"Project Fortune Cookie" is a go!

[Legion]

Thanks for taking the time to check out my first saltwater tank. I've had many freshwater tanks over the years and was always into SW tanks, but was told they were too much work. The name for my project came to me when I was eating dinner one night & opened my fortune cookie. This is what I found inside.

After looking through the rubble I found my answer I've been looking for! Time to get my first SW tank. LOL!

 

I went to my local fish store and found this tank pretty cheap. It was sitting where they keep their junk tanks. All the fancy Biocubes & Nano's are well lit and some full of coral. No lights or fancy skimmer, just a basic fish tank. I had to build my own light setup and that is where the challenge was.

Its a clear for life tank. I fell in love with the hood, but what about lights?

I had a biocube 29 hood from an old tank. Had the old tank running for a week, but the apartment owner pulled the plug on that project. Told me it had too many gallons & she was afraid of water damage should the 29 bio fall. She was ok with a 10 gallon. I gutted the old hood and cut & drilled the lights to my new hood.

I upgraded the fan on the exhaust side. I bought a quieter one for that side. I kept the stock fan because of the air flow it sucks in. I cut a hole on both sides of the hood & installed the fans on each side. Then I made a base to screw on the lights on the new hood and all the wires. I also added another light for more output. It was a pain in the $%#, but here is a picture of it done.

 

I painted the back of the tank black. This was the easy part.

 

Thanks for looking. I have more pictures to come. Next I added live sand & rocks. Also added a filter & powerheads. Have a goodnight everyone.

[BKtomodachi]

looks good!

[Legion]

looks good!

Thanks BK. It took a couple of days & my trusty Dremel, but I got it done. Thank God for J-B weld. LOL!

[qbical]

lookin good and VNJ on the retro hood fit

[Legion]

I found a picture of the light output. Right now I'm running 80 watts of light for 10 gallons of water. Hopefully its enough to keep my coral alive.

Sorry the mess, I was still putting the hood together.

I bought the wooden stand from Target. I didn't want to spend to much on it. I bought live sand & started filling it up.

I used the slow & easy fill up method, so no sand storm.

I bought my live rock from a friend of mine that has his own fish store. He gave a great price.

What could be in the bag? Maybe rocks?

 

 

Little nano size rocks.

 

 

Its my first time designing a reef, so please be nice on me. I just wanted it up and running so fast that I just threw the rocks together. There is no glue or epoxy holding it together.

 

 

I purple rocks I just threw here & there. I don't really care about the color. I just thought the round shape was cool.

 

 

Let me know what you think about my tank so far. Have a good day everyone out there on NR.

 

lookin good and VNJ on the retro hood fit

Thanks qbical. I'm going to take some pics of the sides, so you can see the fans. Everyone likes that none of the screws are showing on the outside of the hood. It pretty much looks like if the hood came that way from the factory.

[scottyreef]

it look very nice how much rock did you buy? you might need some more live rock in my opion

[Legion]

it look very nice how much rock did you buy? you might need some more live rock in my opion

Thanks for the comment. I bought about 10 to 12 pounds. The purple rock were the heavy ones. I wanted more rock, but everyone that sell coral around me keep have them living on big rocks. So I wanted to keep room for some coral.

[Legion]

1:3 - And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

 

 

 

Now let the game begin....I know, I know, its BRIGHT!

[mwieczorek43]

Your tank is looking really promising! Keep up the good work.

 

What kind of filtration are you planning to use? any at all?

[Cam198]

A+++

[Legion]

Your tank is looking really promising! Keep up the good work.

 

What kind of filtration are you planning to use? any at all?

Hi Mwieczoek43, right now I'm using a hang on back filter. Its a Aquaclear 30 with a sponge, carbor filter pad, and a Poly filter on top of everything. I have no skimmer. My tank is really small. With sand & all the live rock, I have 8 gallons of water in there. I do a water change every week because of the heavy feeding. I should have more pics up soon.

 

A+++

Thanks for the comment. I really want one of those clams in my tank, but I have read that they don't do well under PC's. Damn my small tank!!! LOL

[singmealullaby]

i will be following project fortune cookie. lol. i can tell it's gonna look great.

[kthehun89]

the only fortunes i get are the "spicy pork is not really pork"

 

looking good

[Legion]

i will be following project fortune cookie. lol. i can tell it's gonna look great.

