New 16 gallon custom nano!

[slovan]

I started off 5 months ago with a 14 gallon Oceanic BioCube. I've learned a lot from it and realized that nanos aren't as easy as I thought they would be. :eek1: They're not as forgiving as the larger tanks that's for sure!

As a couple months passed, I wanted to get something different all together. Basically, the all-in-one system just wasn't for me. Here's a few things I didn't like about it. The return pump was too small and didn't create enough flow for the entire tank. I had cyano everywhere and couldn't get rid of it. Everytime I opened the hood, water would run down the backside of the tank from all the condensation built up inside. The actinic bulb soon burned out and I couldn't find a replacement, only one I could find was the 10K bulb.

That's when I decided to ditch the hood in favor of a better light. I wanted to keep a clam and possibly some SPS in there so I went with metal halide. Coming from the mindset of having bigger tanks with SPS, I felt like a skimmer was needed so I picked up the Tunze nano skimmer. I also like a lot of flow in my tanks and bought a Tunze 6045 pump for it as well.

I then decided to get a custom tank to fit my needs instead of adapting to what was there. I had seen some work from Scott at Aquaticsystemsdesign.com (http://www.aquaticsystemsdesign.com/) and was impressed by it. I then contacted him and got my new tank on order. I will have to say Scott has been the best to deal with out of the vendors I've dealt with in the past on custom pieces.

Through several dimension changes on my request, he was still happy to help. He even made several suggestions that helped with the overall functionality of the tank that I had not thought of. I requested for quarter round corner fronts and adding an adjustable overflow close to completion and he added it on but never charged me a penny more from my original quote! :) Thanks Scott!

Anyway here's a few basic specs on the system.
Tank: 3/4" cast acrylic - 15"X20"X16" with 3" overflow area
Return pump: Maxijet 1200 - 296GPH
In tank flow: Tunze nanostream - 1189GPH
Skimmer: Tunze 9002 nano skimmer - 10 to 52 gallons
Heater: Visi-Therm Stealth heater - 75W
Lights: Sfliligoi SingleSole HQI Pendant - 150W Coralife 20K

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Nano.jpg

After I got the tank, I had to cut the reef ceramic wall down to size, cut out notches for the overflow and return output.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc001Large-4.jpg

I really wanted this tank to be different from a traditional nano. I decided to not put any live rock in the display and leave the bottom open.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc004Large-3.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc017Large-2.jpg

To fill the void areas on the bottom, I decided to use small grain sized-sand.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc016Large-4.jpg

[slovan]

Now the fun begins! Here's a series of pics showing the water clearing up after a few hours.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc019Large-2.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc024Large-2.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc026Large-2.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc030Large-2.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc041Large-2.jpg

Here's the skimmer at work.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc034Large-4.jpg

I'll probably make the transition this weekend and get the livestock moved over from the BioCube. Stay tuned for updates! :D

[Rosseau]

Awesome custom tank.


I'm interested to see how this all pans out. Keep us posted :)

[oldreefer76]

Thank You I have a 15g AGA with the 9002 skimmer and have been trying to decide on either the 6025 or 6045 for circulation,and you are doing it with a sand bed and mine is bare bottom

[shouldabenacowboy]

Looks good

SBC

[exigency]

i really like this

[StashuDave]

I really like the custom work, the rock wall makes it! Can't wait to see the long term progress!

Dave

[CraigsReef]

Just a small suggestion but you might want to put some lr rubble pieces in there to help seed it and then remove them after a few weeks. Other then that looks awesome, my new cube is only a 30 gal with 2/6025 and i have a hard time with sand staying put.

Craig-

[slovan]

Thanks for the positive comments guys! :D

Craig, I have some live rock in the overflow that you can't see. Hopefully that'll help seed the reef ceramic!

[visualscapes]

Tank looks great. I'm looking into getting a nano set up within the next few months. Where did you get the reef ceramic wall, or did you make it yourself?

[slovan]

You can get the reef ceramics from Aquarium Specialty or Captive Oceans. A buddy of mine had a leftover piece from his 380 and gave it to me!

