UK Nano Upgrade Diary

[uniqueid]

He's plans for my new upgrade, to be made from 12mm acrylic:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3197201268_b1f24d1c47.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/3197201384_55df23d25c.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3437/3197201464_b1d30990b5.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3337/3196357881_7cbb646df5.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/3196357923_4608713b85.jpg

Would love to know what you think (or if you see any problems)...

Ant

[mahalamata]

looks good mate!
are you going to make it yourself or have it built?I'd love to see how it turns out!Good to see more UK nano refeers on here...what do you plan to keep?
Was in Suffolk last week,in Ipswitch..

[uniqueid]

Thanks for the reply. Not making it myself - I have the DIY skill of a 3 year old with learning disabilities. I am, however, in Ipswich.

[uniqueid]

The sump.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3198941464_05dba1d44e.jpg

I'm going to assume that as no one has shouted that the tank should be sound, so I'll put the order in.

On your heads be it! ;)

[mahalamata]

The only thing I might have changed is the top cover.Those squares look rather small.Will you be able to fit your hads through a 16cmx22cm hole easily?'Cos lets face it,most reefers inlcuding me can't realisticly keep theirs out!(hands I mean) :)
and out of interest what are the small slots along the back for?
Are you not tempted by a euro brace?
What is your equipment list?The Tunze nano skimmer looks like it would fit nicely in your sump,have one myself but i think i might have outgrown it and need a bigger one!

[uniqueid]

The reason for the bracing (and 12mm acrylic) is because my current tank sprang a leak which was likely caused by the lack of bracing - so I thought better to be safe than sorry. Perhaps it's over the top, but I'm not sure I'd be confident with anything less.

Equipment list is as follows:

1. GHL ProfiLux II Light Plugbar
2. Tunze Nano Stream 6055
3. Aqua Medic Top Up
4. Tunze DOC Skimmer 9002
5. 2 X AquaRay White
6. AquaRay/GHL Dimming Control (Custom)
7. Eheim 1250

Ant

[uniqueid]

Hmmm - you've got me thinking about the bracing now. Will have a chat with the guy making it.

[mahalamata]

Perhaps your right,but talk to the tank maker anyway and see what he thinks...
hehe apart from the expensive stuff very similar setup to my own tank!
I have the Eheim Compact 3000.Have you had a look at those?abit cheaper than the 1250s and push more water,also adjustable.
keep us posted on the build!

[uniqueid]

I haven't got the Eheim yet - I want as quiet as possible, so I'm still open to suggestion. Is the compact quiet.

My tank maker has gone quiet, and I'm not sure he understands what a rush I'm in. My current tank is only holding water because of super glue at the moment! I say holding water, it's not holding all of it. Some is still getting out, so I need this ASAP! :)

[gas4544]

With 12mm acrylic and a height of only 220mm, you should be able to reduce most, if not all of the bracing at the top of the tank.

I have a 24" X 24" X14" tall acrylic tank that was built with .25" acrylic. It has 2" eurobracing around the periphery with no bracing. My local acrylic builder determined that 14" was the maximum height I go have with that design using .25" acrylic.

With 12mm acrylic, your tank will be very, very strong. Is the height of you tank limited by space? You may find that you would like it be a bit taller, especially if you are planning a sand bed.

Also, it appears that you are planning a continous slot at the top of your overflow box. I have not seen this slotted design before. A slot that small may not provide enough flow to a sump, especially when it starts to develop a buildup of coralline algae. The toothed slots in my tank have a buildup of coralline algae after only about three months of use.

Gary

[uniqueid]

Hi Gary,

The height is indeed because of the small amount of space I have - it's very similar to my current tank in height and I actually really like it.

My tank builder has agreed that we can reduce the bracing, but I'm not keen on getting rid of it completely because of my bad experiences. Though he also said he was going to do some fancy joins that I didn't really understand.

The overflow box was something I decided upon for a few reasons, but mostly for the look. I've tested the space and it's more than able to deal with the amount of flow I want running through my sump (which isn't much). You may be right about to coraline though.

