From Daddy's Room to Dining Room...Keeping it "D"

[maelv]

Well as some of you know, I sold the house, the tank (Daddy's Room thread) stayed in that house....I have moved from KC to San Antonio...and am going through withdrawals. I have an empty 220 sitting in the garage and am renting for God only knows how long...don't want to set up just to tear down...that is doing TOO much....so during *****’s tank sale, I bought me a 20 long and a 10 gallon for the sump/fuge.
Bought some wood and said let me build my own stand…..Still need to make a canopy.
I did not like the dual overflows with the strainers inside the tank, so I made a calfo overflow and drilled the back of the tank.
Bought 25 lbs of Marco’s dry rocks, painted the back of the tank, and divided up my sump to allow for a fuge and a separate chamber for some cheato.
Plans with this thing is to try and find some nice corals that can eventually grow and be transferred into my larger 220 when it is set up. Mainly softies, zoos, LPS…maybe a nice SPS or so…..
Today (fingers crossed that my bulkheads come in) is the day I sit down after work, plumb this little guy and get it up and running.
This is going to be a simple…very simple set up….relying mainly on rock and a dsb for filtration….you got it…..small tank….I am going skimmerless. I plan on using one of my 250 w MH…..It may be too much and I may have to go get another light…but we’ll see…and I purchased a RIO 2100 that pushes about 692 gph…That’s it folks…
Not looking at spending too much on this set up, as it will be taking away funds from my big tank equipment (can’t have that!!!)…..we’ll see what happens….One other main purpose of this build is to see how it turns out so I can make an even nicer set up for the bigger tank....Practice if, you will...Enough with this story, here are some pictures.

Sides made longer than the tank depth so I can hide the plumbing...once I build the canoply, I will also have peices that will be velcroed to the canopy and stand to completely block off any view to the back of the tank...

I drilled the bottom of the tank for the return....

I am 5'11", so you can get an idea of how tall it will sit...PERFECT height when sitting at the table..also made sure that the lip would cover the black rubber molding of the tank...same will be done on the canopy

Calfo Overflow Box prior to being welded/glued together and with the plastic still on the sides...bottom is clear so that the light can shine through and I won't have a dark spot along the back side of the tank

Preliminary aquascape - with left over rock that will be in the sump

As you can see, the background has been painted black...and the overflow is in place witht three drains..

More to follow later...

 

[azfishgal]

Very nice!!! But we can't see your face.

 

[maelv]

LOL...that's cause I want you all to come back and look...ha ha ha ha...if I showed my face, I'd have no more visitors to my thread....

 

[maelv]

I didn't get to start the cycle this weekend...tightened a bulkhead just a leeeeeiiitle too much...and cracked the tank...oh well..
So my father had a 28 gallon or so, he wasn't using...so I took that..fit perfectly in my stand....30x12x18
So I drilled, painted, plumbed it, and set up the rocks in that thing yesterday...here are some pictures.
I used quite a bit of superglue to get these rocks in this formation, didn't feel like drilling them and running rods through them...and that is the cheap hood that comes with the tank and crappy light.....I am going to make a canopy as well while the tank is in it's cycle.....

 

[ccampbell57]

It looks great so far! I love the black sand!

 

[tru conch]

nice little side project going. simple stand and set up
what kind of lights are you going to run? just wondering
also what did you use to drill it? diamond tip bits? i can never find them anywhere. if you can point me in the right direction that would be sweet. thanks.

 

[maelv]

Originally Posted by ccampbell57
It looks great so far! I love the black sand!
Thanks bud.....hopefully once it is cycled, I can get it looking nice...we'll see....need to try and get it looking good, because the more and more I keep seeing your tank and that one guy Angel's tank....the more I want to make my 220 a Fish Only tank....
Originally Posted by tru conch
nice little side project going. simple stand and set up
what kind of lights are you going to run? just wondering
also what did you use to drill it? diamond tip bits? i can never find them anywhere. if you can point me in the right direction that would be sweet. thanks.
Thanks Tru..really simple design....wanted inexpensive but functional stand that matches the color of the rest of my furniture...now I need to make the canopy......it was a diamond tip....nicely priced...shoot me an e-mail.....
I am planning on using one of the 250 watters I have....and several fans..LOL..and maybe a chiller??? ha ha ha ha...not quite sure if the 250watt MH is too much for a 29 gallon 18 inch deep tank...
e-mail me on the diamond tip lead..
ismael.velez@sbcglobal.net

 

[azul1994]

Cool, what fish do you plan on adding?

 

[ccampbell57]

Originally Posted by maelv
Thanks bud.....hopefully once it is cycled, I can get it looking nice...we'll see....need to try and get it looking good, because the more and more I keep seeing your tank and that one guy Angel's tank....the more I want to make my 220 a Fish Only tank....
HAHA...yeah...I feel the same way. The more I see AngelMan's tank, I want to get my bigger project underway.
Dont rush the 220 though. Think about what you want and then go for it. I think that you should do a 220g reef and put some of the smaller angels in it (goldflake, scribbled).

