Acipenser 2012 nano contest entry.
 

I don't want to be late in case some crazy work **** comes up so I am going to start my thread now !

I have a few ideas for my display tank nothing crazy - I am thinking along the lines of a 15g tank drilled with a wall to wall over flow along the back. I plan on building a stand and incorporating a sump. I am thinking about building the sump from scratch (never worked with glass before !) . I am debating on scratch building an led light with a custom timer/controller, if not Ill steal the 4x24w t5HO set off my gold fish .

As for stock I have yet to decide but I really like blennie's and gobie's and am thinking about maybe a pistol shrimp as well.

Hopefully Ill be able to add some nice easy corals, I hope to gain some experience working with sumps and drilling glass , my main goal is a nice display tank with an low maintenance system as work gets crazy some times with little time left over for family let alone fish . i almost gave up on salt water all together but am now re inspired !

looks like you got a killer idea in mind ill be following along for sure to see how this goes for you:)


cheers!

Bought the 1st display tank
 

Here is a crappy iPhone pic of my new 15g all glass tank, the plan is to drill over flow and return lines at the back and build a wall to wall internal over flow, along the entire length of back of the tank.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ndy/photo7.jpg

Ambitious. :) What are the dimensions of the tank? I quite like the way it looks: long and not too tall.

It's a 15g tank . I like it because it's 24lx12wx12h. Lot's of stands and fixtures available for this footprint :D .

Very nice dimensions, indeed. Not only do you have lots of stand choices, you'll also have a lot of really nice lighting choices: that won't overhang the tank. Depending on how you do this, it might not even look like a nano.

Nice tank choice...tons of options

J&L
 

So I got some time to myself and went to J&L, I picked up my bulk head fittings. 2 - 1/2 bulkheads for the drain and 1 - 1/2 threaded fitting with nozzle for the return line, The 2 drain fittings have barbed ends and ill be going with clear vynl tubing. I also picked up a Eheim Compact Pump 1000. I am hoping to get about 10 x tank turn over in my sump.

I took some measurements and am planning to get some baffles cut for the sump I also need to go back to Rona and get the 1 1/8 diamond coated hole saw bit. plus some pvc primer and glue so far I am at just under $100.

Pics of my equipment so far .
 

used slim skim nano
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4552.jpg

Bulkhead fittings
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4551.jpg

sump
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4553.jpg
Eheim pump
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4549.jpg

Drill bit's
 

I am having problems finding the proper sized (1 1/8") Diamond coated hole saw, other wise I would have the holes in and testing for leaks !

very nice indeed:)

What size is your sump? Keep in mind we're only allowed 20g total water volume including display/sump/skimmer

Hmm. Based on the photo, you're going to need to run the skimmer in your display. The water level for the skimmer should be about half way up the vents on the front at that top.

And, remember that you're going to have to leave enough room in the sump for the water to drain from the display in the event of a power/return pump failure (or if you just decide to turn the pump off). You can limit the backflow by ensuring that your returns are above the water in the display.

You may be able to fab something up that will let you use the skimmer in the sump, but I'm at a bit of a loss as to how it could be done.

You can check glass-holes.com for your holesaw. I've ordered from them in the past, and I've been pretty pleased with their products.

Oh, I just had an idea. You could purchase an aquarium that is taller, and partition off a portion of it to ensure that your system meets the contest guidelines for volume. You could then use the partitioned off area for a fresh water reservoir if you build an ATO. :) That could leave you squeezing your equipment into a pretty small footprint, but it would keep all of the equipment in the sump.

Yes I have been thinking along those lines as well I am considering a 10G tank and only using half of it for the time being or picking up a different skimmer or I have even considered some sort of extension for the slim skim chamber or maybe modifying the slim skim itself. I may just build a skimmer while I am at it. :mrgreen:

sump is 5.5g , there will be less than 3g in it.

Modifying the skimmer might work: either by somehow moving the cup down closer to the bubble chamber, or by moving the pump and bubble chamber up and shortening the case from the bottom. I'm not that handy, I don't think, so I never even considered modding the skimmer itself.

Cool, it looked bigger in the pic

a post has been made in all the contest forumns regarding contest rules via the timeline, everyone should read this post as there seems to be some confusion.

Drilled my tank ! FINALLY !
 

So after driving around and not being able to find the 1 1/16 bit and not wanting to wait any further I went to princess auto and picked up the 1 1/4 inch diamond hole saw and mandrel total price was about $11 extra hole saws will be about $8 the first hole I burned thru the glass pretty fast second and third holes were a little slower. The 1 1/4 hole is quite a bit bigger but the bulk heads can easily be positioned. I also started to mock up the corner over flow with card board so I can get the glass cut.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps5210c391.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps9c50543e.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps2538954e.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psfa36bee5.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psc837500c.jpg

I am still not sure about what I want to do with the overflow if I want to make it go all the way to the bottom of the tank or just the small one I mocked up.

Nice job! The first tank we drilled cracked. We paid someone to drill the next one. :lol:

Maybe try another mock up to see how a full length one looks?

I have worked with tiles so I know patience is key - Nothing like nibbling a tile for 15 minutes only for it to crack at the last second.

Also I drilled very slowly and did it in the back yard with the garden hose running cold water over the hole saw - I drilled quite slow each hole took about 5 minutes.

I have had NO time this weekend for my tank, worked 15 hours yesterday and back this morning for more punishment !

Stupid Sump
 

Having problems setting up my sump. I can not get the proper balance between out flow and inflow - I am thinking of abandoning this 15g with sump for a 20g all in one .

I never worried about balance when I as setting up my sump on my display. It drains wide open. It is noisy, though.

Thanks for the reply, I guess a little noise wont hurt !

This sounds dumb but works.
Thread some fishing line from the top of your sump inlet all the way down to sump. even if its open full flow. it will soften the noise. not a cure, but helps.

Regular monofilament, fly line, or something else?

Monofilament is what I had heard before. I've never tried it but others have and it apparently works.

Have had zero time for anything but work this past few day's, today is day 13 in a row of work and I am scheduled to work again tomorrow . Hopefully on Monday I can get into a glass shop for my over flow and sump baffles.

Got a day off yesterday, yah ! Went to Rona spent a $12 on some 2x3's and I had some 1x4 pine laying around and quickly put together a stand . flow testing the setup tonight .

I still need to get a 10g tank to use as a sump the 5g is too small I also want to pick up a float switch to turn off the return pump and i need to get to the glass shop and have my over flow cut for the tank !

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...dy/photo-7.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...indy/tank2.jpg

My ghetto sump build !
 

So I took a couple of plastic storage containers my wife had from the crawl space and am empty kitty litter container and ghettoed up a auto top off and sump the kitty litter container has a hole drilled in the bottom with a piece of silicone airline tubing squeezed in and a bread bag clip on the end to "control the drip's.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4701.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4703.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4702.jpg

The light is a 4x24w T5HO Aquatic life light I had been using on my goldfish tank.

Made some changes to the sump .
 

I decide the auto top off wasn't needed and unsightly I'll make a better one later I turned it into a wet dry with reverse photo period macro algae refugium.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4720.jpg
The water flows into the blue tub and fills up there are holes drilled into the tub on the right side in the space between the sump and the blue tub are a bunch of plastic wet dry media the water flows down these and around to the return pump.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4718.jpg

Re-scaped the display tank.
 

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4719.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/IMG_4717.jpg