Jump to content
Premium Aquatics Aquarium Supplies

20xL mixed rimless - SELLING?


d9hp

Recommended Posts

Great work by the way. the buttons are a great idea and i agree with a lockout for them in case of kids or bumps. Have you done any mods to the AC as far as a fuge or housing for the heater?

THANKS! Yeah I decided to ditch water change code. I just got really terrified of giving the controller ANY code that had it turning off the main pumps without any real watchdog correction and I'm not much of a programmer so I couldn't think of a better way. No AC mods. I was considering a fuge and the heater is too long so I'm going to try and cover that up with my scape. We'll see...

 

The remora fits perfectly (height) on the back of a 20 Long. Only thing I'm curious about is how your hood will play with it. The one picture of the hood looks like it wants to lay on the rim of the tank all the way around, but the Remora has a pipe coming out of it that is going to demand some clearance above the lip of the tank.

 

Cool build, following along.

 

The canopy is going to hang from the ceiling via thin galvanized steel cabling. There's about 2" of clearance between a support rod in the canopy and the remora pipe. I would have finished last night but one of the two ceiling anchors I bought broke in half while I was installing it. Yikes. The remora fits AGA 20L perfect but this one is only 10" high so it hangs below some, but there's support on the stand as I knew this would be an issue.

 

Thanks! Love your tank...lots of inspiration was derived from your thread.

 

Awesome build dude... Matching and shanzzy!!

 

Thanks! Almost there...

 

nice work bro doesnt diy just feel so much better... did you water seal the inside... i used some johnsons water seal worked perfect

 

DIY is a blast and this was really my first piece of furniture so it was a really big ordeal. I did seal the inside with some old deck sealant I had leftover from a recent project.

 

--Rock should be in soon. Ordering sand today and I'll probably add water Monday night. I don't want things to run unattended all weekend until I've seen it in action for a few days and I'll be on vacation the entire time.

Link to comment
  • Replies 789
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Hello everyone. I'm really really excited to bring you good news. The build is complete.

: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

I'm exhausted. I began planning to do this in early June while I was working in California and wanted to have it finished and running before school started back here in NC -- go pack! School started about 2 weeks ago...so I'm not too far behind considering all that I've gotten done.

 

I didn't realize that my "new aquarium" was going to evolve into roughly 5 different large scale projects but it has...and thats just fine. I'm really glad that it turned out essentially exactly how I wanted it to. I was patient, which is something I'm not....ever.

 

I live with two roommates and the controller was built to mainly keep the tank from needing so much maintenance and keep me out of the living room unless I was there to enjoy it. Also, the buttons on the side of the tank are for feeding and a little 'movie mode' which turns off the lights and both cascading power filters -- to eliminate noise.

 

Thanks for everyone that helped me along the way. If anyone is interested in anything just ask or PM me. I have the code for the controller and I'd love for someone else to find a use for it. The tank is really exciting me. I have rock and sand on the way and I'll add water and will begin my cycle after my vacation this weekend.

 



I hope that this tank will mature into something even just half as impressive as many as the ones on this website.

4949523982_44d72c4ae0_z.jpg

 

THEY WORK!

 

Slowly moving...

4948934597_1bf604c7b8_b.jpg

 

Controller finished and tested...thoroughly:

4948934661_1eedcc6725.jpg

 

Danglin'

4949524572_5b17eaa4c2_b.jpg

 

SO BLUE:

4948934953_5daa291644_b.jpg

 

Tidy:

4948934783_4c5d0dbbf9_z.jpg

 

READY FOR THE DAY!!!

4948934075_484379bea5_b.jpg

 

 

 

 

Comments and suggestions always welcome and appreciated folks...

Link to comment

What kind of LEDs are you using for this setup? I am using 3w Cree XP-G's on my 34 gallon solana (24 of them), and even with my tank being 20 inches deep, I had the fixture 12 inches above the top of the tank and the corals were getting bleached at about 70% power (dimmable meanwell drivers). I then turned down my LED's to 60% power and raised the fixture to 14.5 inches above the top of the tank and my corals are ridiculously happy now.

 

The reason I ask is because it looks like your LED's are only about 4-6 inches off the top of your tank, and if you were running 3w Crees....you should only keep them at like....30-40% power. You should borrow a PAR meter if you don't have your own and make sure you don't have them set on too powerful a setting.

 

Nice build though, I like the choice of stain and tank size.

Link to comment
What kind of LEDs are you using for this setup?

 

The reason I ask is because it looks like your LED's are only about 4-6 inches off the top of your tank, and if you were running 3w Crees....you should only keep them at like....30-40% power. You should borrow a PAR meter if you don't have your own and make sure you don't have them set on too powerful a setting.

