[Contest] j0hnny's Officially Unofficial 5.5 Gallon Contest Entry

[j0hnny]

Here's the obligatory contest entry photo for my entry. The last round of contest's are the reason I'm into reefing today. I loved watching the competition.

 

For the sake of keeping things competitive, I won't reveal too many of my plans yet. My goal is to win the Most innovative prize. This will be a full-on DIY heavy system, unlike anything I've ever seen. I will be a little later than most populating the tank with corals and critters, because I'm going to focus mainly on the hardware.

 

As of now, I'm planning to stock with LPS, and an assortment of macro algae. A few inverts to make things interesting too. I won't have the most, or the best reef, but I think it will be the most original and unique.

 

Regardless of what happens, Iook forward to competing with my fellow reefers!

 

[Falcon_Punch]

oOoOoOo. Cant wait to see this one!

[scottyreef]

are you running two tanks?

[Weetabix7]

I'm guessing he's running a 5.5g display and a 5.5g fuge.

[got2envy]

I can't take it...the suspense is killin' meh

[scottyreef]

I didnt think you could do that. I thought it had to be a either a 5.5 or a10 gallon stand alone tank

[got2envy]

you can use a fuge, but it's not free like the main tank..it gets taken outta the budget

[Weetabix7]

I didnt think you could do that. I thought it had to be a either a 5.5 or a10 gallon stand alone tank

 

You can do that, but you have to include the cost of the tank for a refugium, if you use one.

You can do sumps, fuges, and all the modding you want as long as you can do it on the established budget, and as long as your display is a stock 5.5g or a stock 10g.

[scottyreef]

well shoot i should of bought two 5.5's drilled them and put a closed loop on them. well its a little to late now

 

sorry about the thread hijack

[spanko]

Tagged for future updates.

[Monkfish]

Its great your joining up man best of luck.

[j0hnny]

Weetie is right, I am going to run one as fuge, and one as a display. The secret is going to be the fact that the fuge will be sitting to the side of the display. I'll have to replace the lack of gravity (which normally occurs when one tank is above the other) with innovation. I'm still too nervous to drill glass in a tank, so I'll be replacing the bottom of both tanks with ABS plastic, which is easily machineable. If I can pull it off the way I expect to, all plumbing, wires and hardware will enter and exit both tanks through the bottoms, concealed by a base. If I can accomplish my vision, the two aquariums should appear to be sitting next to eachother with no visible indicators that they are attached.

 

This wouldn't be too hard to do if one tank had a lower water level than the other, but that would look tacky. I plan for the face of both tanks to be filled to the brim.

 

This all depends on my ability to augment gravity and atmosphere pressure with the right combination of plumbing and pumps under $15 each! =) Time to brush up on my fluid dynamics - where did I leave that book?

 

I'm letting the secret out of the bag now without pictures - because it will take me a while to figure it all out. If anyone else decides to try this method, it will be known that it was mine first. I'll post Sketchups and photo's when I get a working model.

 

Thanks for tuning in! I hope to live up to the exspectations I just set!

[Weetabix7]

I tried that once, except I connected them at the top.

[Ryan_H]

hmmm interesting... if your plan works i'd have to say you have my vote for "most innovative" so far.

[j0hnny]

hmmm interesting... if your plan works i'd have to say you have my vote for "most innovative" so far.

 

Thanks man, I appreciate the thought. We'll see if it works or not! I was awake all night wondering how to pull it off, and it came to me in a nap. I think I have it. If it works, it will be overly simple, but cool as heck. Fingers are crossed, hoping I didn't mis-calculate.

[j0hnny]

I tried that once, except I connected them at the top.

 

Weetie,

 

No kidding? Were you able to maintain equal water levels in the two tanks, or was one lower than the other at all times? If you have the time to explain,or send pics, or a link to that project, I'd love to learn more about it.

 

Technically speaking, if it can be done over the top, it can be done underneath... unless I'm completely missing something. Water seeks it's own level whether it siphons or pools, but by going underneath you eliminate the risk of a siphon break.

 

I'm technically working right now. I probably won't start the build until this weekend unfortunately. Luckily I should have enough bio material (rock, substrate, algae, water) from my other system to get this one rolling quickly. My disply will probably be less mature, due to a slower start than everyone elses. Although the extra water, and water quality due to a fuge may give me an advantage. There's only one way to find out.

[j0hnny]

You can do that, but you have to include the cost of the tank for a refugium, if you use one.

