PEPPIE's AIO CUSTOM BUILD lots of PICS

[Peppie]

Hi all I started this build Thread on the DIY site and figured out I posted it in the wrong place. Needles to say I'm new to RF. I wanted a small tank that was easy to maintain. I didnt want to spend alot of money on my first reef build. I didnt want the standard Glass tank sitting on a cabinet with plumbing going up and down.
So this is what I would like to do. You can see the sketch below in the pics.
I took a standard 20gal tank and split into 3rds 2/3 DT 1/3 filter area. I siliconed the dividers in place with addjustable flow gates. Once I fine tune the flow and water level in each of the chambers I will add plastic gutter gaurd to the overflow gate to keep critters were they should be.
My return pump is a QuitOne 1200 @ 296gph. It will feed a fuge chamber at about 50 to 75 gph. I have made room in this chamber to add a Aqualife 115 Nano skimmer and some live rok rubble.
The main overflow will have two compartments divided diagonally (You can see in the pic, the blue divider) to place a media bag if needed.
I wanted to include a freshwaterATO in the cabinet. Its only 1 1/2 gal. Im not sure how long it will last I hope at least 2 to 3 days. Am I dreaming or will I have to top off my topoff every other day?
I wanted to a a little twist to the tank. I was thinking some background light behind the DT part. I gave some extra room behind the DT area to mount some lights and a plastic panel that will be removable. Different colors witch ever color looks best or which one the light will glow thru. Anybody have any luck trying to get this effect?

 

[Peppie]

Got some more work done on the tank. Here are few more pics.
I like to do the trim work with simple tools. It is alot better on the ears and lungs. I have worked with wood for many years. I have alot of wood stacked allover the place so I found enough Mahogany to do the build. The cabinet is 3/4 plywood with figured trim.
Yiu can see that the cabinet is offset in a couple of places. I want to be able to have room for the background lite, freshwater, electrics, and fuge lites.
It will have two doors on the filter end of the cab. so I can have access to the fuge lites, and the freshwater top off. There wont be any handles on the doors. They will set 1/2 half in the cab. a magnet will hold the bottom in and a friction latch will hold the top in.
There will be a 4x6 wood vent at each end of the hood. Just above the doors had to be strong enough to keep the hood square and level while the hood was raised and lowered. This need added bracing.

 

[Peppie]

While I have you looking I'll do some more pics.
I set the tank in the cab so you could get an idea of what I am shooting for.
Some of the pics here are explained in the post above.
The pic with the tank in it shows the begining of the foam/rock wall. I'll have more on that soon.

 

[Peppie]

Well the tank is moving along. Did some work on the hood. Getting it to work right and sit down on the cabinet right took some extra time. The hinges need to be just right.
I also started the front of the cab. They say you can never have to many clamps. I ripped 5 thin strips to 1/16" so the bend would have a smooth curve. So this took some time to glue all the strips one at a time. I'll shape it, and tie it into the other side of the cab.

 

[braddo]

First reef tank? I'm assuming you've got some experience under your belt with freshwater or fish only saltwater, either that or you've done your homework as even on a small scale it looks like a pretty ambitious build for your first try.

Also that’s some pretty slick cabinetry you are putting together there, should look very nice once finished. I like how you’ve included room in the side of the cabinet to enclose the skimmer and auto top off unit.

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone do any background accent lighting like you plan. Using replaceable plastic filters should allow you to play around and come up with a good day or night effect.

Thanks for the pics, can’t wait to see how the finished product turns out.

Welcome to Reef Frontiers.

 

[Peppie]

Thanks Braddo, I'll admit I had a sw fish only tank about 19 years ago. Back when an undergravle filter was state of the art. lol.
The hobbie has changed alot. I want to be sure I dont set myself up to fail. I did a lot of home work on this type of tank. I have been reading and looking at how other reefers run thier tanks everyday for the past 7 months. Ther is so much more that I dont know. lol. I was begining to wonder if I had this build in the right place. I wasnt getting any feed back.
I'll post a few more pics. Maybe that will get me a few more replys.

 

[DBM Reef]

Man thats gonna be sweet i like your hood/cover thats
really nice work . You can bring those skills over to my
house .

 

[ashton]

wow very nice work, I cant wait to see how it looks once you can get some livestock in there. Any ideas of what you want to keep in the tank?

 

[TJL]

Peppie my man, most impressive woodworking skills and then some with the aquascape and plumbing outlined. I will definately follow along on this thread as was a Cabinet/Furniture Maker myself.

Todd

 

[Peppie]

Thanks guys, I've put alot of thought and time in this build so far. I'm glad to see some positive feedback.
As for the livestock. My wife wants a pair of clownfish and an anemone. I'm not sure a 20gal AIO is large or stable enough to keep an anemone healthy. So I am considering Frogspawn or a mushroom to host the clowns. I'd also like to keep a small gobie that will live in the lower part of the tank. Of coure the cleanup crew. I like the looks of the porcelain crab. If the tank peram. look good with that bio load I will add another small fish, maybe a gobie clown. The corals will be softies and leathers. I dont think my lights will handle the hard corals. And I am not sold on the idea of doesing my tank every day.
Todd here is a pic of my pide and joy. It took 4 months to build. All the wood that can be seen is figured. 9 or 10 different typs.
The tank now has a dark stain.

