Burmeseman's budget 8 gallon nano reef ( ADA -45P knockoff )

[soeminpaing]

I was inspired by Totm winners on nano reef forum and that drive my desire to set up a nano tank. On the other hand, I dont want to spend a ton of money. So I decide to go cheap by doing some diy. I bought an ADA knockoff tank made by Yiding, a chinese manufacturer rumored to be OEM of ADA tanks in the past. The tank dimension is 45cmx 30cmx27cm which approximately hold 34 liter of water. 

 

Here is the current tank info. I will keep on editing this as the tank develop.

 

Tank – Yi Ding curve glass ( 45x27x30 ) cm  around 8.5 gallons ( Net volume – 7 gallons) with DIY compartments and loc -line return nozzle.

Return Pump – SOBO 600L/hr

Light – DIY LED ( Cree XTE 12000k x 6,  Cree XTE 450 nm x 4 ) driven at 650ma & (Philips Rebel 470nm x 6, Cree XPE 450nm x 5 ) driven at 300ma

Skimmer – Bubble Magus NAC QQ

Wavemaker – Jebao RW-4

Refractometer – BRS refractometer 

TDS Meter – HM TDS-3 TDS meter

Salt – Marinium Reef Sea salt

Salinity – 1.025 @ 28 C

Temperature – 27-28 C

Top off - manual 300ml daily

 

Soft Corals

Pulsing Xenia

Zoas ( Zoanthus sp )

Toadstool Coral ( Sarcophyton )

Discosoma Mushroom

Rhodactis Mushroom

Green Star Polys ( Pachyclavularia sp. )

 

LPS

Brain Coral ( Lobophyllia )

Button Coral ( Cynarina )

Torch Coral ( Euphilia Glabrescens)

Flowerpot Coral ( Goniopora sp. )

 

SPS

Forest Fire Digi ( Montipora Digitata )

Pink Birdnest ( Seriatopora Hystix)

Radioactive green Birdnest ( Seriatopora sp. )

Cauliflower ( Pocillopora Damicornis )

 

Fish & Invertebrates

Bangaii Cardinal x1

Tailspot Blenny x1

Trochus Snail x2

 

Full tank shot ( 6 Dec 2017)

[soeminpaing]

I decide to make an internal compartment that can hold skimmer or media rack and a return pump. I use 6mm white acrylic sheet and cut the pieces using cnc router from a signboard shop. I used acrylic cement to bond the front plate and baffles. And then glue to the glass using silicone.

The finished tank, I use 1/2 inches loc line nozzle and 600l/hr pump for the return

[soeminpaing]

Testing for leak and everything held up nicely. The skimmer is a bubble magus nac qq rated for 100L tank and fit snugly in the first chamber.

[soeminpaing]

It is time to start the rockscape. I use D-D aquascape epoxy and superglue gel for bonding the rock together. Rocks are some tonga mixed with the rocks I collect on the beach.

[soeminpaing]

Unsatisfied with both the color and spectrum provided by my 50/50 white:blue 12W par38 led, I decided to build a DIY led using 50W CreeXTE 4blue, 6 white coupled with 6 cree XPE royal blue and 5 philips blue 470nm. I also add 5730 warm white led strip. Running these leds at 30% of their power made the fixture runs really cool. I used old cpu heatsink and aluminium square tube for heatsink. 

[Lula_Mae]

Nice start!  I'm a little jealous of your DIY skills! Rockwork is cool.  What do you plan to put in it?

[kimberbee]

Nice tank! 

[soeminpaing]

1 minute ago, Lula_Mae said:

Nice start!  I'm a little jealous of your DIY skills! Rockwork is cool.  What do you plan to put in it?

Thanks, I decide to try sps. I have never kept such a small tank before and keeping sps in it is going to be an epic adventure for me

[mbarton2010]

the rock work is awesome!

[soeminpaing]

I got a stainless steel stand for the tank and add some tube to hang the light. Cost me round 30$. 

That's how the tank look with the stand and lighting.

[yungKitten]

Very cool project. 

[Type-H20]

Cool build.  What par bulb?

[soeminpaing]

12 hours ago, Type-H20 said:

Cool build.  What par bulb?

If you are referring to the par38 bulb that I have tested on before switching to DIY LED, it is a 6 blue, 6 white  12 watts cheap bulb from ebay. I suspect the blue is more like 460-470 range instead of 450 royal blue and the color seems washed out. 

 

[soeminpaing]

After cycling, started adding gonio and a few sps.

[GregEmmitte]

I dig the aquascape

[soeminpaing]

Recently added corals and some update shots.

[JR!]

what a beautiful little tank. cant wait to see it grow in. 

[GregEmmitte]

Looks great

[soeminpaing]

Just diy a magnetic single frag holder for future corals.

[soeminpaing]

Got myself an illumagic x-mini. It is quite good but I am satisifed with my current DIY Led, so for now I am saving it for future project.

That's how Bubble magus nac qq skimmer perform on such a small tank. Very easy to tune and really consistent in producing skimmate.

[Lula_Mae]

On 7/19/2017 at 5:54 AM, soeminpaing said:

Just diy a magnetic single frag holder for future corals.

Neat frag ring, but is the metal coated?  Don't want it to rust or otherwise leach metals into your tank!

[soeminpaing]

On 7/20/2017 at 9:01 PM, Lula_Mae said:

Neat frag ring, but is the metal coated?  Don't want it to rust or otherwise leach metals into your tank!

Magnet is encased in the acrylic.

[soeminpaing]

Feeding the brain. The clowns are temporary residents. A friend is upgrading his tank so I am keeping them for a while.

[soeminpaing]

The clowns are back to their owner and I am left with just a bangaii cardinal. So a new resident was offered to take the place of the clowns. Corals are growing and thriving. I think the skimmer play a great role in keeping the water clean since I usually change water once a month. 

 

[oysterk]

Tailspot Blenny?