BKtomodachi]

Excellent tank. Perfectly appealing, visually. I will likely set something very much like this tank up next year, as a dorm nano. I've been without a tank for two years! Very good inspiration from this thread.

[Sandeep]

Given that the Maxi-Jet 400 seems to provide the perfect amount of flow for this 5.5 gallon, I would think that the Maxi-Jet 600 sounds about right for a 10 gallon with this same concept.

 

Will a MJ 600 work well with your in tank sump. i have a 10 gallon glass tank i am using to create this flow. I am looking at the same setup you have just a larger tank. You have a wonderful tank setup by the way. I was inspired to do one like yours.

[Mynameskenny19]

very cool tank mr Sandeep! i love how you made it! in fact, i love it so much that i think im going to have to scale down to a 2.5 cuz of the space i have. may i use your design, just change a few things?

[Sandeep]

It's a great and simple design that can be applied to any size from 2.5g on up to 20g I would think. Do post a thread with pictures if you create one. I like to link peoples design variations to this thread to create a good reference for folks.

 

very cool tank mr Sandeep! i love how you made it! in fact, i love it so much that i think im going to have to scale down to a 2.5 cuz of the space i have. may i use your design, just change a few things?

[I Ate A Cake]

I love your set-up Sandeep. I have been "lurking" around on this forum for a week or two, and I have been closely following your set-up. I plan on doing something similar to this for a future 15-20 gallon AGA tank that I hope I can go buy the tank sometime this week. I am going to take off 5" wide off of a 20-24" long tank for the fuge area, and will probably divide it up into 3 sections. First is for the biological (filter floss?), second for the chaeto and LR, and third for my powerhead which I have bought already. If I decide to go with two sections, I will do Chaeto and LR in the first, with some LR, a heater, a possible filter, and powerhead in the second. Thoughts?

[SeaSerpant]

i'm going to start a 5g maybe ilke yours.

[mastawong]

Wow, nice pics! What kind camera are you using? I borrowed my friend's EOS 5D w/ macro lens and extension tube, but my pics turned out blurry and dark.

[Mynameskenny19]

It's a great and simple design that can be applied to any size from 2.5g on up to 20g I would think. Do post a thread with pictures if you create one. I like to link peoples design variations to this thread to create a good reference for folks.

 

Hey Sandeep, i have some pics in my post if you want to see them. no where near as good as yours though.

on a scale of greatness from 1 - 100, yours it around 99 - 100 while mine is around 5 - 10.

 

anyhoo, you should totally check it out and post some suggestions on what i should do.

[Sandeep]

If you go with 3 chambers, just make sure not to constrict water flow too much.

What I've ended up doing for mechanical filteration is attach one of those sponges to my Maxi-Jet intake. it's been working out well and I clean it every week, so far no nitrates problem. An idea to consider.

 

I love your set-up Sandeep. I have been "lurking" around on this forum for a week or two, and I have been closely following your set-up. I plan on doing something similar to this for a future 15-20 gallon AGA tank that I hope I can go buy the tank sometime this week. I am going to take off 5" wide off of a 20-24" long tank for the fuge area, and will probably divide it up into 3 sections. First is for the biological (filter floss?), second for the chaeto and LR, and third for my powerhead which I have bought already. If I decide to go with two sections, I will do Chaeto and LR in the first, with some LR, a heater, a possible filter, and powerhead in the second. Thoughts?

 

 

I'm using an EOS 20D with a 55mm macro lens. Shoot in RAW so that you can adjust the exposure in you raw converter. Also at high magnifications if shooting with extension tubes, camera shake becomes a big issue so be certain to use a tripod and a electronic cable release to avoid vibration of the camera due to the slow shutter speeds.

 

Wow, nice pics! What kind camera are you using? I borrowed my friend's EOS 5D w/ macro lens and extension tube, but my pics turned out blurry and dark.

 

 

Excellent, I'm curious to see what a 10 gallon looks like, please be sure to post a thread with pictures and let me know. It's great to link all of these variations so that folks can get creative ideas on what they can do and how this concept can be applied to different size tanks.

 

Hello Sandeep,

 

I am so delighted with your all in one design. that i have decided to build me one of the same design only diference will be that i will be running it out of a 10g top fin all glass with an AC 20 powerhead rated at 126gph. I hope this will be enough. I have already cut the plexiglass and attached the pieces to the tank creating the fuge. I am now waiting for the sealant to cure and then i can test water flow and tank structure. I then will add the water and live rocks in the coming week and friday upgrade the lights right now i have a 5100k CF screw on that fits the stock hood, also a Top Fin. If anyone has any comments or suggestions please let me know.

 

 

A

 

 

It's a good start, just remember to take it easy as you stock the tank, the smaller the volume of water, the more challenging it is to maintain a small reef, so don't rush.

 

Hey Sandeep, i have some pics in my post if you want to see them. no where near as good as yours though.

on a scale of greatness from 1 - 100, yours it around 99 - 100 while mine is around 5 - 10.

 

anyhoo, you should totally check it out and post some suggestions on what i should do.

[leo carvalho]

more photos plz

[midna]

My tank, clean up crew put in a few hours before this. I don't have a way to clean the glass so I used a gift card a few days after this pic . The glass lid needs cut and I should probably build a hood at some point. I don't have much time/$$$ for any of that right now so the glass will stay too big and the lights will sit on it as is.

 

[klarion]

Pictures are great. Blows away anything I've ever done. How do you get around glass refraction?

It seems that if I take anything that's not straight on at 90 degrees to the glass, I get muddy results. And if you don't mind one more question. What is your light sourse? Just the tank lights or an off camera flash??

 

Thanks so much. Great tank as is your 20G.

[Sandeep]

Another great tank with the same concept by member SF2K4 (Aaron)

see http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=149031

 

Regarding photography

To reduce glass reflections when photographing the tank, I turn down the room lights. Best to try shooting the tank as perpendicular to the glass as you can, the more you shoot down, the less sharp it gets. I shoot by the natural light of the tank for all my images although I have been meaning to experiment with a diffused off camera flash pointing down into the tank.

Edited March 8, 2008 by Sandeep