Jared’s 365 challenge - new uns 40c

[ef4life]

Starting out with a dry, cheap 5.5g glass box. I’m trying to stay very cheap on this build using mostly what I have laying around.

 

One of my favorite condiments happens to be whataburger ketchup. Fresh delivered today since I was out or this would have been posted earlier 😅

 

 

[seabass]

15 minutes ago, ef4life said:

I’m trying to stay very cheap on this build using mostly what I have laying around.

I'm on the same page.  Good luck!

[ef4life]

Since this is an all in one challenge, I need to build the filtration area, and being a cheap budget build, I’m going with something I have laying around. Travertine tile. I quickly put a couple pieces through the wet saw  and built a wall, divider for the overflow and return pump area. And I cut a piece out for the bottom of the tank. I want to go barebottom with this tank and the travertine will hopefully give me a sandy bottom look until it’s encrusted with corals and coralline. 

 

Used a hot razor blade to trim the plastic rim where the overflow is going so I can build a media tray or something. 

 

 

1 minute ago, seabass said:

I'm on the same page.  Good luck!

Lol I’m trying to stay cheap, then I just spent $150 on amazon for stuff😂

[Smurf]

Best of luck! I look forward to watching everyones tank grow! Best of luck in in the months to come!

[Smurf]

It looks like a great start. Amazon has been awesome for me and the budget I have to keep. 

[Aqua Splendor]

Well thats a first with those tile, never seen that before 😉

[ef4life]

13 minutes ago, Aqua Splendor said:

Well thats a first with those tile, never seen that before 😉

Im hoping it works out good for this tank. I use it in my 40g tank to raise up the skimmer the right depth, so it should work well for this, and being a porous natural stone it will get populated with bacteria and become a living wall. 

[seabass]

Looks awesome.  Very creative.

[ef4life]

I love living near an amazon warehouse. Same day delivery is awesome. I got my smart WIFI power strip, and some clear frosted and solid black window film. The Return pump isn’t going to be delivered until the 13th though, which is what I really needed ASAP. 

[Ratvan]

 

7 hours ago, ef4life said:

Since this is an all in one challenge, I need to build the filtration area, and being a cheap budget build, I’m going with something I have laying around. Travertine tile. I quickly put a couple pieces through the wet saw  and built a wall, divider for the overflow and return pump area. And I cut a piece out for the bottom of the tank. I want to go barebottom with this tank and the travertine will hopefully give me a sandy bottom look until it’s encrusted with corals and coralline. 

 

Used a hot razor blade to trim the plastic rim where the overflow is going so I can build a media tray or something. 

 

 

Lol I’m trying to stay cheap, then I just spent $150 on amazon for stuff😂

I like it, reminds me of my old FW HMF filters. Clever idea, cant wait to see how this turns out

[debbeach13]

Very creative. Good luck!

[ef4life]

 

Smart power strip - hopefully this thing works pretty good. I’m going to use it as a timer for the lighting mostly.

 

I was digging through my box of aquarium stuff looking for stuff I can use. I found an intank media basket for my biocube 29, I never liked it in the biocube and used it for about a day, but it will fit into my aio section if I decide to cut it down and modify it. The bonus for me is I was going to make my back chambers 4” wide so I could fit my hand back there easily, media basket is 3.25” wide so I can gain .75” more in the display section which is great. If I use the basket or not, I’m making the back chambers a little smaller.

 

Also found a brs mesh screen kit I never used so I’m going with a screen top to keep whatever tangs I decide buy inside this shoebox.

 

Finally the light, the Kessil h80 refugium light. Bought this for the 40g to grow chaeto. Never had much success with it growing anything but hair algae on my chaeto. So I ended up turning the spectrum to all blue and using it as a small frag tank light. Seems to work well enough, the corals under it looked ok, and it looks like it was built for this 5g box, it just looks right. I would like an actual a80 tuna blue if I can find one used and cheap. But this will get me started.

 

[debbeach13]

I like your box of left over tank stuff.

