EVOreef

[748S911]

its been forever since I've had a nano, and been on nano-reef. this is where it all started for me tho a long time ago...heres what I got so far. 

 

It's been a few months with out a reef tank since I moved. I can't set up a large tank, so this little nano will have to do for now. 

after the tank is up and running for a while and everything starts to settle in, I will convert it to an sps dominate reef. Im keeping it ultra simple, chaeto, marine pure, and water changes every 2-3 weeks. after tank is mature I will think about dosing 2 part cal&alk.

Specs:

Tank
Fluval EVO 13.5

Mods:
covered vents on chamber 1 - left one vent open to flow into chamber 2
covered hole in center
cut 18x11 piece of abs for bottom of tank
black egg crate diy rear compartment for chamber 1

upgrades:

Lighting upgrade 
Dsuny led 22"
120mm fans x3 

Return Pump upgrade
Ehiem compact 1000 (future upgrade)

Circulation
Jebao CP-25 (future upgrade)

Bio media
filter floss & chaeto in chamber 1 (will use led that came with tank for fuge)
marine pure bio balls in chamber 2

ATO- (future upgrade)

Dosing unit- (future upgrade)

here are some pics of current progress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ReeferWade]

Cool setup, really excited to see this one come along. Can I ask what the ABS on the bottom is for? Just to protect the glass? 

[Tigahboy]

Welcome back to the world of nanos!  Looking forward to seeing this set-up wet!

[748S911]

thanks, I love this little tank already lol.  abs is to protect the glass, It will be a bare bottom tank.

[748S911]

1 minute ago, Tigahboy said:

Welcome back to the world of nanos!  Looking forward to seeing this set-up wet!

thanks tigaboy, blast from the past lol.  me too, I can't wait.....my lights come in tomorrow and hopefully the hot knife I ordered on amazon comes soon so I can perform plastic surgery on the hood lol

[Tigahboy]

18 minutes ago, 748S911 said:

thanks tigaboy, blast from the past lol.  me too, I can't wait.....my lights come in tomorrow and hopefully the hot knife I ordered on amazon comes soon so I can perform plastic surgery on the hood lol

Nice to see a fellow '04 reefer!  🙂  I'm trying to get back into the hobby myself after a super long time away.  Crazy how much this hobby has advanced.  

[748S911]

9 minutes ago, Tigahboy said:

Nice to see a fellow '04 reefer!  🙂  I'm trying to get back into the hobby myself after a super long time away.  Crazy how much this hobby has advanced.  

It is crazy...I remember the days of 50/50 power compacts with the 4 pins lol. I can't even imagine 16 years from now what reefing is gonna be like.  That piece of dry Alor rock is from my nano cube in 2003.

[Tigahboy]

Wow!  That rock has seen some things.  😂

[748S911]

Lol, sure has. Unfortunately in all theese years of reefing that’s not the only dead coral skeletons in my closet 🤦🏻‍♂️

[Christopher Marks]

Hey welcome back @748S911! 👋

50 minutes ago, 748S911 said:

It is crazy...I remember the days of 50/50 power compacts with the 4 pins lol. I can't even imagine 16 years from now what reefing is gonna be like.  That piece of dry Alor rock is from my nano cube in 2003.

PC Bulbs !❤️ I fired up an old 27w 50/50 power compact bulb in my old aquarium junk collection a few weeks back, it's amazing how far we've come LOL. Remember the buzz of the ballasts? 😄 

 

I like the sound of your new nano reef plans, SPS dominant will be cool. What was your last aquarium like before you moved?

[748S911]

8 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Hey welcome back @748S911! 👋

PC Bulbs !❤️ I fired up an old 27w 50/50 power compact bulb in my old aquarium junk collection a few weeks back, it's amazing how far we've come LOL. Remember the buzz of the ballasts? 😄 

 

I like the sound of your new nano reef plans, SPS dominant will be cool. What was your last aquarium like before you moved?

Thanks good to be back. I totally forgot about the buzz, but I remember it now lol.  

 

My last tank was a miracles 6’x3’x3’ about 300 gallons, mixed reef with tons of fish.  

 

This little build should be lots of fun. 

 

[pricewayne]

Looks great!!

 

What material did you use to cover the "in-chamber" vents separating chamber 1 and chamber 2?

I'm putting my DIY egg crate basket together and am thinking I'd like to match the chamber 1 media basket from InTank. I'm sure you've seen them, but the chamber 1 basket actually blocks the upper vents between the 2 chambers (to help push the water top down through all 3 media areas) -- looks like you may be doing something similar? Wondering what sort of plastic I should use to imitate.

