February nTOTM - Calvin415's 48" 10.2 gallon reef

[calvin415]

First, a huge thank you to Junkitu for putting this months nTOTM together and for sticking to his guns on the 15 and under category. Of course another thank you to everyone who competed this month, ALIFER, goldenmean, Pico1, Reefpeace, and rockindacheeks your tanks were awesome! I'm very excited to be selected as nTOTM especially having competed against some fabulous tanks!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone who voted for me, all 174 of you!!! Thank you to my local clubs, SCMAS, CRMRC, and my Monkeys. I truely appreciate everyone who helped out by offering free frags, good deals, and my LFS's who didn't gouge!

Like probably everyone out there, my dad got me my first FW tank when I was 8 and I've been hooked since... At 12 I dove into SW and boy was that a learning experience without the help of resources like RC to help and educate, the rest is history!

I've always tried to find the ultimate setup ranging from simple to very complex and I've gone through 4 different reef setups in the last 2 years trying to find what would work best and they all worked just fine, I can't really say anything worked better than the next. Finally I just wanted a tank that was simple and worked, providing plenty of room for corals and just as much of a viewing area, all while keeping costs to a minimum. In the end I had to build the tank I wanted, but I'm thrilled with the results.

pH: 8.3
Temp 79*
S.G. 1.025
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0
Ca 390-400
Alk 8 dkh

The Tank

Outside Dimensions 48x11.75x7.875 made of 3/8" acrylic leaving
Inside Dimensions of 47.25x11x7.125 for those of you who have an issue with this, when you build your own nano tank and have almost 20% of your display volume tied up in materials (2 gallons) you can measure how you like.
Sump Dimensions of 36x5.25x7.125 (1/2" thick)
Resulting in a display volume of 10.2 gallons and sump volume of 2.5 gallon (sump is 1/2 filled)

The Build

First the plan...



Then, fabricating it...



and polishing (by hand takes a while...)



Plumbing was equally daunting as some of the pieces were still to large to assemble and required some serious dremel work to get it to fit.



My original plan to have the black background removable was a great idea IMO however it's not realistic once the tank is up and running. The two biggest hurdles is the sand and the rocks, and as I've discovered now is the lack of support for the front of the tank. Mine is still solid but it bows way more than I'd like it to, if anyone plans to do something similar please fore-go the cover and add a crossbrace.

The 2 ViaAqua 1300 pumps provide plenty of flow as you can see here:


And a back shot of what is actually going on in the overflow box...
The sump overflows in two places on each side for a total of 4 overflows all which direct water through a HOB filter cartridge. The remaining room from the filter cartridge to the return pumps is for refugium and is loaded with Chaeto.

[calvin415]

Setup

Next came the task of mounting it on the wall. I was able to find steel brackets each capable of holding 500lbs each (total of 1500lbs w/ 3 of them) and mounted them to 2x6 studs using 3 lag bolts per bracket. Please mind the cables in this pic, it was just setup and didn't take the time to clean up with wiring.



I added rock which had been cooking in my basement for the last 6 months and with the help of a hammer and screwdriver I was able to get 3 large rocks to fill the tank.



This barebottom look lasted about 15 hours (long enough to sleep on it and go to work the next day) I was sick of it that quick and added sand immediately.




Lighting

Next task was to build a canopy which took me another month to do, but in the mean time the rock was able to really set up...

I ended up going with a 3x54w T-5 setup (11k:Act:11k) compliments of GrimReefer (thanks again bud!) and installed it in a black acrylic canopy which I also built.





Stocking

Coral additions started small 3 or 4 at a time here and there, a big thanks to all those who helped by providing corals and helping with the tank (Russ, Robert, Scott, Dan, Todd, and Paul)

Here's a list of most of the livestock, I'm sure I'm missing some, but last count was 61 corals/clams...

Fish
• Target Mandarin (only for flat worm control then will be moved/traded)

Inverts
• Asst. Snails and Crabs
• Emerald Crab
• 2 Harlequin Shrimp
• 2 Peppermint Shrimp
• 1 Pistol Shrimp
• 5 Crocea Clams
• 1 Derasa Clam
• Asst Stars for Harlequins to eat