[ef4life]

Got more goodies from amazon today. Inkbird heater controller, hydor flo, and a weir comb for the overflow.

 

i recut my travertine to new sizes for a smaller back chamber and beveled the edges to clear the silicone in the tank. 

 

I cut the aluminum screen frame and put it together, now I just need to install the clear mesh screen into it.

 

The frosted film is going on the back of the tank, but should I use frosted or black for the filtration area? 

 

I also picked up a new electrical receptacleto install behind my nightstand, I can’t plug in the power strip right now - there is an old ground plug broken off inside.  

[ef4life]

Decided to build the overflow into the back wall today, a little cutting and grinding with the hand grinder made quick work of it. I Siliconed the 2 pieces of travertine together and now I have a removable overflow weir. It’s nice that it’s removable since I tend to break off the teeth when cleaning. Beveled the edges To keep water flowing as smooth as possible. 

 

I have an eheim 300 return pump showing up tomorrow hopefully, then I can drill the hole for the return line in the back wall and silicone my aio chamber into the tank. If all goes well, should be wet by Sunday. 

[ef4life]

This is roughly where I want my return line to come through, once I get the pump in my hand and figure out a waterline for it I will drill the hole. The eheim 300 can flow 80, 160, and a max of 265gph - I hope this placement will work without splashing out of the tank with the hydor flo. I don’t want to add any power heads into the display since it’s already so small.

[EfrainChicagoDeepdish]

I've looked at stone flooring before and thought of different ways to use in one of my tanks.  This is awesome.  Good luck! 

[ef4life]

2 hours ago, EfrainChicagoDeepdish said:

I've looked at stone flooring before and thought of different ways to use in one of my tanks.  This is awesome.  Good luck! 

Thanks 

[Tamberav]

Looks fantastic!

[debbeach13]

Wow that surface skimmer/intake is slick!

[ef4life]

I got the eheim 300 pump today, it’s only 80gph max, which is hopefully enough for this little tank. Amazon’s description is not entirely correct. But oh well, it’s tiny and it fits.

 

So with the pump in hand I got to work figuring out how to get the return line plumbed. Such a small area needed a custom solution. I dug deep into the bowels of the aquarium parts bin pulled out all the fittings I could find. 1/2” Barbed fittings, loc line fittings, old biocube stuff. Found a 1/2” threaded bulkhead. And some other miscellaneous parts.

 

attempt #1 - I made quick work with my Swiss Army knife sawing through the bulk head to trim off any unnecessary length on the back end. Threaded in a barbed fitting to the front side and chopped most of the barbs off and slid the hydor on. Way too long for this pico!!!!

 

Attempt #2 - the modified barb was out, too long. So a threaded loc line fitting was next on the chopping block. The saw made it no longer a loc line fitting added a different rubber fitting to the hydor and crammed it into the pipe, still too long for me.

 

attempt #3 - out came the saw again, cut the loc line fitting flush with the bulkhead, this allowed the left over threads to screw even further into the bulkhead, jackpot!!!!! About 3/8” shorter, this looks like the winning ticket.

 

Drilled the hole in the wall with a diamond bit on the grinder.

 

And siliconed in to the tank. Hindsight being 20/20 I wish I would have counter sunk the bulk head into the travertine about an 1/8” to make the whole setup even more compact. Maybe on the next build.

[ECLS Reefer]

That’s some awesome creativity and good shop work. 

[ef4life]

16 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

That’s some awesome creativity and good shop work. 

Thank you. 

[Smurf]

Wow, the craft!! I am really digging the moulding, simple things go such a long way - and so pleasing to the eyes. Great job so far.

[ef4life]

So I got the frosted background on today, finished the mesh screen lid. Silicone has cured for 24hrs now but I have no saltwater mixed, the 40 gallon used all I had mixed. So I have the ro/di running today, and I’ll be running it tomorrow to get the 44g brute trash can filled up again and mixing fresh saltwater. 

 

In the mean time some pics of the pico ready for water.