37gal nano build.

[Marx]

Hey guys, im building a 37gal nano. 30x12x22. it will consist of 3 rapidled lights, octopus skimmer, hydor pumps on controller, and 2 two little fishies reactors.

im in the process of converting old wood floor TV into a furniture grade tank holder. will match my existing living room decor. will take pics tonight to show you. the tank will be inside this cabinet, which has top access to do maint's ,and a front flip up to feed. it going to be 32" high. with all furniture grade moldings to make it nice.

will add to this as i go.

[Cheebs]

Awesome! Do you have any ideas for livestock yet?

[bt]

Sounds like a lot of work.

Also sounds so very, very awesome and completely worth a lot of work!

[Marx]

well, stocking... hmmm never thought that far ahead.

my kids want Clownfish.

my list is most likely:
Clownfish pair,
Royal Gramma,
Fire Fish
Blue Spot jaw Fish
Watchmen Goby with Pistol Shrimp.

Corals:
LPS
Softies.
SPS at top near surface.
No Leathers.

Inverts:
Cleaner Shrimp
Snails.
few hermits, just for appearance not for cleaning.

[zoom111]

Are you building the tank from scratch ? what thickness of glass ?

[xenon]

Blue Spot jaw Fish

I hope you plan to add a cover. Those suckers love to jump out of tanks.

[Severum]

And for a BSJ an eggcrate cover won't cover it (no pun intended).  I know from first hand experience, first hand expensive experience.

[Marx]

sorry been away my son was in cheo with a nasty flu..

okay im not building the tank. that scares me to much, im buying a 37gal. 30x12x22

i decided to build the full lighting out of LED DIY from RapidLED. so i will have 2x18" stripes with 18 LED's
9 Royal Blue, 6 White, 3 Voilet UV.
+ 2 par 30's with 3 Royal Blues and 2 Whites in each.

Stand is almost complete, just finishing last touches of molding and painting it Rich Mohogany, Primed with BIM 1,2,3 Primer and Sealer, to keep wood nice and dry and mold free!

I just picked up a AquaFX Barracuda 4 Stage RO/DI system. life blood of any reef.

next is to find a used HOB skimmer (Octopus)
then 2 Korilia 750 or 1050 and controller.

need to find my camera to add pics of stand.

Oh yeah as for the BS jawfish, if he jumps he will hit the top of the stand. and im going to build a screened eggcrate border around tank for safety of fish and from young kids with toys lol..



Thanks for following.

[Marx]

Here are the pic of the Stand/Cabinet build.

[Marx]

as you can see the stand is painted completely with Water proof white Epoxy, the covered with Behr Enamel Rich mohogany paint.

also i added sound proofing (Eco Foam) to inside!

now im starting to build foam/rock wall! =)

[Marx]

more pics with tank inside. still need to put on handles, but starting foam wall this weekend! =)

Also picking up two korilia 1400's

sorry for the mess to cold in garage to paint so i stuffed it in furnace room 

[Malyon18]

looking good!!!

[Marx]

Thank you!

I picked up two korilia 1400's last night and about 70# of base coral rock!

going to start wall 

[Marx]

Pics of beginning of Rock/Foam wall! the plastic clips will go on center and be covered with foam and sand to hide heater =)

[Marx]

Ordered my LED DYI Kit today!

24 LED's 3w Cree's.

so i will have 24 LED's over the tank!

8 Royal Blues
4 Blues
4 Ultra Violet
8 Cool White

[Marx]

Ordered my Octopus BH1000!!

getting there!

[redbelly]

Looking forward to this build!

[brotherluv]

Me too!  It looks amazing so far.

[Marx]

Foam is on walls letting them cure a week before i cut the foam to more natural look then epoxy and sand them!

quick question to you guys, i mage a heater holder in the foam wall behind `U' brackets and let the foam drip down and dry, theres alot of holes for the heater water to go thru to tank plus current.
will the foam be okay with the heat from the heater?

[Marx]

Okay rock foam wall is ready for sand/epoxy!!

here are some photos!

no silicon on back yet so there leaning from rock weight.

[Marx]

my wife wants black sand for the tank....

so i rinsed the first panel under water but the foam is sandy/grey color cause the epoxy is holding onto a dusting..
will do rest of the panels with a light dusting, then get black sand..

most of my fish will be white lol.. so they will stick out!

[Hookup]

very slick looking tank... LED the crap out of it and grow sick LPS... (please do this so I can live vicariously thru you... please)

[Marx]

thats my plan!!!

i have leds ordered =)

[Marx]

pics of foam wall with epoxy and sand. i brushed some sand off the last one to make it look like dark rock with coral rock sticking out!

[Marx]

Did Second coat of epoxy and sand!! looks amazing!! hard as a rock now!! 

Also picked up a Reefkeeper Lite from a fellow reefer last night! so wiring it into stand today! going to order expansion slot so everything will be controlled from one source.

also purchased 40# of live rock i get it this weekend!

so with wall and live rock im close to 50# in tank.

so will pick up substrate this weekend and should be up and running next week.

need to solder my leds. kinda nervous but i think it will be okay!

[Marx]

Okay i moved tank to its final spot!! and added rock wall!!

Tank will be running this week!

here are the pics!

heater will be hidden with live rock pieces.

so will the two reactor pumps   

[brotherluv]

I can't wait to see it full if water.  Great job!

[DaWolfe]

That is an awesome job, great job!   Can't wait to see it filled!

[Cheebs]

This is going to look very cool, great job so far!

[Marx]

Okay here are pics with blue LEDS on, 18 of them lol!!

Whites will be installed tonight!

[Marx]

with white leds and blues running! corals love it! 

last one shows white LEDs at 100%

[veron]

Looks very cool!  Be carefull regarding the LED's  seems they can be very bright to the corals but dim to our eyes. Alot of LED users seem to slowly ramp up the lights due to coral burn/bleach.

[Cheebs]

It looks very natural in there, good job!

[Hookup]

bet this looks even better in person... what a great tank... very creative.

[Marx]

Thanks guys!

i noticed my brain even on bottom doesn't like leds on much, it prefers just the blues on. grows huge then whites come on for a few hours he shrinks up.

i also noticed one more thing, my brain, Acans, have their tenticles out all the time? i feed them and they still keep them out.

to much nutrient in water? my Blasto's love being near bottom. they open full! Shrooms and zoa's on bottom too they love it! all corals open full with just 18 blues on. then when the 8 whites kick on it seems like over kill lol..