45 Gallon Shallow Reef Build

[CBonito]

Niiiice! I had the Nero 3 on my previous tank and was really pleased with how it moved water, I think you’ll like it. Not sure if this works with how you intend to set it up or if it’s compatible with the Nero 3, but here’s the upgraded magnet I was telling you about in my build thread.

Nero 3/5 Magnet Kit

Replacement Nero 3 or Nero 5 Magnet kit. Package contains 1 each of the interior and exterior magnets.

shop.aquaillumination.com

They say the nero 5 magnet will only handle .63 glass thickness. Is that the stock one or is it meant to handle thicker glass than that? They have no description on the site.

I was looking at a site that sells neo-magnets and they have some serious stuff that will pinch you and make you squeal man, so I'll see about buying a magnet, coating it in that rubber tool handle stuff and that would work.

But really, just using some 3m tape to stick the base on will be easy and it will never fall off unless I pry on it hard.
I can still remove the powerhead from the base to clean it.
I just have to make a decision where I want the mount and once I stick it there, it will stay. I'll do it before I fill the tank.
It holds the wing on the back of my car and I've been almost 200mph with it out in Utah. It's still there!
That's a LOT of force.

Regardless of all that though, I am confident I made a good choice. It seems like it wouldn't be as temperamental as a vortech. And it delivers the perfect amount of flow for my tank. I want a visible standing 1/2" wave on the surface and this will definitely do that.

The tank is going to be a "reef crest" environment so I need that standing wave to happen. It's conducive to that environment. The strong back and forth motion is what picks up all the crap and helps the entire reef to breathe.

 

[LilElroyJetson]

They say the nero 5 magnet will only handle .63 glass thickness. Is that the stock one or is it meant to handle thicker glass than that? They have no description on the site.

I was looking at a site that sells neo-magnets and they have some serious stuff that will pinch you and make you squeal man, so I'll see about buying a magnet, coating it in that rubber tool handle stuff and that would work.

But really, just using some 3m tape to stick the base on will be easy and it will never fall off unless I pry on it hard.
I can still remove the powerhead from the base to clean it.
I just have to make a decision where I want the mount and once I stick it there, it will stay. I'll do it before I fill the tank.
It holds the wing on the back of my car and I've been almost 200mph with it out in Utah. It's still there!
That's a LOT of force.

Regardless of all that though, I am confident I made a good choice. It seems like it wouldn't be as temperamental as a vortech. And it delivers the perfect amount of flow for my tank. I want a visible standing 1/2" wave on the surface and this will definitely do that.

The tank is going to be a "reef crest" environment so I need that standing wave to happen. It's conducive to that environment. The strong back and forth motion is what picks up all the crap and helps the entire reef to breathe.

It says upgrade, so I’m assuming it’s a stronger magnet that they developed given people’s dissatisfaction with the stock one (I’m shocked they didn’t consider this in the development process, huge fumble). The 3M tape would work for sure but as your tank grows out and if you want to experiment with modifying your flow down the road, that will be annoying. I’m sure there’s a magnet solution that will work, and I’m pretty sure this is the solution but I would just call them to confirm. I believe I saw on here somewhere that the magnet upgrade is indeed for thicker glass but I forget where I saw that.

 

[LilElroyJetson]

Found the thread and the magnet! (I’d still go with the AI brand one if it’s indeed an upgrade though.)

AI Nero 5 powerhead magnet upgrade?

Bought 2 to use in a 125 gallon, and they worked fine, but I got a new 240 gallon display I think it is 3/4" acrylic and they just fall off - anyone found a source for stronger magents?

www.reef2reef.com

Octo Pulse Extra Strong Outer Magnet Mount

Max Glass Thickness: 21mm / 0.83in Suitable Octo Pulse Models: OP-2 / OP-4

www.coralvue.com

 

[CBonito]

Wow, that Octo magnet is like a speaker magnet. That will work for sure.
I saved that link.

 

[dangit]

Wow this is going to be a good looking tank! Can’t wait to see the setup once you have it all plumped and ready to go! Following along

 

[CBonito]

Wow this is going to be a good looking tank! Can’t wait to see the setup once you have it all plumped and ready to go! Following along

Just waiting for the rest of it to come in. Then we can get to putting it all together.

 

[CBonito]

This is going to be really cool not fumbling on the floor through a mess of cables and coming up with german shepherd hair up the side of my head, the wrong plug and wondering why my lights died.

Now this is the CABINET, so the "Energy Bar" is going inside to the wall. No need to have plugs and crap hanging off the front of the cabinet. That will just ruin it. That can stay INSIDE. I bought this to NOT be a mess.

My doser/alkalinity doohickatronic (still haven't decided) will go up top with nice dosing containers and I'll put some tube bulkheads in the top to pass down into the cabinet and then everything that needs to go to the tank can go into a wire loom out the side to the tank with the probes, heater, float switches and all that.