 

Here's link for reference to InTank chamber 1 basket:

https://www.amazon.com/inTank-Chamber-Media-Basket-Fluval/dp/B0716K5ZMM/ref=asc_df_B0716K5ZMM/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198102114124&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9370563025603599195&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1014390&hvtargid=aud-643330155750:pla-351013406588&psc=1

[748S911]

I'm using abs plastic from amazon, very easy to work with. I used an acrlyic cutting tool to score, bend and break pieces off.  

 

Got some black aquarium sealant to glue it in place. I will add two beads of sealant (flipped upside down L shape) to make it watertight. The back vents aren't sealed so water can still flow through a little.  

 

The vent on top was to make it easier for me to change out filter media and replace when gets dirty. I didn't want my filter floss in middle where I would have to take out egg crate to change the floss. I will have a tiny zoo med micro pump on bottom of first chamber for circulating to help chaeto grow.

Install Bay 89-00-9032 ABS Plastic 17x21x1/8-Inches

Zoo Med MicroPump 104 Submersible Pump

[748S911]

now that I'm thinking about wouldn't hurt to add another micro pump in 2nd chamber too for the marine pure bio balls. keep every suspended and moving in those back chambers.  still under cost of buying intank version and custom to my needs. 😀

[pricewayne]

11 minutes ago, 748S911 said:

I'm using abs plastic from amazon, very easy to work with. I used an acrlyic cutting tool to score, bend and break pieces off.  

 

Got some black aquarium sealant to glue it in place. I will add two beads of sealant (flipped upside down L shape) to make it watertight. The back vents aren't sealed so water can still flow through a little.  

 

The vent on top was to make it easier for me to change out filter media and replace when gets dirty. I didn't want my filter floss in middle where I would have to take out egg crate to change the floss. I will have a tiny zoo med micro pump on bottom of first chamber for circulating to help chaeto grow.

Install Bay 89-00-9032 ABS Plastic 17x21x1/8-Inches

Zoo Med MicroPump 104 Submersible Pump

Awesome, thank you!!

I need to pickup more zip ties from Home Depot later today so hopefully can find some abs plastic while I’m there. Really want to get this basket done today!

[748S911]

get the 4 inch ones 100 count

 

[748S911]

This is how im gonna use the stock light for my fuge, prob gonna use velcro strips for easy removal while servicing rear chambers.

 

 

 

 

[Tigahboy]

Very nice!

[748S911]

just finished sealing up the first chamber, also here is a pic of what the hood will look like with 3 RGB 120x120mm cpu fans to keep it cool. I can add up to 10 if heat ever becomes an issue with only three doubt it tho. ordered two small micro pumps and black velcro too.

 

 

 

 

[748S911]

couldn't wait for hot knife, just used the Dremel. not pretty but did the job, hopefully fans and led will cover most of the rough edges if not im using black electrical tape.

 

 

[748S911]

updates

 

Micro pumps added to rear chambers.

 

Ordered ice cap 1k for display and a jebao wp1500 for return (400gph) this little nano will have max out put of 1500 gph, that's 125x 😳 

 

my leds came in, wow Im super happy with this $149 DSUNY LED... its got ton of lighting options, grow, color,frag, storm, cloud, 4 seasons, lunar cycles...everything you need wow!

 

RGB fans are cool too lol. my tank looks like something from tron now 😂 

 

I still need to finish it all up, but should be ready for a fresh water test run by Sunday!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tigahboy]

Those Tron lights are sweet, dude!

[748S911]

@Tigahboy RGB fans are way cool, that's what happens when your on amazon too long looking for cpu fans lol

 

the DSUNY LED fixture is amazing tho. the program modes are sick 149 bucks with low profile in love 😍

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[748S911]

 

 

so I got my leds on mode vivid color for coral coloration with lunar cycles and clouds and storms on.  the moonlights are AMAZING! have the purple blue vho look....love that. can't wait to catch a storm or cloud effects down the road. maybe I should hook up my go pro 7 and do the time lapse function tomorrow...🤔

 

 

[748S911]

Wet run test- 

 

 ice cap 1k gyre running- wow! It’s amazing, mini ocean 🌊 everyone should have one in their setup. Perfect flow, quiet, and powerful.... have mine set at 30 percent. 

 

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return pump- was way to strong (returning it)