10gal Journal - DIY slow setup

[sdivell]

OK, guys here we go again with another journal! Since my 20gal freshwater planted tank is doing so well and everything is all setup and going with little work required I've decided it was time to try saltwater with a 10gal nano... I'm going to be very slowly getting the items I need used from people around my city and will be doing as much DIY stuff as possible to keep my costs down.

August 17, 2007
Tank purchased! used 10 gal tank (20x10.5x11) w/ top and bottom trim. even looks recently washed. for $10 cdn


Ok so here is my plans so far.

2 powerheads. 1 on either corner of the tank. 1 @ about 75 gph and the other at 120gph.

a HOB filter that I will do some mods to that I've researched as my fuge with some live rubble (any suggestions with this?)

Lighting - Im looking to get 96watt quad coralife 50/50 fixture but we'll see how the budget goes on that one.

LIFE - my girlfriend and I would both really like to get 2 small clownfish

It maybe awhile until I have another update as I certainly wont be starting to put anything together for 5 weeks (as I'm moving from my 1 bedroom apartment into a nice 3 bdrm house) but please in the meantime I would love suggestions and advice/tips and tricks...etc.. I'm doing a lot of reading but I've found forums are the best place for info!

Cheers for now,

 

[jessey]

sounds exciting! the nano forum has been so quiet lately, i can't wait to see some pics. (i don't have much advice, i kind of failed at my attempt at a pico )

 

[sdivell]

August 18, 2007

Ok, was in Rona today and picked up a can of fake stone spray paint for my tank background. here are some pictures of the work I did today.

Prep work - lots of tape and news paper was used.

The back of the tank when I was done

couple shots of the front

Going to pick up a used Aquaclear 300(70) HOB filter as my fuge in the next week. Also I'm going to pick up some pool filter sand for free off another guy from my local forum.

Starting some research on DIY Power compact florescent light canopies so if that is the way I'll go I'll take lots of pictures of the work going on with that....also a good way to save about $100

Cheers for now.

 

[tjmino]

That stone spray paint looks awesome, good idea! Wish I had thought of that...

 

[CAPSLOCK]

That does look very nice. You did a very clean job of it (I'd probably have paint everywhere...).

Your plan looks good, good to do the research and stuff ahead of time. I'd also suggest a heater

 

[sdivell]

lol ya, sorry thought the heater was a no brainer... im planning on 100watt heater

 

[sdivell]

Quick update

Starting to track down some equipment.

Lighting - Ordered from A H supply today
2x36watt bright kit which comes with the ballast, wiring, sockets, and reflectors so with it i bought one 36 watt 10,000k daylight and a 36 watt deep blue. This should be here next week (shipping from NY) and then I can start to assemble my DIY wood canopy which should be fun.

Thanks to another forum I'm driving all over the city this week picking up 2 powerheads (1 @ 170gph and 1 @ 106gph) also i'm picking up an AC 300(70) HOB filter to mod into my fuge.

Going to build my canopy at my parents on labour day weekend because my dads tools are way better then my own... I'll take some pics after that and update you guys.

Costs so far:
Tank - $10
Paint for tank - $8
Lighting - $135.90
Filter - $20
2 powerheads - $35
Total thus far = $208.90 cdn.

(This is not a cheap hobby! lol)

 

[sdivell]

OK so I got my AC filter tonight so I decided to set everything up.. throw in some freshwater and just do a test of the current... and i think i've done a good job at creating a lot of water movement.

Overhead shot of the current

Face shot shows how my background will look (sorta) nice waves at the water line

and i moded the AC filter for my fuge right after the test (NOTE: my FW tank in the background)

 

[richy0708]

i love the way the backround looks underwater =D

 

[sdivell]

Lighting update!

so my lights arrived today from AH supply in new york..pretty nice shipping time but I had to pay $20cdn in custom fees
annnyway..they're here and everything i need to wire them up and put them in my canopy came with it.

So I did a test wiring today just to make sure everything works so I'm going to post some photos and show how easy it is.

