My latest project

[Psychographic]

Seeing as there is no tank forum and most of this was a DIY, I thought I would post here. This is a 27g hex I picked up off of CL, it was very cheap, but needed to be resealed. I had two goals in this build, to be as energy efficient as possible and to do as much of it as possible myself. So far I think I have achieved both of my goals.

I already have a small reef tank, so this, being for my SH's will be a Seagrass and Macro tank. This alone allows me to cut down on power consumption, less flow, lower temps and less light.

The tank runs off of a single MJ1200, 50w heater, an airpump and eventually LED lighting.

MJ 1200- 20w
Heater- 50w
Airpump-5w (?)
LED's- 32w

Considering the heater and lights are'nt on 24/7, this will be a very economic tank to run. The build so far is right about $120 for everything, many of the parts I had laying around and were'nt factored into the cost of building.

Here it is when I first got it, and the resealing,

 

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Mocking up the overflow and filtration.

It's a coast to coast overflow (yes, it's a small coastine!)

The flitration is a built in gravity fed CC airdriven skimmer and a small chamber to hold LR rubble this will mostly be a breeding area for Pods and Mysis.

 

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The actual build,

 

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The return goes through a modded SCWD and returns near the bottom of the tank.

The start of the foam/rock wall,

 

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Hiding the interior returns,

 

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At this point I was able to test the system. I wound up having to move the overflow down about 1/2", cut one baffle down and inch and replace the one downtube with another glass baffle for more flow. I also built the platform for the rubble to sit on.

The collection cup for the skimmer is from a Bak-Pak

 

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A pillar I built for the center, I'm still not sure If I will be using this or using some branch rock. This pillar might be better in the reef tank.

 

[APISTOBORELLI]

Very nice!!!!

 

[Psychographic]

The skimmer iin action,

And the tank starting it's cycle.

I have 3 pins epoxied into the wall to mount branch rock on, I have about 7 pieces of branch drilled to fit the pins. I'm still trying to find the right combination and placement, so far this one is the winner.

 

[biggyclops]

that is SWEEET!

 

[dp28688]

looks good. very nice. What kind of epoxy you use to attach all those. And what you do just pour sand over it while still setting up to hide the epoxy?

 

[jbishop]

Very cool. Cant wait to see this stocked

 

[afboundguy]

Awesome... can't wait to see more pics!

 

[Psychographic]

looks good. very nice. What kind of epoxy you use to attach all those. And what you do just pour sand over it while still setting up to hide the epoxy?

If you are talking about attaching the rocks, the expanding foam holds them in place. I used Dow, "Great Stuff Pond and Stone" I used a house brand 30 minute liquid epoxy to cover the foam and covered it with sand on the second coat.

If you are asking what I epoxied the pins for the branch rock, it was from Ace Hardware, it's a putty type of epoxy, blue with a white center.

 

[mahk]

This is great project. I am not usually a fan of the foam rock walls, but love yours in this hex tank. How hard will it be to replace the wooden air stone in the skimmer? Looks like a tight fit to get a hand down there to secure it.

 

[Jeff.:P]

Sweet, moAR!

 

[Psychographic]

This is great project. I am not usually a fan of the foam rock walls, but love yours in this hex tank. How hard will it be to replace the wooden air stone in the skimmer? Looks like a tight fit to get a hand down there to secure it.

I used a fuel line bulkhead fitting for an RC airplane to hook up the airstone, to repace it, I just pull the collection cup off, and pull the line off of the fitting. It would take about 15 seconds to do.

 

[NHreefer]

Very nice work.

 

[Frag Freaks]

Wow, you are doing an amazing job on that tank.