NaughtyCashew Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Thanks to all the info I've learned trolling this board and reef central, I finally took the plunge and started my own reef tank. I've been running a 12G FOWLR tank for a couple of years as well as two freshwater tanks. I made a deal w/ my wife that if I got ONE big tank, then I would get rid of all the other little ones....Little did she know that the ONE big tank would be a REEF So here's the progress so far: Day One (about 4 weeks ago) Bought a 40G r for 60 bucks & an unfinished pine stand Cycling live rock in my old 20G - the tank will later be my sump. Finished staining the stand (will never do that again!). 4 Bulb Tek-Light fixture standing on top of my tank. Later I put all my live rock in my 12G Eclipse system. When I took my office tank apart I took home a 96W CoraLife fixture. Made the move because I was afraid I would lose some of the life in the live rock & wanted some light over it. Not sure it was the best idea, as the water doesn't flow too well with 45 lbs of rock in 12 gallons Yesterday I drilled the tank Drilling wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Had a few little chips on the inside, but no fractures. I think I am good to go! Tank as it is today waiting for sump installation & plumbing. I gave it several coats of Krylon Fusion, and it looks awesome! I like this shot the best as you can see a ton of light peeking through my freshly drilled holes! Thats it for now! Hopefully I can get some water in it before the end of the week! Link to comment
ZooGirl Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Great start, it's looking good! Is that a toilet wax ring in the drill shot? Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Looks great. What is your stocking plan for this tank? Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Great start, it's looking good! smile.gif Is that a toilet wax ring in the drill shot? Thanks! Yeah, that is a toilet ring. I worked pretty well as a water dam for only $.99. The wax is pretty nasty stuff though and tends to get all your hands and tank. I ended up making some "gloves" out of the home depot baggy, and scraping the tank stuff off with a razor.. Looks great. What is your stocking plan for this tank? Thanks! Right now I am thinking: Clownfish Pair Purple Firefish Six Line Wrasse Shrimp-Gobe Combo ( Hi-Fin Red Banded Gobe & Pistol Shrimp) I am also considering a blenny of some kind - maybe a lawnmower, but am worried abouthe firefish/gobe being aggressive. I think 40 gallons should be enough for all of them to get along... and Tons of Clean Up Crew! Nass, Cerith, Trochus, Conch snails & a few scarlet hermits just for fun. Link to comment
reef n ale Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Looks great! I'll be following along. Rob Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted December 12, 2005 Author Share Posted December 12, 2005 I was really hoping to post completed pics of my tank today, but this project seems to be far from over. I did manage to complete my sump: Its the classic Skimmer --> Return <-- Refugium setup I also decided to get more live rock, bringing the total up to 70lbs in the 40gallon tank. Here is the rest of it cooking in a big rubbermaid tub: I'm thinking about coming home from work at lunch just to get some of the work done. I really want to get all the silicone stuff done on my overflow box as that takes 48 hrs + to cure. Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 The sump looks great. Link to comment
proraptor Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 Awesome dude...Your tank is coming together a lot faster than you had planned...Let me know if you need anything, Also let me know when you want to try some corals and Ill hook you up... Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted December 20, 2005 Author Share Posted December 20, 2005 Finally got finished with the plumbing this weekend! I ended up painting the visible pipes w/ Krylon Fusion Here is a shot of the whole back: I also finished putting together the overflow box. I tried to make one w/ rounded corners, but that didnt work out too well - lesson learned: making acrylic bends with a propane torch isnt very precise. I ended up constructing a new one and siliconed it to a glass box frame (just like the ones I see in the store). Hopefully in the next week I can start the next phase of this never ending project: Adding Water! Link to comment
proraptor Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Man dood you did an awesome job with the tank! Very very nice...Put some water in that badboy now!!!! I demand it! Link to comment