Here is everything that came in the package. 2 36watt bulbs, ballast, sockets + cords, power cord, wire nuts, mounting brackets and a very nice aluminum reflector. (all of this shipped to me was $160cdn..more then i was expecting but i think its a nice package)

Here is everything wired up - following the wiring diagram was simple..this colour to that colour..etc... i just used electrical tape for now as its just a test.

here are the bulbs on, above my tank without the reflector. wow the 10,000k is bright.. this is in full daylight in a room with 25' of windows w/ no curtains and it comes off this bright...the rear bulb is the actinic blue

forward tank shot - put the white piece of paper in there to test the range of the blue colour

From an angle - I think the lights are going to look great once i get them mounted in my canopy

Thats it for now - stay tuned for mid-next week i'll post the photos from the canopy build this weekend and then I'll snap some shots of what the lights will look like with water in the tank..do another freshwater test.

Costs so far:
Tank - $10
Paint for tank - $8
Lighting - $160
Filter - $20
2 powerheads - $35
Aragonite Sand - $20
Heater - $15
Total thus far = $268 cdn.

 

[sdivell]

Canopy Built

Ok, So I built my canopy this weekend at the cottage as promised. Took 2 days due to taking breaks for fishing.. the bass were bitting like crazy!
Ok so here is what i did.

Step 1.
Frame - 1x2 pine frame to rest on the top along the front and along both sides. i screwed the "U" shaped frame together to be flush with the dimensions of the tank.

Step 2.
face - 1x4 knotty pine (from home depot shelving section) screwed to the frame with the same "U" shape with an open back.

Step 3.
Lid - 1x2 pine screwed flat on the top of the two side faces spanning across the top along the back to host the hinges for the opening top.
1x10 pine attached to the hinges that are attached to the fixed 1x2 along the back. I made this flush with the front and sides for that 'Ikea - modern look'

Step 4.
3 coats of varnish over everything, not just to make it look better but to seal it from any water damage.

Step 5.
Install the lighting - this took a lot of trial and error to get everything to fit into the lid and still have it open and close freely..... the one big thing I wish i had done differently is make the canopy face 1" taller at least together a little more clearance inside the lid for the lights.. but I got everything to fit so no harm, no foul.

here are some photos of the results... I'm MOSTLY happy with it... but tell me what you guys thing.. and if anybody wants to build it I'd be happy to give the plans.

Here is a shot of how the frame sits on the tank

Here is a shot of how the lighting is attached to the lid

Here is a shot of the tank lit up

and finally a couple shots of me building it.

Give me ur input guys...cheers

 

[sdivell]

OK... so I move this weekend and my plan is to be setting up my tank sunday night or maybe monday night but I need some advice from all you guys who have been through this before.

My plan is to get 10G of RO/Di water and premix it in the jugs first to get it to the right salinity level.

Then I'm going to rince my sand in a another bucket and have it ready to go.

Then when my rinsed sand is ready and my seawater is all mixed and ready I was going to go out and buy some live rock and bring it up and aquascape it right on the glass bottom. Then add my rinsed sand around the live rock.

after thats all in the tank then pour in my sea water and wait for my cycle to start.

Do i have my set up in the right order?? should I change up my plan?

 

[Helena21]

Sounds like a good plan to me. Its a good idea to add the LR before the sand so that its all stable
btw, it looks GREAT so far

 

[sdivell]

Thanks Helena! Keep posted next week for an update - although because of the move i wont internet at home for awhile and I can't post photos to imageshack from work so it'll be awhile until I can post photos of the setup but i'll try and take as many as i can and post them once everything is settled..ugh i hate moving.

 

[TRe]

your plan sounds like youve done your research... just a tip though after your sand is in but before you pour the water in you want to put a plastic bag over the whole bottom (rock/sand) so when you pour the water it doesnt get too stirred up also its a good idea to add all of your live rock at once so you only have one cycle

 

[tropicalfish]

Take the yellow protective plastic off your reflectors!!

 

[sdivell]

the yellow is off now! thanks.. i left it on for when i was moving the tank around just to keep it perfect. I get my stand later this week and going to pick up 10G of RO water from a local store... then off to the LFS to get some Tonga LR and you'll probably see an update from me this weekend or maybe early next week.. I can't wait to get this thing set up

 

[sdivell]

The Tank is setup and the Rock is in!

Ok, so tonight I picked up about 9lbs of Live rock from my LFS brought it home and got it in the tank... took a little while to get the rocks into spots i like but I think i'm pretty happy with it. Can't wait to see the tank start to grow.

here are some pictures of how it looks tonight!

FTS

Side FTS

and a close up of my rock work

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Wow, I really like that rock work, Nice Job!!!

That background looks even nicer with the rocks/sand in there

Looks like your off to a good start. *thumbsups

 

[Lotus]

Looking good