3 Foot Long Nano

[vlangel]

What a harrowing experience for him. That alone would cure me of jumping ever again!

[metrokat]

I saw the R2R feature. YOU BELONG TO US!

[no694terry]

i love this tank. it looks like it was all just purchased and put in there a day ago. BUT it wasnt, its been grown over 4 years and still looks perfect.

[Scorched]

i love this tank. it looks like it was all just purchased and put in there a day ago. BUT it wasnt, its been grown over 4 years and still looks perfect.

 

Sitting next to it almost everyday helps keep it looking it best

 

I saw the R2R feature. YOU BELONG TO US!

 

Im not going anywhere Those bigger tank boys need to see some of these smaller tanks once and awhile

[no694terry]

I hear ya, i sit next to mine 9 hours a day. Learned from my mistake using tap water, hopefully this new attempt can look like that in a few years

[Scorched]

I want to upgrade my stand and plumbing eventually. Im thinking new stand in a dark walnut, maybe black accents with a black quartz or laminate top (Something that is hard and doesn't absorb anything or leave stains). New hard plumbing with easy to turn ball valves. My two little fishes valve is still original, while still turnable, it is not easy. I'd also like to add a checkvalve to the system. When I turn off the pump I drain a lot of water due to my 2 low return lines. There isn't a barb checkvalve thats easy to clean so if Im going rigid I thought Id get the Georg Fisher Wye version so its easy to clean. Last but not least would be a DC return pump. Something to control the flow in my tank without relying on the valves positioning. This should also make feeding corals and fish easier if I can enable a feed mode and have it slow way down without turning completely off.

Some layouts I was trying. I started by doing all the corners with 45s but this doubled the amount of connectors and took up too much room. Here are 2 thats I've kind of been liking.





Same setup just fancier lookin'



After checking out the BRS Mini reactor that I was going to use for my media I noticed they can only be plumbed from Left to Right so both of these examples need to be flipped. In order to do either setup the drains would have to be on the far right. Sump on the right with and the reactors on the right side of the pump. The media reactors are located over the sump in both examples so when they are unscrewed any tiny bit of water that leaks out drips straight down. I don't lose a lot of water with my current setup. But it bugs me when there is a tiny pool of water I have to clean up when I put the reactor back together.

Let me know what others think and if there is ways to configure this in an even better way. I liked the idea of having the pump be external but I lose a lot of space for top off containers and other space for electronics and shelving for tools and food. Maybe small shelves and racks could be mounted to the doors on the inside?

[metrokat]

That's a lot of plumbing in a small space. I like the fancy orange though.

[JayPagi]

Looks great! It might be easier to change media in the reactors if they were side by side as opposed to stacked vertically. Once you leave enough clearance though it shouldn't matter.

[holy carp]

I think you could probably reduce the number of 90° elbows in the return line(s). They create a lot of unnecessary back pressure making the pump work harder. It would be a big difference in comparison to soft tubing. I think running it above the return lines at the top of the cabinet and bending or curving the pvc a bit might eliminate 4 elbows (2 elbows on each side).

[RollaJase]

Nice job on the CAD designs. Personally I'd go for the in sump pump design. Will help keep noise down but will sacrifice some sump space. Would give you more storage space in the stand also. As for the pump, I have a Jebao DC3000 and couldn't praise it more, the DC2000 is physically smaller I believe and could could suit your needs perfectly (depending on flow requirements)

[littlephish]

I think running the reactors side by side and the pump in the sump would work better, regardless of the direction of the flow.

[Bambi13]

Beautiful tank !!

[Scorched]

That's a lot of plumbing in a small space. I like the fancy orange though.

 

All necessary unfortunately. Tried to keep it as organized as possible.

 

Looks great! It might be easier to change media in the reactors if they were side by side as opposed to stacked vertically. Once you leave enough clearance though it shouldn't matter.

I think running the reactors side by side and the pump in the sump would work better, regardless of the direction of the flow.

 

Its a very tight fit to get everything in there. Side by Side does make sure the top canister doesn't drip or make a mess on the lower one when I unscrew it. However it almost requires the pump to be external as there isn't quite enough room to do both reactors and both valves and still have the vertical pipe going up. If the reactors used thin flexible tubing it could work but I'd prefer to stay uniform in the design.

 

I could always run the reactors one after the other and have both getting the same flow rate.

 

I think you could probably reduce the number of 90° elbows in the return line(s). They create a lot of unnecessary back pressure making the pump work harder. It would be a big difference in comparison to soft tubing. I think running it above the return lines at the top of the cabinet and bending or curving the pvc a bit might eliminate 4 elbows (2 elbows on each side).