crrichey Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Just awsome, very simple and well put together! Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted December 27, 2005 Author Share Posted December 27, 2005 Thanks for all the compliments guys. So I finally had some time this holiday season and added water. I also put my rocks in. The landscape below isn't quite final, but it might be. Looking back I might have gone overboard on the live rock, but for now its kind of nice as the whole structure is pretty solid. I might have to rename my post "NaughtyCashew's Rock Formation" I didn't waste too much time adding my clown and my shrimp-gobie combo. My 12 gallon tank was getting really ugly, so I figured that it was better to move them sooner than later. I think "brownie" the clown was a little confused by the whole ordeal (you can see her in the bottom left) Anyways, here is a pic: I will post more tomorrow! I was kind of an idiot and had the lights off-center for the pic, so it came out much bluer than it really is. Link to comment
proraptor Posted December 27, 2005 Share Posted December 27, 2005 Awesome man....Its really looking good. I demand more pics Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 Ok, some more pics of the tank! As an added bonus, pics of "Brownie" the Clown - so named because she started turning brown recently... Here's one with my Hi Finned Red Banded Goby During the move he was seperated from my pistol shrimp - they both established themselves on opposite ends of the tank. Hopefully they will find each other... Link to comment
ZooGirl Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Wow! It looks great!! Man, that was fast! Link to comment
proraptor Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Cool pics....Cant wait to see the tank tomorrow... Link to comment
lgoins Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 where did you buy the black acrylic? Link to comment
proraptor Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 He got it from ebay I believe Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted December 30, 2005 Author Share Posted December 30, 2005 I got the acrylic from frigodesign on eBay eBay Search I used a rotary tool with a fiberglass reinforced cutting bit to cut it. One word of advice, get more than you think you will need! I went through several pieces before I got the technique down. You can bend it professionaly with a heat strip or use a heat gun. Being fundamentally cheap, I used a cheap propane torch. You can buy a cheap setup for around 15 bucks (they sell kits at HD). I had a few small propane tanks from my outdoor bbq, so I bought the tips for 8 bucks and started bending away. With a torch, your bends wont come out very nicely (unless you have amazing torch skills), so I used it to bend acrylic that wasnt viewable in the display tank. Link to comment
proraptor Posted December 30, 2005 Share Posted December 30, 2005 I saw this tank last night and must say its the nicest full DIY project I have seen...Awesome setup man.... Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 Thanks! I ended up re-doing the rockwork like you suggested and ended up puttin 20lbs in the sump. Here are some pics: It doesn't look that much different than the last pics, but I freed up quite a bit of sand area in the front. My next step is working on the flow. I have a mag 9.5 that is putting out about 550 gph after headloss. I am thinking of ordering a mag 18. Anyone think that is overkill? According to ReefCentral this should bump me up to about 800gph. Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted January 3, 2006 Author Share Posted January 3, 2006 Mag 18 ordered! It might be overkill, but I can reduce the flow through several other outlets. I ended up getting some new inverts today. The best new addition being a Porcelain Crab (no name yet): I also took some new pics of my fish: "Brownie" the clown Brownie might get her named changed to "Piggy" for stuffing her face whenever food is present. "Lucille 2" the Goby - her pistol shrimp buddy is named "Buster" because he is missing a claw "Babar" the Queen Conch - My wife named him because he/she has an elephant like trunk Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted January 5, 2006 Author Share Posted January 5, 2006 I got some new inverts today: 1x Skunk Cleaner Shrimp 2x Scarlet Hermits 8x Dwarf Zebra Hermits (Left Handed) 2x Cerith 4x Trochus By the time i got out my camera to take pics the skunk cleaner shrimp hid himself behind the rockwork. Oh well, so the outgoing invert likes to hide and my porcelain crab likes to stay out in the open... I am starting to wonder if I should have went for the Blood Red Fire Shrimp instead (I like the colors better). I took some pics anyways, mostly of Buster who decided he was ready to be photographed: And a better picture of Babar (the Queen Conch) Link to comment
proraptor Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Be careful with those zebra hermits....They are super aggressive and will kill your other hermits with their big claw... My skunk cleaner shrimp has been hiding lately also He used to be out all the time Link to comment
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