Dueling 30 gallon rimless tanks

[ReefRacer]

My Christmas vacation project has started and I figured I would share the experience. The members on Reef2Reef have always been wonderful and have saved me time, money, and livestock....and I feel like I should contribute. I do not claim to be an expert in ANYTHING, I'm just a regular joe who enjoys the hobby (more like a lifestyle).

The idea for the project is to replace 2 end-tables beside our living room couch with 2 Deep Blue 30 gallon rimless 'mini-frag' tanks. One will be all SPS for me and the other will be an LPS/Softie/Zoa tank for the rest of the family (they like the 'flowy' corals). Packing all of the necessary equipment in such a small space has proven challenging, but it am happy with my current layout/plan.

Lights
I'm a MH guy, but I am going for LED's on these. The plan is to get an AI SOL for the SPS tank (which I am doing first) and see how it does. If it performs well, I'll get another for the other tank. If it doesn't perform well, I'll move it to the softie tank, where I know it will be fine, and then get a Radion for the SPS tank. My research gives a slight edge to the Radions with regard to SPS, but with such a shallow tank, the SOLs might be perfect. Any advice from you LED gurus would be appreciated.

Filtration (will be the same on both)
Reef Octopus Skimmer (NWB110) in 10 gallon refugium with Mag Drive 5 return pump and additional live rock if space allows.
Separate 5 gallon refugium plumbed into the 10 gallon. It will be elevated on a mini stand to allow for ATO bin to be stored under it.
An aqualifter will be used to pump RO/DI water up to the 10 gallon tank.
The mini stand will also hold Part A & Part B containers that will be hooked up to BRS dosers.
Live rock will be 45lbs of LIVE rock, not base rock. I'm aware of the concerns, but I prefer it over dead base rock.

Refugium
Will hold a mixture of macro algae. Mostly Chaeto, although I would like to experiment with other types as well. I have been trying one of the Home Depot LEDs Flood Lights on my current refugium and I am happy with the results. Although I occasionally run GFO on my current setup, I would like to avoid that on these tanks. In my experience, an efficient refugium has always kept nuisance algae away without the need for GFO.

Carbon
There will be a space for a BRS single reactor in both tanks just in case I need to run Carbon or CFO.

This was my first time using SketchUp and WOW is it awesome. Still learning, but I'm happy with it so far. Still missing the refugium baffles, skimmer tank baffles, pvc gates, and a few other things...but, its progress.

 

[KoleTang]

Very nice!

Why is the power bar on the outside of the stand?

 

[skinz78]

Looking good so far, I can't wait to see the finished products!

 

[ReefRacer]

Very nice!

Why is the power bar on the outside of the stand?

Thanks Kole. Good question...for a couple of reasons. I've experienced some condensation on items inside the stand in the past. Since this stand needs to be super quiet and sealed up tight, I decided to move the plugs outside. I also found some 'Super Quiet' computer fans (in the 16 dB range) that I am going to put in the stand also to help with circulation. But, moving the plugs to the outside is just a precaution and not the primary reason. The primary reason is space. I've got a ReefKeeper on my current system and 3 power strips, plus modules quickly adds up. I love my ReefKeeper and have no complaints, but I think I am going to use an Apex on this system...just to try something different.

Looking good so far, I can't wait to see the finished products!

Thanks Skinz. If all goes well, I should be able to start building on Friday. My BRS delivery should be here then and I look forward to using my new hole drilling bit and guide. It will be my first time drilling a tank.

 

[Isoprene]

I'm just a regular joe who enjoys the hobby (more like a lifestyle)

This made me laugh, it does feel that way sometimes. This hobby has taken over my life haha! But i love it.

 

[ReefRacer]

Forgot to mention Kole, the plug side is actually facing the wall, so it will be hidden from view and little fingers.

I'm going mount the controller display with velcro so that I can easily remove it when I need to use it. This is not optimum, but with little ones its a necessity I may reconsider this part of the plan...I may build a 'lock box' out of plexi to keep their little fingers off. Like those A/C thermostat protectors in schools.

 

[ReefRacer]

Ok guys/gals...I need your thoughts. I am having some trouble with the little 5.5 refugium. Drilling it worked out flawless, but the glass is so thin that it later cracked around the hole. I think it happened while I was tightening the bulkhead by hand.

I was thinking about cutting another piece of glass to put between the bulkhead and tank to add strength. Has anyone ever tried that?