I really want to rock the Alkatronic and I just may say screw it and do it. I know it's a little temperamental at this point, but I know I can make it work. We'll see.

If all else fails, I will just get a DOS package and run it based off my testing observations.

Some people who are used to having a decent controller might not care, but I'm thrilled man.
Think I'm going to put light controller on the top right and whatever wave pumps I finalize on the left.

Now regarding the cabinet...don't expect some piece of fine furniture. It's just basically a dumb PVC sheet box with shelves inside and faceplates you can replace to fit different stuff. Screws go right into it like plywood. It looks ok. I am going to build a stand for it so I can bring it up higher and make a table top that will go over it. This way it blends in and the controls are chest level like a kiosk or something. It's an expensive (ok, fine overpriced) box for what it is, and you'd have to decide if spending 300 bucks (with 60 dollar discount) is good for you. But I got 60 bucks off and I'm not trying to imply that it's shady or cheap. It's perfectly adequate for what I am doing. Most will put this under their tank stand. I dont have 10 feet of tank stand. My sump takes up the whole stand. So it is what it is. Either way, just getting your equipment in order nice and neat is huge.

They even make a light up LED Neptune Systems panel that can go on the top or bottom or an ecotech one if that's your thing. Since I'm a sucker for all that worthless garbage, I just might. Why not? If it adds to the aesthetics, I'm on it.

Now I'm going to fill up my utility sink and see what this Nero Pump is all about...

 

[CBonito]

Yeah, here's the general idea. Flow pump stuff will go top left and whatever dosing system will go up top.

This will work pretty good for me.

 

[CBonito]

Well, I woke up to the sound of my dog barking, so I went to see what was up.
There was a big box on my porch...my tank.

UPS broke it. I'm furious...I can just see these morons beating this box up.

I'm unsure this should have been shipped UPS. I think this should have been palleted, but I will say this. They marked it as fragile. It was in a huge box with bubble wrap and plastic wrap with peanuts and heavy cardboard protectors. One of the corners has a ding, the entire back panel has a long crack and the back right corner is also cracked through the right "pane" and the bottom. And it sucks because Advanced did what looks to be a really good job on this tank. This box was clearly thrown around though by the carrier.

How the @$#& do you break a 3/4" thick acrylic tank otherwise?

This is why I can't be a nice guy. :face-with-raised-eyebrow:

 

[CBonito]

I'm willing to bet that bottom right corner can be completely removed in one piece if I wanted to.
It's cracked all the way from the return hole on the left diagonally all the way down into the seam of the rear/floor, then across the floor into the crack that goes across the corner. They either dumped it on the overflow really hard or nailed the corner, but after looking things over thoroughly it looks like both. When a box is marked fragile, that usually means not to walk on it or throw it.

Advanced Acrylics is being standup and building me another one and I am appreciative that they care about their customers. I don't forget people who do the right thing.

Fortunately this is not like some super massive dream custom 500 gallon tank or something. They can make one of these in their sleep I'm sure, but this is kind of MY dream tank, so I'm really disappointed because I have been dying to get this going.

So there's that...

 

[CBonito]

My stand from Alufab is arriving today. Kinda funny, but I've been really looking forward to this. These are awesome stands and I've been envious whenever I see someone else's lol.

So even though my tank was broken in shipping and there's another on the way, I can still use the broken one to mock up my build which is cool. When the replacement comes, I'll slide the broken one out and replace it.

I'll get some pics up later.

 

[CBonito]

Got my stand from AluFab today. These stands are like top notch man. I can put a much heavier tank on this than I have and it would be noooooooo trouble. The quality is great and there is no wobble even with 2 people sitting on it. It's super solid. Awesome. If you get one, just get the whole package with the leveling casters and panels. I mean, it's totally worth it. Now I can move the tank around when I want to mop the floor.

UPS Broke my tank but a new one is on the way. I'm using the broken one as a mock-up dummy to get my plumbing all set and when the new tank comes, I can slide it in and reconnect everything.

Couple small issues...My sump just BARELY fits. I knew I was pushing it...so right now the side panels don't fit right. Stand is 36" long and sump is 35.8" LOL. But I have an evil plan to modify the channel the side panels sit in to bring it out further so it will fit. It's no problemo.

I have lots of sump capacity, Almost 7 gallons of ATO, short plumbing runs that probably negate any support at all (we'll see), and I also have an evil plan for all the wiring that is going to be super neat and clean.

I'm drilling 1/4" bulkheads into the top of the ATO compartment instead of through the hole in the lid because that's shady and I want all this junk to look clean.

I can easily take my skimmer out of the sump to clean it which doesn't suck. It was a real chore in my old system.
So there's good room.

