GB's trash to treasure 20L

[gbhil]

First let me say hi, I'm the new guy!

My tank is going to be an experiment in recycling. All the equipment (except the bulbs) will be "used and thrown away" parts that I've been able to scavange for little or nothing.

Here's what I've got so far:

20 gallon L with a REAL UGLY 1" drain drilled, chipped along the side edge from LFS. - Free
10 gallon with hard water stains for a sump from the same LFS. - Free
Old ReefLake brand wet/dry acrylic sump, missing everything but the shell from same LFS. - Free
A piece of 3/16" glass to replace the above chipped egde from local glass shops scrap bin. - $0.80
16 lamp ballasts (NO) out of fluorescent fixtures from the scrap heap where they are tearing down the old Safeway. I'm sure I can find a couple that work. - Free
A box full of smallish powerheads and accessories I got several months ago from the flea market. - $5.00
A 595gph pond pump (peaktop brand) from Dad, who recently upgraded his koi pond. - Free (thanks Dad, even though I didn't ask and just nabbed it from your shed. )
A mountain of 1/2", 3/4" and 1" PVC fittings and pipe scraps from a friend who runs a small HVAC company. I was lucky to be there using his gas welder the day he cleaned house. - Free
2 12k 24" lamps and 2 True Antic 24" lamps from LFS. - Used store credit rec'd from evil Xenia trimmings. $22.00 at wholesale cost, but free to me.
A 40" long x24" wide x40"tall solid wood stand. I think it used to be the bottom part of a china cupboard. $6.00 at a yard sale.
Scrap wood to build a canopy from local apple packing house. They use it to mend large bins, and after cutting a 12' piece there is a 44" section left that's too short for them to do anything with. - Free


So far I have $11.80 tied up in this.

Parts left to aquire -
baffles for fuge
a heater
parts for my DIY skimmer
some eggcrate
power strips/timers/misc electrical equipment

I know 20 gallons is pushing the limit for a nano, but I was planning on doing this anyway, saw the contest and couldn't resist!

Tank Specs -

I'm going to use NO fluorescents overdriven (20w lamps at 32w) enclosed in a unique canopy design.

20L with the 10 sump, using the pond pump for the return. 2 outlets over the wall with DIY nozzles (unless someone has 2 hydorflos to give away )

The old wet/dry sump is going to get drilled for a penthouse fuge. The wife and I both are fascinated with the idea of a thick salty algal jungle, so I'm going to showcase it right along with the tank. I'm thinking a 4" sandbed, some live rock rubble, and a breeding population of white shrimp. Of course a seperate compartment for chaeto. I'm going to cycle the fuge seperatley for a while lit 24/7 with no water changes to see what will sprout from the rock.

Livestock -
Soft corals, maybe MAYBE a couple LPS. Maybe.
A pair of skunk clowns.
Usual suspects for the cleanup crew.
A pair of scarlet cleaners.
White shrimp for fuge.
Sand sifter stars for fuge.
Assorted Macro for fuge.

I'll snap some pics of my accumlated junk later today.

[Loverotties]

Sounds like a plan.

[Awestralian]

I cant believe there was no "...priceless" joke thrown in there lol... I was waiting for it all along. Thats just my sense of humour i guess.

Great salvage effort. I like the idea of displaying your fuge too, its worked well for others in larger systems.

[gbhil]

Hah! I almost threw in "Having a reef tank without mortaging your first born - priceless", but I wasn't real sure how my twisted sense of humor would go over. Now I know better.

lets see if the pics show up.

Shot of the tank full of random junk I think I'll use, a shot of the stand, and a shot of the fuge, both curing rock at the moment.

[Awestralian]

Wow actually seeing it makes me realise just how much of a bargain it all is!
Especially the stand!

[tims]

Good Luck!

[gbhil]

Yes, the stand was quite a nice find. I'm always stopping for yard sales and the like, sometimes it's really worth it. Have to do a bit of cutting around the drawer and drill some holes, but not alot of work.

