Benj420 Posted December 31, 2002 Share Posted December 31, 2002 Day One - 12/31/02 I'm on vacation this week and decided that my office needs a nano tank in it so I have something to do all day instead of work. The purpose of this post is two-fold. I am posting all of my pictures and progress notes for public benefit, to share in my successes and falures, so that we all may learn together. I am also posting the same information for my own purposes of creating a journal for reference of thoughts, readings, progress, etc. So, some of the things you read may not fully make sense to the average reader, but rest assured it means something to me. I dug around at the local lumber store for a piece of red oak for another project a few months back and came across a piece of 1x4 quartersawn with beautiful waves in it. It wouldn't work for that project, but I couldn't pass it up for $3. I found it in my wood racks and, with the addition of some other red oak scrap, I made a stand and hood for my newly acquired 2.5 gallon AGA tank. I was lucky to get a gift certificate for my LFS for Christmas this year and put some of it to good use. I learned a lot on the hood and base for my 5.5 nano. The hinges on this hood will actually work (woohoo!!!). Taking the hood on and off to do anything in the 5.5 is kind of a pain. Here it is after a day of construction and sanding. It's ready for the finishing room. Another angle. Rough sketch of the future: DIY drilled bottom for DIY overflow with integrated return 5.5 gallon sump/fuge - baffles from acrylic w/ cutouts for HOB type filters, ~5 lbs LR ~ 5 lbs southdown, seeded Freshwater top off system Underdesk cabinet to house sump and topoff system ~1 inch sand (southdown seeded with LS from 20 gallon display 2x13w PC lights 1 actinic & 1 6500 or 10,000k (haven't decided yet) DIY mini overflow box - acrylic Soft corals only - mushrooms and polyps mostly Small clam - whatever I can afford that will do well under 10 wpg of pc at ~8 inches. There is a LFS about 2 hours from me that is supposed to be the place to go Maybe a small shrimp That's all for now, I will post more as I go. Please post any comments or questions. Link to comment
SoS Posted December 31, 2002 Share Posted December 31, 2002 very very nice I've used the 6500 and 10K with the 13W PC's and I thought the 6500K was a bit yellow. I like the look of the 10K's on those. Link to comment
brandon429 Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 extremely nice build on the stand and canopy, Im impressed by that. your final results will be outstanding. b429 Link to comment
Benj420 Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 Applied 2 coats of Polyshades stain/poly to hood and base last night. Finish looks good, but next time I will go back to seperate stain and poly for more control over final color and thickness of poly. This morning I masked off all but the inside of the lid and hood. I sprayed one coat of flat white (for reflectivity), and will follow up with one or two more coats when dry. I hope to have the white done and the hood assembled by the end of the day. Now I am just waiting for the diamond core drill bits and replacement lights for the 5.5 to be delivered and I can drill the tank and move the 13w PC's over. Thanks brandon429 and SoS. Sos, where did you get your 10,000k? I can't seem to find them online (13w anyway) Link to comment
lizbeth Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Very nice. I'm eagerly anticipating updates! Have you ever drilled glass before? I've experimented with it a bit. Here a link to my post about the experience. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...ss&pagenumber=1 Link to comment
Benj420 Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 Originally posted by lizbeth Have you ever drilled glass before? I've experimented with it a bit. Here a link to my post about the experience. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...ss&pagenumber=1 Thanks for the tips. There is a place in town that is like Harbor Freight and I'm going to see if they have the drill bits and grinder. I didn't think about grinding a hole larger, but that is a good idea. If the place in town doesn't have them, there is a HF about 2 hours from here and it would be worth the trip. More tools for the workshop. Much more expensive for the name brand stuff. 