My new Nano

[Bennettp]

So ive been going crazy lately and am building up a super high tech nano. I got an ADA 60-p rimless starphire tank (17.4) gallons, a vortech mp10es, a neptune apex, breakout box, probes, an aqua allumination sol super blue led light, an eshopps deluxe 24 gallon sump, a battery backup unit, some dj style cabinant power strips, float switches, valves. A couple electric wine coolers to build a chilled automatic feeder that will feed many times throughout the day with finely blended food. Soon I will get dosing pumps. I will also be building an algae turf scrubber and may or may not run a protein skimmer. I plan to make the system entirely automatic and controllable from my ipad. I think I already have about $2000 into this nano so I really hope it turns out like I am anticipating. I still need to order a glass holes kit and figure out my overflow and return. If possible I would like to put both the overflow and return in the center of the tank and hide them with rocks. I want to keep everything extremely asthetically clean. I may also do a bare bottom with a false floor. Im in the process of building a stand. Im not sure if I want it to be ornate wood working, or very minimalistic and clean with the door hidden. Everything is in the mail so I will update as I start receiving things. I think I get my sumo and mp10es today so Im excited!

 

[dsmhero]

Sounds impressive. When can I see it?

 

[Bennettp]

Hopefully I can start setting it up in about two weeks. I had thought to wait for AI phoenix lights but decided to just go ahead and get the sol. I jjst hope I don't regret it. I still have to drill the tank and build the stand which could set me back time wise. The glass hole guys are out till the end of the month and I'm not sure who else has reputable glass hole saws and overflows. I'm excited to have lightning storms, clouds passing and all the cool effects that can be acheived. My lights will slowly ramp up for sunsrise and then slowly decline for sunset, just like would happen in nature. I will also try to simulate the heat and lighting to a yearly schedule to simulate the different seasons as others have. Im really in love with my ADA tank. I just hope it can be drilled sucessfully.

 

[Bennettp]

My Mp10 and sump arrived today. Most of the other stuff is supposed to come next Tuesday. So far I really love the sump. It is actually slightly larger than my display which is kind of funny, but it should give me lots of room to build an Algae scrubber into. It is so nice and shiny I almost don't want to use it though lol. Are you still looking at purchasing an Apex dsmhero? I'm going to be overwhelmed when I get it and have to figure how to program everything.

 

[dsmhero]

I am still looking into it. Trying to decided if I want to put more money into the 12g or get the 40 up and running. But when you get your apex I would be more than happy to come over and help you.

 

[Bennettp]

I am still looking into it. Trying to decided if I want to put more money into the 12g or get the 40 up and running. But when you get your apex I would be more than happy to come over and help you.

That would be great. I know what you mean about trying to decide what tank to put money into. I have someone in Kalispell who wants to trade a year old BC 29 gal for my 58 oceanic setup, but I already have 3 tanks now so I don't really need another one. I keep thinking about how a BC 29 would look great next to my bed or something though lol.

 

[Bennettp]

I will post up some pics soon. I picked up a hardwood wine cabinent to use as a stand. It is a very ornate and solidly built cabinent so Im pretty happy I found it since it was exactly what I was looking for in a stand. I have been refinishing the inside of it and now i'm coating it with polyurethane to make it water resistent. I think my buble magus shoukd be arriving soon. All of my main components have arrived. I'm waiting for my mag5 return pump my 2 200watt rena smartheaters and my glass-holes 1" holesaw and bulkheads. i want to drill the tank from the bottom because I do not want any plumbing outside the aquarium that could be bumped into and possibly crack the tank. Because of this I beleive I will have to fabricate my own internal overflow box. I have some black acrylic lying around which I may use. I also want to affix it with magnets so that it will be removable. Right now my livestock is in a biocube 29 which is now my desk tank.

 

[Bennettp]

Ok finished everything last night but my living room looks like a hurricane hit it lol. I'll to take some descent pictures this afternoon and post them. I'm really happy with the way my slim bean overflow turned out and the mp10 makes a nice little wave through my tank. I bent conduit and hung my lights from it with some custom mounts and wire I made for my aqua sol. I was really dissapointed to find out that apex system which has built in vdm still needs the vdm module to controll my sol which is another $130 for the module and cable. Without it I can only run my lights at 100%. Also I may need to paint the conduit black since it looks like a clash of modern vs dark ornate wood at the moment. I also ended up running dual dual 200 watt rena smart heaters, a mag 500 with a spears back flow, bubble magus 3.5 all white protein skimmer and eshopps sump.

