Upgrade: 10 gallon to 36 gallon, movin up in the world

[andrewprime1]

It all started yesterday after work at the LFS when everybody went over to a customers house to help tear down his tanks, all six of them. He was just donating them to us, so I snagged this 36 bow to upgrade to. Right now I only have a ten gallon reef, so I can't wait for the extra room, plus, it will be easier to maintain during college (I hope). Here are some shots of what it looked like when I brought it home.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01108.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01107.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01106.jpg

And a picture of the good old store...
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01104.jpg

This morning I went too the acrylic store and got two pieces of 1/4 inch black acrylic to make an overflow box. My plan is to have a little 4x4x19 inch box in the back left of the tank to hide heaters, tubes, and top-offs. I'll post picture of that tomorrow when its all glued in. Today I just cleaned up the tank and painted the first coat on of black on the back.

Here is my plans for the set up. I am laying down egg create on the bottom, getting 20 extra pounds of fiji pink, and I already have a few nice rocks curing at work already.
For filtration I have a Red Sea Prizm protein skimmer, and not too much else. I got the skimmer for free, but I have seen some bad reviews online, so we will see how that goes.
For flow I am getting a VorTech mp10, and top offs will be managed by a float valve from aquahub.
I am moving my 175w metal halide from the ten gallon for lighting, and I am hoping that will be enough.

Stocking: tba
Maybe a blue spotted jaw fish, my true perc, other stuff....

[iFisch]

Looking good. :)

What about pictures of the 10 as is?



BSJ = jumper = lock tight lid. I've heard stories of them jumping through eggcrate. :(

[andrewprime1]

Ok, So here are pictures after the tank is all cleaned up and with one coat of paint. My dad says I went overboard taping it off, but I figure, if I am going to do it, I am going to do it right.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01110.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01111.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01113.jpg

I will post picture of the back with a few more coats, and with the black acrylic over-flow later on today, that's what I am working on right now.

[andrewprime1]

Here is a copy of a post I had about my ten gallon on NR...
Andrew's Nano Tank
Here is a complete history of my reef tank. If I left anything out, or you want to know more about something, just ask :)

Its a ten gallon tank with 14 pounds of rock, 20 pounds sand/crushed coral.
Here is the tank with the old lighting on it. 20" PC lighting by Coralife
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1214.jpg
cup coral
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1406.jpg
Some zoos
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1407.jpg
Huge open brain
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1409.jpg
Frogspawn, my clown is hosting it, and it drives me crazy. Will it die?
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1412.jpg
Emerald Mythrix Crab
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1414.jpg
Full tank shot
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1417.jpg
*New Addition* Branching montipora sps coral.

It was getting really hot here in Utah, and my temp is out of control,so I got an old computer fan set up.

So I built a little 2.5 gallon fuge for my ten gallon tank. It is ridicules I know, but its almost kind of cute really. I drilled a little platform into my stand for it and it came out uber strong. I raised it up of the stand with some stands and a little bit of wood for support.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/0422081754.jpg

[andrewprime1]

I have it hooked up so the the water comes in via j siphon, and leaves through a jerry rigged PVC system pumped by a via aqua 360.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/0427082006a.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/0427082006c.jpg

I got my best upgrade thus far, and the coolest one by far is this.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1464.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1465.jpg

I finally got Metal Halide lighting its a Mogul Base 175w with a 15K RX bulb. I am very pleased. I also got some new corals and here they are under the new lighting.

[andrewprime1]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1463.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1466.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1469.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_1472.jpg

Here are some more semi-current pictures of my tank, I just got two new Sps corals, and I changed the way my sump runs. I added about six inches of fine sand to the back, along with some cheato run by a moon light. I also added the fine fiji pink in the main display. Don't ever do Crushed Coral, I hated it!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_2012.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_2014.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/100_2011.jpg
(kinda out of focus, but I am no good at macro photography)



Thats it, the history of my whole tank, summed up into one post :)

These pictures still aren't very current, however...

[iFisch]

Looking good. :)

Good luck with the transfer to the 36.

[james3370]

you started a new thread w/ the contiuation pics instead of posting in this one.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/james3370/smileys/doh.gif http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/james3370/smileys/slap.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/james3370/smileys/lmfao.gif http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/james3370/smileys/biggrin.gif

[andrewprime1]

Haha, well dang it.... Sorry guys, if a mod wants to remove that, they definitely should. I just got confused I guess, it was late, and that was a ton of pictures

[andrewprime1]

I got the acrylic for the overflow yesterday, and got the overflow all set up and glued in, its been 24 hours, so the glue is 100% cured... I hope. Here are some pictures from the build.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01114.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01116.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01115.jpg
I added a little safety net to try and keep the critters from getting sucked in the back chamber.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01117.jpg
This stuff is so super shinny, I can actually see my reflection in it.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01121.jpg

Picture of the thing actually in the tank later tonight....

[andrewprime1]

So here are the pictures of the back section glued in and the egg create laid down, I put the prizm and the heater in there to see how it all would fit back there. Tomorrow I am going to fit the pump in the back and give it a water test. Its also the day my stand gets here. I wanna set it up really badly, but there are two problems really. One, I am moving into my dorm room tomorrow, so i kinda have my hands full. Two, my Vortech was on back-order, and it only just shipped today. We will just have to see it goes I guess... Now, on to the pictures

Egg create-
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01124.jpg

Back Chamber-
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01122.jpg

Side Shot-
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01128.jpg

Messed up paint job-
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01126.jpg
For some reason the paint wouldn't stick right on the top back part, I tried cleaning it, scraping off any extra silicone, it still wouldn't paint on the back section.

Back FTS
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/DSC01127.jpg

[andrewprime1]

Here are some updated pictures of my tank, i never really finished posting my build thread. Here, the light fixture is finally hung up and good to go.

Here are some bad pictures on all the new additions.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/Fish%20tank%2011-24/DSC01257.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/Fish%20tank%2011-24/DSC01258.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/Fish%20tank%2011-24/DSC01263.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/Fish%20tank%2011-24/DSC01267.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/Fish%20tank%2011-24/DSC01272.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/Fish%20tank%2011-24/DSC01284.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/Fish%20tank%2011-24/DSC01286.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b263/Hstreetprankers/Fish%20tank%2011-24/DSC01288.jpg