Thanks for all you input - much appreciated. I'll update with a new diagram of the top soon.

[uniqueid]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3335/3200105878_be0ae44ab4.jpg

[gas4544]

The new top design will give you much more freedom in accessing your tank. It will also allow a more even input of light into the tank.

How will the return line from your sump be plumbed into the tank?

g

[uniqueid]

There will be 3 holes drilled in the weir. One a restricted drain, one a backup drain and the last for the return. My plan is to get some loc-line to come over the weir and into the tank, so I can drill a anti-siphon hole, but getting black loc-line in the UK is a bit of a nightmare.

I've sent the design to the tank maker, so will find out if he thinks it's ok. I'm pretty sure it will be though. Thanks for the reassurance.

[mahalamata]

The compact is very quiet!more so than the 1250.I can't really hear it over the water movement through my system.

[uniqueid]

Fantastic! I have ordered one (along with plumbing - which is always more expensive than you think it's going to be).

[mahalamata]

always!I think BnQ made a mint of me when I setup just in pipes and fittings!

[uniqueid]

I had to put more super glue on the existing tank - I'm considering using gaffa tape to give it some strength.

[Jadams]

Looks like an awesome plan to me!!! Cant wait to see it completed.....Subscribed!!!

[uniqueid]

Thanks Jeremy. Will be sure to keep this up to date with all developments.

[uniqueid]

So, some updates.

The tank was ordered on Saturday so I'm hoping I'll be getting the tank soon. We've made a few changes, but nothing major.

On my current nano I have an aquaray (LED lighting unit) connected up to a home made (well, home wired) dimmer that connects it to my GHL. This was a bit of a mess, cable tied together and quite unsafe - so, I decided to tidy it up and upgrade it so that it'll work for two aquaray's (independently).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3354/3216881169_cd1ae328e6.jpg

[uniqueid]

I thought that I'd just write a little bit about my current (leaking) tank.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3178/2948315777_a62fbc70c1.jpg

This was to be my 4th tank after a break for a few years. It was my intention to just keep a coral garden with no fish, and I've managed to resist so far.

The most important thing for me was that, as this is going on my living room it had to look good, so I decided to use a TMC Aqua Ray lighting unit and hacked a Angle Poise lamp to hold it over the tank.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2949163552_1c068eee45.jpg

The final result was a nice, allbeit blue, addition to the living room.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3287/2987871402_f6184edd16.jpg

The tank was doing fantastically until I noticed a small leak on one of the seams. I plugged this with superglue and decided I'd start project upgrade a little earlier than intented.

The upgrade won't actually give me much more space in the display tank, but the sump will let me get rid of a lot of equipment. It also allows me to change the furniture the tank is sitting on as this is not supporting the current tank properly (and is probably partly responsible for the damage).

I don't have any decent pictures of the inhabitants - something to be fixed when I get a new camera (hopefully for my birthday) - but they include zoanthids, blasto, duncan, ricordea, pearl and lobo coral. There are also 3 pom pom crabs, 2 mithrax crabs and a cleaner shrimp.

[CurvBall]

Very cool.

Love the lighting 'arm' - doing a similar thing with my new system, but will be a MH pendant.

[uniqueid]

You'll need a much stronger arm than the cheap thing I got from eBay. :) Nice website BTW (I assume you're pixeldeath).

[CurvBall]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14214052#post14214052 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by uniqueid
You'll need a much stronger arm than the cheap thing I got from eBay. :) Nice website BTW (I assume you're pixeldeath).

Yeah, I hear you on the arm strength side of things ;) Will probably be getting a floor unit from Ikea...

Thanks for the kind words on my site - and yes, I run pixeldeath.com amongst other online projects :D ...how did you find pixeldeath though??

[uniqueid]

Through distortedmagazine.com which is in your sig. :) I used my detective skills!

[uniqueid]

I've decided to quit RC - I don't like the attitudes of the moderators who seem to have a self important arrogance that is taking the fun out of my membership. If you want to find me I can usually be found on reefsuk.