Corals
• Emerald Zoanthids
• Green w/ brown skirt Zoanthids
• Red Ring Zoanthids
• Fire & Ice Zoanthids
• Pink Mouth Red Skirt Zoanthids
• Orange Mouth Green Skirt Zoanthids
• Green Mouth Green Skirt Zoanthids
• Yellow w/ purple mouth Zoanthids
• Yellow Mouth Green Skirt Zoanthids
• All Green Zoanthids
• Red w/ Purple Mouth Zoanthids
• Bubble Gun Zoanthids
• Green w/ Yellow Skirt Zoanthids
• Orange w. Yellow Mouth Zoanthids
• Green Polyp Toadstool Leather
• Orange w. Blue center Candy Cane
• Purple w/ Blue center Candy Cane
• Neon Yellow Candy Cane
• Green/Purple Hammer
• Yellow Tip Torch
• Green/Purple Frogspawn
• Puple/Blue Acan
• Neon Green Acan
• Green/Red Acan Lord
• Peppermint Acan Lord
• Oranage Enchinada
• Rainbow Enchinada
• Alien Eye Enchinada
• Puple Blue Micromusa
• Tri Color Acan
• Blue Mushrooms
• Green Stripe Mushrooms
• Tri Color Ricordia Yuma
• Green Florida Ricordia
• Orance Florida Ricordia
• Teal Florida Ricordia
• Blue/Orange Florida Ricordia
• Blue Florida Ricordia
• Rainbow Florida Ricordia
• Pink Green Blasto Merletti
• Red Blue Blasto Merletti
• Red Purple Blasto Merletti
• Pink Yellow Blasto Merletti
• Light Pink Neon Green Blasto Merletti
• Purple Green Blasto Merletti
• Pink Green Blasto Welsi
• Purple Blasto Welsi
• Purple Blue Chalice

[calvin415]

And some pics of a few of my favorites as they were added.



One of my favorites was this Goniopora which was traded after outgrowing the tank in about 6 weeks...

[calvin415]

[calvin415]

FTS's




One of my two harlequin shrimp.


And a few closeup's.

[calvin415]

If you'd like to still see more details click here

[ezcompany]

let me be the first to congratulate you great work on the tank build and overall setup. i can't help but think of putting some nice table acroporas in your tank~

[junkitu]

Your tank is truly one-of-a-kind and an inspiration.

[Kigs]

hey calvin. congratulations on the win

do you have any problems with harlequins leaving dead matters of starfish in a small system in terms of water parameters? do you manually remove the parts that harlequins do not finish/eat?

[slukach]

To be honest, I think that even if the organizer didn't limit the contest to 15 gal and under, you still would have taken first place. That sucker is beautiful. And I read what you typed about the goni. I have one and it is my favorite as well, but sadly is outgrowing the tank.

Congratulations.

[Deuce67]

Congrats Eric! Well deserved honor to be name Feb 07 nTOTM. Its an honor for me to have actually seen this tank multiple times!

[dbraun15]

Congrats--awesome, awesom job--truly an inspiration!!!

[kase]

CONGRATS.....love the full wall pic...

[goldenmean]

Truely an amazing tank!
I voted for it!

I was just thrilled to nominated . . . . .

[jjjo]

is that a deresa clam?? it doenst suck calcium too quick in that small of a tank?

[chem-e]

Sweet tank. I like how you did something different by hanging on the wall. Doesn't the T5s put out too much light being that it's shallow tank?

[ruk]

Originally posted by kigs
hey calvin. congratulations on the win

do you have any problems with harlequins leaving dead matters of starfish in a small system in terms of water parameters? do you manually remove the parts that harlequins do not finish/eat?

ditto. those shrimp are awesome. how do you keep them?

[MarineGirl411]

Way to go Eric. =) Eric is a great guy. He built an overflow box for me. This tank is really beautiful and what an awesome idea! Truly original. Makes me want to change my 40 breeder into a tank like that. =) Or just buy another tank. ;-) Lots of talent to make that. I too am wondering about the clams. Do you dose calcium? Or 2 part additives? Those are a lot of clams. I'd like one for my 40 breeder, but I don't know how often I'd have to dose calcium. Great job! LMK

[MarineGirl411]

One more question. Your Hammer is so close to your Acans, well actually all your corals. I am adding a hammer. Does yours have very large sweepers? Have any stinging problems?

[calvin415]

Originally posted by ezcompany
let me be the first to congratulate you great work on the tank build and overall setup. i can't help but think of putting some nice table acroporas in your tank~

Thank you very much ezcompany! If the tank were a little bigger and I were running more T-5's I'd probably consider it...

Originally posted by junkitu
Your tank is truly one-of-a-kind and an inspiration.

Thanks junkitu!

Originally posted by kigs
hey calvin. congratulations on the win

do you have any problems with harlequins leaving dead matters of starfish in a small system in terms of water parameters? do you manually remove the parts that harlequins do not finish/eat?

Thanks kigs, I do notice some matter being left behind my the harlequins but I haven't tried to remove the pieces yet and the parameters are doing just fine... I'm sure a good portion of it is due to the amount of rock in there, combined with the fact that the legs I give the shrimp are still pretty small (about 1" long) and they only get 1 leg each every 10 days. The live CC stars stays in the sump where they are safe until I show up with some scissors.

