Ichthys Nano Build

[Ichthys]

Well after some planning and getting sidetracked for a month with the unexpected purchase of a 280 gallon system, I am back to working on my nano. The 280 is resting in the garage where it will remain till I can afford to start ripping up walls and insulating the garage, till then, I have returned to my nano build.

This project began with a spare kitchen corner cabinet that I had and couldnt find anything to do with, and so it seemed obvious.. make it into an aquarium stand. Hence the need for a nano tank.

I ordered a Mr. Aqua 11.4 gallon rimless and picked it up at Barrier Reef.

Its a nice little tank which looks something somewhere between cubish and a standard 10 gallon.

I reinforced the inside of the stand and gave it a nice fresh coat of latex enamel paint.. in the pic you can see the 10 gallon I am using for a sump, although eventually I will build a new one with a water level to match the needs of the skimmer.

 

[Ichthys]

Overflow kit and Ista Vortex return ordered from glass-holes.com. The kit arrived quickly and I was pleased with the product, packaging, and overall experience. I had ordered the 1/2" Ista Vortex return penductor however they mistakenly sent me a 1 inch variety. A quick email to Mike at glass-holes and the correct one was on the way. I actually had confirmation that it shipped within 2 hours of emailing him about sending the wrong one. It arrived a few days later accompanied by a great sticker of Homer doing his DOH! thing, humor is a way of business at glass-holes. Their instruction sheet had me in tears with its littany of jokes and ramblings.

Here is the stuff from glass-holes

Prepping the tank for paint after drilling the overflow and retun holes. Although I was aprehenisve about drilling and perhaps cracking my new tank, it turned out to be quite simple and I would encourage anyone that is thinking of it, to go ahead, drilling really was simple.

tank with painted back and overflow and return bulkhead installed

next up, I think i need a piece of granite..

 

[pandora32]

Tank looks good so far. Im one of those people that have been apprehensive about drilling a tank of mine. If its as easy as you say, maybe ill just do it........someday!I will be following along!

 

[Ichthys]

Yeah, just take it slow, dont use too much pressure, have a helper keep the hose running, and presto, you have a hole in the glass.
OK so I didnt like the idea of the tank sitting on the wood top of the cabinet so I had a local granite shop cut and polish a piece of scrap granite for me. Pictures can not do it justice, it is a blue black with silvery highlights, it looks awesome. Didnt run it all the way to back as i wanted room for plumbing without having to drill granite. Drilling glass holes is one thing, drilling granite is a bit above my paygrade lol.
here are a few pics showing the granite...

also the plumbing, I have unions everywhere, learned that the hard way from my 90 build.

 

[pandora32]

Looks good from the back. What does it look like on the granite from the front?

 

[Ichthys]

OK, It is time to pull the trigger and make the big purchase on some lighting. I have a budget between 200 and 375 for lights. I want LED, dimmable, and enough light to grow SPS. Here are things i am considering. Oh and I like the look of my 90 with 250W DE MH 14K Pheonix with actinic VHO supplementation...

JBJ Unibody 54 watt dual channel 12 white 6 blue independent controllers. Pros= Sexy, dimmable, compact, Cons= $350

Aqua Illuminations Nano Sol this looks interesting but i cant figure out what a quintuple array is or exactly how many watts of what type LED's they use.. anyone have one?

LEDTRiC PAR38 TruPop 18w ReefLamp (6) 455nm Royal Blues, (4) 6500K Whites, (2) 420nm True Violets Pros= inexpensive, like the form factor, Cons= not sure if 1 lamp would cover 18x11 footprint.

EvoNano 3w Cree 6-XPE 460nm Blue & 6-XPG 8000K White Pros= 36 watts of Cree for only 149! wow.. Cons= ugly fixture and not dimmable

The Lumen Aqua Tablet with Cree LEDs although i cant figure out where to purchase other than direct from Singapore..

Ecoxotic Panorama Pro Modules. the 8 x 12,000K White / 4 x 445nm Royal Blue one. Think would need 3 of them, pros are it seems like enough light, cons, have to build some sort of fixture...

am thinking i want to stay away from a DIY kit, just dont have the time for aother project at the moment. So, I have read too many posts of people buying LED fixtures only to be dissapointed by the actual light output compared to what is advertised.. I would really appreciate some input on this one guys and gals..

