d'Espresso Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Nu Bonsai Reef Underwater 17.4 Gallon Mr. Aqua July 2011 Monthly FTS: January 2012 Experience My name is David and I have been fascinated by reef keeping for the past years. My last tank was a Solana 34 Gallon which some of you may have heard of or seen. I was moving away to another place and decided to break it down and take a long break from the reef hobby. Actually, I got to admit it! Yes, I have got the reef bug and it has been too long that I have not kept a tank in awhile, so now that I have settle down in my new place and working. I guess it's about time I get back into the hobby once more. Good news is I got my saltwater tank started cycling right after months of catching up on the new reef technology today trying to planning, reading and saving. My apartment place that I live in is small and the limit to keep a tank is under a 20 gallon. I have research for the perfect tank to experience but having a difficult time deciding on which tanks to work with. I finally decided to give this new popular company tank a try and so I made the purchase on a new 17.4g tank made by Mr.Aqua. So let’s give it a try and see how things will go. In Progress: The tank has been started cycling and waiting patience for 5 months in my frag tank. So I will be making the big move of all the corals to their new home. I am still waiting on some of the equipment but it should be here next week or anytime this week. Here are some details about the build: I will also be re-using some of my current equipment, and waiting for other new equipment to come in soon: System Specifications Display: Mr. Aqua Tank A-720 Aquarium Glass Tank * Dimension: 60x30x36cm * Glass thickness: 5mm thick * Volume: 17.4 Gallons Stand:Kitchen Cabinet Frosty White (re-modified) * Dimensions: 36"x12"x24" * Care and Cleaning: Wipe Clean With a Damp Cloth * Custom work: added mount legs, granite diamond white tiles, euro sliding doors, and diy lamp tree Lighting: Maxspect LED-G2-400-160wOverflow: (diy) Mame replica overflow by J-RankoFiltration: Aqueon Modular ProFlex Sump Filtration Model 1 with Filter floss, Nano-glo LEDs, Chaeto, and Chemipure EliteSkimmer: Tunze 9002Top Off: Autotopoff.com for Dual ATO with Aqualifter on timerReservior: 2.5 gallon jugHeater: 100 watt 100watt Ebo-JagerCirculation: Vortech MP10w ES (Reef Crest Mode @ 30%), Vortech MP10es (Reef Crest Mode @ 40%) Power Backup: Vortech 72 hour Battery Back Up Main Controller: Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Lite with Temperature and pH probeOther: American DJ PC-100A 8 Channel Power Strip with Lighted Toggles Goals I have decided that this thread will be my journal progress of the new reef garden system that I will be building most over everything and achieve those expectation goals on keeping a simple reef. However I am very fascinated about SPS and Acan corals, so my goals are to have a mainly dominated SPS reef with Paired Picasso clownfish. Besides the contents inside the aquarium I am trying to design an easy clean concept & modern, which compliments my apartment atmosphere. Hopefully everything will turn out good. Thanks for visiting my page and joining along the build. October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 The .. got me. Can't wait to see. Link to comment
Squared Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 nice it's looking nice. nice. Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 Cabinet Stand & Equipment Well, I have been working on my stand for quite a while. I like the look of an ADA stands but have been searching around town for a good stand build but there are nowhere to be found. So this is what I have came up with the cabinet stand to keep a clean look, like the ADA stands. I decided to go with white/gray to give it a strong appearance when looking at the tank and the surrounding area. I also wanted something easy excess, function, and sturdy. Here is the stand before and after. Before: I have redone the doors by adding the drawer sliding doors, this is a must have if anyone want to give it a stylist look for easy maintenance. The front cabinet doors is a little heavy so I went searching around for something easy access and found good quality stainless steel sliders that can carry the weight of the door. Also needed some that would extend 100% to allow me to access the front easy with a little push to the side. After a search I decided to go with this china brand from local hardware store. I went with a 20” size that will be used on the sliding door. This is what I am using: After: this is the result from the sliding door cabinet. The stand will still need some more tweaking before I do anything else. I want it to be sturdy and easy to move if I ever need to do something on the backside. I need to drill holes and add under cabinet LEDs light for easy viewing. I also will try to fit most of the equipment system to control everything inside the stand. It’s the main heart of the system. Link to comment
bwoodward0012 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 looking nice so far, i myself am considering this same aquarium. Link to comment