 

[dsmhero]

Sounds wonderful. Can't wait for the pictures, have you done much programming with the apex yet?

 

[Bennettp]

No, the only thing programmed is my heaters since they were easy. Even the lights were confusing. I think the apex uses military time or something. I still need to figure out how to get access to the apex when I'm away from my home and not on my own network too.

 

[Bennettp]

Ok guys. Here are some pics as promised. Sorry they are so late. A few unique things about this build:
The stand was a wine cabinet. I removed all the shelving and wine storage on the inside, then did 3 coats dark stain and 3 coats polyurethane.
The overflow is one of kind. I wanted something really slim. I used a drip tray and modified it as an overflow box, and siliconed it to the aquarium. There are holes in the overflow box which improves flow to the box and allows me to run a wave through the tank without causing gurgling. I can add a piece of plexi to the box which is held by the suction and runs the flow to the very top of the aquarium as pictures or I can remove the plexi which reduces the level of the water about 1" from the surface of the tank. It is completely silent. There are two holes one just above the other. The lower is a siphon and is cut back with a flow valve to push all the air out of the pipe. The result is the upper pipe is just a trickle of flow.
I used conduit and bent it to a unique shape to hold my lights. I had to make custom mounts for my aqua sol to hang from wire. I still need to run the Aqua sol's power cable through the conduit to hide it. I may also paint the conduit black. What is your opinion?
I have a spears back flow on the return line to prevent any back flow in case of a power outage.
I'm running a back up UPS on the system to provide temporary power and power filtration since we seem to receive dips in power here at my house.
I'm running dual 200 watt Rena Smart heaters.
My Apex system is controlled from my Ipad, which is using the iphone app, but forcing it to full screen/resolution since I hacked my ipad.

 

[dsmhero]

Its looking like a nice setup, you will have to let me know if you get any surface film since you have no teeth on your overflow box to promote surface skimming.

 

[Bennettp]

I've actually heard that toothless skims better than overflows with teeth. I'm not sure if its true or not, but may be worth looking into. Most of the time the water the will be running through the holes in the overflow though. I was worried about surface skimming but I didn't really have a choice since I will have my mp10 on and a wave through the tank most of the time so a traditional overflow would not really be very good for my system since air would be pulled into the overflow as the wave passes by. I have a lot of surface agitation though so I don't think film should form to bad.

 

[Bennettp]

I have some pictures on my camera to upload. i will try to get them up later today. My corals were looking very poor after being in my biocube 29 for a few weeks. I was afraid to put them in my new nano because I do not have the vdm module for my apex yet and I'm pretty broke so I havent ordered it yet which means my ai sol runs at 100% which is the equivalent of a 400 watt hallide and capable of burning paper up close. But I decided to take the risk and put my corals in the new nano. To my surprise the corals opened up in a about 30 minutes and are extending farther than I have ever seen them. Right now i'm just running the lights for 4 hours a day until I get the module to dim my lights. Soon I will permanently mount the corals to the rock work which I am very happy with.

 

[dsmhero]

Cant wait to see the corals! I just got a new one from Dan yesterday..may be my new favorite

 

[Bennettp]

Cool, which one did you get? I think im going to sell my biocube 29 so I can get the vdm module and breakout box. I need to set up an ATO since I have so much evaporation from the open top system.

 

[dsmhero]

its a "collectors edition" acan...pics should be posted sometime today. How much evap are you getting in a day?

 

[Bennettp]

I'm getting around 1 gallon per day of evaporation. I'm trying to upload some pics now. I've been busy all day putting snow tires on the cars and cutting my buck up and turning it into burger. I moved a few more corals into the tank today that aren't in the pictures. I also picked up some clean up crew and kalkawasser from Dan today. I may go get a masonry bit tomorrow and start permanently mounting my corals to the rock work tomorrow.

 

[dsmhero]

Should be a beautiful tank when its all filled in. Love the color on that blasto!

 

[Bennettp]

Ya, i'll have to play with my camera to get the correct colors. I plan to add a pair of clowns tomorrow. Dan got 12 boxes of fish today! So if your looking for livestock, now is a good time.