Off the Wagon - New Nano

[beefORchicken]

awesome nano. i'm totally loving the ato! did you diy the LEDs?

[lastlight]

You really do have your own way man. I can't pin it down but I really like whatever it is you do. Can't wait to see how this develops. What are your real plans for the next tank?

[don.ald]

i want to see the sump set-up

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by don.ald

i want to see the sump set-up

Nothing special so don't get your hopes up, the combination of all my tools being in storage and blowing most of the budget on the stand made me have to improvise on some details.

The sump consists of a fluval 304 which holds the various media and is drilled in the base and plumbed into a recycling bin which holds some more rock, heater, return pump and float valve.


Also I just want to say thanks to Jay for his help on a couple things that made putting this together a lot easier and cheaper. Cheers!

[don.ald]

well, i am impressed! looks amazing. can you explain the canister filter...i mean why not just overflow into the bin and return pump back out? i have never used a canister filter so not sure how they work. how is the tank itself plumbed? did you drill and put in bulkheads?

Originally Posted by sphelps

Nothing special so don't get your hopes up, the combination of all my tools being in storage and blowing most of the budget on the stand made me have to improvise on some details.

The sump consists of a fluval 304 which holds the various media and is drilled in the base and plumbed into a recycling bin which holds some more rock, heater, return pump and float valve.


Also I just want to say thanks to Jay for his help on a couple things that made putting this together a lot easier and cheaper. Cheers!

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by don.ald

well, i am impressed! looks amazing. can you explain the canister filter...i mean why not just overflow into the bin and return pump back out? i have never used a canister filter so not sure how they work. how is the tank itself plumbed? did you drill and put in bulkheads?

The canister filter has three trays inside stacked on top of each other. I feed the water from the overflow directly down into these trays which hold my filter floss, carbon and some bio-media. This was easier for me than trying to build such trays or chambers into a sump. It also keeps the majority of water noise and humidity to a minimum as it’s all contained within the seal canister filter. I drilled a hole and installed a bulkhead in the base of the canister to convert it into a wet-dry system which typically wouldn’t be ideal for saltwater but in nanos I believe it can be good. A bulkhead is also installed in the lower side of the sump to connect to the canister drain. This drain puts less back pressure on the overflow compared to trying to feed the output out of the top of the canister and into the sump. The sump is now free of micro bubbles and most of the clutter so it holds the return pump, heater and float valve easily. I’ve also placed some live rock in the sump for added bio-media in the more conventional saltwater way.

I did have to make some changes to the canister filter to make this work for me, besides installing a bulkhead in the base I also opened up the water entrance (which is actually the stock water output) by removing the impeller assembly and drilling out any major obstructions, this way a clog is less likely and it handles the gravity feed flow much better. I also made a simple baffle to keep bubbles in the canister and out of the sump.

[cale262]

Looks great... I built an edge with an over flow, 6gal sump and led's, but just some plug and play led's using the edge fixture, mine are not as bright as those cree's though...The nicest thing about the sump is you never get any bubbles trapped under the glass

Got any pics of the lights?

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by beefORchicken

awesome nano. i'm totally loving the ato! did you diy the LEDs?

Yes, its a kit from rapidled mounted on a chunk of aluminium flat bar with an acrylic shield.

Originally Posted by lastlight

You really do have your own way man. I can't pin it down but I really like whatever it is you do. Can't wait to see how this develops. What are your real plans for the next tank?

Thanks man, I try.
When we buy a house I'll setup my 100 gallon again and probably stick with the same type of livestock as before. We also want a larger fish only but that'll depend on the house. Right now we're just renting a condo so this little nano is hopefully going to hold me over for a few more months.

[Lance]

Very eloquent! I like it. I agree, some zoas would look killer in there.

[Chaloupa]

LOVE seeing the Edge done like this! It's a great little tank, and it looks amazing as a saltie!! Nicely done