The Glassware Nano build
 

Well I guess I've got too much time and money on my hands because I figured it would be a good idea to start up yet another "tank". Went in a different direction with this one though. When the project is totally completed, it will be a series of glassware, 4 pieces, arranged on an endtable by my living room couch that are all piped into a common sump.

First piece of glassware is a schooner mug which has been drilled with a 35mm hole. In order to fit the drain and return into this one hole and maintain the already limited living space within the mug, I incorporated the both into the same pipe. A 1/2" pipe runs inside a 1" pipe. 1/2" pipe is the drain and 1" is the return. In this picture is the fittings for the piping under the mug where the drain and return part ways. The return water enters through the hose barb, and since there is a gap between the 1/2" and 1" pipe it is able to travel upwards. A 3/4" coupling fits into the 1" tee, and a 3/4" to 1/2" coupling fits in there. This prevents the return water from getting out of the line. Inside of the 3/4" to 1/2" coupling needed to be slightly bored out to allow for the 1/2" pipe to slip all the way through.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/P6250141.jpg


And here is a picture of the assembled manifold that it mounted to the underside of the table. The valves give me the opportunity to bypass pressure from the pump back to the sump and independently control pressure to each vessel. It was really tight getting this to fit under the table, but I squeezed it all in.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0578.jpg

Here's a couple pictures of the sump(5 gal), baffles will help to slow the movement of sediment allowing it to settle in a couple key places that are accessible for siphoning. Intake on the pump has holes drilled in rows along the bottom to disperse suction to avoid potential vortices. ATO float coming in the mail from Virtual Village. They sell a great little float that I have on another tank, $15 and about 3" x 5" and works like a gem on a gravity feed. I will be teeing off of the gravity feed for the reef tank in the living room to feed the ATO on this system. I should still have some room for tossing in some LR rubble for good measure.
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Here's a picture of the everything assembled in the middle of the room so the mechanics of it can be better seen. One extra set of holes has been drilled in the stand as I plan on getting the second vessel done in the near future. The other two vessels will be on the lower portion of the stand.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0616.jpg

A lower angle shot of the assembled system showing the drain pipe placement as well as the mounting of the manifold.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0618.jpg

Another low angle shot from the other side. In this picture you can see the completed assembly of the tee where the 1/2" and 1" pipe get married.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0621.jpg

Shot of the mug itself with stand pipe in place. The stand pipe is composed of a 1" coupling, a 3/4" coupling and a 3/4" to 1/2" coupling and then the 1/2" drain that runs to the top. If you look closely, you will see that there is holes drilled around the 1" coupling. There is about 20 holes drilled around the perimeter, pointing downwards to avoid deadspots along the bottom.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0627.jpg

Here's a picture of everything in place.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0628.jpg


The only thing I have not given much thought to is lighting. I want to be able to grow some encrusting montis in here. I was thinking of some type of clip on LED spot light. Does anyone have any recommendations or ideas on this front.

As for livestock, I saw some really nice small blue hippo tangs down at the LFS, less than a inch long. Should go pretty well in here right?

My GF would be ****ed if I started drilling holes in my tables and cups.:lol: How about those clip on lights used for pico tanks?
Your kidding about the hippo right?

once you put some coral in that schooner how are you planning on cleaning it? i think you are going to end up hating this.

Richard

I like the concept (and have seen some interesting builds similar to this on NR), but I have to agree with Richard that it will be very difficult to clean.

One step ahead on the cleaning for the tank. Going to build my own tools. Going to use plastic chopsticks to create the tools. one with a section of razor blade stuck on the side on the side, vertically so i can scrape coraline. And another with a beveled hinged pad on the end, with a square of sos pad on it for a daily scrubber. I have picked up a set of tweezers and such from Princess Auto that will help with manipulation. Will post pics of tool set when complete building them.

Before i started work the table was old and in need of throwing out, i stained and refinished it so it actually looks better than before (even with the holes drilled). The fiance is pleased so far. Do you have any links for the lights you were talking about?

yes and i was kidding about the hippo, they are ich magnets. A yellow tang would be much more suitable.

I found this on big als website. 15W clipon refug light but there are smaller lights for pico tanks that I've seen at big als many times on display with coral in the tank. I'm guessing the tank was 3L in volume perhaps even smaller.

Since you're the DIY type, you should consider some high power LED spotlights. With good optics you could probably put the light source rather high from the glassware, making for easy viewing.

That is an interesting idea, i will have to go down to Al's and see it in front of me, it may be too big. Tough to say from the picture.

I was bumming around Rona today and found some cool led spot lights that are like 40 bulbs mounted into what looks like a halogen housing. I think these may have some potential. Will need to test to see. If i go this route i could suspend some small pendants from the ceiling with these in them. Might look good.


I got around to doing the wet test yesterday and noticed i got to make some changes. I don't know what i was smoking when i tossed a quiet one 4000 on there. I found it in my extra pump basket and figured i would throw it on, forgetting how noisey they are. Not to mention it is over kill. So needless to say i am going to look at changing the pump out.

did you end up with a water fountain!!:lol:

LOL Almost! A little water on the floor but nothing too major. This is what happens when i do most of my work after a couple beers :rolleyes:

Here is a link to a nano with that light I was talking about.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/att...8&d=1251756871
The thread is in the for sale area.

if you go to Walmart they have teh MH small ones its like 30 w or 50 W its a DE and its on a nice silver stand that sits over the tank..... that's if they still have them there...