 

[ccampbell57]

Originally Posted by azul1994
Cool, what fish do you plan on adding?
I heard he was thinking about a grouper? can you believe that?

 

[maelv]

Originally Posted by azul1994
Cool, what fish do you plan on adding?

Originally Posted by ccampbell57
I heard he was thinking about a grouper? can you believe that?
Ha ha ha ha.....yeah not quite....believe it or not, all I am holding out for is a pair of Picasso Clowns..they are hard to come by..and i'll like to get a couple....once I decide what to do with my 220, I will have more than enough fish to look at...
Originally Posted by ccampbell57
Dont rush the 220 though. Think about what you want and then go for it. I think that you should do a 220g reef and put some of the smaller angels in it (goldflake, scribbled).
I know a 220 reef would look great....but some of the fish I have wanted are not generally reef safe, for example: Angels, Triggers (clown and picasso), eels (dragon)....so I don't know...first and foremost, I need to start aquiring the hardware, by then I will figure out what I really want.
And even if I wanted to rush the 220, I wouldn't be able to...LOL...first we all know equipment .... good equipment is $$$, secondly, I am renting and don't know if we will buy this house or move in a couple of years so I don't want to go through all the hassles of setting it up, just to break it back down...

 

[warlock_king]

IZZY! whats up bro? Thought Id finally hit up these boards since the KC boards are getting slow. Tanks looking good. that 250w will be cool over the tank, james runs one on his 29 without much of a heat issue that I know of.
My only question on your setup is the black sand. I dont believe it helps keep the ph stable like aragonite sand will.. I know its not a HUGE deal but it helps. and those picasso clowns are a must for that tank, very cool and if I had a way of getting my hands on some Id have them. some guys on -- seem to know of sources so maybe check that out. anywho maybe ill post some pics of my tank up somewhere here and see how that goes

 

[maelv]

D....glad to see you make over here man....yeah I have heard that of the black sand...but since I have started keeping tanks, I have always had that black sand in the back of my mind. I wouldn't have done it in that 135 you saw at the house, nor will I do it on my 220...but small tank.....we'll see how it goes.

 

[hefner413]

Hey maelv! glad to see your project - although I'm with you on being excited about your 220! Well, can't wait to see how this ends up! keep us posted as you go, I'll be following for sure. I learned a bit from your first setup - and I'm already learning from this one. Good job!

 

[maelv]

Originally Posted by Hefner413
Hey maelv! glad to see your project - although I'm with you on being excited about your 220! Well, can't wait to see how this ends up! keep us posted as you go, I'll be following for sure. I learned a bit from your first setup - and I'm already learning from this one. Good job!
As always, Thanks Hef....
okay here are a couple of pictures...cycle started this past weekend...tank is dirty, needs a really good cleaning...water is still kinda nasty, I didn't rinse out the rocks as well as I thought....and my little cocktail shrimp in there serving its purpose to kick off the ammonia...also threw in a couple of rubble peices from my LFS that will go into the sump after they have served their purpose (or be used for future frags) and I still need to make myself a canopy...speaking of which...lunch time...off to Lowe's for wood

 

[maelv]

Well tank has been cycled for a while. And I have had a clean up crew, one picasso, and a cherub angel in there for several weeks now.
Got that package that Bronco300 had up coming in today, my boy warlock_king sent me a little somethin' somethin' which will be here tomorrow...and about 10 minutes ago I placed an order for some things.....finally I should have some nice coloration in this drab tank....that along with a 20K MH XM Radium (250W)....should look good....here is what i have ordered
http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t...t=d44816bf.pbw
Will take pictures over the weekend or next week once they have gotten into the tank and have been able to acclimate....

 

[nu2salt]

maelv....you will not be disapointed with the vendor you ordered from i have
got a bunch of frags from him. and i liked them all with you 20k bulb they should stay pretty true to color. i have mine under 14k and they changed alittle.
that will be a very nice tank when everything arrives and is acclimated

 

[maelv]

Originally Posted by nu2salt
maelv....you will not be disapointed with the vendor you ordered from i have
got a bunch of frags from him. and i liked them all with you 20k bulb they should stay pretty true to color. i have mine under 14k and they changed alittle.
that will be a very nice tank when everything arrives and is acclimated
Thanks....and yeah that is what I am hoping...I believe we are using the same bulb...his the 400w and mine the 250....

 

[nu2salt]

Originally Posted by maelv
Thanks....and yeah that is what I am hoping...I believe we are using the same bulb...his the 400w and mine the 250....
he also uses 192w of atinics. i am after the dalmation zoos but he hasn't had any in a long time. they r just black with white dots on them.

 

[maelv]

yeah those are sweet, he has tons of NICE things...unfortunately alot of them are gone....oh well....someday....i don't have atinics, so we will have to see how that works out.