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Innovative Marine Aquariums

Mark's 150 (NanoBox Retro)


markalot

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Hey I have the same stand on my 40B! Had no idea haha. Hopefully you can get this thing running and well on it's way by the end of the summer

 

Ha, yea, Petsmart special. I like the height but the shelf picks up dog hair, salt creep, stuff I've never seen before.... need doors to hide entire mess!

 

If you don't mind, I'm going to live vicariously through you. My disposable income has been diverted to the fraglet, so I'm reduced to this. :lol:

 

Yea, the yougins eat money like it's baby food. I have teenagers now ... I might throw one in the tank one of these days.

 

 

Lol big tanks :) make me happy.

 

 

 

Let's hope I don't eff it up somehow. :)

 

I just bought over a hundred bucks in sand. :blink: My reef savings account is almost done.

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How are you going to aquascape?!

 

Very carefully! :D

 

Don't know yet. I'm still looking at my rock options. I like dropoff ... aka wall of corals, and I like the more attractive bridge and cave type of scapes. I have this fuzzy vision in my head of one side being dropoff like with my SPS being at least 10 or so inches off the bottom, then dropping off to more scattered and deeper where I keep my LPS.

 

I also came up with the island in the middle to stick the SPS up in higher flow.

 

post-76713-0-97535400-1403092020_thumb.png

 

So far I don't like anything yet. There are so many nano reefs here that use a very small space very effectively yet I can't seem to come up with anything satisfying with 25* the space.

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Birthday presents!

 

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So the LFS near where i work, the one I normally get my dry rock from, is closed; changing owners. Perfect timing.

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Sand arrived yesterday. I ordered smaller bags to keep from hurting my back. 8 - 15lb bags of special grade. My plan is to slowly move most of the 40's sandbed over to this tank, taking all the critters and muck as well.

 

I'd like to get this scaped and full of water ASAP (I need the tank first!) so I can do a slow cycle with the transferred sand and perhaps a rock or two while I'm working on the electric and cleaning up the sump area. I need to read more about how other people have managed this and how safe it might be to a single small fish. I don't want to cycle with a fish, but if I can bring enough bacteria over via sand and rocks it should be enough to keep a single small fish safe while the tank slowly stabilizes. I'll be feeding the sandbed with reef roids which has always worked to rapidly increase pods and worms in the 40. In the 46 this hasn't worked and I believe it's due to the smaller grain size, which is why I chose the same sand I used in the 40 for this tank.

 

In freshwater I would always take an old filter pad and rinse it out in the new tank, with all the muck and crap clouding the water, and then place the pad in the new tanks filter for a month or so to help seed the tank. I've got a few pads stuffed in the HOB filter of the 40 right now to try this with the new tank. I figure I'll rinse it out in the display, and then place the pad in the sump for a few months.

 

Hell, for all I know I might get this thing started and then do the transfer of rocks and sand fairly quickly. With transferred sand, some live rock, a bacteria product, and dosing Prime I've never had any issues .... yet.

 

First shipment of Marco Key Largo rocks arrives today and wow, the order directly from Marco will arrive tomorrow, I expected it Monday. Will I cut out some cardboard the size of the tank and start scaping, or wait patiently until the tank arrives Sunday?

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Go go Marco rocks. My order directly from them via free FedEx shipping will arrive Saturday. I was expecting Monday. So I'll have 150 lbs of rock by Saturday and no tank yet. :blink:

 

I doubt I use more the 100 lbs, but I figured it's worth paying for more variety since I usually end up buying rocks one by one later down the road anyway and my local rock source is out of business.

 

Oh, and for those that followed the AEFW fisaco in both my other tanks ... this was the store where I confirmed I got the worms from so this might have cost them some business if others figured it out. Too bad, they were nice folks and no one deserves AEFW.

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I was able to see the tank this evening, it will be delivered tomorrow morning now, before the store opens. Grabbed one of the plumbing kits which is nothing more that a Durso style standpipe and return pipe. I went to Lowes and learned more about plumbing and fittings than I ever wanted to know.

 

I have no clue if I have what I need or if I want to hook it up with what I have, nevertheless I have.

 

5 feet of 1" PVC which slides snugly into the bulkheads. I am assuming I have to glue the damn thing which makes me nervous.

 

Numerous fittings to go from a slip fitting to a crimped (whatever it's called) fitting so I can attach either a sump hose for the drains, or flexible tubing for the pump feed. 1" slip to 1 1/4" threaded, male or female, or 1" threaded to 1 1/4" crimped for connection to the sump, or down to 3/4" crimped for the return. GAH!

 

Anyway, I confirmed the tank has a single center brace across the middle and the stand is in fact 34 1/2" high, which means the top of the tank will be above armpit level. Sucks for reaching in, but fantastic for being able to see into the tank without crouching down.

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I have all the plumbing parts I need now. I'm going to put unions below the tank on both the drain and supply so if I decide to make any major changed I can detach at the union.

