|  |  | 
August 16th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| 10g SW nano DIY (pic heavy)
I just wanted to do a thread to track the progress of my saltwater tank that I am starting. I started out with a spare ten gallon tank. My tank is already together in a ten gallon tank, but its not how i want it, so as soon as i'm done with this project i will transfer it. My goal is to have a tank with an in tank sump hidden behind a wall. I have seen it done on another forum, and thought it would be perfect for my limited space when i'm at school, but would be enough to stabilize the water parameters a bit more and hide the cords. This well also help me keep track of what i am spending on it. This thread is also my attempt to manage my money more, so i don't go overboard with the tank.
Materials:
10 gallon tank (already owned)
19 1/2 X 10 piece of acrylic (thicker the better as it is less likely to crack when drilled) ($11.96)
razor blade in holder from lowes (98 cents)
Type I silicone ($4.95)
eggcrate ( 11.95)
Krylon fushion blue plastic paint (3.95)
Last edited by rileyrk190; August 16th, 2009 at 08:57 PM.
| 
| | |
August 16th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| pics of my materials... I accidentally bought white silicone, but i will have to make due because i dont feel like making a third trip to lowes. I bought a thin piece of acrylic and it shattered when i tried to drill the hole in it.
Last edited by rileyrk190; August 16th, 2009 at 08:59 PM.
| |
| | |
August 16th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| Here are the pieces of eggcrate i cut. I painted one of them blue so that it would look nice when its siliconed to the acrylic sheet. I also spray-painted one side of the acrylic after drilling a hole so that the powerhead can slip through it. I sprayed the backside of the acrylic so that the front would be glossy looking, and so that when i have to scrape the coraline off i wont scrape off the paint.
Last edited by rileyrk190; August 16th, 2009 at 09:07 PM.
| |
| | |
August 16th, 2009
|
| | Fish Mentor
| On acrylic you have to go really slow or it will crack.
Last edited by navyscuba; August 16th, 2009 at 09:08 PM.
| |
| | |
August 16th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| I figure one chamber can be for some chaeto, the other for some rubble. Then i have room to eventually add a protein skimmer when i get the money. I also siliconed a couple pieces of eggcrate on the left so it will hold a frag rack if i need to propogate some. Its removable so i can add more rubble if necessary. I also read about keeping a space beneath the sand to hold anaerobic bacteria to help keep the nitrates low. I thought i could try this in the sump because if its disturbed the gas will not harm anything because nothing will be in the sump. I already have some fiberglass screen and some PVC from previous projects. Has anybody tried this??
eventually | |
| | |
August 16th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by navyscuba  On acrylic you have to go really slow or it will crack. | I did go really slow  . The problem i had was when the blade got close to getting all the way through it would get stuck and since i was holding the acrylic down, it put a lot of pressure on it and snapo. | |
| | |
August 16th, 2009
|
| | Fish Mentor
| I have seen a lot of people using wood clamp down on each side so the won't happen. Looking good. | |
| | |
August 16th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| oh ok, thanks for the tip! | |
| | |
August 17th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| so today i made the transfer from one tank to the other. I went to the fish store today and got a really nice bunch of calpera for 14.99. The lady tried to give me a little bit of each kind which was fine by me ( red and two different green kinds). I also got some live rock rubble and a mushroom frag which is very angry with me at the moment and wont stay where i put it  . The owner has been telling me that they will be getting nassarius snails in on thursday for almost three weeks now. Thursdays have come and gone and they never got any in, making me waste a 25 minute trip to the store plus 25 minutes back. Today i was determined to get some though. Last time i went i saw one hiding in the tank and told the owner but the sucker disappeared on me when i got her to come over to the tank. Today i looked for about ten minutes and saw two little tubes sticking out. After a few minutes of insisting that they were there she got them for me plus two turbo snails .
Then began the task of changing tanks. I figured i should do it now, that way i don't have to disturb the newly acclimated tank mates yet again.
First i took out the inhabitants and put them into food grade plastic cups while i got the live rock off. I found a little white starfish as well, that i believe came in the calpera. Then i picked out what i wanted to be rubble and put it in the chamber. Then i put my base dead rock down and the live rock on top of it. After that i felt a tingling sensation that kind of still stings in my pointer finger. It's a little swollen but there doesn't seem to be any visible marks (any suggestions as to what happened?).
