Hello everyone,
After almost a year of following and enjoying R2R, I've figured out that this is the right time to star a thread since my new reef tank started to be built! But before jumping into that, I'll start with a brief story of my journey into this point.
Back in 2013, my father found out that nano saltwater tanks existed, so he decided to buy one as a birthday present to my mother, to put a clown fish and an anemone in there. So it all started with TMC microhabitat 30 liter (~7 gal), without knowing nothing about saltwater aquariums and even less of reefkeeping. After setting up the tank with tap water and salt and letting the rock mature, we went to a local fish store (LFS) to buy the clown and the nem, and you can figure out how it ended. The clown and the nem came with some palys and zoas, and it didn't took too much time to the beginning of coral addiction.
Sadly, and due to lack of knowledge and information in the beginning, it was too late when we figured out that tap water isn't good for reefkeeping, and hair algae took the aquarium.
After fighting with it for up to 6 months, we decided to start again.
Meanwhile, while we were holding up the algae, we started another "all-in-one" 60 L (~15 gal) nano tank. This one started much smoother, without algae and other issues. But then, after learning a lot about corals, and type of corals, and seeing them in the LFS, our aim started to be keeping SPS.
This is how both nano aquariums look nowadays:
TMC 30L
60 L tank
After 4 years of making mistakes, learning from them, testing, studying, keeping up with reefkeeping news, following building threads, we are finally moving to the long-promised bigger tank.
Our plan for this new tank is to make a SPS-dominated tank with just some LPS on the bottom. It also needs to be a standalone unit, with the sump and all the equipment fitted inside the aquarium stand, and capable of being moved for other place. After looking for the possible places where it could fit in, we decided to go on a peninsula style tank, so we always have the best view possible.
At this point we talked with our LFS to ear some advises and they made the first sketch:
This was the chosen design at that point because we decided to go on LED's for lighting, and there were two problems: first, the right foot of our living room is 3 or 4 meters tall (9' - 13'), so we could never suspend the lighting (we also wanted to have mobility, so the lights needed to be connected to the stand) and secondly, LED's need to be covered so we don't get flashed when looking at the tank from bottom to top (e.g. when looking at the tank from the couch).
But then I started thinking.. This is too covered, and at some point, if I need to lift a structure or something to put my hands inside the aquarium for some maintenance, it will start not to happen. It needs to be simplified in order not to be affected by laziness. So the best alternative is a rimless tank with a suspended light that can be lifted with the touch of a button, so I can easily go with the hands inside the tank.
So I downloaded SketchUp, learned the basics, and came up with a final result that matches the living room furniture and is also simple to maintain:
The tank will be 1.60 m x 0.70 m (63'' x 27.5'' on the longest sides) and 0.55 m (21.6'') high. The suspended piece is the frame that will cover the LED's, which will be linked by a cable to the dark brown structure. The main tank volume is around 525 liter (138.7 gal) and the total volume will be around 600 liter (158.5 gal).
The structure will be as planned by my LFS, and it is in production right now:
With wheels and "feet" bellow:
Once the structure is ready, the sump can be sketched. The main goal is creating two separate compartments inside the stand - a dry area to put the chiller, controllers and all the electronics; and the sump area with ATO and balling reservoirs.
After almost a year of following and enjoying R2R, I've figured out that this is the right time to star a thread since my new reef tank started to be built! But before jumping into that, I'll start with a brief story of my journey into this point.
Back in 2013, my father found out that nano saltwater tanks existed, so he decided to buy one as a birthday present to my mother, to put a clown fish and an anemone in there. So it all started with TMC microhabitat 30 liter (~7 gal), without knowing nothing about saltwater aquariums and even less of reefkeeping. After setting up the tank with tap water and salt and letting the rock mature, we went to a local fish store (LFS) to buy the clown and the nem, and you can figure out how it ended. The clown and the nem came with some palys and zoas, and it didn't took too much time to the beginning of coral addiction.
Sadly, and due to lack of knowledge and information in the beginning, it was too late when we figured out that tap water isn't good for reefkeeping, and hair algae took the aquarium.
After fighting with it for up to 6 months, we decided to start again.
Meanwhile, while we were holding up the algae, we started another "all-in-one" 60 L (~15 gal) nano tank. This one started much smoother, without algae and other issues. But then, after learning a lot about corals, and type of corals, and seeing them in the LFS, our aim started to be keeping SPS.
This is how both nano aquariums look nowadays:
TMC 30L
60 L tank
After 4 years of making mistakes, learning from them, testing, studying, keeping up with reefkeeping news, following building threads, we are finally moving to the long-promised bigger tank.
Our plan for this new tank is to make a SPS-dominated tank with just some LPS on the bottom. It also needs to be a standalone unit, with the sump and all the equipment fitted inside the aquarium stand, and capable of being moved for other place. After looking for the possible places where it could fit in, we decided to go on a peninsula style tank, so we always have the best view possible.
At this point we talked with our LFS to ear some advises and they made the first sketch:
This was the chosen design at that point because we decided to go on LED's for lighting, and there were two problems: first, the right foot of our living room is 3 or 4 meters tall (9' - 13'), so we could never suspend the lighting (we also wanted to have mobility, so the lights needed to be connected to the stand) and secondly, LED's need to be covered so we don't get flashed when looking at the tank from bottom to top (e.g. when looking at the tank from the couch).
But then I started thinking.. This is too covered, and at some point, if I need to lift a structure or something to put my hands inside the aquarium for some maintenance, it will start not to happen. It needs to be simplified in order not to be affected by laziness. So the best alternative is a rimless tank with a suspended light that can be lifted with the touch of a button, so I can easily go with the hands inside the tank.
So I downloaded SketchUp, learned the basics, and came up with a final result that matches the living room furniture and is also simple to maintain:
The tank will be 1.60 m x 0.70 m (63'' x 27.5'' on the longest sides) and 0.55 m (21.6'') high. The suspended piece is the frame that will cover the LED's, which will be linked by a cable to the dark brown structure. The main tank volume is around 525 liter (138.7 gal) and the total volume will be around 600 liter (158.5 gal).
The structure will be as planned by my LFS, and it is in production right now:
With wheels and "feet" bellow:
Once the structure is ready, the sump can be sketched. The main goal is creating two separate compartments inside the stand - a dry area to put the chiller, controllers and all the electronics; and the sump area with ATO and balling reservoirs.
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