It's been a while (20 years plus) since I turn down my 200 gal tank. Looking for some day come back to the hobby. The time just arrived, not as I use to set, because space issues, but I'm really excited and ready. By the way... "my wife encourage me to build a tank".
Well, my new approach will be with a Nano Tank in a small space at the living room. After looking for an alternative concerning the space available, one day my wife came up to the idea of rescue the tank that my brother in law have in his garage for several years. So we arrange with him to pick it up.
JBJ 28 Pro
Well... now I got a Tank for the space available for me. And the best of all freebie... 8)
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My new concern now it's the filtration for it. So I decide to look for a viable alternative taking in consideration the lack of space in the cabinet. As I was used to use sumps with a tricker system back in the day's but the messures inside the cabinet throw me into a DIY sump. I was looking for a skimming section, a refugium and a return to dose, ato, reactors, ect...
I decide to do some drawings to acomodate my needs.
At the end I came up with a linear 3 chambers sump in a 10 gal aquarium.
So I made it.
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Ok... "I got the Tank and the sump, I need and overflow". :-/ Looking for ideas found different alternative. (drilling the back wall, buying a hang on back overflow box, or like in the old day's a PVC pipe overflow). Drilling the back wall wasn't the alternative for me, buying a hang on back its no fun, so I decide to do my own PVC overflow.
Problem solve...
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My next concern was the return...
Not a big deal but, How I'm going to return all that water?
The tank came with a back chambers for the original mecanical kind of biological filtration system. But the question was... Did that space will handle that amount of water? Well, thinking that it came with two 266glh powerheads controled by a wave maker that alternate each other and definetly I want to use it. But that definetly won't be enough.
I could use those holes and eliminate the powerheads, but I will have to place them inside the tank and won't look cool. So I dicide to keep it as it was and drill two new holes for my returns in the plastic wall that divide the internal filtration of the tank.
So far, so good... all the plumbing problems are solve.
By the way my wife got to love me a lot... buajajaja
Something is missing the sofa...
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Well, what about the aquascape?
Thats it something that concern and preocupate all of us. It got to look good, it need plenty of area to place our frags and all in between (crevices for fish to hide, enough pieces for bio to grow and support the system, ect, ect).
I was planning to buying dry rocks from a supplier but it will be expensive and probably the rocks that came in wouldn't be of my like. But because I live in Florida that wasn't an issue. My back yard it's full of dead reef rock's that I could collect and clean.
After completing the recollection and cleaning, its time to try some build-up... after few attempts I came with this preliminary design.
Well, all of you might ask... Why he got eggcrate in the back wall???
Back in the days I used to have the back wall bare glass and it was sometimes a pain to clean; live it for coraline to grow!!! Mmmm... that is something that doesn't look nice until its complete cover and most of the time doesn't look nice. "Besides, my wife will complain and her support will be retired". Buajajaja... Anyway, is in my living room in a all around sight view and I want it to be a focal piece. So I decided a DIY foam background. That will look like real rocks and by time pass by, hopefully it will be covered with coraline algae. After all if I don't like how its looks I could take it out easy. And at this moment I still working on it.
Well... by now this is how it's coming up my Tank after twenty years plus been out of the hobby. As soon as I do something else I will update this post, so everyone could enjoy with me this passion that we all carry for Reekeping.
I will appreciate any suggestion or idea and let's have fun.
KEEP ON REEFING...
Well, my new approach will be with a Nano Tank in a small space at the living room. After looking for an alternative concerning the space available, one day my wife came up to the idea of rescue the tank that my brother in law have in his garage for several years. So we arrange with him to pick it up.
JBJ 28 Pro
Well... now I got a Tank for the space available for me. And the best of all freebie... 8)
----------------------------------------------------
My new concern now it's the filtration for it. So I decide to look for a viable alternative taking in consideration the lack of space in the cabinet. As I was used to use sumps with a tricker system back in the day's but the messures inside the cabinet throw me into a DIY sump. I was looking for a skimming section, a refugium and a return to dose, ato, reactors, ect...
I decide to do some drawings to acomodate my needs.
At the end I came up with a linear 3 chambers sump in a 10 gal aquarium.
So I made it.
----------------------------------------------------
Ok... "I got the Tank and the sump, I need and overflow". :-/ Looking for ideas found different alternative. (drilling the back wall, buying a hang on back overflow box, or like in the old day's a PVC pipe overflow). Drilling the back wall wasn't the alternative for me, buying a hang on back its no fun, so I decide to do my own PVC overflow.
Problem solve...
----------------------------------------------------
My next concern was the return...
Not a big deal but, How I'm going to return all that water?
The tank came with a back chambers for the original mecanical kind of biological filtration system. But the question was... Did that space will handle that amount of water? Well, thinking that it came with two 266glh powerheads controled by a wave maker that alternate each other and definetly I want to use it. But that definetly won't be enough.
I could use those holes and eliminate the powerheads, but I will have to place them inside the tank and won't look cool. So I dicide to keep it as it was and drill two new holes for my returns in the plastic wall that divide the internal filtration of the tank.
So far, so good... all the plumbing problems are solve.
By the way my wife got to love me a lot... buajajaja
Something is missing the sofa...
----------------------------------------------------
Well, what about the aquascape?
Thats it something that concern and preocupate all of us. It got to look good, it need plenty of area to place our frags and all in between (crevices for fish to hide, enough pieces for bio to grow and support the system, ect, ect).
I was planning to buying dry rocks from a supplier but it will be expensive and probably the rocks that came in wouldn't be of my like. But because I live in Florida that wasn't an issue. My back yard it's full of dead reef rock's that I could collect and clean.
After completing the recollection and cleaning, its time to try some build-up... after few attempts I came with this preliminary design.
Well, all of you might ask... Why he got eggcrate in the back wall???
Back in the days I used to have the back wall bare glass and it was sometimes a pain to clean; live it for coraline to grow!!! Mmmm... that is something that doesn't look nice until its complete cover and most of the time doesn't look nice. "Besides, my wife will complain and her support will be retired". Buajajaja... Anyway, is in my living room in a all around sight view and I want it to be a focal piece. So I decided a DIY foam background. That will look like real rocks and by time pass by, hopefully it will be covered with coraline algae. After all if I don't like how its looks I could take it out easy. And at this moment I still working on it.
Well... by now this is how it's coming up my Tank after twenty years plus been out of the hobby. As soon as I do something else I will update this post, so everyone could enjoy with me this passion that we all carry for Reekeping.
I will appreciate any suggestion or idea and let's have fun.
KEEP ON REEFING...