DIY CW pico tank

[jbowser]

Well I am currently cycling my first SW and first pico tank, it will be a mixed reef.

 

But I'm very fascinated by CW anemones (I live near the north sea) and I was just wondering how I could build a suitable CW pico tank.

 

Regarding size I'm thinking 2g, made of acrylic.

My main problem is how thick should I make the acrylic.

I was thinking about 5mm all round and 10mm front panel or would a double panned front panel isolate and avoid condensing better? The doubled panned front panel would be made out of 3mm acrylic.

 

I'm currently building my own chiller with a TEC and some aluminum heatsinks, but I'm waiting for the TEC right now...

 

I know that anemones need dosing/feeding, which means high load and that keeping a pico stable is very difficult, so I will also try to build a nano protein skimmer.

 

Currently Mikeguerrero is also in the process of setting up one of his 2g tanks with an ice probe chiller in a HOB filter, so I'm curious to see whether he will have issues with condense.

 

I hope you can give me some feedback, but keep in mind this is just something I would like to try in the not so near future;)

 

Jbowser

[AquaticEngineer]

Make the tank out of as thick of acrylic as your can afford/find, 1 inch is best.

 

You can use a calculator online to find out the specific dew point for your area. ( ie: if your home remains a constant 68F year round with very low humidity you can get away with using thinner acrylic)

 

Depending on the species of anemones you want to keep, you can probably just spot feed them and have very little waste. But a skimmer is always the best option.

 

Mike will probably have condesation develop on the HOB filter since those are generally very thin cheap plastics.

 

Iceprobes aren't really designed to take temps down for the long term and keep them down. So it will probably be running non-stop and shortening the life of the unit. Most thermal electric cooling devices will at best drop ambient room temps by 20 degrees. (This only applys to the older iceprobes, the TEC-45 on an undersized tank would work)

 

I was going to use a thermal electric fridge as an auto feeder since they are so small, the down side was if my garage was 100 degrees during the summer that meant the inside of the fridge was at 80 degrees, thus spoiling all the food inside without a doubt, so I send it back and used a compressor based mini fridge.

 

I looked into doing something similar a while back and the end result was a 1" thick acrylic tank with small coast to coast overflow like an AIO tank, except drilled in the bottom of the filtration area to allow for a closed loop that the chiller runs on. Try and find a used 1/10 or 1/13 horse chiller and tuck it into a stand.

 

Or use an oversized TEC device with a really thick tank, in a temperature stable environment.

[jbowser]

Well the TEC I ordered is a mere 40W, so I will probably need to upgrade to a bigger version (although I will make a proto chiller with the 40W)

 

Would I need 25mm acrylic if I used some extra insulation on the sides,back and bottom of the tank? or could I use thinner panels and only make the front panel like 15 or 20mm thick? or 5 or 10mm double panned? Cause a tank made of 20mm or 25mm would cost way too much for my liking...

Wouldn't a mini fridge be overkill on a 2g tank?

 

My local LFS is currently trying to see if he can find strawberry and waratah anemones, those are the anemones I would like to try (waratah is my first choice).

 

Jbowser

[AquaticEngineer]

Well the TEC I ordered is a mere 40W, so I will probably need to upgrade to a bigger version (although I will make a proto chiller with the 40W)

 

Would I need 25mm acrylic if I used some extra insulation on the sides,back and bottom of the tank? or could I use thinner panels and only make the front panel like 15 or 20mm thick? or 5 or 10mm double panned? Cause a tank made of 20mm or 25mm would cost way too much for my liking...

Wouldn't a mini fridge be overkill on a 2g tank?

 

My local LFS is currently trying to see if he can find strawberry and waratah anemones, those are the anemones I would like to try (waratah is my first choice).

 

Jbowser

Yes you can go with a thick front panel, or dual paned viewing panel on the front and thin acrylic with insulation over them on the other sides if you are not wanting to see throight them. That is a good cost efficient way to do it.

 

What dimensions of a tank are you wanting to do and what viewing sides do you want to have? You could always go with a top down tidepool style tank and use scrap 1" acrylic for sides. (this is my next diy tank, since the local acrylic shop almost always has scraps of thick acylic that are perfect size for a small top down tidepool tank) Check your local acrylic shops and see what they have laying around, you'll be suprised at the deals you can get if your doing small tanks.

 

Also, I will have Strawberry Anemones (Corynactis sp) as well as most other Northeast Pacific fish and inverts for sale January 1st. PM me for details.

[jbowser]

I'm thinking of 12x8x8" with a build in filter section, so the display will be something like a 7" cube (because of the thick acrylic), that is pretty small... Won't those nems outgrow that?

