10 foot Nano....kinda
 

So I was cruising reef central and fell in love with a tank on there. It was 144"x15"x15". Anyways to cure my multi tank syndrome I convinced my wife to let me do a similar tank. It cost me getting her another dog, but hey, we all know this hobby costs.

So I ended up with a 120"x16"x18 rimless. 3 side viewable mixed reef, front pane starphire.
Because of where it's sitting I didn't want cords and power heads everywhere so I went closed loop. Two sumps, one being filter socks, to skimmer, to return. Another "sump" that contains an a to chamber and a fuge that drains into the main sump. Main sump is 54" long and the ato/fuge is 48".

Return pump is a DCT-12000. Closed loop, there will be two loops each run by a DCT-12000. Being adjustable, having the ability to adjust the power and eventually control through an apex will be nice.

Skimmer is a Bubble Magus curve 9. Possibly a bit on the big side but I like fish so...

Stand is still being finished. Water won't go in till it's finished as we all know that if water, fish and coral go in it is unlikely to get properly skinned.

Lights are still up in the air. It will be a t5HO/LED combo. Am going to try 5-7 AI primes lined with 48" t5ho bulbs. 4 bulbs for sure, possibly 8, we will see. I will be building a hanging/floating canopy. House is a little rustic so it will be made of reclaimed wood.

Bit of a ways to go but happy to have it here in the house.
And now what we all care about, pics.

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Im in love with this!!!!! Your setup and design is fantastic.

I'll be tagging along for this one

Looks really cool!

And maybe I will address this before it gets brought up. Yes, I could have removed the railing and built it right in, I could have done a basement sump. It just came down to too much alteration. If in 2,3,4,6 years life changes or whatever, I didn't want to have to rebuild my house after I ripped out the tank.

Thanks for the compliments so far. I'm excited to continue working on it. Plumbing and finishing the stand are first on the block.

Naw man, were it is and the sump design is more than prime. Sometimes I regret not going simple like this. All it means is more work when the tank gets shut down, and more things to worry about.

Very interesting build. It looks great so far. Cant wait to see where you take it. Stocking is going to be interesting.

Looks great so far. Looking forward to updates as your build comes along.

Anthony

Cool idea. I know someone with an 8 ft x 16" x 16" tank and it's pretty cool! Tough to get good flow with powerheads, so I think you're on the right track with the closed loop. How are you finishing the stand? Will you finish the back too so you can't see from the railing? Have you considered installing some black vinyl on the overflow so you can't see in?

looks very cool, whats your finish plan for covering the sump area?

The whole stand, front and back is going to be covered. going to have 1/8 plywood as a base and then have a reclaimed barnwood panel overlay on to of that. I don;t want to look through the railing and see fish stuff. The front and possibly sides will have removable panels so I can access for maintenance. going for a rustic look to match my stone and barn beam fireplace/mantel.

From everything I heave read about long shallow tanks, flow is a concern so thats why I went closed loop. Possibly put one powerhead on the over flow side but we shall see if its necessary. I also have th return on the far end of the tank. The last hole on the bottom of the tank will be the return and be covered by a rock tower. Figured that it would help with some natural flow with the water being returned as far from the overflow as possible.

I would love to see what a wave box would do on a tank like this...
or two waveboxes mounted in opposition to one another.

You might be able to surf on it.

I'll put one of my yorkies on a surfboard and see what happens..... :)

This looks awesome! I will be tagging along forsure. I can't wait to see how this bad boy unfolds. I'm sure I won't be the first and or last but PLEASE take that rail out before you fill the tank. Right now it's a tank beside the rail. If you take it out it becomes a TANK RAILLLLLLLLLL (insert pyrotechnics). If you are careful the rail will come out intact and can be put back in in a matter of hours. That's peanuts compared to the time you will be known as the guy with the TANK RAILLLLLLLLLLLL (more pyrotechnics).
TANK RAILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL(Ultimate pyrotechnics that make a KISS concert seem lame)

I like the barn wood plan. I'm curious to see your results.

Haha, fishy.......i went back and forth but don't know or think my wife will go for it. It cost me a dog just for the tank haha.

Awesome setup dude. Can't wait to see it filling up :wink:

As for the rail, well, I'm a bit wishy-washy about it. Besides having to put it back later, you're going to get all kinds of paw prints on the tank when peeps go downstairs.
But on the plus side they can still use the other railing for support.

I think once you close the sump area up no-one will care about the rail being there and I want to agree with you leaving it intact :biggrin:

Pfft.....should have went 121" lol

Looks good buddy now fill with zoas lol

This is epic i love the long shallow reefs woo so tagging alog

Bah, even at 119" a tank like this would deserve so much more than zoas :boink:

I'm all about the SPS now, and wavy stuff like gorgs/euphyllias

And I can't wait to see some big fish, plus maybe some little shoals

Very interesting build. Cant' wait to see how you stock it

There will be zoas, lps, a little sps the more I think. Yes fish. Blue hippo is growing so will love this, 7-8 anthias, my black ice clowns and their rbta. Possibly a blond naso......oh the possibilities....

Another build shaping up to be epic! Subscribed.

Beautiful tank! I want to do very similar dimension. But maybe 6-8'. So are you having drains and return out outs all along the centre of the tank?

It has a coast to coast on the far end of the tank. One return line on the opposite end that will be hidden in a rock tower. The other six holes are for two closed loops for water circulation.

10 foot Nano....kinda
 

I have never looked into closed loop prior to reading this! Is the idea for more flow without having powerheads? Sill all the intakes /outflows be Hidden within the rocks? I can't wait to see this come together

Yeah that's the idea. Flow without power heads. Tank is viewable from three sides so I don't want cords everywhere. Intakes and outputs will be hidden in rockscape. Two intakes and 4 outputs.

Looks neat! The only thing I'd recommend is consider putting some drywall edge protector on the two corners closest to the top of the stairs. It's a high traffic area and it would be a shame to see a jacket zipper or something in someones hands chip the edge. The protectors are clear and self adhesive.

I know what your talking about. I'll look into them.

On another note, my nuvo 16 nano got jealous of the new tank and commuted suicide. Frantic call from my wife saying she heard a beeping and went into our bedroom and saw the tank almost empty and water everywhere. Spot from the base right up to the top right on the bent glass portion.....no clue how or why.

Luckily I was just cycling it and keeping it for moving fish and corals around. Thank god for shop vacs and steam cleaners.....

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...C970CAD0E3.jpg

That sucks! I have been there with my nuvo 24... thankfully the 16 is still going strong.


Do you have any updates on the 10' beauty?