I quickly turned on the pump and got my tank water circulating. I scooped out the live sand, cup by cup and added it. I don't think i have enough in the sump area because i have about two inches in the front part of the tank, which seems like a lot. I added my snails and my hermit crabs next and while i was doing that i accidentally kicked the cup holding my mushroom over, which is why its angry. I hope it's ok. I can't really see anything yet because the water is still cloudy from it being stirred up.
Last edited by rileyrk190; August 17th, 2009 at 09:49 PM.
| |
| | |
August 18th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| My tank finally cleared enough to take some shots..but its still a bit cloudy. I got a shot of my mushroom who insists on being on the sand instead of a rock. Also, i hav ea pic of my two turbo snails and one nassarius snail. SOrry that they arent that great of pictures. | |
| | |
August 19th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| The tank has cleared up considerably today, and my mushroom has opened fully. I had a little scare today when i saw my nassarius snail devouring what i thought was my hermit crab. I quickly did a head count, and they were all accounted for. One must have molted. | |
| | |
August 20th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| i completely forgot to shut off the light until about ten minutes ago. I noticed my mushroom seemed a bit crinkled. I hope i didn't stress it out too badly. | |
| | |
August 26th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| It's great the site is back up! I can finally update this thread. Saturday i bought a Saddleback clown that i named Yuri along with a branching hammer coral. I have been feeding him twice a day, and alternate between dried spirulina flakes, dried brine shrimp, and frozen "Marine Cuisine" which is a mixture of mysis shrimp brine and other goodies (I really like the name lol).
I found an asterina star on my fish tank today as well that only has three arms. I read that they eat coraline, but i really like the little guy so he stays for now. I added chemi-pure and and a spare HOB filter which has really cleared up the water. While i was buying the chemi-pure, the owner suggested that i dose my tank with Kents brand Part A and B nano solution. So i add 18 drops with an eye dropper each day and have noticed a difference in coral extension. I do seem to be having a diatom outbreak though in the sump. It's probably because i use tap water. | |
| | |
August 26th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| Yuri
Last edited by rileyrk190; August 26th, 2009 at 11:15 PM.
| |
| | |
August 27th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| I made one last stop at my LFS, and picked up my second and final fish for the tank. I haven't thought of a name yet, but its a blue damsel fish. Also, can someone tell me what my mushrooms problem is? It's shriveled all up since i placed it on a rock. It was on the substrate, but my nassarius snails always seemed to turn it over and pester it.
Last edited by rileyrk190; August 27th, 2009 at 09:19 PM.
| |
| | |
September 10th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| My fishtank survived the three hour move and all is well. My hammer coral died and i am unsure why. I ordered some more corals from live aquaria and added them to the tank yesterday. I got their soft coral nano pack, along with a couple more hermits and snails. so far the toadstool they sent is really doing great. My clownfish I believe is hosting in it, because he just swims by it now. My fleather finger coral hasnt really perked up yet, and neither have the zoas. One of the mushrooms that they sent has a hole in it, so i think i will have to call live aquaria. I am a little disappointed with the selection they gave me though. They said they strive to give you the most color variety, yet everything the sent me is a pink/purple. | |
| | |
September 28th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| So i really haven't had time to update in forever, since school started, but i finally took some time to take new pics. My branching hammer, sadly died, but my mushroom seems to be doing well. I ordered a soft coral pack from L.A. (Not sure if i can use site names) and unfortunately within three days the corals almost all died, but their customer service is outstanding. They refunded my money for the dead corals. The button colony they sent is doing great and it looks like its already starting to grow. I do have one mushroom left from the mushroom polyps they sent. One had a hole in it when i opened the bag. There is a hitch hiker polyp of some sort on the branch though which i hope someone can ID. | |
| | |
September 29th, 2009
|
| | Fish Mentor
| I just found this and I read through it all at once. Your project turned out beautifully! I'm sorry about losing the branching hammer, but holy smokes - everything else seems to be doing wonderfully.
Really great job! Gives me confidence that maybe I can do similarly one day.  | |
| | |
September 29th, 2009
|
| | Moderator
| Great photos! Thanks for sharing.
Ken | |
| | | |
Similar Aquarium Fish Forum Threads 