1/1/03 Hood and base are now have a finish. Background has been attached to back of tank. I had some left over plastic background, so I used that instead of getting blue paint. My 5.5 nano I painted the back black, and it worked great, but I'm not convinced I like black better than blue. This way I can change it later. The finished look: The standard 45 degree angle Showing the interrior of the hood. The corner brackets are rather ugly, but form followed function in this case. Thinking about adding a self-storing prop stick to hold the lid open, but want to mount the lights first and see if I can still get my hands in the tank with the lid propped open only part way. For the wood-o-philes I prop'ed some mushrooms today, 5 blues and 2 greens, will one day be in the 2.5. I also have some green buttons that I will be fragging later this week. To do: Decide how I want to route the wires for the lighting and cut slot in back of hood accordingly. Design and build overflow box. Redesign handle for glass top, will probably cut the glass clip portion off and silicon the handle further back from the edge. Decide on sump pump, design and build sump/fuge partitions. Expenses to date: $8.00* 3/4" Red Oak, Oak Ply, CDX Ply $2.00* Corner brackets $1.00 Spray Paint - White $7.98 2.5 Gallon AGA Aquarium $1.66 AGA Glass top for 2.5 $1.00* Blue Background $1.99 Solid Brass Hinges $.50* Polyshades stain/poly finish $40.00* 2x13w "BookWorm" knock-off's $1.49 Floating Thermometer $15.00* 25w submersible heater $7.98 5.5 Gallon AGA Aquarium (sump) $2.49* AGA Glass top for 5.5 $12.00* ~3lbs small LR pieces * = I already had, but if I had to buy new, this is what I would pay Everything else used so far I already had and were not noteworthy or expensive enough to justify typing out (sandpaper, glue, etc.). So far there is only one thing I would change. I would route a slot down the middle of the sides of the hood so that I could flush mount the L-brackets inside the hood. This will allow more clearance for the glass top and will look cleaner. I would also use four of the flat brackets, not like the ones seen in the photo. I would also make sure the brackets were square before use. I would also have to shorten the supplied screws, or get shorter replacements. That's about all for this installment, but more will come in the future. Thanks for all of the nice comments and suggestions so far, please post any more questions and comments you may have. Link to comment
Rocket_155 Posted January 2, 2003 Share Posted January 2, 2003 looks fantastic :woot: , sounds like you've had this idea floating around for along time. Is the hood just kept together just by brackets and glue? Link to comment
LiQuiD Posted January 2, 2003 Share Posted January 2, 2003 The self storing-prop stick should fit with the lights in it. Here is a posting on a very similar hood: I made several weeks ago with the top opened with the 13 watt lights in it. It should fit without a problem. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...=&threadid=5889 Link to comment
Hinecken Posted January 2, 2003 Share Posted January 2, 2003 GREAT JOB!!!! I am very impressed with your work. I'm currently running on no sleep trying to finish up my stand/canopy work before my roommates and my GF get back from up north. Unfortunately, they don't find the soothing roar of a circular saw as appealing as I do at 2AM..... Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted January 2, 2003 Share Posted January 2, 2003 Very nice work Benj! The canopy and base turned out great! Link to comment
Benj420 Posted January 2, 2003 Author Share Posted January 2, 2003 Originally posted by LiQuiD The self storing-prop stick should fit with the lights in it. Here is a posting on a very similar hood: I made several weeks ago with the top opened with the 13 watt lights in it. It should fit without a problem. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...=&threadid=5889 Wow, it looks almost identical. I think we even used the same hinges and everything. I swear I haven't even seen yours before now, so it's pretty funny that I came up with a design so similar to yours. Now that your's is done, would you change anything about the design? Link to comment
LiQuiD Posted January 2, 2003 Share Posted January 2, 2003 No change to the design, but I would have put the little stick-on felt pads on the bottom before I used it. I had it on that cloth so it would slide in and out of the nook it is in. It was kind of a pain to put them on after the fact but it slides so nice with them on, an ant could push it out, no effort at all. If you plan on putting it on a smooth surface, put the felt feet on it, it will keep from scratching what it is on and will make sliding it around a breeze. Link to comment
brandon429 Posted January 2, 2003 Share Posted January 2, 2003 benj 420 the same thing just happened to me--using a design you thought was your own and then you see someone using it first---only you didnt cheat! I think its kind of like people in two different parts of the world who need a hole---each one of them may very well invent the drill bit. Chris Marks: I just read your web page and I did not see you were using an internal/separate refugium in the main tank. I kinda took credit for inventing that approach when I built my new nano and I -didnt see- you had done it a year earlier. sorry! Ill go edit some of the older posts... Link to comment
