Dego's First Tank - All-in-one, 3-sided nano

[aquawolf]

I am eagerly awaiting the pictures as well.

[Dego Red]

Ok, so as usual I was sidetracked with additional moving and shopping last night, but I still took a couple pics as of late to show what I was up to...

Moving day! How do you keep a tank from breaking when shipping across the country in a cube?

Towel coral. ^_^ (yeah I'm a dork...leave me be.)

1/2 way wrapped...cross your fingers...

It was later wrapped horizontally with blankets and duct tape.

So now, we're here. I opted to mask off the insides of the tank before painting. No sense in being sloppy now and having over-spray everywhere.




Finally time to seal the wall. I opted to use the "Lexan" sealer by GE found at Lowe's that others on the forum have had success with sealing acrylic to glass. I used a popsicle stick for that perfectly round inside edge. Just have to trim off the slop and it should look like factory.




Since refermike1 asked, here's a shot of the mesh I mentioned. I looked high and low locally, then tripped over it one day at Lowe's. It's actually a modified paint spreader for a small roller. $.97/ea


...And our layout. Not a good shot - just grabbed it quickly this morning before leaving for work. Just gives an idea of how the tank plays it's part in the room. We just found the yucca plant(s) last night and thought they'd be the perfect addition to the side of the tank to give that kind of "tropical" feel to the make-shift room divider. Love that thing. Just have to imagine the tank lifted 28" on it's new stand (coming tonight)...


That's it for now. The hood is painted, and the remainder WILL get finished tonight. New pics to follow soon!

Lata...
Mike

[DarthOcellaris]

Nice pics

Good idea about the towels

[fish.freak]

Nice apartment and histogram of the move! Keep em coming!

[aquawolf]

Great shots, keep up the good work on it.

[Dego Red]

Quicky update, nothing special...

Had a very busy weekend, but hammered out a few more details with the tank and stand. Getting really close to starting the cycle, but decided I have to get the AC Jr. first before getting the tank wet. Anyway, here's a few pics...

Back...in black Don't mind the half-built stands and seam. To be handled soon...


Here's a before/after comparison shot of the wall sealing. You can see the finished product on the far side compared to the initial "boogery" seal left over. You can also see I decided to black out the sides behind the rear vertical panels. At the viewing angle, you could see thru the wall and panel...and that just wasn't acceptable.


Mesh is trimmed, painted, and sealed in...


Final mock-up. Getting tight in there, but I don't forsee any problems. The only hiccup is the skimmer mounting due to the powerhead, but zipties to the rescue! (again in my life...lol)


That's it for now. I also did some aquascaping trials last night and have two designs that I think are pretty killer - look very natural. I think you guys will like them, but I'll save that until there's water in there...

[AZINDY]

Looking good, I have always liked the way your stand cover the tank!

[Wiskey]

This is Killer! That was a great idea on shipping the tank I'm glad you decided to keep moving with it,.. I"m excited to see it progress

Have you thought about sliding one of the MJ mods forward so it pulls water from inside the tank, and puts it back inside the tank? Rather than having all the water feeding the maxijet mods flow over the overflow?

Or even have both forward and use a small return pump so only the dirtyest water makes it into the skimmer chamber?

Whiskey

[frankandmaura]

Looks like you took the bottom off those MJ's, whats going on there???

Killer build...love it!

[Dego Red]

Originally Posted by AZINDY

Looking good, I have always liked the way your stand cover the tank!

Thanks, mang

[Dego Red]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

This is Killer! That was a great idea on shipping the tank I'm glad you decided to keep moving with it,.. I"m excited to see it progress

Have you thought about sliding one of the MJ mods forward so it pulls water from inside the tank, and puts it back inside the tank? Rather than having all the water feeding the maxijet mods flow over the overflow?

Or even have both forward and use a small return pump so only the dirtyest water makes it into the skimmer chamber?

Whiskey

Thanks, and I'm glad I kept moving as well. There's some great motivators here...ha.

Funny you should mention moving the tank...
Last night I found what appears to be a small stress crack on one of the forward seams. My heart sank. Then I started analyzing the issue (cuz I'm a engineer/nerd), and really I don't think I should be concerned since this "crack" (more like a chip that came off clean) is only about 2" below the waterline. It won't leak because it's behind the sealer, and the pressure shouldn't be great enough to be an issue. It may just be a bubble behind the sealer as well, but I can't be sure. I'll turn the macro on and take a pic tonight. After that, only a water test will tell.

As for the MJ's, I hadn't thought about that - Great idea! I did leave them fully adjustable for maintenance reasons, but this is just gravy. I still have my worries about flow limits over the wall causing noise, but that would be a great solution to restricting the water intrusion and turbulence around the skimmer. Oh, and I would move them both out since they'll be on a wave timer as well.

By the way, I was gonna stop in your thread and say thank you for recommending Upscales in my area. What a fantastic place!! Their SPS tanks and frags are AMAZING, especially since I'm kind of an SPS fanboi.

[Dego Red]

Originally Posted by frankandmaura

Looks like you took the bottom off those MJ's, whats going on there???...

Meh, they kinda took themselves off. I just picked one up out of the box one day and there was the cover...still in the box. I realized they weren't waterproof anyway, so rather than go through the irritation of digging them out when they fall off, I'll probably just leave them off.

[Eric65]

Very impressive build thus far

[DarthOcellaris]

That
Is
Awesome

[fish.freak]

Looks great Im glad this project didnt die.