[visualscapes]

Thanks, that stuff looks awesome! :thumbsup:

[Lpabsolute]

Beautiful SetUp.....Can't wait to see your future progress!

[StunnaShadez]

that wall looks nice. starting to give me ideas on my future nano, hmm....

[CMcNeil]

that is one overbuilt little tank :) (3/4" sheesh could you go any thicker lol) i really love that wall you have in it.did you make the wall or buy it?

[slovan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9726575#post9726575 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by m1enbo1
that wall looks nice. starting to give me ideas on my future nano, hmm....
Thanks guys! If you have coral placement ideas, feel free to throw them out there. Basically, I want to keep a clam and the rest will be LPS and softies. I was thinking about keeping the zoas on the bottom and the others on the wall. Or would a wall of zoas look better with LPS and clam on the bottom?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9726611#post9726611 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by checkinhawk
that is one overbuilt little tank :) (3/4" sheesh could you go any thicker lol) i really love that wall you have in it.did you make the wall or buy it?
Actually I thought 3/4" was plenty Checkinhawk. ;) I have a sump for my 210 built with 3/4" acrylic before and really liked it so I thought I would have a nano just as nice. :lol:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d98/slovan1/Dsc002Large-2.jpg

[slumpysix]

That is one smooth looking tank my friend!
keep those pics comin'


Jeff

[CMcNeil]

3/4" is plenty(im going to build my 180g from 3/4"),thats why i said overbuilt.it really does look cool as heck.most nanos are thin like 1/4".the 3/4" is a nice look and it looks like the builder did a great job polishing the edges :) did you make the rock wall or buy it?

[slovan]

It was mainly for less bowing and looks. :smokin: Heck, even my 210 isn't even 3/4" thick! :lol: When I got my sump built, going from 1/2" to 3/4" was an additional $40. I'd rather have it built like a tank than having just enough.

Scott did an awesome job on polishing the edges. Even where the front with the quarter round, it's really smooth. He took the time and did it right, that's for sure!

The rock wall...I didn't buy it or make it. :) It's reef ceramics and you can buy them from Aquarium Specialty or Captive Oceans. I didn't buy it either because a buddy of mine had a left over piece from his tank build and gave it to me.

[StunnaShadez]

you should keep zoos on the bottom (front to the middle of the tank), kind of like having a garden. then the softies would be on the walls or the last half of the tank. thats just what i wanna do when i turn my bare bottom into a tile bottom and stack up the liverocks.

[wilson0204]

The false wall is realy cool:eek:

[bascerballer4]

How much did you spend on the custom tank alone? Looks really nice though :)

[slovan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9729288#post9729288 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by m1enbo1
you should keep zoos on the bottom (front to the middle of the tank), kind of like having a garden. then the softies would be on the walls or the last half of the tank. thats just what i wanna do when i turn my bare bottom into a tile bottom and stack up the liverocks.
Thanks on the suggestion. I think the zoas on the bottom would look better as well but wanted to see what everyone else thought.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9732367#post9732367 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bascerballer4
How much did you spend on the custom tank alone? Looks really nice though :)
It really wasn't much more than a 14 gallon BioCube at retail($170). Granted, you get PC lights with the BioCube but if you don't plan on using them anyway, it doesn't matter. Plus the custom one is slightly larger and built like a tank! :D

[Grunt]

Have you decided on what you plan to keep in the tank?
Cheers

[slovan]

I want to keep it to LPS and softies only if I can. If I add any SPS, it would be in the form of encrusting monti's only.

As far as specific corals? I'm not sure yet. I have some stuff in my big tank but don't want to frag any corals from it. Otherwise I'd be looking at the same things, just in a smaller box! :lol: Maybe some blastos, ricordeas, echinos and zoanthids. I'm also open to suggestions.

[Casshern]

Your Sfliligoi SingleSole HQI Pendant is impressive. It gives me courage to put a Giesemann infiniti on a nano now. (why the coralife 20k though?)

[slovan]

I wanted a bulb that had good output with a more blue look since I'm not using any actinics. In reality, the bulbs burn really white and not much blue to it at all. Unfortunately there's not a lot of test data available on 150W DE bulbs so I took a gamble on these.

