Enigma's 2012 Nano Contest Entry

[nanoreefnewbie]

Originally Posted by Enigma

The more I think about it, this system might just be stocked with coral and inverts. The reason being that fish are pretty messy for the most part (at least all of the gluttons I've got, anyway). If I find a fish or two that aren't messy pigs I'll consider putting them in here.

Well never thought about that..fish are messy...thanks for the thoughts..Humm now do I want fish lol coral are easy through fish in whole new ball game

[Enigma]

Have I mentioned that I hate painting?



It would look better, but I got stoned on the fumes.

It looks better than it did, and it will match the tank better. It certainly isn't perfect, however. I think I'm going to have to sand a couple of spots and touch it up.

Edit: I need to pick up some of the black melamine furniture edging strips, as four of them were in terrible shape and I pulled them off.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by nanoreefnewbie

Well never thought about that..fish are messy...thanks for the thoughts..Humm now do I want fish lol coral are easy through fish in whole new ball game

I spoil my fish (food=love ) so my main display system is very high nutrients. LPS and softies do well in it. When I had an overstocked 10 gallon LPS and softies did well in there, too. I need this system to be lower nutrients, especially as I won't be running fluid reactors.

[Enigma]

The tank's brain.

Admittedly, this is a huge cash sink. And, I could probably get very similar results without it. But, as I'm looking at this being a long-term setup, I decided it was worth it.

This tank was going to get the full Apex, but when I considered all of the logistics involved in swapping the full Apex from my main display system, I decided to suck it up and add a VDM module to the Lite and use the Lite on this tank.

I've screwed everything to the piece of plywood that was originally the shelf in the stand. There are some issues with the placement of the bars and modules, but I think it will suffice. The display will be mounted on the front or side of the stand. When looking at that photo I can see that the VDM cable is shifted at the EB8. I need to fix that.

Due to the low wattage of so many of the devices in this build, I had to add an EB4 to the set up. Even still, I may have not have enough relay outlets. I can probably combine the return pump and skimmer on one outlet.

Oh, the stand looks quite good this morning. I don't think any touch ups are required. It is going in our poorly lit rec room, anyway.

[Enigma]

The stand is done.








The handles on the doors look like they're at very different heights in the photo. They don't look like that when I'm standing in front of it. If they are really that out, I'm not worried about it: as the table has been in my life since 1976 and I've never noticed before.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Wow looks great. Totally doing the opposite of my "spend almost no money" planned nano.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Wow looks great. Totally doing the opposite of my "spend almost no money" planned nano.

My Spec failed. I forgot to top it up for a week. Yours is going to be awesome.

After six months of reefing, I'm starting to figure out my style. I'm a gadget geek and a control freak. And, due to my stupidly busy life I really need to automate as much as possible to keep things thriving.

I wish I could do simple, but it makes me hyperventilate.

[Enigma]

I forgot to mention . . . The fans inside the stand, the splitter cable, the 12V adapter, and the 12V power supply all came from Modular LED.

[fishoholic]

Wow this is coming along nicely! Amazing what a little paint and new hardwear can do.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

Wow this is coming along nicely! Amazing what a little paint and new hardwear can do.

Thanks, Laurie. It isn't perfect, but it is so much better than it was! I'm very pleased that the canreef folks pushed me to go ahead and do it.