Went through the fluorescents today and rounded up 2 working ballasts. I'll be driving my four 20watt tubes at 36 watts each . Hope they last the month lol.

Here's a tiny peek at the construction.


Also did a trial leak test of the tank. Tomorrow it's off to buy some more silicone lol.

[VWD]

Looks like a deal.

[wharyat]

Sounds and looks nice, gbhil. Welcome to TRT!

[gbhil]

Finally have the puppy plumbed, leakproofed and filled. Will post first tank pics tomorrow when the water clears. Not thrilled with the lighting though. I've seen some very nice tanks use NO lighting, but a 30" tank is proving to be a bit of a problem. I might have to dig through the LFS junk bin and see whan they have to replace it with.

[greggles]

Great Idea

[gbhil]

Camera's on the fritz. I need to tear it open and resolder the cable connector AGAIN. Word to the wise - never buy a Toshiba digicam.

Right now I'm at the ugliest stage of the tank. The brown stage . Everything is smothered with diatoms/cyano, except the few hitch hikers I'm keeping alive. I've tossed in 3 scarlet hermits, and 2 cerith snails to work on it a bit. For the time being, they are getting help from 6 big turbos who get to go back to the LFS when they are done eating. Hopefully in a week or two I can look at the tank without scowling.

The lighting situation is still up in the air. I switched to 4 GE sunlight bulbs, and they are mucho brighter, but way to yellow/red for my tastes. I think I'll just breakdown and buy a nice 4x24" tek T5 for this bad boy. There goes the under $100.00 budget I had planned. lol.

The fuge is up and cycling as well. Put about 3 pounds of uncured hatian rock on top of 3" of southdown. Running a light flow through the tank with a cup full of cheato from one of my other tanks. Really green and nasty in there, with lots of sprouts coming from the rocks. A tiny hitchhiker blueleg hermit is in there and thinks he is in heaven. Lighting it 24/7 with a 26 watt 6700K screw-in from Wally Mart. Hope it's ready to plumb into the display in a few weeks.

Hopefully I can fix the digi tommorrow and snap a few pics !

[greggles]

nice

[gbhil]

You know that guy at the LFS who you just hate? The one who is only out to make a buck and lies through his teeth? Killer of corals, flusher of fishes, slayer of shrimp, the total jerk.

My wife met him today.

Today was her monthly trip-to-the-big-city-and-go-shopping-with-friends-day. Apparently there is a pet store in close proximity to Tyson's Corner Mall. An evil evil pet store. They went in to browse and show one of her friends what corals and inverts look like, got to talking to an employee. She just got home with 2 Ocellaris clowns, a nerite snail and a bicolor blennie. LFS guy told her the tank would be fine since I had already added hermit crabs?!? WTH do hermit crabs have to do with anything I've no idea. SHe said she asked him twice to be sure, and he said the hermits would make it fine for fish. I told her - only thing she is allowed to buy at an unknown LFS from now on is a Mag-Float. I hope the guy gets hit by a mantis next time he's moving rock.

Apparently she assumed since I went out and bought a little cleaner crew yesterday that I was ready to stock the tank, and she wanted to surprise me. Very nice looking fish, and a beautiful black and ivory checkered nerite snail.

What could I do? 25% water change, I threw the skimmer on, added a pouch of purigen and started acclimating the fish.

Tank parameters:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20 ppm
Ph - 8.2
Salinity - 1.023

I think I'll be ok, as the fish do look very healthy, but I was far from ready for this. Only other inhabitants are hitchhikers. A piece of tonga branch with about 25 tan/green eye zoos, a piece of tonga branch with 6 mushrooms, and a big Carribean feather duster from the bottom of the LR curing bin. Time to get that fuge ready now as well I guess.

On the plus side, the snails and hermits have the diatoms and cyano about 75% gone, in just 24 hours. Wasn't alot of it, as I pre-cured the rock for 2 weeks. I also got the camera fixed, I will grab a couple of shots tomorrow after I clean up a bit.

Thanks for listening to my rant, and wish me luck.

[tims]

good luck,
keep up the WC.
so lets see the tank!