 

Installed the Marineland Durso pipes, tightened 1/2 turn after hand tight, and then filled the overflows with water to test for leaks. I learned the durso overflow is not glued (on the tank side) and most people feel like it should not be glued. If a slip fitting leaks it will leak slowly and worst case the sump fills, or overflows, with the contents of the overflow and not the entire tank. Seems risky, but I did not glue them.

 

I still need a pump to help drain the tank, especially the overflows. Going to try and buy the cheapest 700+ GPH pump I can find for this, and to help with water changes. I'm leak testing with tap water so it all has to be pumped out prior to filling the tank with RO/DI.

 

I bought a two step stool to help reach the bottom of the tank. :)

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jedimasterben

I didn't glue the Durso pipe in my tank, either. You want it removable in case you need to get at it to clean it. I've never had it leak before, and if you notice that yours does, you can wrap a layer of teflon tape around the pipe.

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NirvanaandTool

I used threaded bulkheads (& fittings) for my reef ready overflow that way everything is removable. But ya, no glue on the inside if you've got slip fittings. You want to be able to change out the standpipes or take them out for cleaning.

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Looks great Mark. This is a similar size to what I want/need eventually except mine will be a bit shorter and deeper front to back.

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Looks great Mark. This is a similar size to what I want/need eventually except mine will be a bit shorter and deeper front to back.

 

Thanks. I really wanted deeper but this tank just barely fit through the biggest door we have. I think I can manage with 18" and rocks touching the back in a few spots but enough space to maintain good flow.

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Finished the dry fit and changed water in all 3 tanks. Boy are my arms tired.

 

kubr.jpg

 

Leak test still going well, no leaks at the bulkheads even though I was dry fitting and twisting the pipe.

 

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The Maxspect Razor is hung and I'm going to have to change my lighting plans. It's over the center of the tank and producing OK PAR, but I'm just not sure if I'm going to be satisfied or not.

 

pnhgk.jpg

 

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This is with glass lids closed but no water. My plan was to add the 27" Razor as well but things do not line up as I wanted and it looks like crap off center.

 

These are uncorrected PAR readings with the light 8.5 inches above the glass, 90 degree stock lenses, and both channels at 100%. If those numbers hold well with water then SPS can certainly do well half way up the tank with lower light corals in the sandbed. I have tons of supplemental light options in the form of 24" and 36" BML strips.

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Could you not return the big one and buy a 27" and space them more accordingly to get sides better

 

Well,

 

the corner overflows are pretty big and if I was using 2 - 27" lights re-positioned better between the center brace and the edge I would be throwing a significant amount of light into the overflow.

 

I think I can like the way this is working. I have about 40" of 300+ PAR space in the middle and enough PAR near there to grow my montipora and pocillapora. I may have to lower the fixture to increase the PAR, which I would have to do with 2 fixtures as well. The edges will have to be the lower light corals I have in the 46. I have so many light strips it's obscene and I think I will want to supplement the edges regardless. If the 27" razor is put over my 29 then I will have:

 

3 - 24" BML strips

1 - 30" BML strip

2 - 36" High Output BML strips

2 - AquaticLife 1W LED fixtures

1 - 24" Current Orbit Marine fixture

1 - 36" Current Orbit Marine fixture

 

Not to mention my 4 Aquatic Life 36" T5HO fixtures, 3 of which are attached to each other.

 

Someone locally is going to get a great deal on some lights when I finally decide to get rid of most of these.

 

All that said, I still might end up fitting the 27" over this tank if I can find a way that looks decent.

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Took a half day vacation today and got the plumbing done, then filled with freshwater for the leak test, which went well. A few minor drops from the crimp connections, all fixed. Boy am I glad I kept my Python from the freshwater days.

 

527ry.jpg

 

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I used a pond pump to empty the sump into the display, and the python to empty the display. Then I thought what the hell, and dumped the sand into the display and made a heck of a mess so the Python could suck it out while draining. Finally once emptied I put a bunch of rocks in, moved them around, moved them around some more, smashed my fingers, pinched my fingers, cut my fingers, but did not break the tank. :D

 

jfmt.jpg

 

Meh. I've got my rocks sorted anyway, so I can think about the scape and move some rocks around. I have to make sure and leave space for rocks that will be coming over from the 40 as well, so I think I will be removing some of the top rocks and keeping the rest mainly the same. No rocks touching the glass, plenty of room in front and on the side. But I'm still meh about it.

 

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Great progress Mark.

 

Lol my wife told me last night that once we have a bigger place with room I'll "get a big tank, right? So we have room for cool stuff?"

Who is she and what has she done with your wife?

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Apparently I do not have a skimmer on order. I made the order, I entered my credit card number, but I never received a confirmation email and I was never charged. I sent a message to SWC and am awaiting a reply.

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Apparently I do not have a skimmer on order. I made the order, I entered my credit card number, but I never received a confirmation email and I was never charged. I sent a message to SWC and am awaiting a reply.

Probably forgot to hit submit. This has happened to me a couple of times ordering pizzas leaving me hungry and confused only to go back to my screen and see there was an additional confirmation I did not know existed.

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