My 2.5G office reef build

[Egres]

hey denver how the silicone holding up the plexi too the glass ??

i wanna do something similar but wondering about how too glue the plexi too the glass

[DenverBC29]

I used SuperGlue to place the plexi. The back compartments were quite small, so I glued then siliconed a few of the back dividers to the glass before gluing and caulking the overflow/return nozzle wall.

[DenverBC29]

Started my LED build @
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19111732

[Egres]

Originally Posted by DenverBC29

I used SuperGlue to place the plexi. The back compartments were quite small, so I glued then siliconed a few of the back dividers to the glass before gluing and caulking the overflow/return nozzle wall.

cool superglue + siliconed combination thx

[DenverBC29]

You're welcome

[drdingo]

Just checking in - Looking really good Denver.

You are a terrible influence. I was just going to do a shrimp and fish in mine but you are making the led build look so easy, I'm now considering doing that!

I'm impressed with how you're coming along. Keep it up!

[DenverBC29]

Thanks dingo. I'm hoping that this fixture will support a wide range of coral. I'll be the guinea pig for everyone with a tiny tank.

[DenverBC29]

I'm using my old Nano LED light to light the fuge on this tank. I messed up one day and splashed 2 of the whites and 1 of the blues during a fresh water top off, so the entire fixture isn't working. I left the Blues hooked up because I believe that Algae uses the blue spectrum as well as the white. This fixture is a mini version of what I'm building for the display portion of this tank.


Mounted the light with velcro and plugged it into a timer set to light the fuge 16 hours per day, opposite of the display lights.

[DenverBC29]

LED Fixture is complete and installed.


Rocks and sand coming to work with me tomorrow...

[Butchhe]

Looks good. I'm following your progress.

[DenverBC29]

Thankgs Butchhe. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to break/epoxy my rock work, so rocks and sand coming this weekend or Monday.

[twiggyb]

Awesome job I actually just picked up a 2.5 tonight and was searching on how to do the fake wall to conceal the equipment and found your lovely thread with such detail on everything I needed to know! One thing though, where do I get the black acrylic from?

[DenverBC29]

Thanks Daniel! I got the plexi from plasticare here in denver. I'm sure you could order it from them or just search for someone in your neck of the woods via google.

Make sure that you choose the lowest wattage return pump available that moves the amount of water that you need as it will add heat to your system.

[twiggyb]

I went to office max today and I picked up some paper tray holders that were black acrylic and I hacked them all up today for my walls. Gonna glue them in sometime this week. Thanks for all the helpful ideas on putting together this tank. I'm going to br keeping dwarf seahorses so I'm gonna have to see what the temp does for me. I also picked up the marineland maxi jet 400 and a marineland led fixture that is a perfect size for the tank.

[DenverBC29]

Awesome Daniel! Upload some pics and either start your own thread or feel free to hijack this one. I'd like to see how you do it.

[twiggyb]

Here you go, a link to my thread! I don't wanna take anything away from yours


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2057498

[Jackd1987]

Tank looks awesome... Great job building it!

[DenverBC29]

Thanks Jackd!

I just added some Chaeto to the refugium today and will be buying some LR today as I decided not to steal any from my other tank because it's parameters are just where I like them and I didn't want to disturb the system.

[DenverBC29]

Added 2lbs of Florida LR from my LFS.

[hagar101]

wow. Its looking great!

[DenverBC29]

Thanks Hagar! I'll bring some sand tomorrow out of my display tank, but I actually like the bare bottom look. Hmm... Sand or no sand???

[hagar101]

if you leave it barebottom wont it grow coraline on the bottom? that would look nice

[DenverBC29]

Possibly? I've never ran a bare bottom tank. Anyone know the pros/cons for barebottom vs sand???

I like sand because of the added filtration, but this is tempting.

[tylernt]

I seem to recall brandon429, a very experienced pico reefer on the "other" nano reef site, recommending bare bottom picos. Apparently, the sandbed eventually traps so much detrius that you start having nutrient problems. The LR should provide sufficient biological filtration by itself so it's more of an aesthetic decision.

[DenverBC29]

Hmm... I'll have to look up brandon's post. That may be good advice. I do however, stir my sand before changing my filter floss, letting it get trapped before changing it out.