 

Nice build though, I like the choice of stain and tank size.

 

 

I'm using 3W Crees. 26 of them! I hope they're not too bright! I have dimmers on them down on the control box so I can't probably dial things in a bit. The LEDs themselves are recessed a bit up in the canopy so they're right at 7-8" from where the water line will be. I'll be sure to keep an eye on things once I start stocking it though. Thanks for the heads up!

Link to comment

Great job on the stand and canopy!! What kind of wood did you use to skin it, and what color stain is that? I'm planning a new tank myself and intend to build my own stand and canopy as well. I'd like to get the color to match basically identical to what you've done.

Link to comment

That looks amazing, Johns rock is great. Rinse it REALLY good before setting up. I got 35 pounds and the scape in my tank is about 25 pounds of his dry rock and 3-5 pounds of LR from LFS. What kind of sand are you going with?

Link to comment
Great job on the stand and canopy!! What kind of wood did you use to skin it, and what color stain is that? I'm planning a new tank myself and intend to build my own stand and canopy as well. I'd like to get the color to match basically identical to what you've done.

 

Thanks so much! I hadn't ever really spent that much time on a piece of furniture and I really like how it came out.

 

The stain is red mahogany with a satin poly. Not gloss. My hardwood floors are glossy and they're the highlight of my place so I wanted this to be a bit more muted. Thanks again. The stand is skinned in .25" oak. I wanted birch but the home depot didn't have enough pieces in acceptable conditions.

 

That looks amazing, Johns rock is great. Rinse it REALLY good before setting up. I got 35 pounds and the scape in my tank is about 25 pounds of his dry rock and 3-5 pounds of LR from LFS. What kind of sand are you going with?

 

I got 30lbs because of their free shipping special so hopefully I can use at least 20-25lbs of it. I'm going to get about 5lbs from the LFS and see where things go. I got 40lbs of sand from Marco Rocks...$30 shipped to the door. We'll see where things go. I'm being really patient so I didn't want to spend the money for the live stuff. Seeding will work just fine for my schedule!

 

Thanks! Can't wait to get the rock in.

 

this is such a great piece of work so far...it will undoubtedly be an amazing tank.

 

I sure hope so. I've spent far too much time thus far. I really appreciate it drift. We'll see where things go!

Link to comment
Thanks so much! I hadn't ever really spent that much time on a piece of furniture and I really like how it came out.

 

The stain is red mahogany with a satin poly. Not gloss. My hardwood floors are glossy and they're the highlight of my place so I wanted this to be a bit more muted. Thanks again. The stand is skinned in .25" oak. I wanted birch but the home depot didn't have enough pieces in acceptable conditions.

 

 

I thought it looked like oak, thanks for the info.

Link to comment
nice work dude

 

Thanks man!

 

Someone just couldn't wait....(I said I was patient when I built it...not when it was finished!)

 

 

 

 

 

Dustin's 20L Reef. Established 09/02/2010.

 

An order of magnitude earlier than expected. (in days).

 

Sweetness. I'll have fish by halloween.

post-53441-1283472676_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Hows the water clearing up, We need better pics :D The one of the tank wet is a teaser shot :lol:

 

Things were clear when I came back! I added about 6lbs of LR on Friday from a nice tank at the LFS and this afternoon I added a snails. Hopefully I won't have to do too many water changes to keep things happy for them. I hope to add a watchman goby in the next month or so...I'll be watching my parameters. Right now they are as follows:

 

PH: 8.0 -- may need a buffer?

Amm: 0

Trates and trites: still 0

SG: 1.024

Temp: incredibly steady at 79.5

 

Anything I need to change?



4965115568_6cf791f2f3_b.jpg

 

I'm still waiting on some dry rock to come in so this is reallllll temporary.

Link to comment

Was the sand live sand or dry? You shouldnt have too big of a spike with 6 lbs live, especially is sand was live. I hear crushed aragonite sand i good at naturally buffering the PH. I wouldnt do any water changes during the cycle unless things get incredibly high which they shouldnt with dry rock. Sometimes a water change will slow down a cycle, But I dont see you having too long of one. When i cycled

Link to comment
Was the sand live sand or dry? You shouldnt have too big of a spike with 6 lbs live, especially is sand was live. I hear crushed aragonite sand i good at naturally buffering the PH. I wouldnt do any water changes during the cycle unless things get incredibly high which they shouldnt with dry rock. Sometimes a water change will slow down a cycle, But I dont see you having too long of one. When i cycled

 

 

The sand was dry...I got it from marcorocks.com. I only used about 25lbs or so of their box of 40. I ordered it Tuesday afternoon and it was on my porch Thursday morning. Well packaged...and really pretty. I like it a lot....but now I have to be patient.