 

I don't like the tidepool idea (rather a shame of the viewing experience (will be on my desk)), but I will certainly ask around the local acrylic shop (if I can find them though) for some pieces!

 

My first choice would be a 3 side viewing tank, but that means using 25mm, so I will probably settle for a 1 or 2 side viewing tank which has better isolation on the other sides.

 

I thought that the scientific name of strawberry nems was actinia fragacea? But those corynactis sp look very nice too! I don't think shipping is possible though..., I live in holland (europe) so shipping them will take rather long (no idea how long)

 

Jbowser

[AquaticEngineer]

Strawberry anemone is a general term applied to alot of red or pink anemones. The corynactis strawberries I have are native to the northeast Pacific and only get the size of a quarter. They. grow in large patches.

 

Shipping them wouldn't be a problem since they are small.

[jbowser]

Thanks for the heads up on the strawberry's

 

When I was thinking all I needed to make the tank as low maintenance as possible , I started doubting the need for an ATO. Correct me if I'm wrong, but because the water temp of this tank will most likely be much lower then the ambient temp, hardly any evap should occur?

 

Jbowser

[AquaticEngineer]

That's correct you should have almost no evaporation, especially if the tank is covered. I top off more from my Skimmer than I do as a result bof evaporation.

[jbowser]

I think my little electronics order with all the parts I need to start building my chiller will arrive today

I have a proper heatsink and fan and I'm going to order laminating epoxy and thermal grease.

 

The last part I still need to order is the probe, I can buy an aluminium rod or a copper rod, they will be coated with homemade thermal epoxy (mixing epoxy with thermal grease).

 

Aluminium is much cheaper so I could get a bigger probe for the same money.

What do you guys think?

 

Jbowser

[johnamon]

Hi Jbowser,

 

I'll be really interested to see how this develops, I work as an engineer on deep sea dive vessels in the north sea (we have video monitors showing what the divers and ROV's can see). Some of the anemones in the North sea are fantastic reds and purples, some of the best anemone colours I have seen.

 

I'm just not quite sure how you'd get the anemones from the sea into your tank!

 

Keep us posted...

[jbowser]

I'd love to make a north sea biotope, but I dont know how to collect amything interesting... I will try to find something like waratah's and some sort of strawberry nem.

 

For now I will have my hands full with building my chiller and my version of the rkl.

I'm also waiting what my local acrylic shop has for scrap pieces, hopefully that will lower the cost of the tank...

 

Jbowser

[AquaticEngineer]

I'd love to make a north sea biotope, but I dont know how to collect amything interesting... I will try to find something like waratah's and some sort of strawberry nem.

 

For now I will have my hands full with building my chiller and my version of the rkl.

I'm also waiting what my local acrylic shop has for scrap pieces, hopefully that will lower the cost of the tank...

 

Jbowser

I'm excited to see what you come up with

 

You actually got my gears turning on a similar idea again. I was trying to make a nano coldwater tank, but do it in thinner acrylic as a zero edge so that you wouldn't have to worry about the condensation at all. I couldn't get it level enough or polished enough to flow over all 4 sides evenly last time. Maybe I'll just buy a pre made acrylic cube this time and modify it into a zero edge, or have a shop build it for me.

[jbowser]

Currently I'm still waiting for some parts to build my chiller.

 

But I was wondering how to cycle a CW tank? I've heard it takes months instead of weeks, so does that mean that the first wc will have to wait that long too?

 

Any pointers on this subject are greatly appreciated!

 

Jbowser

[AquaticEngineer]

Currently I'm still waiting for some parts to build my chiller.

 

But I was wondering how to cycle a CW tank? I've heard it takes months instead of weeks, so does that mean that the first wc will have to wait that long too?

 

Any pointers on this subject are greatly appreciated!

 

Jbowser

If you are starting from nothing it will take quite a while. Try and get some already cycled water from a cold water tank, or cycle it at 60 - 65 and then slowly drop it down.

[phattypeeps]

I think you guys are way overestimating the thickness of the acrylic you will need.

 

If you are only holding 2g of water and running a chiller, than 1/4" acrylic will more than support the water pressure and the added insulation value you will get from thicker acrylic will be nominal at best.

[AquaticEngineer]

I think you guys are way overestimating the thickness of the acrylic you will need.

 

If you are only holding 2g of water and running a chiller, than 1/4" acrylic will more than support the water pressure and the added insulation value you will get from thicker acrylic will be nominal at best.

 

Its not about pressure or insulation, its more about having a greater temperature difference between what our water temp is and what the outside of the acrylic is. Its all to prevent condensation build up on the surface of the acrylic. If you can guarantee that your inside home temp will remain stable, and your humidity will always be low, then you can use thinner acrylic and not get condensation.

 

You can use a dewpoint calculator to figure this out.