My other option is get some sort of Rubbermaid container, but I really don't want to have a blurred view of my refugium.

Thoughts??

 

[slyforestfire]

i would try 2 pieces, one on each side and caulk. but i have zero experience.

 

[revsgirl]

Very cool! Following!

 

[ReefRacer]

It's been a while since I posted and I hope that everyone is having a Happy New Year.

So I decided to start building the stands even though I didn't yet have the tanks. They were on back order for quite a while and I was tired of waiting. I headed out to HD and got 3 sheets of 3/4" Birch. I had read that it stains very well and my wife wanted it to match our existing coffee table. This was honestly a bit scary for me since I had never actually stained anything.



I wanted something strong enough to build the stand without the need for a 2x4 frame of any kind. Space is a premium. The stands were planned to measure 28"x28"x24" with 2 door positions and 1 cut out for plugs. I used a regular circular saw with a med-tooth blade and a straight edge with clamps to get everything square. I rockin' table saw would have certainly been better, but I don't have one of those yet. Once all of the pieces were cut, I glued/nailed all them together and the stand #1 was done.

 

[ReefRacer]

While I was in the midst of stand number 2, my WONDER AMAZING wife came home with and said she needed a hand getting groceries out of the car. Inside the trunk was not 1, BUT 2 30 gallon frag tanks!! Turns out she had been in kahoots with my buddy who owns the LFS and gave them to me as an early Christmas present. Ill be apologizing to my friend for a while for the harassing I gave him prior...I was blowing his phone up daily checking on the status.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Keep the updates coming!

 

[ReefRacer]

After I got the stands done, I built my refuge stands and primed the inside of the tank stand.

While the paint was drying I figured I would get the return tank and refugium drilled. I ordered a tank drilling bit and drill guide from BRS. This is the first time I drilled a tank and the BRS guide made it very easy.

Everything went well with the drilling, but one of the 5.5 gallon fuge tank cracked a little while I was putting the bulkhead. The glass is very thin and despite my care, a crack about 1/4 inch appeared. It wasn't all the way through the glass and happened to be in an area that wasn't underwater. So, I put some silicone over it and hoped that a water test the next day would prove to be ok. My local HD sells small pieces of glass for very cheap and these were perfect for my baffles. I used a standard glass cutter and trimmed them to size. While I was there, I found this DAP aquarium safe silicone. I don't know how long this stuff has been out, but its definitely the first time I have seen it in my store.

 

[extremehobbyist]

How do you do the draw ups like your first 2 pictures? is there a program thats free for that?

 

[Zack]

Great so far, I will be following. I have the same tank! Mine is all sps too. Keep the updates coming!

Sent from my VS950 4G using Forum Runner

 

[ReefRacer]

I let the silicone dry for 24 hours and then did a water test on everything. The small crack in the fuge wasn't leaking. But, after talking with some R2R'ers, I decided to reinforce the area around the bulkhead hole with some plexi (not pictured). Worked like a champ.

So, it was time to stain the stand. I read that Birch wood stains better with Stain Gel. I wasn't really sure what that was, but my HD had it and after opening it..it was obvious. The stuff has the consistency of pudding. Very, very thick. My wife wanted to have a 'used' look on the stand and which turned out to look very good. I applied the stain with a brush to one side of the stand at a time and immediately wiped the stain off with old white t-shirts. I would say the stain was on for around 3 minutes before I wiped it off. I also got some molding pieces for around the edges and stained them also.

 

[ReefRacer]

How do you do the draw ups like your first 2 pictures? is there a program thats free for that?

Hey extreme. It's called SketchUp. There is a Free version and I think you can buy the Pro version...I used the free version. Trimble SketchUp

 

[ReefRacer]

Great so far, I will be following. I have the same tank! Mine is all sps too. Keep the updates coming!

What lights are you using Zack?

 

[Zack]

Leds, Ecoxotic panorama pro fixture. With one extra royal blue module. I don't think they would be good for deeper tanks but work great for the shallow deep blue.

Sent from my VS950 4G using Forum Runner

 

[ReefRacer]

Leds, Ecoxotic panorama pro fixture. With one extra royal blue module. I don't think they would be good for deeper tanks but work great for the shallow deep blue.

Yeah...I'm going to try Sols on the SPS and see how the corals do. I expect they will do fine, but if they don't I will switch to Radion and put the Sol on the LPS tank.