reefwars 2012 nano contest entry

[reefwars]

so with a tank so tall i didnt really want to be dealing with the hassels of liverock so i decided to do a pedestal tank basically a tank inside a tank seperate from all the corals.



here is what i came up with:


first the empty tanks, i decided to just use the one pedestal and not the small one added on top for now:P




my tall diy pestal made from scrap glass at my house:








the idea is to center this tank filled with rock inside the display tank


next came to filling this with rock, i had to use my grinder and diamond wheel to cut the rock in shapes i wanted and so everything fit together....no chance of toppling and plus this "pillar" is going to be removable at any time for cleaning etc.


i chose 3 pieces of rock from my liverock tank:






these piece were akward and weirdly shaped.......so i played god and made them how i wanted them:










i then stacked them inside the "pillar" and siliconed them into place so they could not fall back or out of place, the silicone is in places you cannot see from the front of the tank:





















now with the insides of the tank done for rock i got to thinking how im going to feed some of these corals so i got to building a diy feeder using a media reactor and a modified majijet.



next post: diy auto feeder

[Boxboy]

Wow, Thats super cool looking I wanna see livestock in there..

[reefwars]

although i am capable of numerous daily feedings by hand i decided to do an diy autofeeder for the corals. the diy feeder is a large media reactor with the guts hauled out and a maxi jet trimmed down to fit inside the chamber , the maxijet feeds the tank from the chamber and is controlled via a valve for a consistant drip.


i have been able to set the drip as low as 1 drip every 7sec , i am entertaing the idea now to " t " off the maxi jet to keep the food stirred up or figure out something else.


the reactor will be drained daily and rinsed as part of my maintanance.



here she is:P


reactor still in working condition....such a shame lol













next i hauled out the guts and media items










now of course when i first went to fit a maxi jet inside the chamber this was the result:






so i hauled out the cutter:






and trimmed some weight off it so it fit snug and the input didnt get restricted once inside.

fits like a glove





ok so then had to plumb the maxi jet to the output of the reactor

















ran the cord out the output of the reactor






the reactir will drip food into a powerhead pointed down from the top of the tank.so far its doing well in its trial runs , we will see once livestock gets added how well it feeds then:P

[reefwars]

the tank has a back made from privacy glass to give a hazzy looking back ground, its see through but makes looking through seem like its in deepwater , so after hearing about the shadow box's i decided to put something behind the tank for an odd look.

i have a fake tree it staands just slighty taller then the nps tank , and all the branches are movable and bendable , and so this tree will be the background of the tank and i will purchase some smaller plants or shrubs for around the tank bottom .......kinda like a rainforest background:P


heres some pics , it hides the reactor feeder very well and any plumbing going back into the tank, plus it hides the sump and any other ugly things we try to hide up with pretty stands lol












with a background idea in tow , a tank drilled and ready to go , some helpfull gadgets and doodads made i decided......what am i gonna do for a sump??



next post sump build

[fishoholic]

Is the egg create the only thing holding the tank up?????? I constantly snap pieces of egg create all the time (very easily done) so won't the tank fall through????? Also the tank should have a piece of foam under it, then be sitting on plywood for a flat supported surface. Without a foam cushion or a flat surface to sit on you run the risk of the bottom breaking/cracking anytime a shift occurs. Surprised the egg create holds the weight of an empty tank ......did I miss something or is the tank really being supported by egg create?????

Otherwise looks cool and interesting.

[reefwars]

the tank sits on the stand but just barely the eggcrate gives it some extra support, im not worried about its overall strength as ive had it filled with water several times and tank isnt that heavy...i can pick it up easily lol

[reefwars]

ok been a crazy week and a bit but im slowly getting there sump is finished and bulkheads found.

i had a small set back and my skimmer for this build died so i have to throw the bones for another skimmer

also i have my livestock scheduled to show up in late november so besides the skimmer im right on track.

tank isnt filled with water yet but will be in the days to come.

there is no cycle on this tank so im not worried about time more about making sure i have all the small pieces i need to make it run smoothly lol


list of things i still need:

reactor
skimmer
return pump
some more liverock




here is the sump , i had an old sump lying around but needs some mods , the sump is old as hell and hasn t been used in a year.


the baffles are to close together and needed to be moved in order to accomodate a decent skimmer.


i moved the baffles and let here dry and its been sitting dry for a week or more now :P


here is the moded sump(nothing fancy)


origional:




basically the middle baffle needed to be cut out and moved back towards the drains.


here it is moved...alot more freedom now heheh:P




in my next post ill show all my equipment so far and my tank etc.


stay tuned!!