TheCiscoKid's 10 gallon Nano Adventure.

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

So I hae been lurking on the forums for a while and decided that I should setup a nano aquarium in our dinning room. My wifes friend has given us an old 10 gallon iron aquarium stand that has a significant amount of rust. But I figure with some tender loving care I should be able to whip it back into shape.

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[TH3C1SC0K1D]

So I had some free time this weekend to start the restoration process on the rusted iron stand. So I took a trip to home depot to purchase some Rust-oleum Black Hammered Paint. That should give me a brand new looking stand and also prevent further rusting of the stand when the aquarium is up and running.

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[TH3C1SC0K1D]

So even though Iam setting up a nano aquariom I really did not want to sacrifice having a sump to hide equipment. So I decided that I would make a small custom siphon overflow without spending too much money. So I took a small tuppaware container, cut a portion of the container so that I could mount it in the inside of the aquarium using the Marineland Aquarium Silicon. I also drilled some holes for the water flow through which will lead to the PVC U-Tube I will be making.

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[TH3C1SC0K1D]

I also had some time to use some of the Rust-oleum Hammer Black paint the was used on the stand to paint the back of the aquarium glass on the exterior side of the pane. It only took about 3 coats and it made a nice glass like surface texture.

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa404/TH3C1SC0K1D/IMG_20110501_210654.jpg
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[100%hydrophylic]

IDK if thats the safest overflow design.... i would recommend having the tank drilled.

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

IDK if thats the safest overflow design.... i would recommend having the tank drilled.

This design is not yet complete. This is just the inside. I still have to build the exterior portion. I would not chance drilling the 10 gallon because I believe the glass is too thin. But that is just my thinking.

[100%hydrophylic]

i figured it wasnt done.i was just looking at the holes and it just seems like theyr kinda small, and could easily get clogged.

i dont think ive seen an overflow like it so i cant really tell you if it will work or not. usually people do slits or teeth rather than holes. who knows though :)

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

i figured it wasnt done.i was just looking at the holes and it just seems like theyr kinda small, and could easily get clogged.

i dont think ive seen an overflow like it so i cant really tell you if it will work or not. usually people do slits or teeth rather than holes. who knows though :)

Well I guess only testing will tell but I dont actually want too much turn over for the water since I want to maximize the amount of exposure to the protein skimmer and fluidized reactors I plan on keeping on the sump because of the small water volume. If worse came to worse I could always make the holes bigger with a dremel tool or trim the top of the overflow a bit and add a lighting difuser grate to prevent anything large from flowing in.

[fishieness]

This design is not yet complete. This is just the inside. I still have to build the exterior portion. I would not chance drilling the 10 gallon because I believe the glass is too thin. But that is just my thinking.

It's not too thin at all. I would drill it too. It would look much nicer and be safer.

[muhli]

drilling the tank would be your best bet, plus you can buy or make your own overflow box with acrylic with just a few dollars more

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

At this point in time I will not be drilling the tank. Thank you for the recommendations.

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

So I started to work on the exterior portion of the overflow box which is being constructed out of another piece of tupaware from the kitchen collection. I managed to construct a u-tube siphone from PVC Pipe and incorporate a check valve which will be connected to a Tom's Aqualifter Pump to maintain the siphon and remove any air bubbles that will build up in the u-tube. Also the cover will prevent any splashing of saltwater outside the overflow box.

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[FajardoPR]

interesting....loking foward to see it finish

[seaworldkid1]

It is hard to say that that the bad economy dose not impact reefers when you see a build thread like this. good luck.

[Johnny C]

LOL. Certainly not something you see everyday... that's for sure!

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

Looks like your off to a good start keep it up.

Thank you.

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

interesting....loking foward to see it finish

Thank you. I hope it stays interesting for a while.

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

It is hard to say that that the bad economy dose not impact reefers when you see a build thread like this. good luck.

LOL Money is not an issue for me. I have always been a tinkerer so it is more enjoyable for me like this. I will save the large aquarium builb and shiny expensive toys for when I finish purchasing my house.

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

LOL. Certainly not something you see everyday... that's for sure!

So I am guessing that I can coin the term tupaware tank? LOL

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

So I head some free time last nigh to start laying the foundation of for the aquascaping. I plan on using Marco Rocks Rock Rubble with their Bonding/Mortar solutions to cover up the skeletal support structure. I used this method so I can ensure that I could create overhangs, caves and other hiding spots in such a small work area. I still have some more work to do before moving on the the second phase of the construction which is applying the rock rubble and bonding/mortar solutions.


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[TH3C1SC0K1D]

So my delivery from Savko Plumbing Supplies came in yesterday evening and I was able to finish constructing the exterior portion of the overflow box. It has been mounted to the rear of the aquarium. It didn't come out half as bad looking as I had planned.


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[TH3C1SC0K1D]

So I had some free time today and decided that before I go any further in my little experiment I should test my customer tupaware overflow and see if it actually works as intended. Now my goal was not to get ridiculous amounts of flow through be to maximize exposure time of the water in the sump to the filtration equipment. So I ran my test in the kitchen sink and it worked just as planned.

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa404/TH3C1SC0K1D/th_video-2011-05-14-14-06-05.jpg (http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa404/TH3C1SC0K1D/?action=view&current=video-2011-05-14-14-06-05.mp4)
(Click the photograph above to see the video of my custom overflow in action.)

[100%hydrophylic]

nice to see that its working. did you put egg crate around the overflow as part of the future rock scape?

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

nice to see that its working. did you put egg crate around the overflow as part of the future rock scape?

Thank you. I was a bit concerned that the exterior portion of the overflow would not be mounted low enough to allow it to function properly. So I am happy. Also yes, the eggcrate it to support the future aquascaping. That is my next project.

[Carriegiesler]

Your design is very inventive. I agree with you about the DIY, I find that is one the most exciting part of the hobby, all the planning and building. However, I know it was stated before about the overflow holes but they concern me as well as this was a mistake I made with the first overflow I built as well. You have to be very addimate about making sure they dont clog with algae, and gunk (trust me you will forget to check at some point). If the holes do clog it will force the water to rise over the top of the overflow container and it looks like that is pretty much even with the top of your tank rim.
After having two floods with that similar design, I used my dremal to cut teeth down to the holes and I never had an issue with the clogging/flooding again.
Trust me it easier to fix it now than have worry about how your going to safely dremil the setup and not get shaving in the water later.

[bymers42]

I like the DIY aspect of the hobby as well.

Just not the testing of my DIY projects as I am not the handy man I imagine at times.:uhoh3:

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

Your design is very inventive. I agree with you about the DIY, I find that is one the most exciting part of the hobby, all the planning and building. However, I know it was stated before about the overflow holes but they concern me as well as this was a mistake I made with the first overflow I built as well. You have to be very addimate about making sure they dont clog with algae, and gunk (trust me you will forget to check at some point). If the holes do clog it will force the water to rise over the top of the overflow container and it looks like that is pretty much even with the top of your tank rim.
After having two floods with that similar design, I used my dremal to cut teeth down to the holes and I never had an issue with the clogging/flooding again.
Trust me it easier to fix it now than have worry about how your going to safely dremil the setup and not get shaving in the water later.

I definitely agree. I am going to use a dremel to cut some notches into the top portion of the internal overflow. This way it wont be flush to the top of the rim. Thank you for the suggestion.

[TH3C1SC0K1D]

I like the DIY aspect of the hobby as well.

Just not the testing of my DIY projects as I am not the handy man I imagine at times.:uhoh3:

LOL Well you will never know how good of a an handy man you can be if you dont try. Failure just means room for improvement.