What bulb would you run and what color temperature do you like? To me, I would be happy with something in what I consider 12K-14K range.

[NanoClown]

I LOVE THE PHEONIX 14K!!!!

[TacoKing]

Not to be a bearer of bad news but, I've heard about a lot of bad issues with the reef ceramics. It seems they seem to leach something in the water which makes it really difficult to keep any corals alive. I'll see if I can dig out some threads, but the common cause in all the tanks failures were reef ceramics and after removal all issues were cured.

[slovan]

Cool, what would you say the Phoenix 14K looks like?

I have a 250W Phoenix 14K on my other tank and I like the color on it. You can actually tell it has a hint of blue to it. The Coralife 20K is almost pure white to my eyes.

[obsled]

A carpet of zoas on some of that wall will look amazing. I'm in love with the 3/4" acrylic, you have me sold on this when I custom order my tank. The $40 extra for the up thickness is a great deal.

Did your tank ship or did you pick it up locally?

[slovan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9739151#post9739151 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TacoKing
Not to be a bearer of bad news but, I've heard about a lot of bad issues with the reef ceramics. It seems they seem to leach something in the water which makes it really difficult to keep any corals alive. I'll see if I can dig out some threads, but the common cause in all the tanks failures were reef ceramics and after removal all issues were cured.

I read about it in this thread. (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1091235) It's too early to tell if the reef ceramics was totally to blame. A buddy of mine uses reef ceramics and has high nitrates but he also has a heavy bioload and feeds heavily. He's getting better color and growth than I am. I have high nitrates in my 210 but I don't have any reef ceramics in it either.

I hope the reef ceramic won't be an issue but if it is, I will post about in here for reference.

[slovan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9740046#post9740046 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by obsled
A carpet of zoas on some of that wall will look amazing. I'm in love with the 3/4" acrylic, you have me sold on this when I custom order my tank. The $40 extra for the up thickness is a great deal.

Did your tank ship or did you pick it up locally?

A buddy of mine had some stuff on order and I was going to have him pick it up for me to avoid shipping costs but his stuff won't be done for a few more weeks so I decided to have him ship it. It was packed really well and arrived in perfect condition.

The extra is worth it if you don't like to have any type of bracing on it like me. Rimless tanks are starting to become more popular, I see them more and more in the large tank forum. For now, I'll just stick with a rimless nano. :)

[FishyBiz]

We need an update......

[FishyBiz]

Also... id do the wide flow mod on your tunze.

[slovan]

Hey, thanks for staying on me about an update. As you know, summer tends to be a busy time of year and I have been guilty of neglecting my tank.

I still change water, and do all the regular husbandry stuff but I have not transferred any zoas over to the tank yet. I'm just letting the tank mature and do its thing and then get back into it this fall.

I'm still planning on stocking it with zoas but might try to add some acans or micros to it depending on how a few test pieces go.

Other than that, everything is running fine. The Tunze 9002 nanoskimmer is the biggest surprise. That little guy can pull out quite a bit of dark and nasty skimmate considering I only have 1 small onyx percula in there right now. I wouldn't put it up against the Deltec AP902 I have on my 210 but it does good on the nano! :lol:

[Crackerballer]

Sweet sweet tank sir, and I like the ceramic background. I now have another great idea for my future large tank.

[slovan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10243054#post10243054 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Crackerballer
Sweet sweet tank sir, and I like the ceramic background. I now have another great idea for my future large tank.

Thanks for the comps. My tank is only a 1:24 scale compared to this 380 that belongs to a buddy of mine. His tank is outrageous and has TOTM written on it after a few years of growth. 380 gallon (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1152071)

[slovan]

I hate to update my thread this way but I will be taking down the nano and selling it. If anyone is interested in buying the system as a whole, please let me know and we can work something out. Otherwise I will break down the components and sell them separately.

The reason why I'm taking it down is due to lack of time. I can manage it in the winter time but summer gets way too busy and I can't keep up with the 210 and the 16. :(

[uhuru]

sent you a pm