 

The rock I got looks really good...it's just small broken pieces but there's good coraline and a pretty solid colony of what looks like tube worms?

 

 

Okay sounds awesome! Thanks! You plan on fragging those rics in the next couple of months? I have about 30 places for one ;)

Link to comment

Dry sand becomes "live" with very little time so its no big thing, some say live sand is a gimmik kind of like purple-up. The piece of LR I "seeded" my tank with was covered in coraline when I bought it but the light bleached it out and the crap ass Instant ocean salt I used had laughable calcium levels. I hear good things about IOs reef crystal, but the LFS was selling the sea mix and saying it was ok for reefs and acted like I was wrong when I was having calcium and Alk. probs and blaming it on Mg levels. I have been using Tropic Marin pro for the last 2 months or so and calc. it 400 dead on everytime I test it before water changes. That sucks your rock isnt here, when I ordered from john it was here in 2 days USPS!!!(not to rub it in) so its not a reflection on reef-cleaners I wouldnt think. Any livestock plans, I ask because burrowing animals like pistols, jawfish ect. should have a solid scape on bare glass, then fill sand in around it to prevent a topple, because they will make a subway under the rocks.

Link to comment
Dry sand becomes "live" with very little time so its no big thing, some say live sand is a gimmik kind of like purple-up. The piece of LR I "seeded" my tank with was covered in coraline when I bought it but the light bleached it out and the crap ass Instant ocean salt I used had laughable calcium levels. I hear good things about IOs reef crystal, but the LFS was selling the sea mix and saying it was ok for reefs and acted like I was wrong when I was having calcium and Alk. probs and blaming it on Mg levels. I have been using Tropic Marin pro for the last 2 months or so and calc. it 400 dead on everytime I test it before water changes. That sucks your rock isnt here, when I ordered from john it was here in 2 days USPS!!!(not to rub it in) so its not a reflection on reef-cleaners I wouldnt think. Any livestock plans, I ask because burrowing animals like pistols, jawfish ect. should have a solid scape on bare glass, then fill sand in around it to prevent a topple, because they will make a subway under the rocks.

 

The only worry I have is a watchman goby I plan on getting. I'm getting a baby baby from the LFS because they always have them in. I'm going to try and move the rock down to the glass in most areas so it doesn't pose too much of a threat.

 

Found a new LFS nearby that has some really great livestock but it's a bit pricey. We'll see how things work out!

Link to comment

First off, beautiful, beautiful build!!!! However, buy a smaller heater and throw it in the back of your filter. It's smackdab in the middle of your tank or buy some more live rock and hide that sucker!. Are you running media in the filter?

Link to comment
First off, beautiful, beautiful build!!!! However, buy a smaller heater and throw it in the back of your filter. It's smackdab in the middle of your tank or buy some more live rock and hide that sucker!. Are you running media in the filter?

 

Thanks!

 

Haha I was waiting for some hate mail about that giant ugly heater! I have about 30lbs of dry rock on the way (I don't plan on using it all, don't worry about that either) and it should be totally hidden. I'm going to move it down+left and try and make two large islands. One should cover the aquac's surface skimming box (as my temp one does now) and the other will hide the heater entirely.

 

I plan on using the filter for media and it's where I dose and the ATO line is fed to. I'm a firm believer in trying to keep my hand out of the tank as much as possible so that gives me some form of abstraction from the fish house.

 

Thanks again

Link to comment
starting to come together pepper!!!!

 

 

Thanks! I can't wait to see that branch in your new tank start to fill in

 

Nice setup.

 

 

Thanks a bunch.

 

--------------------------------------------------

 

So...some lame news. Still no dry rock. The first package was apparently damaged in transit but I never got a tracking number and this one didn't have my apartment number on it and it got rerouted to another address UPS had on file and then intercepted (I'm assuming the shipper saw the funky address and corrected the original with the apartment number).

 

So...roughly three weeks later I'll have my rock! In lighter news...the tank is really looking stable with the controller I'm running. I top off about 30 times a day because the airlifter just trickles water into the AC70 for about 30 seconds, just enough to pop the float switch back up. The salinity stays ridiculously stable.

 

Still no am, trite, or trate. pH is right at 8.0. I think I might need a buffer for the pH

 

I plan on getting a bag of those pods to seed the tank and start dosing phyto really slowly to fire some life up. We'll have to see. Any advice on this?

 

Oh I did find $5 in my parking lot today...so all hope isn't lost!

 

I'm still a week away from my original water date so I can't get too flustered!

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions


×
×
  • Create New...