A salesperson at my LFs offered me 250 dollars when I showed them my new DIY tank.

[masterswimmer]

Sensational. A store bought JBJ is just a glass box as far as I'm concerned. You turned a basic 5.5 gallon nano into a showpiece. Great job.

Thanks for the tour,
Russ

BTW, the texture of your epoxy background is perfect. Don't even think about changing it. Once it is coraline encrusted, it'll look even better. Gives a very nice dimension to the background.

[Saltz Creep]

Originally posted by dogstar74
How are those ballasts holding up? I am really curious, as I would like to try these lights, but I am wondering how they hold up.

Could I place appx 5 of these over a 20 tall? Do you think the light would penetrate 16 inches?

Thanx for the reply.

Aaron

The ballasts are holding up great.
You could use 5 of these ballasts over a 20 tall, but it would give you only 4 watts per gallon. I would recommend at least double that for a reef tank. Instead of using these small ballasts and multiple small bulbs on a 20gal, I would go for larger more powerful bulbs. If you want to save money on more powerful ballasts, you can buy fairly cheap ballasts at HD. I'm pretty sure they would work.

[group_therapy]

Saltz Creep,
Not to sound redundant, but that is one fabulous work of creativity! Love it! Until now I haven't had the slightest interest in nano's. And the commercial kits have definitely never peaked my interest. I run a large centralized flow system powered with a dolphin 4000 that lives in the filter and tank room in my basement, plumbed off that is my living room 75g show, a 75g monster fuge in the tank room, and a few smaller tanks for critter separation and experimentation. NOW, thanks to reading this thread I am seriously contemplating putting one more tap in and running a pair of pvc lines from the tank room up and over into my home office room on the other side of the house. I think the pump might just have enough oomph left for me to squeeze out enough nano flow at that distance. Truly inspired by the nice look of your setup! Bad thing is now I see even more trips to the depot and the pvc dept in my future.
Great work. And phooy to the detractors. You've got something to be proud of there. Hope it flourishes, I'm sure it will.

[melev]

group_therapy,

[welcome]

In another thread, show us some pictures of your setup. It sounds interesting.

[Saltz Creep]

The latest news: I quit my job because we are moving to VA next month. So, I had to dissasemble the nano from work. My 75gal will be next and so will the 20 gallon. I'll restart the nano for my new office space, but for home I'll build anew...probably a big tank inwall and an enclosed tank room.

[bad coffee]

So are you going to take it to the LFS and sell it now?

B

[group_therapy]

Ahhh... too bad about the tear down. How did the woodwork hold up over time? And the wallmart ballasts?


Melev, thanks for the hearty welcome! A post of my setup is definitely on my to do list this summer. This is a great site. WISH, oh really wish, I would have found it long ago! Would have saved myself so many do-overs!

[143gadgets]

Originally posted by Saltz Creep
The latest news: I quit my job because we are moving to VA next month. So, I had to dissasemble the nano from work. My 75gal will be next and so will the 20 gallon. I'll restart the nano for my new office space, but for home I'll build anew...probably a big tank inwall and an enclosed tank room.

Welcome to the DC area! I look forward to seeing your tank in person.

[Saltz Creep]

Originally posted by group_therapy
Ahhh... too bad about the tear down. How did the woodwork hold up over time? And the wallmart ballasts?

Woodwork and Walmart ballasts still good as new.

Originally posted by 143gadgets
Welcome to the DC area! I look forward to seeing your tank in person.

I'm moving to the Richmond area so we'll be near.