You can do sumps, fuges, and all the modding you want as long as you can do it on the established budget, and as long as your display is a stock 5.5g or a stock 10g.

 

What if the fuge tank was less than $15? Does it still count agains the budget? Both tanks after tax came to $28 and change.

[BibleSue]

Here is my prop tank set up like hers was.

 

 

I have 2 U-tubes & the water level is even. Also safety net in case 1 gets an air bubble & fails, maybe the other one won't.

 

U-tubes with return hose threaded behind them. I am using a MaxiJet 1200 in the last chamber of the fuge for a return.

[pismo_reefer]

omfg! i cant wait to see this tank setup! go, johnny, go!

[JKUNZ]

PM sent, let me know if you can't view the image>

 

-J

[JKUNZ]

Yep....jOhnny's tank is gonna be sweet. It's been confirmed.

[j0hnny]

Thanks for the support, and ideas guys!

 

 

I'll be doing something sort of like Weetie's old setup, but more like the set up JKUNZ PM'd me. Rather than a siphon over the top, I'll run a PVC or ABS tube underneath the two two tanks, connecting the rear chambers. Each tank will have a complete false wall for a waterfall effect into the rear chamber. Then I will have two identical pumps Maxi-Jet 404's (already have them I use them for water changes so I don't have to siphon - $13 each!!) One pump will live in the back of each chamber, pumping to the opposite tank's display. I have some spare Loc-Line that I bought for my Deuce Deuce tank (see that thread - I bought some of everything because I didn't know what I needed) which will come up from the bottom of each tank. Basically the display, and the fuge will be identical to eachother. Other than the fact that one will have a heater in it (Already have that too - Tetra 50 watt - from Walmart. I think it was about $13 or $14 too - it's in my nano-cube.)

 

It may sound complex, but once it's built I think it will be overly simple. The only way for a flood would be if the large diameter PVC tunnel were to get clogged. I don't plan on having anything in the tank big enough to clog that.

 

The real difference between the two tanks will be which type of light is over it!

 

As far as lighting goes - I have an old 24" Current USA dual Satellite 50/50 PC fixture that I'm gonna gut out. I think I can mount a shallow 70watt halide bulb/reflector in one half of the fixture (over the display), and the insides of a 12" Current USA Satellite 50/50 PC lamp in the other half of the fixture (over the fuge.) To keep it clean, I'd like to use some extra larger diameter loc-line to support the light fixture over the tanks, giving me the ability to adjust the height and angle of light over the two tanks.

 

Hopefully I'll be able to route all power cables out the bottom of the tanks too. This would give a 100% clean external with no components, tubes, or wires hanging out of the tanks. I'm thinking of adding a tube out the back, which is open, and taller than the back of the tank where power cables can route through, but is tall enough that the water won't siphon out through. Either that or I'll be siliconing 110 power cables through the bottom of ABS sheet praying it won't leak... I'll cross this bridge when I get to it.

 

Icing on the cake:

To help with hitchiker identification, I'd like to add a webcam, so people can track progress in real time from around the world. I'm undecided if the webcam will be mounted outside, or inside one of the tanks yet.

 

Would a webcam have to come from my budget? I have one now, but it's big, I'd like a smaller one. Webcam will be a nice to have, added on later most likely. If I have any budget left for corals...

 

I'd like to stock some Acan's (Aussie, and a Japanese Maxima), and maybe frag my favia and blasto to stock this tank with. I'm more worried about pulling off the hardware right now, than I am about stocking it.

 

I'm excited to get started!

[BibleSue]

Sounds like quite a plan! I've got my eye on you! Wish I was able to do something that complicated! Be careful about the budget. I think I am going to plan out my stocking options before I finalize my tank format. Now I'm off the the LFS to trade non-brown coral for LS!

 

[JKUNZ]

This should be sweet.....how much LR u planning in each???

[j0hnny]

Sounds like quite a plan! I've got my eye on you! Wish I was able to do something that complicated! Be careful about the budget. I think I am going to plan out my stocking options before I finalize my tank format. Now I'm off the the LFS to trade non-brown coral for LS!

 

 

We'll see if I can bring it to life! It actually won't be THAT expensive. If I went with dual PC lights rather than PC/Halide, I could free up about half the budget. Halide might be overkill for LPS, but the cool factor may be enough to add some SPS... My theme is to focus on hardware and figure out livestock later - opposite of how one would design a normal tank I think. I may only have the budget left for a single zoa polyp or a mushroom if I'm not careful. Most parts in this set up should be under the $15 threshold - other than lights and corals.