Lawchan marine tank part 2

[lawchan77]

Finally decided to upgrade to a bigger tank. hope to keep a diary of my reef journey.

Part 1 of old tank for old times sake - 4 X 2 x 2.5

please feel free to comment / advise.

Planning

decided to go with Iwarna for the customization of my new tank.

specification of main tank: 5 X 2.5 X 1.8 feet

sump tank:

:yahoo: :yahoo:

[lawchan77]

Tank arrived on 23rd Dec 2011. just in time for christmas!

tank placed next to my storeroom so have to make sure the store room door can open to comfortable width.

quarantine corner / breeding / species corner with removal acrylic cover. no more betta tanks!

tank set up and piping done in a jiffy. adding NSW.

rock scape done by iwarna. nice!! :goodjob:

cant really see the quarantine tank from front view.

now the painful process of cycling water.

[Digiman]

The QT compartment is a v innovative and useful enhancement!

[lawchan77]

Radion lights installed 28th Dec 2011.

with lights...

up close

need to fine tune on the spacing and program lighting timing..

[lawchan77]

thanks Digiman! tired of betta boxes that keep detaching by itself and floating away..

[lawchan77]

after my first change of NSW on 31st dec (8 jerry cans in total and nearly died)..

spent the rest of the day setting up phosphate, carbon reactor, dosing pump and tidy up the cables.

cant seem to find anti slam hinges though.. any recommendation bros?

right side view

window to quarantine tank (right side view)

the first 2 occupants - picasso and snowflake

front view

Left side view

[lpm1825]

Hi bro

Nice tank,what is your return pump flow rate used.

[straydum]

after my first change of NSW on 31st dec (8 jerry cans in total and nearly died)..

spent the rest of the day setting up phosphate, carbon reactor, dosing pump and tidy up the cables.

cant seem to find anti slam hinges though.. any recommendation bros?

you can always buy those small rubber things and place them when the doors meet, not really anti slam but at least gets rid of the sound.

btw is your chiller / condenser placed inside your cabinet? wouldn't heat / air circulation be a problem?

[Underwater]

Actually a quarantine tank shd not be linked to the display tank cos pathogen can easily move to either tank. But if yr intention is of a betta tank purpose, then it's ok.

Looking forward to see your stock up tank.

[desideria]

very very cool setup... the only issue I personally see is the fact that your compressor is in your cabinet! I don't see any holes in your cabinet to allow for air flow or proper circulation ... it's gonna be mighty hot in there!

on the plus side, i like your in built beta box idea.. cool!

[peacemaker]

Since you have top bracing, it would look better if you have a custom made hood instead of open top, but this is really a personal preference.

Nice idea on the in-built betta compartment. What material is the mesh made of? How is it secured to the framework? I thought I saw rivets... hopefully not metal ones.

[screamyourheartout]

Nice tank! I think you should invert the vortech pumps to keep the wires upwards, so as to prevent the pumps from falling to the ground when the magnet isn't strong enough to hold the pumps.

[wilsontantw]

Nice! Good idea to go with 2.5' width.. a lot of rocks to place sps.. presume u r going with sps, looking at the dosing pump...

Even better idea on the betta area! Like! Best idea is to make it removable!! Double like!

few questions:

- why place the compressor in cabinet and not outside for better ventilation?

- it seems like ur sump water level is just a few inch from the rim, have u done the "power trip" test to ensure it wouldn't overflow?

- what pumps r u using as returns and how many mp40 are u using? (Saw 2 in the pic..)

Do keep the updates and pictures coming...

Btw what skimmer is that?

[lawchan77]

Hi bro

Nice tank,what is your return pump flow rate used.

Hi bro,

I'm using reef octopus 7000

[lawchan77]

you can always buy those small rubber things and place them when the doors meet, not really anti slam but at least gets rid of the sound.

btw is your chiller / condenser placed inside your cabinet? wouldn't heat / air circulation be a problem?

Thanks bro

Ya, currently I using the slim rubber stopper, but still dun improve much leh, thats why looking at soft closing hinges

yup, the condenser is inside the cabinet, the vent is at the side and back, pic as below.

vent at the side for the condenser fan.

vent at the back.

[lawchan77]

Actually a quarantine tank shd not be linked to the display tank cos pathogen can easily move to either tank. But if yr intention is of a betta tank purpose, then it's ok.

Looking forward to see your stock up tank.

ya, think more for betta tank or breeding corner

[lawchan77]

Nice! Good idea to go with 2.5' width.. a lot of rocks to place sps.. presume u r going with sps, looking at the dosing pump...

Even better idea on the betta area! Like! Best idea is to make it removable!! Double like!

few questions:

- why place the compressor in cabinet and not outside for better ventilation?

- it seems like ur sump water level is just a few inch from the rim, have u done the "power trip" test to ensure it wouldn't overflow?

- what pumps r u using as returns and how many mp40 are u using? (Saw 2 in the pic..)

Do keep the updates and pictures coming...

Btw what skimmer is that?

Thanks bro

wanted to squeeze everything inside the cabinet to look neater, vents are created at the side and rear.

temp in the cabinet is pretty ok. water leak test is done, no overflow.

I'm using a Reef Octopus 7000 as return and 2 X MP40 to sync up with the lighting.

the acrylic cover is actually removable, able to slide up and down to remove

additional cover to keep as standby

[lawchan77]

Thank you bros for the comments

keep them coming.

[lawchan77]

Since you have top bracing, it would look better if you have a custom made hood instead of open top, but this is really a personal preference.

Nice idea on the in-built betta compartment. What material is the mesh made of? How is it secured to the framework? I thought I saw rivets... hopefully not metal ones.

Thank you bro for your suggestion

the mesh made up of material used to do netting for the over flow, dunno what's the name.

it's secured by aluminum screws.

[wilsontantw]

Cool, hope this works for ya... Co's I understand the air can be really hot and if it stays in the cabinet, the compressor is basically reusing the hot air..

1) shorter lifespan of chiller.

2) your other equipment may be affected.

3) higher evaporation due to hot air in sump.

Just thoughts only, chiller may not kick in often, as u r not using MH. Should be acceptable. BTW, brand new compressor?

I'm also using the HY 7000. Super efficient pump. The flow is simply amazing with minimum heat generated!

Look forward to ur updates...

[lawchan77]

Cool, hope this works for ya... Co's I understand the air can be really hot and if it stays in the cabinet, the compressor is basically reusing the hot air..

1) shorter lifespan of chiller.

2) your other equipment may be affected.

3) higher evaporation due to hot air in sump.

Just thoughts only, chiller may not kick in often, as u r not using MH. Should be acceptable. BTW, brand new compressor?

I'm also using the HY 7000. Super efficient pump. The flow is simply amazing with minimum heat generated!

Look forward to ur updates...

Thanks bro, i will monitor this closely

[lawchan77]

Nice tank! I think you should invert the vortech pumps to keep the wires upwards, so as to prevent the pumps from falling to the ground when the magnet isn't strong enough to hold the pumps.

ya hor, good idea..

thanks bro

[cool guy]

ItS a cool tank man...  nice job bro...

Ur scaping look natural too...

Agree wit one of e bro here. Adding a hood will make ur tank look much more nicer... 

[LittleBurger]

Hi bro, anti slam hinges at homefix. U will like them immediately.

Most of time u open cabinet doors n do stuffs then just flick it to close...(guys r mostly "rough").

U wouldnt startled yr clam or fishes.

[lawchan77]

Water test today

KH - 8.3

Nitrate - 0

Calcium - 365

Mg - 1200

Phosphate - 0.03