OT - Rickztah's Low Iron 22g SW Tank Update 11/28

[Discus-n00b]

You sir do very very fine work. Excellent craftsmanship!! I like my tanks sitting on larger stands, I like having a lip around them. I have a few inches in front of my cube, easy to set frags, racks, fish food etc when working in the tank.

[rickztahone]

You sir do very very fine work. Excellent craftsmanship!! I like my tanks sitting on larger stands, I like having a lip around them. I have a few inches in front of my cube, easy to set frags, racks, fish food etc when working in the tank.

Thanks Matt. I tried to put a lot of thought in to this build.

[rickztahone]

Was able to acquire a very nice 4g glass tank with dims 12"L x 4"W x 16"H

It just so happens that these are the perfect dims of what I needed as an ATO. I couldn't have planned that better. The best part? This thing came with a fusion air pump/DW/marbles (that I gave to my daughter)/and a light. All for a whopping $20.

Great condition tank too. Silicone looks almost brand new. Just need to bleach it and I will be set.

[Debow]

Thats a odd size tank, I am looking for a water storage container that is 12'' wide but long and tall. Need it to fit in between my washer and wall.

[rickztahone]

Thats a odd size tank, I am looking for a water storage container that is 12'' wide but long and tall. Need it to fit in between my washer and wall.

I've actually seen such a container on craiglist. Have you checked there? It was called a space saver container or something along those lines. It was rather large though considering that it was so thin.

[Discus-n00b]

Thats a odd size tank, I am looking for a water storage container that is 12'' wide but long and tall. Need it to fit in between my washer and wall.

Look for a "Doorway" water tank. Might suit the need if you can find a smaller one.

[rickztahone]

Look for a "Doorway" water tank. Might suit the need if you can find a smaller one.

There you go! That's the name for these type of containers. Doorway water tank

[rickztahone]

Didn't do much but was able to install some plywood to the top and bottom as well as create the sectioned off area for the electronics. The pieces of plywood don't matter much as they will be painted and covered. The top will be covered in trim and will not show the exposed edge:

DSC09077 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

DSC09081 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

DSC09082 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

DSC09083 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

I still need to add the top plywood in the bottom section since I plan to add recessed lighting in there. It will also give it a cleaner look. Hopefully the section off area will keep the humidity out of there.

[rickztahone]

This wasn't part of the original design, but things always change when I have spare scraps and free time, lol.

I decided to add a "floating panel" on the access side. I plan on putting led's behind this section for a nice effect. I'm going to have to do a really good job painting this area because the wood is rough and I want it to match the rest of the quality of wood on the stand. I still need to drill a hole at the bottom of the floating panel to route the wires. In this manner, you shouldn't be able to see any wires what-so-ever. I still need to add an area inside the actual stand in order to mount a DJ switchboard but other than that, I am all set for plumbing and painting and finally the doors. The doors will be magnetic.

DSC09113 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

DSC09114 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
These pieces didn't have to be accurate or pretty. They will never be seen and were just used to have this floating panel off the other piece of wood to able to route the wires behind it. It needed to be wide enough to pass a plug so I stacked these 2 each.

DSC09115 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
This is how they will look behind the panel

DSC09116 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
This is them mounted up before I add the floating panel on top of them.

DSC09117 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
and all done. It is difficult to photograph this to look how it does in real life but I think it came out great. The Led's should accent the whole build pretty well.

[rickztahone]

Was working with acrylic rods to get the rocks how I wanted them:
DSC09128 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

DSC09133 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

Although you would never see the side trimmings of the top piece that is under the tank, I still plan on replacing that piece of plywood. It is just annoying to see and I plan on getting a nice piece instead. It will eventually be covered by trim, but still, lol.

[Kal-El]

Looks awesome so far. Looking forward to the finish setup.

[Discus-n00b]

Looks good! Just make sure you have clearance to get under the overflow ledge should you need to!

[rickztahone]

Looks awesome so far. Looking forward to the finish setup.

Thanks. I can't wait to get this thing up and running. However, the more and more I think about, the more I think I should wait till end of summer to finish it, lol. It has been ridiculously hot so far and we are not even in full swing summer mode yet.

Looks good! Just make sure you have clearance to get under the overflow ledge should you need to!

Yeah, I do have access there. It is a bit tight but I can get in there. I am actually thinking of breaking up some extra rocks I have and making "rock rubble" out of it to get some good sized rocks and adding zoas on the outskirts of the layout you see above. Do you think that would be a problem? I figured that the zoas wouldn't spread past the rubble I provide them? I want to keep them off the main rock so they don't get stung.

[Discus-n00b]

They will spread to any substrate or glass, but they are much much easier to remove from something like substrate than rock rubble. They basically produce a jelly/skin like mat underneath them. I don't think it should be an issue. Just give the LPS with longer sweepers wide berths. Just pluck or trim any Zoas that try to make a run for it. Generally speaking, I would side with LPS in a coral fight between them and Zoas. They have a much more potent sting. But like you said it'd be best to avoid that all together.

[rickztahone]

Gotcha Matt.

Follow the link for my biggest inspiration so far for this tank. I don't see how I could possibly top that tank, it just looks so beautiful!
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/36696...une/?p=5353691

Unfortunately, that member just had a recent tank leak and half of his top colonies are gone