45 Gallon - first reef - slow and steady :D

[phi delt reefer]

Alright so back in April of 2010 I came across the Nano-reef site and was determined to build a 20 gallon reef.

Time passed, equipment was purchased, i got married, changed my mind about tank sizes, etc. I am on a pretty tight budget due to home renovations so every week i put a side $50-$100 and save up to buy the best quality equipment that i can afford.  So I thought i would save some money by building my own stand...

started with this

evolved to this

$500 later  (so much for saving money!)

here is my custom tank;

overflow for beananimal setup

equipment

more to come in a bit...

 

[pulpfiction1]

its amazing how much is involved,parts,time and patience,looks like it will be a real looker once its finished,keep us posted

 

[Blob-79]

looks like your off to one hell of a start. GJ cant wait to see progress photos

 

[shayneh]

Nice build so far.......accessory apartment for the little people in our lives is a good idea too  ;D

Looking forward to seeing this tanks evolution....

Who built the tank? Also cause I'm too lazy to figure it out how many gallons (metric always confuses me)

 

[shayneh]

Is that a reefkeeper I see?.....nice!

 

[phi delt reefer]

Nice build so far.......accessory apartment for the little people in our lives is a good idea too  ;D

Looking forward to seeing this tanks evolution....

Who built the tank?

LOL - the stand remained unfinished in our kitchen for 6 months and became their play house. Now they refuse to hang out in the kitchen when we are making dinner cause there is nothing to do!

Mark of Aquatic Technologies Canada did. He's in Guelph. Its 35.5"x 23.5"x 12" - overflow is a custom notched wier to improve surface skimming. Should be cycling 250gphs.

point of the build was to keep things super quiet and not have equipment all over the place. Though currently my living room looks like a fish store exploded in it.

 

[phi delt reefer]

Is that a reefkeeper I see?.....nice!

yep RKL - will control;

8x39w ATI Sunpower
2x Koralia 1050s
Jager 150w heater
Eheim 1250 Return pump
ATO (yet to purchase)
SWC BMK-150 Skimmer

 

[shayneh]

That's cool...I'm running an external 24inch overflow with my 80g build. Don't know what your planning but for a super quiet drain system google  "bean animal overflow"

You have clearly done your homework and received some good advice!

Thanks for not pointing out the gallonage again.....apparently I missed it when I clicked on the 45 gallon first reef part..... :-[  I'm smart like that sometimes!

 

[phi delt reefer]

That's cool...I'm running an external 24inch overflow with my 80g build. Don't know what your planning but for a super quiet drain system google  \"bean animal overflow\"

great minds think alike   Three holes in the bottom of the overflow are for the three standpipes. Two holes in the back of the overflow are for the returns - I will use some locline to extend the returns over the weir.

 

[xxmurrxx]

Very nice!

 

[teebone110]

Nice set-up! I like your gear too.

Looks like you're not messin' around!

Keep us posted with your progress.

 

[MDGraves]

Looking good keep the updates flowin!

 

[phi delt reefer]

just finished leveling the stand. Took 2.5 hours 

tank is mounted but i have to remove it again to tint the rear glass. Most of plumbing is ready.

Still need to hook up the rodi unit but i need somehting to store the water in first.

Wife has given me till thursday to clean the living room up - looks like i got some long nights ahead

 

[phi delt reefer]

so i never finished the tank last Thursday but i clean up the living room by shoving everything into the cabinet. Man does that thing have a lot of storage!

I sourced two 20 gallon long tanks on Kijiji that i will use for RO storage / salt water mixing. Zellers is having a sale on rubbermaid containers so i'll be picking up a couple for rock cleaning soaking on saturday.

i got my 12" handles for the cabinet - 4 of them. Will mount them this weekend. I need to build something to force some flow through filter floss through my sump that looks half decent. I've seen a lot of hack jobs but i am trying to keep things looking nice. I bought a basket from the dollar store that has all these holes in it that might work but its kind of big. I swear all these little details are going to be the end of me 

I also have to build and design my aquascape. I did have it all laid out once but the wife put it all back in the box while cleaning up  :'( - It couldnt have been that great for the wife though it was just a pile of rocks (but isnt that what all aquascapes are? LOL)               

 

[phi delt reefer]

UPDATES! 6-5-2011

got some work done and water in the tank!

just letting the sand settle then i will start aqua-scaping

 

[phi delt reefer]

clearing up.... first shot at the scape

 

[MDGraves]

Looks really cool!!!

 

[pulpfiction1]

awsome lookin phi,2 piles to defend heheheheh

 

[phi delt reefer]

awsome lookin phi,2 piles to defend heheheheh

Thanks man, I added a bunch more rock after doing some thinking. I want to heavily stock the tank and I have the equipment to do so, but I really didn't have enough rock for bio filtration. I'll post a pic tonight - I think it still looks pretty minimalist (I bury the rocks in the sand a bit to hide their size) so I am happy with it.

I added a couple polka dot and striped cardinals.

Stocking list should be;
Platinum clown
Darwin clown
Purple fire fish
Pair of harlequin shrimp
Skunk Cleaner shrimp
Male flasher wrasse of some sort
Tailspot blenny
2 yasha gobies
Anthias

Might add a mandarin if I can successfully introduce and maintain pods

Right now I am scaling a gallon a day due to the tanks exposed surface area. Keeping my house at 23 but man does that light put out heat. It's going to be mostly sps with some acans and an rbta. Maybe a nice torch but it going to have to be pretty amazing if it's going in this tank.

 

[Blob-79]

just curious..why do you want to stock 2 harlequin shrimp?