 

[Ichthys]

Does anyone in the greater Seattle Tacoma area have a JBJ Unibody they are using? I would like to come over and look at the color spectrum, the 12 blue vs 6 white leads me to think it will be too blue for my taste, but want to take a look. I will supply the pizza or beer lol..

 

[Ichthys]

OK time to move along. I am just about set on equipment, will be ordering light and return pump from MD tomorrow. Tank specs are:

11.4 Gallon Mr. Aqua Rimless
Glass-Holes Super Nano con Dientes Overflow Box Complete Kit
Ista Vortex penductor return nozzle
10 gallon sump divided into skimmer section and return pump section
Tunze 1073.020 Recirculation Pump Silence
Euro-Reef RS-80 Protein Skimmer
JBJ Unibody 54 Watt LED Fixture
CaribSea Aragamax Sugar-Sized Sand
2.5 gallon gravity fed refugium

​

Here is a picture of the sump dont have much going on in there yet.. The little power filter is just in there temporarily till i get my skimmer.

Here is a close up of the fuge, lighting for fuge to be determined..

I must admit I have always admired the tank build threads where you see peoples work areas, spotless and well organized shops, every tool in its place,.. alas, I fall far short in this area, here is a pic of the work area in progress, total unorganized chaos.. now where did i put my tape measure...

 

[Ichthys]

getting closer

I got the tank and stand inside and in place, some of these pics show the granite piece, but none of them really show how sparkly shiny it is and how well it contrasts with the tank.

Of course, the rockwork is subject to change at least 127 times before I decide to pull it all out and buy Tonga Branch..lol

ooo and check out that high tech lighting.. an Ikea desk lamp lol, serving a purpose till i get my lights. Remarkably, the little 10 dollar lamp really lights the tank up well and has nice color.. pity we cant use 10 dollar Ikea lights lol

 

[Derbird]

Nice tank, this is coming together really nicely

 

[seakingaquariums]

This might be really weird, but...

I really like your choice of sand A lot of people seem to be scared of sugar grain sized sand because of the sandstorms, but i personally think its really nice!

Anyways the rest of the tank looks nice too Looking forward to seeing the lighting when you get it.

 

[IPisces]

That is turning out beautifully! Great job!

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Peppie]

Well done!!
Cant wait to see it come alive!
Very clean, organized look.
I really like your fuge/sump setup.

 

[Ichthys]

Thanks for the kind words, I thought I would update where things are at. I picked up a skimmer this weekend, a Euro-Reef RS80. Also picked up a Tunze 1073.020 for my return pump. Both were mistakes of a sort. As you can see, the skimmer takes up all the room in my sump, makes it much more crowded than i want. It skims awesome, just takes up a lot of room. My thinking on the Tunze was that I could dial it down to get the flow i wanted. I am so tired of underpowered return pumps. Well even at 3+ feet of head this baby is putting out 500 GPH when i run it wide open. With the adjustment flute fully closed I am still getting serious gurgling noises coming from my overflow, for now I will stick with the Tunze, but may switch it out down the road so I dont have Snoqualmie Falls in my sump at the drain. The Euro-Reef is going to be replaced by a SCA-301, I ordered it today. Anyone need a Euro-Reef RS80? thought about Ebaying it but hate shipping skimmers... anyways, here are some pictures.

Skimmzilla

As you can see, doesn't leave much real estate in sump

 

[Ichthys]

Reworked the rock and got it somewhat where i want it, probably wont be the last time i fiddle with it.. what do you think??

 

[Peppie]

Rocks look better!!
Skimmer does seam a bit large for that size of tank.
500gph is more than enough turn over IMO.
Keep the updates coming.
We all are enjoying your build!!

 

[Ichthys]

Thanks peppie. I just noticed in the last shot of the tank it really shows the piece of granite i have the tank sitting on. I am so happy with that, it looks abslutely awesome, best 30 bucks I've spent..

 

[iroll253]

If you committed to that rock it would look awesome stocked with corals and fill in nicely. Looks great.

 

[pandora32]

Tank looks really great!

 

[07FocusST]

Amazing setup! I would never have been able to drill a tank like you did. Also had a good laugh with your first picture on post #2. It's always going to be a good time when there is fundip and magic lube involved (hehe). Great build though!