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[Pat02026]

Am I nuts? Yup! Here goes nothing


First brand new tank ever (after the last 8)
Custom stand
20 gallon sump
Eheim 1262 return
SWC 150 extreme skimmer
Avast carbon reactor running rox 0.8
TLF 150 phosban reactor for GFO both fed by return pump as well
My DIY led that's currently over the 20l as well as a 250 MH if feel it's necessary
RKL controlling LED's, ATO, Temp (300w titanium), and hopefully tunzes in the future
And I have had 50lb of spectacular rock from pillowfish that's been cycling for the past month and as of last week finally stabilized. I will add more pics of everything once it's settled. The 5 gal fuge from the 20l will be moved over to this tank when I swap the livestock over, you can see the feed line for it (1/2" PVC that seems to be going nowhere) and my 5 gal ATO resivior fits inside the stand as well. I spent a fair amount of time planning out the stand to be sure I could fit everything neatly and have full access to all the guts. It's a bit messy looking right now. All the wiring is going to be as neat and hidden as possible once the controller and lights are over the tank I'll finish that up. Wish me luck with it!

 

[Pat02026]

The back of the tank is painted black, and I still have yet to decide how I am going to finish the doors. Since the tank is oak trim I will probably try to achieve a similar finish on the doors. The doors are hinged all the way across and roll open, allowing for full access to under the stand. Everything can be removed if necessary with ease. Light hanging fixture is simple 3/4" conduit.

 

[s_kelley]

Looking good! Gotta love the corners lol
Is it a diy stand? Gonna do a canopy?

 

[Pat02026]

Yes, I built the stand a bit larger than the footprint of the tank simply for the fact that I need all the equipment to live under it. Had I gone with an off the shelf stand I would have been stuck with very little room to do much with. There's 1" behind the tank and about 2.5" in front of the tank of "extra" stand, but I'll tank that in exchange for the amount of room I gained underneath. I dream of the day I can have a basement sump, but unfortunately I'm on a 2nd floor, in a rented apt. so that's out of the question.

No canopy, I'm not a fan of them. My LED fixture is in a pine enclosure, which will be finished to match the stand door.

 

[s_kelley]

Great job on the stand. Looks good. I agree not much room in a off the shelf corner stand at all.

 

[Pat02026]

Thanks, it's far from perfect and definitely not done yet. I am a little stuck on how to go about finishing the top edge of the doors, while keeping them fully functional. I want to add some type of trim but haven't figured out how to go about it yet. That's the main reason they aren't "finished" yet.

 

[Pat02026]

Rockscape attempt 1
I am thinking of eliminating the island in the front and leaving it wide open; there's a lot of neat little tunnels in there though. What do you all think? I'll get a better picture once the tank clears up some more.

Actually that pic is worse than I thought it would be but I'm posting it anyway for some input. Thanks!

 

[reeferpj]

looks great. nice job on the hole thing.
i have a RKL as well and was thinking if going LEDs. can you dim your LEDs with the RKL

 

[Pat02026]

I just got my ALC module, and another member here Ive been talking with has had it controlling DIY LEDs. I will be attempting that setup this week, it shouldnt be too big of a deal though. I also got their moonlights, I will be running a true daylight/moonlight cycle.
There's only 24 bulbs in my led fixture which over the 20 gal are fine but I'm concerned it's not going to be enough light in this deep of a tank. I have a 250 hqi pendant to hang behind the LEDs if they need some more oomph.

 

[Pat02026]

Heres a better pic of the rockwork. Should I keep the small pieces in the front?

 

[jbrady5979]

I think you should leave a couple small pieces, it would be a nice place for some of the corals to open up, and to be viewed

 

[Cjtabares]

What do u plan on keeping in the tank? The front space would be nice for some chalices and or acans.

 

[pillowfish]

Hey that's my rock!! Looks great, the curled up one used to be a coral along with the plate leafy looking one and the one two rocks to the right is my favorite piece. You have done a great job

 

[Pat02026]

Here's a shot with a 250w MH over the tank. It's lit pretty well with this, I may stick with this light over the LEDs. I added a few chromis, they're doing great. The rock fully cycled in the bin I had them in so I am gonna give these guys a week or two and keep testing then hopefully move some of the things from the 20 into this tank as long as everything looks good to go.

 

[willray]

You did a nice job on stand,rockscape,plumbing etc.Think I like the halide too.Got to love the RKL stuff for the money.

 

[Pat02026]

Ok so it's been a few weeks and I have started moving over some corals. I started with a few zoas, an unknown sps (some type of acro, will have pics up for possible id soon) torch,
And some tonga mushrooms. Uhmmm I think I'll stick with the halide. The zoas look insane, much more vibrant. The sps is gone from brown to green in a few days, the torch has extended longer than it's ever been and the mushrooms, well they're mushrooms. They look good anywhere lol.

I am absolutely loving the halide. However the heat is an issue, and as of last week I already realized I will need to take this into account. The 250w seems to light the tank very well. I am not running any actinic supplementation with the phoenix 14k bulb and the color is fantastic. I still would like to incorporate some LED to the tank. I am considering a SOL blue, and what I will do is control it through my RKL. When the tank temp starts to creep up, I'll have it shut down the halide and increase the led intensity to compensate keeping the tank from receiving too much heat from lighting. My controller runs the 300w heater @ 78*. Once the halide comes on the heater does not run at all since the temp creeps up to ~80*. I moved a few more corals in tonight from the 20l and over the weekend I'll move the two clowns, chalk bass, and fuge to the new tank.

 

[jayinh]

looks cool, you did a great job stuffing all the plumbing and equipment under the tank and also keeping it clean. i like the way the 14k lights your tank. keep the pics coming : )

 

[Pat02026]

All the livestock is transferred, as well as the fuge. All is happy and I am working on another project as I break down and clean the 20; I am building a cabinet for my RODI and water barrels. I'll have some pics up once it's done (or should I say done for today) I still need to skin it and add doors

 

[Pat02026]

So I was very upset to find my chalk bass on the floor yesterday; he was the first fish in the 20 gallon, I guess he had so much more swimming room he got excited and had a little too much momentum heading up!! Oh well, I'll pick up another one. Everything is still happy and parameters are great. I finished the plumbing on my mixing barrels; it works out very well since the bottom barrel (mixed water) is above my sump and it's only about 5 feet from the tank so when I pump out water from the sump during a water change all I have to do is connect a hose and open a valve and the contents of the barrel empty into the sump! Not completely automated, but as simple as it gets. Still need to finish the cabinet and install some doors but it's functional. There's a valve and outlet for straight RODI for adding to my top off tank as needed. I will always have 10 gal of mixed water and fresh RO on hand.

 

[reeferpj]

looking good