 

This is actually something I thought about for the drains as I want them to have a smooth path to the sump to decrease noise as much as possible and have maximum flow. My Eheim and the new DC pump are going to be oversized for this tank already so a little back pressure doesn't mean much to me. I want to do almost everything in furniture grade PVC for the pipe and grey Sch 80 for the fittings. The fittings on the outside of the stand will be furniture grade black to match. If I can get a nice smooth bend without tiny kinks or ripples (even after the sand method) I might consider it.

 

Nice job on the CAD designs. Personally I'd go for the in sump pump design. Will help keep noise down but will sacrifice some sump space. Would give you more storage space in the stand also. As for the pump, I have a Jebao DC3000 and couldn't praise it more, the DC2000 is physically smaller I believe and could could suit your needs perfectly (depending on flow requirements)

 

Thanks. Im digging the insump design as well. I like the look of the pump being exterior but I lose so much more room for extra containers and electronics. The Jabaos aren't my style unfortunately. I'm really digging the calibration and settings of the Vectra and want it to work, but since Ecotech isn't making it compatible with an Apex Im hesitant. I'd rather go with the new Neptune Cor if it has similar functionality. It will most likely be cheaper too since its smaller and has less output than the M1. Its just taking a long time for it to come out.

[ReeferBoo]

Been following this build for a long time and it never fails to deliver, that video is breathtaking!

[Scorched]

Fooled around with the camera today.

Closing the aperture on my 1.4 lens to f4 and setting the speed to 1/100-400 really helped get fish and eyeballs in focus. This meant I had to really increase my ISO to 1600+ which isn't very good for a crop sensor but a little noise removal made them decent.

First shots of just coral were using an extension tube to mimic a macro lens. The fish were just using my standard 35mm

[markalot]

Always a treat to see updates to this tank!

[Kijho]

Those colors man, damn!!!

[TheKleinReef]

This tank is pure greatness.

I have yet to master fish pictures. I can get 1 mediocre shot out of 100 attempts.

[NYfishies]

Gosh your tank... you are my idle sir.

 

Also, your designs are sweet. CAD?

[Scorched]

This tank is pure greatness.

I have yet to master fish pictures. I can get 1 mediocre shot out of 100 attempts.

 

You only need 1. I probably like about 5% of the photos I take so its a little better than 1% but still that is a lot of garbage photos that I never use. Blurry photos, bad color, tweaking LED settings, white balance settings, forgot to change to custom WB after I changed it, focused on a background coral instead of a fish, etc

 

Gosh your tank... you are my idle sir.

 

Also, your designs are sweet. CAD?

 

I use Maya for work. I mainly do commercials and other short format videos in 3D with some visual effects compositing with live action footage. The models are still to scale but I didn't make them as accurate as a CAD designer would need to. Its just for seeing the rough idea of the layout, how much room things will take up if this goes here or there. And is great to count the number of fittings and parts need to make it for real if I do it.

[NYfishies]

 

You only need 1. I probably like about 5% of the photos I take so its a little better than 1% but still that is a lot of garbage photos that I never use. Blurry photos, bad color, tweaking LED settings, white balance settings, forgot to change to custom WB after I changed it, focused on a background coral instead of a fish, etc

 

 

I use Maya for work. I mainly do commercials and other short format videos in 3D with some visual effects compositing with live action footage. The models are still to scale but I didn't make them as accurate as a CAD designer would need to. Its just for seeing the rough idea of the layout, how much room things will take up if this goes here or there. And is great to count the number of fittings and parts need to make it for real if I do it.

 

Love it. Great ideas.

[littlephish]

 

You only need 1. I probably like about 5% of the photos I take so its a little better than 1% but still that is a lot of garbage photos that I never use. Blurry photos, bad color, tweaking LED settings, white balance settings, forgot to change to custom WB after I changed it, focused on a background coral instead of a fish, etc

 

 

I've dated and known photographers professionally and they say digital cameras are the downfall of true professionals because there is no cost to entry anymore. But, you are completely correct, take 100 photos and keep the 1 you like, hit delete on the rest. (Man am I glad i broke up with those women, spending hours giving my opinion on photos is actually draining ) I should also note, i don't really care how great mine look all the time as long as they convey what i need them to.

 

Great update btw.

[niQo]

The colors are unreal! This tank is still a favorite!

[metrokat]

That little angel fish is a cutie. Wonderful pictures as always. My phoenix montipora is steadily growing and I think of the one you lost often, it had fantastic colors.

[Scorched]

That little angel fish is a cutie. Wonderful pictures as always. My phoenix montipora is steadily growing and I think of the one you lost often, it had fantastic colors.

 

Yes it was so nice and yellow

One day I'll get a new one.