Office Tiger ADA 60p Nano build

Txdragonslayer · Apr 18, 2016

Since my children named my red sea reefer, "white tiger" I am going to name this one Office Tiger to stick with the same theme, lol.

I am getting ready to start plumbing my office nano tank ADA 60P ~18g
I have wanted to do a planted tank for so long, and that's how I fell in love with aquariums, but right now I have a pretty bad Reef bug and I don't think it is going away any time soon, lol

So I drilled it with @glassholes overflow. I purchased an MP10qd, because although I am unsure what I will do with the tank, I know I want to add some anemones to this tank.
So i am going to post my many iterations of how i am trying to get this to look good in my office, but also needs to be quiet too. I give presentations online from my office, so if it gets to loud, its gotta go!
Items so far:
Tank: ADA 60p ~18g
Sump: Icecap 36" sump with built in ATO
Skimmer: Vertex omega 150
Light: Ecotech radion 15 pro
Flow: Mp10qd
Return pump: Vectra M1 (I realise this is overkill, but I needed a quiet pump)
Control: Neptune Apex
Going for the Triton Method here, only because my office has carpet, so once it's dialed in I don't want to have to do water changes. ....to often

There is no water in it yet, so any suggestions are welcomed.
Pictures are in no particular order to be honest, just wanted to start a thread for my office.

Radion light

hanging kit

starting to play with real reef rock aquascape.

curing the rock

sump location is about 2.5 feet to the left of the display tank. I am going for an open sump for easier filtration and I like to see my equipment.

Skimmer:

My first iteration of how i was going to do my wiring, but i dont think i am going to stick with it.

second iteration

but still dont like it, so I am going to find another place for the wires.

I am letting the silicone dry here, but i am using an over the shelf 10g tank for a seperate refugium for the triton method. The Triton method says 10-20% for a refugium, but 10 bucks for a 10g tank is to good to pass up, so i might as well use this tank, and this is about 50% of my DT volume, so I am hoping it will work out great!

sump set up, stand is for the 10g refugium

[office desk hides the "roughness" of the stand and sump area.]

fuge and sump in place, overflow from display will be on top of the shelf you see off to the right and go directly into the 10g fuge.

Plumbing pretty much in place, I will make it look better with my order of red pipe from @Bulk Reef Supply

For now this is the plumbing "outline" I ordered some red pipe from @Bulk Reef Supply so when that gets here i will try and get it properly plumbed up.

Still need to find out where i am gong to do my dosing containers waiting for a quote from @melev (meleves reef) for a 4 compartment dosing container. I also need to find out if i am going to go with GHL, or DOS dosers. I have a love ahte relationship with @neptune so i am seriously considering the GHL dosing pumps.

That's it for now, and will update when i get some more gear or i put water in the tank.
and comments or suggestions are appreciated to help me set this up right and for the long haul.

melev · Apr 18, 2016

Congrats on the new build. I did respond to your request a little while ago, in case you didn't see it.

Txdragonslayer · Apr 18, 2016

melev said:
Congrats on the new build. I did respond to your request a little while ago, in case you didn't see it.

Ha HA I didnt see it! but i do now!

Txdragonslayer · Apr 18, 2016

Dosing containers Ordered!

Txdragonslayer · Apr 22, 2016

I just wanted to post a quick update, I just finished my aquascape, and I am pretty happy with it. I was inspired by @Vivid Aquariums Thank's Dave!

Let me know hat you think!

Txdragonslayer · Apr 22, 2016

Had to repost the Video in HD, sorry.

Txdragonslayer · Apr 23, 2016

Inspired by @d2mini I decided to paint my cheap dosing pump. I'll get a GHL or DOS dosing system soon, i just can't decide between the two. They each have their pros and cons.

And the drum roll, please!!!!

Not the best paint job i have ever done, but i only had about 30 min, so i am happy with it.

Txdragonslayer · Apr 23, 2016

Quick pic, now that i cleaned up the tank a lil bit.

Txdragonslayer · Apr 23, 2016

For those who are wondering how i got the shelf to stay, here are a few pictures.

I first had some samples of star fire glass that i had requested some time ago from PPG.
So i glued a 1/2" piece to a 1/4" piece to make about a 10" long shelf. I used aqueon silicone.

Even with the silicone, you can see right through 3/4" of star fire glass with no blemish!
Then after 24hours of the shelf being glued together it was time to mount it to the tank.

I then crushed my largest real reef rock in to bits, so i can silicone them to the shelf and hide the glass.

I glued a bunch of small pieces to the shelf, knowing i was going to have the over hang, so i put a ton of silicon on the shelf and placed the main rock of the over hang and used a cheap ball valve to hold it in place while the silicone began to cure. ~15 min. While the ball valve held it in place i wanted to further secure it with NYOS cement (which i love for aquascaping!)

played with some additional rock on top, but then decided to just put some crush coral (so it doesnt blow around) on the shelf, that i may make a zoa, or acan garden, still not sure what i am going to put in.

I have also played with the idea of doing sun corals (NPS) under the shelf, but I am not sure we'll see.

d2mini · Apr 23, 2016

Doser turned out good and I love that rock shelf!

Txdragonslayer · Apr 23, 2016

d2mini said:
Doser turned out good and I love that rock shelf!

@d2mini Thank's as always you are a great inspiration! you even have me doing research on triton method now! The shelf just took time and wasnt that hard to do. Thanks again!

Txdragonslayer · Aug 5, 2016

I know most people in these forums aren't to keen on nano tanks/builds, but I feel like I have had more joy out of my little tank than i did my red sea reefer. Perhaps it was the cookie cutter set up of the reefer that allowed for no flexibility that made me unhappy with it. So I sold it, and I am free to customize or construct what i want for my office. I originally was just going to place this tank on top of existing furniture, but i decided to go all out and build a new desk, and aquarium stand that i can later use to upgrade my tank if i wanted to later down the line. ill be posting pics as soon as i can.

Txdragonslayer · Aug 5, 2016

I will post pictures on the build of the stand and the desk later, but for now here is an updated FTS. I have decided to drill the return line, so that it disappears into the back of the tank, so before the tank gets to settled in, I will need to do that soon.

Txdragonslayer · Aug 5, 2016

Before adding water.

here you can kinda see the stand, i will post a finish product soon, but i wanted to highlight what i put on the bottom of my stand. I painted POND ARMOR on the bottom of the stand making it water proof incase anything spills from the tank or sump, from may calculations the stand can hold around 20g on the bottom of the stand, lets hope i never need to test it, but always nice to have it.

that will do for now.

Txdragonslayer · Sep 17, 2016

I havent posted in a while but I am making some slight changes on the tank in my office as i continue to prepare and plan for an eventual upgrade. I am all over the place with a possible upgrade with a dream tank being 60"x30x30" but that is still a ways away. Recent updates i have taken from esteemed reefers like @d2mini I have painted my Voss bottles in white to match my build. (Thanks again for the tip).

I put the dosing bulk heads over the fuge in the sump, so with the kessil 150 magenta light it looks really pink, but it has been good for the sump algae growth.

I love my radian, but i have a lot of shadowing and the few SPS corals i have are starting to have some bad effects with the severe shading from themselves. So I am going to make a hood with 4 t5 giesemann bulbs and my radion will be hidden within the hood. I am going to paint it, and if i like the lighting i will take more time building a light out of acrylic is the plan right now. (any suggestions are helpful)

I will post some FTS later, but i have to clean the fish stand first didn't want to post a FTS with all my fish tools and items all around the tank. ( that tends to happen when i am doing a build of some sort like a new light)