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HCSCEO's DIY AIO 10G Frag Tanks *Schematics added 9-4-2008


hcsceo

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I have enjoyed following your tank builds, Steve. What a great job you've done. Many kudos. I'll definitely keep watching this thread. This is so much fun to watch these tanks come alive and see them grow.

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I have a little secret... I'm getting ready to replace my office 3G picotope with a AIO 10 Gallon with foam rockwall surrounding the entire back and fuge side. Keep your eyes out for that one :)

 

Steve

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'll try and get some pics up tomorrow. I just started putting my frags in one tank over the weekend. The other tank has a little GHA in it so I'm waiting for that to die off. so far so good. I will need some additional flow and am planning to order some Korilia nano's to fix that problem.

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  • 4 weeks later...

sorry guys I've been really busy at work transitioning to a new mail server. My wife is pregnant and with three little ones at home my life has been on cruise control. I really need to take some pics soon. I've installed a DI unit in line with my RO system over the weekend. I've been plagued with hair algae in all my tanks and I've decided the last thing to try is better water. My TDS readings at the faucet are 480, after RO I was at 18, and after DI I'm now at 0. Hopefully this will solve my problem.

 

I've got some really nice peices in the tank now and as soon as they get larger I'll take some pics. I've added Kor Nano's to both tanks and water movement is really good now. I've also added glass tops and the evap is better and temps have been more stable. I'll get pics up soon.

 

Steve

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  • 1 month later...

I'd love to see some updated photos!

 

I'm putting together the materials to do a 10 g SAIO as well. The acrylic should be here today and I'm waiting for the shipment with the mj900. Your template is going to be invaluable!!!! You mentioned you put glass tops on to help with evaporation. Does that little half inch piece along the top of the acrylic cause issues with that glass top or do you have it laying over the tanks as opposed to "in the rim"? Do you use a specific acrylic blade on your table saw or will any blade do as long as its 1/8" thick and you go slowly? Oh, if I didn't cut my acrylic with that little half inch strip at the top, would I only need to make the overflow slots 1" instead of 1 1/2"? Sorry for playing 20 questions but I don't want to mess this up. LOL

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I'd love to see some updated photos!

 

I'm putting together the materials to do a 10 g SAIO as well. The acrylic should be here today and I'm waiting for the shipment with the mj900. Your template is going to be invaluable!!!! You mentioned you put glass tops on to help with evaporation. Does that little half inch piece along the top of the acrylic cause issues with that glass top or do you have it laying over the tanks as opposed to "in the rim"? Do you use a specific acrylic blade on your table saw or will any blade do as long as its 1/8" thick and you go slowly? Oh, if I didn't cut my acrylic with that little half inch strip at the top, would I only need to make the overflow slots 1" instead of 1 1/2"? Sorry for playing 20 questions but I don't want to mess this up. LOL

 

Hey Jenna. My glass is in the rim but only over the dispay area. From the acrylic to the back of the fuge it is open. I did that to help with oxygen transfer. You could cut two peices of glass one for the main display and one for the fuge if you wanted the entire thing covered. As far as the blade I used a normal fine tooth blade and cut it like any peice of wood. It is very easy to cut. Just cut it the same rate you cut wood. If you have a table saw I'm sure you know to make sure the blade is set to extend just past the top of the peice you are cutting so that the blad can cool. If you don't extend it the acrylic up then you would only need 1" slots. However, I strongly advise that you make the height go to all the way up to the top level of the tank. What will happen is the water could come over the top of the acrylic unless you go to the top. One modification I would make is to attach a simple square of egg crate to the bottom of the opening going from the main fuge to the return area so that cheato or other stuffs don't get sucked into the return area. I put rock rubble in mine to cover that area so there isn't an issue, but if you are building a standard reef I advise not adding any rubble to the fuge as this will trap stuff and become a Nitrate factory. Just run the cheato and Purigen or whatever in the back. I built a third tank like this for the office and it looks really nice. We painted the entire back and left the fuge side open to get light. The tanke really looks nice as a reeftank. In either case you will need more flow in there. I would suggest a Koralia Nano. Hope this helps. Glad someone is building this :)

 

Steve

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

LOL. Yea today was the first water change I've done on these two tanks in 3 weeks. It is a mess. Yes they are full of frags. I'll get some pics up as soon as it looks a "little" better.

 

Steve

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Yep I did water changes Monday night. I'm doing another tonight and one more on Sunday. Things are already looking much better. I should have pics up Monday.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Did the racks bow when you put weight on them and fall off the shelves?

 

Not at all. I have each of my racks filled with 8 - 2x2 travertine tiles with frags on them so there is a good bit of weight on each one. That eggcrate is so ridgid at that length that it would break before it bent enough to fall off the sides. This system of removable racks has really worked well and made tank maintenace very easy as I can move the racks around while cleaning.

 

Steve

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 8 months later...

Ok, well here is my first post on this site, but I absolutely love this layout. I am helping my younger brother build this exact tank (taken from your 15gal tutorial). Now I want one of my own, but just as a frag tank like you are doing here. The design is very cheap but very effective, keep up the great work! and Thankyou for the pdf! cant wait to start my own.

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  • 1 month later...

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