After all these years, Office nano build!

[Wiskey]

Hello all!

I haven’t done a build thread in a while but I’m excited to kick this one off!!! I’ve wanted a work nano for a very long time, and I finally have the opportunity to do it!

I have a small 2 gallon fresh water shrimp tank on my desk at work that’s been there for about 6 years, and the thank has even become a little famous around the office. It’s been mentioned in all hands meetings, it’s been used as part of a corporate scavenger hunt, and people drop by to see how the shrimp are doing regularly. This is it in 2014:
IMG_1209FullResized by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Now to the new setup. It will be a 10G Cubey by JBJ, but instead of using the tank as it is I’m going to build a small stand around it. This will give me a small drawer underneath for supplies, and a 6” tall hood to hide the lighting. In the back I will have a 4” wide area behind the tank where the Apex will be mounted. I will use the Apex classic from my current 75G and upgrade the 75 to the 2016 model.

The goal is to have a single power, auto topoff ¼ inch line, and network cord coming from the case, and everything to run the system is in the case. The tank will be automated to be as low maintenance as possible, it will also have multiple safeties like flow sensing return and over/under full sensors which will add to piece of mind.

Many things are undecided right now, but here’s what I have.
Tank and case layout:
Thumbnail-2 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr
Side View:
Thumbnail by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Tank as it sits, with the initial scape glued together:
Thumbnail-3 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr
Side:
Thumbnail-4 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Join me on this journey!

Whiskey

 

[NY_Caveman]

This looks awesome! Love the shrimp tank.

 

[Tihsho]

You also have the 75 at your work office?

 

[Bob Weigant]

It will always be a conversation piece at work

 

[Wiskey]

This looks awesome! Love the shrimp tank.

Thank you!!

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

You also have the 75 at your work office?

Lol, no, but that would be great!! I'm going to set the nano up at home first, get it cycled, then bring it in when it's ready to go.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

It will always be a conversation piece at work

I'm hoping so,... There is so much interesting life in a Reef, and I imagine that many people have never seen it before. I might even recruit a new person or two to the hobby.

Whiskey

 

[Tihsho]

I just saw it in the reflection and a pretty organized desk so I had to ask as I thought that was your work office desk, haha.

 

[Wiskey]

I just saw it in the reflection and a pretty organized desk so I had to ask as I thought that was your work office desk, haha.

For sure. I have an office at home too, I'm pretty much always going to school and so it comes in handy.

Whiskey

 

[jurgenph]

Wiskey! long time no see.

sorry, i'm no creepy stalker, this is Jph from back over at TRT

looking forward to your build, always loved your tech'y approach to things!

i went nano as well, with two 10 gallons.


J.

 

[Wiskey]

Wiskey! long time no see.

sorry, i'm no creepy stalker, this is Jph from back over at TRT

looking forward to your build, always loved your tech'y approach to things!

i went nano as well, with two 10 gallons.


J.

JPH!!! How goes it? Do you have a thread on your 10G? Speaking of Tech I'm excited because my 2016 Apex will be here tomorrow. I'll use that on my big tank then move the Classic to this one.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

I put in a little work today, and I’m making some progress on the base of the tank. Unfortunately I very much mis-calculated the amount of 1” square hardwood I needed so at this point I had to stop and place another order.

I needed to put a screw in from two sides, so I used a wood dowel from one angle, then from the other angle used a screw. This worked perfect:
Thumbnail by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

I really like these little clamps that help me glue at 90 degrees:
Thumbnail-2 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Here is the completed base:
Thumbnail-3 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

And with the tank ontop:
Thumbnail-4 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Whiskey

 

[jurgenph]

JPH!!! How goes it? Do you have a thread on your 10G? Speaking of Tech I'm excited because my 2016 Apex will be here tomorrow. I'll use that on my big tank then move the Classic to this one.

my 40B never really took off... and i figured out that i really enjoy smaller tanks
<= hit the build thread button under my name

J.

 

[Wiskey]

my 40B never really took off... and i figured out that i really enjoy smaller tanks
<= hit the build thread button under my name

J.

Oh yeah! I forget about some of these features here. I'll go check it out!!!

Whiskey

 

[Tihsho]

Nice work on the pedestal for the tank! Neat concept and it's going to be interesting to see what you do with it to finish it off!

 

[Wiskey]

Nice work on the pedestal for the tank! Neat concept and it's going to be interesting to see what you do with it to finish it off!

Thank you!!! Me too. I spent some time in Lowes today and I couldn't find the 1/4" board I was hoping to use so I'm going the Oak Ply route. To cap off the trim I'm going to try and use a router table to cut 1/4" into 1/2" oak trim then cap off the ply with that so we don't see the edges.

We will see how it works.

Whiskey

 

[Tihsho]

With the sizes you need you may want to contact a carpenter or cabinetry shop to see if you can buy their cut offs. You can get great material for a cheap price that way.

 

[Wiskey]

With the sizes you need you may want to contact a carpenter or cabinetry shop to see if you can buy their cut offs. You can get great material for a cheap price that way.

That's a great idea! I wish I had thought of that. Next time I'll try that for sure.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Guess what came in the mail today!

IMG_6113 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

I know, it looked so much better in the box, but I tore that thing open like it was Christmas morning and I was 5 years old looking at my very first Radio Controlled Monster Truck!!!!!!!!

To be fair this is not for my 10G, this will replace the Orange Label classic on my 75, then the classic will go on my 10G, so I have some serious work to do. It will be fun work though! Until I have time to go through the manual process of setting everything back up, it is apparently monitoring the temperature of my office and reporting it to Fusion.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

I have just a quick update for you today. My main tank is all switched over to the 2016 Apex, leaving the Orange label classic free for mounting in the new system:
IMG_6125 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

And I’ve spent some more time building the back section of the framework. This will bolt to the base so that it can be removed if I ever need to. The hood section will hinge to the top of this back section, allowing it to open fully to remove the tank if I ever need to, and access the filtration.
IMG_6124 (Edited) by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

I’m still undecided on the lighting, but I’ve made the hood high enough that I can use MH or LED and have room for the light to spread.

Whiskey