Benj420 Posted January 2, 2003 Author Share Posted January 2, 2003 Originally posted by LiQuiD If you plan on putting it on a smooth surface, put the felt feet on it, it will keep from scratching what it is on and will make sliding it around a breeze. That's a great idea, but actually I'm going to be drilling the bottom for an overflow, so I won't be able to slide it anywhere once it is in place. There just happens to be a hole in my desk in the perfect spot that is big enough to get a printer cable through, so a little plumping ought to be just fine. I'm going to be rounding up the parts and tools to drill the tank this weekend (hopefully), so stay tuned for updates. Link to comment
Benj420 Posted January 6, 2003 Author Share Posted January 6, 2003 1/5/03 I looked locally (and not so locally) this weekend for some inexpensive diamond core drill bits, but was unsuccessful, so I ordered 32400-5VGA (1/2" and 1" core bits) and 32159-9VGA (3/4" and 1" diamond sanding drums). They should be here on Thursday. I spent the rest of the weekend working on the 5.5. I put in a new maxima and also propped some more shrooms for the 2.5. The props from a few days ago are doing really well, most have doubled in size are are forming heads. Additional Expneses: Diamond Core Drill Bits $8.99 Diamond Sanding Drums $7.99 Link to comment
Benj420 Posted January 10, 2003 Author Share Posted January 10, 2003 1/10/2003 The actinic 13w light came from hellolights yesterday, and I installed the bookworm type lights in the hood that were in the 5.5: I think we've all seen pictures of bookworms mounted in a hood before, so I will spare you the picture. The bulkhead also arrived and I am waiting for the shipment from Harbor Freight for the drill bit. I asked for 2nd day air, and they shipped it ground anyway, so I sit and wait. A heat gun is also coming, so I will be able to make the overflow box. I'm happy I haven't made it yet, because the concept has changed a few times since the start of the project. Link to comment
Benj420 Posted January 20, 2003 Author Share Posted January 20, 2003 1/19/03 I now have the bottom drilled and the overflow tube installed. The drilling wasn't too difficult, but having a bit that is the correct size would make things much easier. 1-3/4" hole 1" bulkhead 1" PVC Pipe (thin wall) with a custom 1-1/4" offset 1 PVC Adapter In the future I will go with a slip fit bulkhead and won't need the adapter. Here is the front of the tank with the overflow installed and testing for leaks.... NONE!! Top view showing custom offset in PVC and slots cut in the top of the tube to act as a strainer I have decided on a Mag Drive 1.5 for the return pump and a 1/2 " flexible return line will run through the 1" drain. I will wait until the pump arrives and is installed until I fine tune the strainer for water level. Next I need to design and build the sump and under desk cabinet. Link to comment
Sahin Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 Wow, an excellent tank being setup there. Most amazed by the quality of the build. Link to comment
Benj420 Posted January 20, 2003 Author Share Posted January 20, 2003 Originally posted by tufty711 nice is the pipe bent Yes, I heated up a piece of thin wall PVC with a heat gun, held it in the position I wanted it, and ran it under cold water to "freeze" it in place. I got lucky and nailed it on the first try. From the top you can see a little bit of a wrinkle, but it fits so good I probably won't make another one. Overall it's a 1-1/4" offset. I did this so that I could tuck the tube into the corner. Originally posted by Sahin Wow, an excellent tank being setup there. Most amazed by the quality of the build. Thank you. The owner of a small LFS in my area wants to start selling them. Anyone have any idea on what I should charge for a hood and base (no lights)? Link to comment
Benj420 Posted January 20, 2003 Author Share Posted January 20, 2003 1/20/03 Return line, T's, and nozzles installed: Side view. You can just see the coil of return line at the left edge of the photo. I will trim it to length during final assembly. 3/8" flexible tubing runs up the overflow into a modified T. I heated it up and bent each nipple at 45 degrees. From there, more flexible tubing runs to T's with one nipple cut off and stuck into silicone to both position nozzle, and to seal off one end. It went better than I thought. The green clips are just to hold the ends until the silicone dries, and I will trim the cable ties at the same time. I accidently bought black silicone instead of clear, but it won't show in the end, so it's no big deal. I was going to buy the small tube of clear at one LFS I was at today, but it was $5.99 and the big tubes at another, more distant LFS, is only $8.39. Link to comment
Benj420 Posted January 29, 2003 Author Share Posted January 29, 2003 1/28/03 Finally got around to making the base and giving the outside a coat of black paint. It will go under the desktop and house all of the "ugly" components. Here are the results: Expenses: $19.27 wood and hardware Link to comment
Lunchbucket Posted January 29, 2003 Share Posted January 29, 2003 this kicks ASS!! keep us updated! Lunchbucket Link to comment
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