Originally posted by slukach
To be honest, I think that even if the organizer didn't limit the contest to 15 gal and under, you still would have taken first place. That sucker is beautiful. And I read what you typed about the goni. I have one and it is my favorite as well, but sadly is outgrowing the tank.

Congratulations.

Thanks slukach, I appreciate your confidence. I loved my goni and would love to get another one when I have a larger tank, it's just a beautiful coral!

Originally posted by Deuce67
Congrats Eric! Well deserved honor to be name Feb 07 nTOTM. Its an honor for me to have actually seen this tank multiple times!

Thanks my friend! It was great having you over multiple times, even if it was to build your 150 or do the electrical for my basement. I really appreciate your help and friendship; the tank wouldn't look half as good if it weren't for your generosity with some corals.

Originally posted by dbraun15
Congrats--awesome, awesom job--truly an inspiration!!!

Thanks dbraun!

Originally posted by kase
CONGRATS.....love the full wall pic...

Thanks again kase!

Originally posted by goldenmean
Truely an amazing tank!
I voted for it!

I was just thrilled to nominated . . . . .

LOL! Thanks goldenmean, i appreciate the competition but you're still supposed to vote for your own tank!!! LOL!

Originally posted by jjjo
is that a deresa clam?? it doenst suck calcium too quick in that small of a tank?

It is a derasa, along with 5 other croceas. The Ca demands suck! I'm currently added 1 teaspoon of reef advantage calcium (Ca buffer) to my 2.5g topoff water which lasts me 2 days. That's right 1 teaspoon every other day!

Originally posted by chem-e
Sweet tank. I like how you did something different by hanging on the wall. Doesn't the T5s put out too much light being that it's shallow tank?

Thanks! Actually it's not too much, 1 of the 11k's is over the refugium so the tank is really only lit by 1 11k and 1 actinic. Everything especially at the top of the tank seems to really love the light!

Originally posted by ruk
ditto. those shrimp are awesome. how do you keep them?

I keep the stars in the sump and every 10 days or so, I give each shrimp a leg which I cut off. The filtration handles the rest.

Originally posted by MarineGirl411
Way to go Eric. =) Eric is a great guy. He built an overflow box for me. This tank is really beautiful and what an awesome idea! Truly original. Makes me want to change my 40 breeder into a tank like that. =) Or just buy another tank. ;-) Lots of talent to make that. I too am wondering about the clams. Do you dose calcium? Or 2 part additives? Those are a lot of clams. I'd like one for my 40 breeder, but I don't know how often I'd have to dose calcium. Great job! LMK

Thanks MarineGirl! I add Ca buffer with my top off. You'd need to find out you Ca consuption and then dose accordingly to keep up with it.

Originally posted by MarineGirl411
One more question. Your Hammer is so close to your Acans, well actually all your corals. I am adding a hammer. Does yours have very large sweepers? Have any stinging problems?

I haven't noticed any sweepers, at least any of decent length... I'd say go for it, and just keep an eye on the corals around it. If they start to look damaged then just move them. That's what I had to do with my neon candy cane... The torch was beating it up pretty good, I moved it and it's recovered and thriving again.

Sorry it took me a while to get back to everyone, I appreciate the feedback and comments.

[Kigs]

Thank you for the answer Calvin. I never thought that method could work in small systems! How many CCs do you usually keep around to feed the halrequins? Now that you mention it, I'm thinking of keeping a few in the backchamber of my AP and try it out... do you think it might work?

[akbuuur]

wow thats nice!

[louist]

Eric, you will always be one heck of a nano tank designer. Great tank, it would look awesome once all those corals grow out.

[danoreef]

Un-#$%&@-believable! BEA-utiful Great detail in your work you show great dedication to your hobby. you made it look simple. you definitely deserve tank of the month... congratulations!

[calvin415]

Originally posted by kigs
Thank you for the answer Calvin. I never thought that method could work in small systems! How many CCs do you usually keep around to feed the halrequins? Now that you mention it, I'm thinking of keeping a few in the backchamber of my AP and try it out... do you think it might work?

It doesn't work in terms of keeping the stars alive indefinately, they regenerate too slowly to keep a cycle going but feeding one leg at a time, it take a while before I'm out of star fish. Might work in the AP, mine move around a lot in the sump so it might prove to be too tight. Only one way to find out though...

Originally posted by akbuuur
wow thats nice!

Thanks!

Originally posted by louist
Eric, you will always be one heck of a nano tank designer. Great tank, it would look awesome once all those corals grow out.

Thank you very much louist!

Originally posted by danoreef
Un-#$%&@-believable! BEA-utiful Great detail in your work you show great dedication to your hobby. you made it look simple. you definitely deserve tank of the month... congratulations!

Thank you very much danoreef! I appreciate the feedback.