Haha I had to go with that name. Hopefully I'm the only one on here with that title. LOL!

 

the only fortunes i get are the "spicy pork is not really pork"

 

looking good

 

Don't tell me its rat Kthehun89? I'll still eat it & wash it down with some beer. Hahaha. Thanks for the comments everyone.

[Legion]

Here is a picture of my green plate in my tank. It has to be my best one so far as coral goes.

Here I have a orange ricordia I got for $10 bucks. (Small little guy)

Another picture with the 10K's on my green plate.

Enjoy the pics everyone. Have a goodnight.

[Hinecken]

how long has the tank been up and running?

[Legion]

how long has the tank been up and running?

Hi Hinecken,

Its been up for a few months. I cycled it and had to go through the algae outbreak & other little bumps. I was using drinking water as my top off & I had a nasty red slime outbreak. I switched to RO water from my local fish store & the problem went away. After all those little set backs, I'm putting stuff in little by little. I also had some trouble getting the right kind of flow in the tank with my 2 powerheads, but now I found the sweet spots. (No dead spots) Running 2 nano Hydor Koralia's in my tank.

Everything tested out perfect.

The powerheads have been moved around, but here is a picture of one of them in my tank. Now I have them on the back of the tank.

 

Have a good weekend everyone.

[Prowland]

I really love those tanks!

 

You should look for a larger HOB filter to hide the heater in.

 

I am a fan of your choice in stands as well.

[Legion]

I really love those tanks!

 

You should look for a larger HOB filter to hide the heater in.

 

I am a fan of your choice in stands as well.

Thanks for the kind words. I love the little stand. The finish is pretty good so far. The heater is a little bit of a eye sore, but I was in a hurry. I was thinking of getting the 150 hang on back filter to replace my 30 aquaclear model. We will see what happens. I'm going to my LFS right now. Time to go look at stuff WAY out of my price range.(coral in the $2,000 to $4,000 prices range) LOL. I buy the little crappy coral from the bottom of the display tank. I call them the Outkasts! Take care everyone.

[Hinecken]

Keep up the good work, I'm loving the tank. You really should figure out a way to get that heater out of there. Personally I'd hang an overflow box on the back and hook up a sump.

[Legion]

Keep up the good work, I'm loving the tank. You really should figure out a way to get that heater out of there. Personally I'd hang an overflow box on the back and hook up a sump.

I like the idea of an overflow, but what can I say, I'm lazy. I don't want to drill the tank or add anything at this time. I just want to keep it simple. Filter, heater, powerheads, and lights. I love my simple tank.

Stuff has come & gone, but here is the Fortune Cookie.

 

Sorry about my cheap cell phone picture. Let me know what everyone thinks so far of my cookie.

[Hinecken]

I like the idea of an overflow, but what can I say, I'm lazy. I don't want to drill the tank or add anything at this time. I just want to keep it simple. Filter, heater, powerheads, and lights. I love my simple tank.

Stuff has come & gone, but here is the Fortune Cookie.

 

Sorry about my cheap cell phone picture. Let me know what everyone thinks so far of my cookie.

 

There's nothing wrong with lazy! look HERE, no drilling necessary. I've used them before and they work great.

 

Edit: or HERE .. check out the nano sized one.

[Legion]

There's nothing wrong with lazy! look HERE, no drilling necessary. I've used them before and they work great.

Those look pretty sweet. I might have to do my homework & pick one of these up. Thanks for the link Hinecken.

[I Ate A Cake]

Love your tank.

 

Argh, if only I had enough room for a Pecr Clown, Firefish, YWG and Six-Line Wrasse in my 10G. Can't decide...Maybe a Pecr and Firefish.

[Legion]

Love your tank.

 

Argh, if only I had enough room for a Pecr Clown, Firefish, YWG and Six-Line Wrasse in my 10G. Can't decide...Maybe a Pecr and Firefish.

Hi PerculaClown,

I'll tell you that my clown named Nemo number 9,455,001 (girlfriend named him ) & my firefish (Marlin) get along just fine. When feeding time comes around, they go crazy & fight over the food, but after that its all good. I want to get one more little fish, but I know that might be pushing the limit on such a small tank. I'm happy that my corals are doing good & my clams. Thanks for the comments too. It really means alot since this is my first SW tank.