Checkout my new setup...

[crook280]

ok, first off, from what i've seen, my tank doesn't look as good as basically everyone elses. i don't know how you guys do it. it's not completely finished, i'm gonna get sand and probably make my own rock soon. the sump isn't fished, either. well let me tell you my story about how i got to this setup.
i first decided to drill a hole in the tank. i picked up a ten gallon from walmart $10. bad idea. i read somewhere that untempered glass has a green edge, well i guess so does tempered. it just exploded. fun... then i spent the next couple of days cleaning the other pieces and had to get a pieces of glass drilled. finally i got it glued and have no leaks. it was my first time so the silicon job isn't very good. i have one question though... do you think i need more waterflow? right now it is coming back through a hole in the glass. i will get a ball/socket "Y" with some flexible tubing, but it doesn't seem like it would be enough. thanks. i hope my story wasn't to boring.

 

[Brenden]

How much waterflow do you have?

 

[crook280]

it will have probably have a little over 110 gph once i get the stand built for the sump. as you can see from the pics, it is in the upper corner and blowing into the front glass. i will get the spliter so the flow will flow the length of the tank(hopefully). i was thinking of getting a canister filter and fill it with lr. oh, by the way i won't have any filtration, besides the dsb in the sump, and lr, and diy skimmer. will that be ok? thanks for the help

 

[DragonForce]

Might want to throw a powerhead or 2 in there. 2 Small maxi-jets should do the trick.

 

[crook280]

this is probably a dumb question... where would i put the pumps? on the side or back? i don't know what would be better. i wouldn't mind beening able to hide them. thank you

 

[Civicman86]

Whereever you can find room for them Also maybe put a 90* elbow on the bulkhead to keep the water line up where you cant see it. Looks good though.

 

[AMANIQU77]

Let me just tell you, dude, that I applaud you for being creative in doing it yourself. Don't feel bad that your tank doesn't look as good as others. Remember, you molded that tank out of your own hands. That's the best.

Besides, are you kidding me, your tank is neat and beautiful! Very natural looking.

 

[crook280]

thanks man, i appreciate it. i have another question though. i was told by a lfs to put lr to about an inch from the surface, but i see most people don't. should i stack it that high? thanks. and civic my water line is affected by the overflow chamer. the problem is the tank isn't even, it leans back and towards the overflow. since the stand is metal, i put some extra carpet under it. the problem is it doesn't fit the bottom. so i figured it will have to lean for now. i'm going to be getting something flatter soon. thanks though

 

[jaiden]

leaning puts a lot of stress on the tank which it isn't built for. you should try to shim it level

 

[Florida8]

You are off to a Great start!

I think it is a personal opinon to what's pleasing to the eye as far as how much live rock and how high to place it... I like it both ways and have had mine aquascaped high and low... so what ever YOU like is what you should do... it's your own little mini reef to enjoy

All it needs now is time to grow and change and mature and before you know it --- it'll be bursting with color and all kinds of goodies !