It looks a little clunky for my liking, i would like to avoid as much light bleed from the mug as possible.

ooooo...metal halide...that may be interesting. To walmart!!


I swapped out the "Quiet one" pump for an Ocean Runner. Much happier with this pump, it won't shake my fillings loose. I also used some spaflex and moved the pump behind to sofa to further quiet the hum.
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My float came in the mail today. I love these little guys, simply the best float valve when you have little space to work with. Now i got to tear off some baseboards to run some line for feeding the float from the reservoir upstairs.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0657.jpg

Update, i have now gotten 2 more tanks hooked up to the sump and have them running.

Some more pictures...

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0948.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0949.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF0950.jpg

Something that might also be kool to use for lighting on this setup are the HID xenon lights from cars. With the focusing lenses you could hang them way up by the ceiling and they would shoot down a narrow intense beam from the ceiling.

btw, funny stuff, the beer mug is classic!

Here is a link about what I mean for the lights:

http://glassbox-design.com/2009/part...ghting-system/

Yup, that's what I meant (and where I got the idea, though I see it's been updated since I saw the page last :wink: ). I've been pondering how to do it using the 70W metal halide ballasts I have, I love the Japanese tanks that are lit with spotlights...

And this is looking pretty interesting, now that's there's water... maybe you should do a non-photosynthetic system?

I want to do both photo and non photos in this system, the cube and mug are going to be sps. The circle one is going to have my dendros and rhyzo. The i have one more yet to do that is going to be beside the circle for shrooms. There is enough light coming through a crack in the blinds to get the shrooms rockin.

Those HID xenon lights look wicked, this maybe a good direction to go in!!

very creative, dont know how your going to get corals into that beer can on the table:lol::lol: i was wondering how you were doing on this project. looks like its coming along.

I would love to learn more about how to set up these lights with ballasts also. If anyone comes across any DIY articles that explain more about the power setups please post them.

:suspicious: Have to say that that isn't the smartest thing I've read today. I love the ingenuity of your build but I can't see this being a real reliable and stable system. Perhaps one would be better to stick with corals that aren't in the $300 range :idea:

I would see if you can get a bigger mug from an A&W, they have ones that are almost 2 litres, like 12" high.

lol yeah i hear ya, it's definately going to be running for a while before i put those babies into the mix. But at the end of the day it will be better for them as they will be more accessible for feedings than where they are now (24" down tucked in a corner in my reef tank)

Wiring a ballast and fixture is the easy part, but finding a fixture to get the same effect is proving to be more difficult. Fitting a 70W bulb in a headlamp assembly may prove to be the only option for someone that wants to do this, but that's going to require some fabrication. Would be nice to see someone try it though... :smile:

Smaller tank means more target feeding means a happier Rhizo, considering the sump and Marks experience I think he should be good to go :biggrin:.

So would you use the ballasts that came out of the car and then run them with a computer power supply like the guy in the article does. Or would you run the bulbs straight off some other kind of ballast?

I have 70W ballasts that run regular 70W DE metal halide bulbs... check out my tank thread, I don't want to muck up Ephraim's thread (sorry for the hijack :wink: ). I have to mention, though, that this thread has made me get the move on with my own multitank setup, thanks for the kick in the pants Ephraim :lol:

took a shot under the stand today, it's getting pretty busy with pipe down there. looks like a mess, but it make sense, i swear!

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...DSCF0956-1.jpg

Very...interesting! :p I'm interested to see how this works out for you!

Nice! You probably already know this: gate valves would give you a lot more precise control over your flow but unfortunately they come at a lot higher price. But since you don't have herbies flow control may not be too much of an issue. I have a herbie set up with a ball valve and it tends to creep a lot more than a gate valve. Are you finding any issues with that on the system yet? With your set up maybe it doesn't matter at all?

Well, this upcoming nano contest has renewed my interest in this build. i haven't done anything with this since October. Life kinda got in the way and no progress was made. But as of last night.... SALT HAS BEEN ADDED! We now have a salt water aquarium. Live rock will be going in this weekend. Lighting will be put within the next 3 weeks.

With the space restrictions, gate valves were not a viable option with this build. I prefer to use them when I can, due to ease of adjustment. Not using them shouldnt create any difficulties however, I have found the biggest issues with balls getting clogged over time is when they are 75% or more closed. Before that point, they tend to be consistent IMO, and all the ones in this system are within that range(except one)

what!.....like, two months without an update and no pics??????

yeah yeah i know, but no need for updated pics, nothing really has progressed yet. Just been running it with water going through it. Call it a very thorough leak test.

Progress has been made!!! Lighting has been installed and some live rock has been added.

Lighting has been done with little black desk lamps with the bases removed. I threaded the cords through locline to clean up the appearance and have it remain adjustable. The bulbs are par30 sized led lights, found at Rona. The bulbs pump out quite a bit of light and the shade is a nice daylight shade.

Time for PICS!

Here is a picture of the table
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF2122.jpg

Here's what the light bulbs look like
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/DSCF2123.jpg

Top down of the cube
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