 

[TJL]

Hey Peppie, once again very impressed by your woodworking skills. Absolutely beautiful inlay work and material choices. I have been collecting/keeping unique & exotic pieces of wood for many years to someday start such a project and you may have just inspired me to do so.
I think your plan on tank including a small anemone for the Clowns & Porcelain Crab to host will be fine, also you could put a Frogspawn or Hammer w/ a group of Sexy Shrimp or other Anemone Shrimp ie: 'Periclimenes' species would make a beautiful and interesting reef. If you have not decided on lighting, check out the 14w LED growlight on this website http://www.eaglelight.com/ for only $40.95.
The next time I'm down your way would love to stop by for a visit and check out your handywork and your reeftank of course.

Todd

 

[Peppie]

Thanks again Todd.
Checked out the led light. What a deal. I will remember that for my next build. I'm thinking about another AIO. Only it will be atleast 60 gal. acrylic. I built a 75 gal acrylic tank. Then I got layed off from work so the tank is sitting in the garage. As soon as my union job is more stable I'll get back to that tank.
As for the lights in this small AIO I bought AN Aqualight comp. fluop. 130 watts 2 @ 65watts each. I'm glad I bought the retro fit kit cause I had to cut the reflector in half and seperate the 2 lghts so I could mount a R2 12 bulb led moon lite in the midddle of the CF. I thouhgt it would have a better lighting effect mounted in the center instead of all the way front or rear. Would it be a good idea to run the leds along with the CF. And should I have some dark time for the tank? I have not yet decided on a light program. What do you think?
My fuge lite is 2 8watt flor. with 12" 18k bulbs. I just want to grow cheatos. I heard that this lite should have some dark time.
Anybody with input on this lighting will help me decide.
Todd I would love to show off my handy work. Not alot of people realize what goes into a NICE piece of furniture.

 

[TJL]

Hey Peppie, on my DT (mixed reef sps, lps, clams, softies, zoas & shrooms) I have my lighting schedule as follows
7 am - 30w 36" std flo 20K (Dawn/Dusk) ON
8 am - 4 x 48" 110w VHO (2 Super Actinic / 2 Actinic White) ON
8 pm - all VHO OFF
8 pm - 9 x 1/2w white LED ON
9 pm - 30w 20K OFF
9 pm - 4 x 1/2w blue LED ON
10:30 pm 9 x 1/2w white LED OFF
7 am - 4 x blue LED OFF
REPEAT

Fuge: 15w std flo 1x 10K, 1x 6500K 30w total 24/7 I keep Chaeto, Caulerpa mexicana, Grape Caulerpa and at least 3 other macro algaes on a mixed bed of 'Miracle Mud' and crushed coral

And will definately take you up on invite, will pm you when I know I'll be in the area.

Todd

 

[abushr]

Nice tank! Can't wait to see more pics when you have it running.

 

[Peppie]

Thanks for the light schedule. That makes sence to me. I will most likely run mine in a simalar cycle.
I hope to have the tank running by the end of May. I still have the stand to build, Water test, plumbing test, ect. I also need to set up my RO DI to have good wter ready on demand. Here are a feww more pics of the tank.

 

[Peppie]

Got started on my rock/foam wall. I bought 15lbs. of dry Marco roch rubble. Used Becketts Pound Foam and some eggcrate. I siliconed the rock to the eggcrate and stood them up and braced them so I could smear the foam on with a stick from the backside. That way I was able to not get any more foam on the rock than needed to be. After it cured I chucked up a bit in my dremmle tool and cleaned the face of the wall foam to below the face of the rocks. It also took the smoothness of the foam.

 

[Peppie]

I would like to give a little background on the mood lighting or background lighting I am trying to include in the back of the DT . I thought if I put a light behind a colored panel that the light would glow thur at the color of the panel. I made a slot to drop the panel in and painted a plastic panel with blue spay paint. I used a rope led light behind it. The light was not bright enough to shine, glow, or shimmer. I need a brighter lite. Back to the store. I found an under cabinet halogen about 2'' in diam. That seemed to work just fine until it started to melt the plastic. The light is about 3/4" away. Back to the store. I bought 3 disk shaped leds, again under cabinet lights. Instead of painting the plastic panel I bought some blue cotton fabric, doubled it over and glued it to the panel. That gave me 3 visable round light with all the led bulbs shinning thru. That looked odd. So I had to put an odd shaped reflector right in front of the lights. That gave me the background light I had been thinking of. It cost alittle more than I wanted to spend. But what doesnt in this hobbie? LOL
In the pics you can see the led rope light. That is were the 3 disc lites were placed. One of the pics is with the painted plastic and the other is the cloth. Can you tell the differance?
I plan to use epoxy to glue coral sand to the foam on the rock wall. Looks a little odd being black.

 

[Peppie]

This what is underneath the hood. I took the 130watt retro and cut it down the middle so I could mount the R-2 Moon Lite between the CF. I added a peice of glass close to the bottom of the hood. This will help airflow, evap, heat, and keep fish in.
I redid the ATO. I will keep it simple, The pump will be hooked to a toggle. I marked the side of the tank in 4 second intervals = 1/4''. Since I will be at the tank atleast 2 times a day I think this will be safer. I have read alot of horror stroies about floatswitches.

 

[eww]

Wow Peppie. I would love to come by and see this thing as well. I am just getting started in the hobby and with the work I have done so far I can vastly recognize the time an effort in your build. Working in such tight quarters seems like it would almost be more difficult that a 90 gallon typical build. Your cabinetry looks amazing. As others have said, I will tag along too and can't wait to see it come together.

Eric

 

[Peppie]

I would like to show off my build in person. Once the tank is up and running we will get together by PM. The tank should be wet very soon.
Thanks for the reply.