I've been working on a little project recently. After much thought, I came to the conclusion that I wanted a bigger, nicer display tank for the frag swaps. So I set about making it so. Here are the tank specs: 30"w x 24"d x 6"t. Made out of 3/8" clear acrylic and 1/4" black acrylic, with an AIO design and rimless. I wanted it top down viewable, with minimal surface water disturbance.
Here's the tank:
alt="">
If you look carefully you will notice two things. First is the return bar in the back bottom of the tank, this is to facilitate top down viewing while still allowing for good water movement. I should mention, I have custom built some racks to fit this tank that will elevate the corals to just above the level of that return bar, so they won't be getting blown around. Also please take a look in the back left corner, at that overflow. I built two drop in gates that fit behind it, so that as the water level drops in the tank (due to bagging corals), I can remove the top gate to maintain surface skimming and won't have to worry about my return pump sucking air.
Here's the tank with the light stand:
alt="">
I apologize. I couldn't back up far enough to get the entire tank in the photo. I've got too much crap in my workshop, or too little room. Not sure which. The tank is lit with a 120w full spectrum dimmable led. The light is suspended 28" above the tank, so folks don't whack their head on it (including me!).
The stand is built from 3/4" tubing, and is designed to come apart for easy transport. If you look directly on either side of the light, you will see small chain restraints with pins on the end of them. This allows the stand to be dismantled into three pieces. Here's a detail shot:
alt="">
The overflow and return section in the back of the tank is large enough for me to hide a heater back there. There is also a fan that will be suspended above the return area, to provide cooling. Tank temp will be controlled with a homebrew temp controller made from a computer case temperature control (digital). Directly before the water gets to the return pump, there is a built in slot for a carbon insert. The carbon will remove any toxins released by angry corals, and the floss surrounding it will trap any debris or detritus. This way the display water will stay crystal clear. Here's the return pump section:
alt="">
The carbon slot is to the right in this photo. The custom 90 degree fitting was made using 3/8" ID acrylic. I inserted a piece of rope into the tubing before heating and bending it. The rope kept the lumen of the pipe open during bending, and was easily removed after the piece cooled.
After I completed the build on the tank, I used my laminate router with a roundover bit to smooth the corners. The top edge was simply smoothed off using my palm sander, and I rolled the edges over as well using the palm sander. I then used wet emery cloth and smoothed all edges off before flame polishing with the torch for nice clear edges. I did manage to get some scratches on the display part of the tank, so I used a micromesh kit (which I already had) to buff them out, followed by polishing with a buffing compound and buffing wheel on my orbital sander.
I hope you have enjoyed this little mini tour. This tank replaces my original display tank that many of you have seen at the swaps. I took what I learned from the first tank (which I built) and incorporated it into this tank. Who knows what I might do with the next one that I build...........
Here's the tank:
If you look carefully you will notice two things. First is the return bar in the back bottom of the tank, this is to facilitate top down viewing while still allowing for good water movement. I should mention, I have custom built some racks to fit this tank that will elevate the corals to just above the level of that return bar, so they won't be getting blown around. Also please take a look in the back left corner, at that overflow. I built two drop in gates that fit behind it, so that as the water level drops in the tank (due to bagging corals), I can remove the top gate to maintain surface skimming and won't have to worry about my return pump sucking air.
Here's the tank with the light stand:
I apologize. I couldn't back up far enough to get the entire tank in the photo. I've got too much crap in my workshop, or too little room. Not sure which. The tank is lit with a 120w full spectrum dimmable led. The light is suspended 28" above the tank, so folks don't whack their head on it (including me!).
The stand is built from 3/4" tubing, and is designed to come apart for easy transport. If you look directly on either side of the light, you will see small chain restraints with pins on the end of them. This allows the stand to be dismantled into three pieces. Here's a detail shot:
The overflow and return section in the back of the tank is large enough for me to hide a heater back there. There is also a fan that will be suspended above the return area, to provide cooling. Tank temp will be controlled with a homebrew temp controller made from a computer case temperature control (digital). Directly before the water gets to the return pump, there is a built in slot for a carbon insert. The carbon will remove any toxins released by angry corals, and the floss surrounding it will trap any debris or detritus. This way the display water will stay crystal clear. Here's the return pump section:
The carbon slot is to the right in this photo. The custom 90 degree fitting was made using 3/8" ID acrylic. I inserted a piece of rope into the tubing before heating and bending it. The rope kept the lumen of the pipe open during bending, and was easily removed after the piece cooled.
After I completed the build on the tank, I used my laminate router with a roundover bit to smooth the corners. The top edge was simply smoothed off using my palm sander, and I rolled the edges over as well using the palm sander. I then used wet emery cloth and smoothed all edges off before flame polishing with the torch for nice clear edges. I did manage to get some scratches on the display part of the tank, so I used a micromesh kit (which I already had) to buff them out, followed by polishing with a buffing compound and buffing wheel on my orbital sander.
I hope you have enjoyed this little mini tour. This tank replaces my original display tank that many of you have seen at the swaps. I took what I learned from the first tank (which I built) and incorporated it into this tank. Who knows what I might do with the next one that I build...........