So I have to plumb 2 drains and 2 returns. The return has a 1" flow sensor, a check valve and I am manifolding off it with the 2, 1/2" returns. Everything will easily disassemble for cleaning or whatever with unions. And it will be all done in red pipe with gray fittings keeping with the theme.

The kessils are being mounted to the stand so ignore those stupid tank brackets. There is only one wire that will come out of the tank for the Nero. The wires will all be inside the brackets so there will be no visible wires anywhere.

Soon as the replacement tank arrives, I can fill this thing up and test it, then get some live rock/sand and get her fired up. But before that, I gotta figure out the plumbing. I have a pile of pipe, valves and fittings here now and more in my cart if I need it.

Just seeing what I am working with now, I'm pretty happy. This rules. Slick and modern...nothing rigged up.

I have boxes all over the place. I gotta get rid of it. It's outta control.
The garbage man is going to be PO'd on Monday, man I ain't lyin!

Whattya' think?

 

[Lizbeli]

Wow what a shame regarding the first tank. I would probably be in tears haha.. Cool dimensions, the depth will definitely help with aquascaping.

 

[oliverout]

Very nice tank, making me want to sell my innovative marine 40l and start something like this

 

[CBonito]

Wow what a shame regarding the first tank. I would probably be in tears haha.. Cool dimensions, the depth will definitely help with aquascaping.

Yeah, I was pretty upset but Advanced Acrylics is making me another and getting it out. I applaud their customer service.

The aquascaping - I've been thinking hard about it and I've decided to go with several small "islands" and let them fill in.
This will be an SPS tank with some LPS too.

Thanks for your interest. Keep following!

 

[CBonito]

Very nice tank, making me want to sell my innovative marine 40l and start something like this

Thank You!

I've been dreaming of doing this for about a year now. It was only maybe a month ago that I decided to just go for it.
I've always wanted a brand new system exactly how I want without compromises or any used or old parts from a previous system, and all of my previous tanks were very basic. So I wanted to build something more advanced, but not huge because huge tanks are a lot of committment. Just a system that will provide me the proper environment to grow nice SPS with stability and a lot more reliability. If it's more reliable than I am, it's a win. LOL

 

[oliverout]

Thank You!

I've been dreaming of doing this for about a year now. It was only maybe a month ago that I decided to just go for it.
I've always wanted a brand new system exactly how I want without compromises or any used or old parts from a previous system, and all of my previous tanks were very basic. So I wanted to build something more advanced, but not huge because huge tanks are a lot of committment. Just a system that will provide me the proper environment to grow nice SPS with stability and a lot more reliability. If it's more reliable than I am, it's a win. LOL

I am jealous :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing: I think this tank will do great for you. I want to do something similar to this now. just maybe a bit bigger I do like the shallow look I think clams would be cool in this.

 

[CBonito]

I am jealous :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing: I think this tank will do great for you. I want to do something similar to this now. just maybe a bit bigger I do like the shallow look I think clams would be cool in this.

You can keep any coral in something like this. I wanted the footprint, but not all of the height. I really dig shallow tanks. They are so easy to work with, it's easy to get a lot of water flow, lights don't have to work as hard and you don't have to mess with braces. And when it's acrylic, it holds the heat in. Know how most people usually have their SPS at the top of their rock work? That's what this is like without the bottom half that I don't need. ;)

 

[oliverout]

You can keep any coral in something like this. I wanted the footprint, but not all of the height. I really dig shallow tanks. They are so easy to work with, it's easy to get a lot of water flow, lights don't have to work as hard and you don't have to mess with braces. And when it's acrylic, it holds the heat in. Know how most people usually have their SPS at the top of their rock work? That's what this is like without the bottom half that I don't need. ;)

Yeah shallow tanks really have a big benefit over normal sized tanks, but i still do like me a normal tank. If it's ok with me asking how much did you spend on the tank alone?

 

[CBonito]

Yeah shallow tanks really have a big benefit over normal sized tanks, but i still do like me a normal tank. If it's ok with me asking how much did you spend on the tank alone?

No trouble...I think the tank was about 840 dollars out the door which is expensive for a tank this size, but it is 3/4" thick acrylic and it is indeed a nice tank. The whole build has exceeded the 8000 dollar mark.

I could have gotten a much larger tank, but I don't want to deal with a large tank and all the humidity and spills and other things that come with it. I just wanted a nice clean fully self-contained system that I can wheel around if need be to clean and that is easily manageable to change water and the like. If I ever decide to upgrade, I can order a tank twice the length, buy another stand identical to this one, or a kit to expand it and do that. And all my other equipment will be more than adequate. But I doubt I'll go there. I'm really happy with this.

The only thing I am thinking about doing at this point is some kind of refugium that can hang off the sump.
Just a small miracle mud refugium as my most successful tank is totally attributable to the mud refugium.