DonW tank

[DonW]

I started this thead just to keep a diary of sorts. I'll try to post pics as I make changes and see if I can keep it all organized in just one single thread.
The tank is cycled and went through its funky diatom bloom. Now that the sand is back to being snow white I took a few bad rea; blue pictures with my phone. I'll get some real photos when my kid has time to take them for me.

Tank: 48 x 17 x 14 Diy 3/4" acrylic rimless
Light: 2 x 250 de xm 20k MH 7" off water
Flow: 1 reeflow dart appx 3000 gph (return only)
Sump: Custom DIY appx 55g 30g water
Temp: Single ranco controller and 2 EJ 150w heaters
Chem: IO salt, diy three part, rox carbon and vodka
Filtration: Tunze 9010 skimmer and O3

Livestock: Torch coral, Monti cap, coris wrasse, gold stripe clown, 2 green chromis, orange spot goby, sand sifter star and a narcissus snail

 

[Ed Hahn]

Don,
I am excited to see more pictures. I know you are a man of few words. I am sure this tank is going to be awesome. I would love to see your returns.

 

[apollothesun]

hey don, looking good. what size is your sand?

 

[DonW]

Don,
I am excited to see more pictures. I know you are a man of few words. I am sure this tank is going to be awesome. I would love to see your returns.

Ed,

The return comes up through the rock on the right. The rock has a 2" hole bored through the center and it slides over the return pipe.

Don

 

[DonW]

hey don, looking good. what size is your sand?

Its carib sea, just the dead stuff in a bag. I think they call it 1-2mm I sifted it through a metal coffee filter so its not real fine.

Don

 

[CarlaW]

I'll tag along just for grins. Good to see you up and running!!!

 

[Scooterman]

Its carib sea, just the dead stuff in a bag. I think they call it 1-2mm I sifted it through a metal coffee filter so its not real fine.

Don

That is the stuff I'm using, just wish I would of sifted out myself, I find the coarse stuff easier to clean!

 

[DonW]

That is the stuff I'm using, just wish I would of sifted out myself, I find the coarse stuff easier to clean!

It was some muddy stuff but it looks good, sifting was well worth the work.

Don

 

[apollothesun]

i just recieved 3 gallon bucket of rox carbon in the mail. do i need to rinse this stuff well or an occasional wet through?

 

[DonW]

i just recieved 3 gallon bucket of rox carbon in the mail. do i need to rinse this stuff well or an occasional wet through?

Yes rinse it, there is a little dust but not near as bad as some others.

Don

 

[BobinCovington]

looks great Don...

 

[balogh03]

Looks like a great start Don Glad to see that you have another. Any chance that we will see any clams in this tank?

Can't wait to see some more pics, and good luck.

-augustus

 

[Sascha D]

I like the way you did the return pump. Does it go to the surface on the right side, topped with a white cap or is that outside in the back? Sleek center OB.

 

[lizardarm]

Don, what type of reflector did you end up using for the halide?
I know that at one point you were working on a pretty nice looking custom deal made out
of the patauk that you'd used for the stand/sump.
-Chris

 

[DonW]

Looks like a great start Don Glad to see that you have another. Any chance that we will see any clams in this tank?

Can't wait to see some more pics, and good luck.

-augustus

Thanks, we will have a clam or two. They wont be near as big as before.

Don

 

[DonW]

I like the way you did the return pump. Does it go to the surface on the right side, topped with a white cap or is that outside in the back? Sleek center OB.

It just goes up to the surface and is capped off. Just below the cap I drilled and tapped holes for 4 x 3/4 lock lines, sort of a manifold.

Don

 

[DonW]

Don, what type of reflector did you end up using for the halide?
I know that at one point you were working on a pretty nice looking custom deal made out
of the patauk that you'd used for the stand/sump.
-Chris

The light is sort of a sore spot for me. It does look good with the maple and padauk but the tank is so short it looks bulky. If it was a taller 20+ inches I'd be thrilled.
I'm going to take it down and make padauk hex boxes to cover just the individual reflectors turning them into fancy pendants. The reflectors are just the cheap de hello lights specials. Their deficiencies work to my advantage. They are so small that the light spill over is just about perfect. They are great for a tank this size but I wouldnt recommend them to anyone with a larger tank, 18" front to back is about all they can spread. They are also so small that the reflectors get WAY to hot, even burning my old leather hands. If not mounted properly I'd call them a fire hazzard. The rivet job was so cheesy I had to replace all the rivets, not hard but not acceptable at any price.

Don

 

[DonW]

Here are some not so blue pics. No real changes other than I removed the overflow eggcrate for cleaning and the orange spot goby decided to be nosey and lost the battle with flow and the reefflo dart return pump.

Don

 

[DonW]

These two are not very good but I wanted to get a shot of the daily coraline growth. These are for the guy's that pm'ed me stating that you cannot start coraline in 5 weeks with a hermit crab.

Don

 

[Scooterman]

Tank looks very nice, few more corals in there & she's the bomb!