redkneecoral Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 wow, very impressive of what you are doing with the stand's door, awesome. I like the dems on the tank, will be lookingforward on seeing what you'll do next for sure. Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 Tank, Tree Lamp, and others Great News! The tank arrived safe with no dents or broken. i was very impressed with the Mr. Aqua wrapping and shipping. It took almost 20mins to under wrapped everything carefully out of the box and notice that the Mr. Aqua tank included a hanging tempt. I gently laid the tank on the stand to see how the tank looks sitting on top and i was very satisfied of the overall look! I also went ahead and install the American DJ PC-100A 8 Channel Power Strip with Lighted Toggles inside the stand so later on i can plan out how i am going to hide all my wires. The next project are the Lamp Tree mount. I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to make everything look as clean as possible. It seems that everyone else had some issues hiding the wires when hanging their lights. I use ¾ pipe about 74” long and cut them in half then, I bent them using a conduit bender. I use sandpaper to smooth out the rough surface from the pipe and give it a good spray paint on the pipes. I choose light gray for simple look. Then after everything dried I tested out the lamp tree by pre-installed on the cabinet stand and adjusted everything in place. I also use zip-ties to tie the light wires to one side of the pipe to hide away the wires from the light. Finally, mounted everything into the stand on the back and everything is done! This is how it looks after I finish the tree lamp for holding my light fixture. I also mounted the itso metal legs for the stand to give it 2" off the floor. After everything was done i installed my Vortech 72 hour Battery Back Up on the back for emergency purposes incase there is a power outbreak or hurricane in my area. This is how i installed in the back area. After everything was installed and mounted i put it in place where the tank will be sitting in the kitchen near my hallway. Please excuse the mess for which i am still figuring out where everything will go in place. i will try to accomplish the work little by little each day. I also need to do a leak test soon to see if anything possible will happen before i make the final call. Can't wait to fill her up! Next i will work on planning out the wires layout and how everything will go inside the stand. Will try to install the MP10's, LEDs, RKL unit. Link to comment
yoshii Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Looks nice, I really like the stand and sliding doors Going to be another great tank! Link to comment
Fail_sh3d Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Hooray! I didn't know you had a build! Looking awesome so far. Link to comment
bwoodward0012 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 lovin it. how does that knock off mame look? Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 looking nice so far, i myself am considering this same aquarium. wow, very impressive of what you are doing with the stand's door, awesome.I like the dems on the tank, will be lookingforward on seeing what you'll do next for sure. Looks nice, I really like the stand and sliding doors Going to be another great tank! Hooray! I didn't know you had a build! Looking awesome so far. Wow, i just posted up the update and i would like to thanks for all the kind comments, this really boost me up to try and finish everything quicker! Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 lovin it. how does that knock off mame look? FTS w/ fake mame? Overflow I did have the real Mame Overflow kit but the real Mame looks alittle complicated just because it is delicate glass. i am afraid my clumsy self might will drop it. So i got a great deal from one of the reefer here on nano reef. He was on the verge of moving so he have to take down his beautiful tank. He offer me the Mame(replica) that he had build, so i took the offer and try it out. I wanted to go another route and graduate from AIO to a Sump. This is my first time going with a sump. I don't like the look when drilling a beautiful tank like this so i decided to go with a Overflow and sump. Here are the example: Hopefully tonight i can finish laying out the wires and pumps so i can get this baby started soon. Can't wait to get off of work in a little while, my rocks and sump should arrive soon! Link to comment
Squared Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 wait didn't i post after that post? Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 i guess you did but i was editing some stuff, but yes i will try to get a FTS w/ Fake Mame later. I need to transfer everything over soon and just run it on HOB for now til i figure out how to install the Overflow to the Sump. You will not be disappointed! Link to comment
Squared Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 as in woot! yay im so excited! i think Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Sweet tank man, I really like it. I am going to be doing something very similar with the conduit pipe on my new tank ! Link to comment
MGDMIRAGE Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 as in woot! yay im so excited! i think Thanks Monkey Mr. Aqua's are awesome. I can't wait to get mine running. Link to comment
redkneecoral Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 you're doing a great job on this so far. Good idea with the conduit light stand mount. Have to keep that in mind. Link to comment
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