Scott's DIY 10 Gallon Nano Build

[scottayy]

I've gotten bored and decided I want a 10 gallon reef tank beside my computer desk.

I'm mostly going to be building and doing everything myself. A lot of work, even for a 10 gallon tank.

Anyways, here's the frame of the stand I built for it.

And the finished stand and canopy. It's full of imperfections, but I decided I would still use it because I made it and it is me.

I silicone'd on a piece of acrylic to the bottom of the tank to make it sturdier for drilling (yes, I'm going to run a sump on this).

And I actually drilled a hole in it! My first successful glass hole.

And the bulkhead is in place. It's a 3/4" one.

Thanks for reading. I invite you to follow along as I get more stuff done!

I still don't know if I'm going to drill the return line or bring it over the top with a directional u-tube.

 

[HPballer76]

following along. i would like to do a small tank like this in the future. looking forward to updates!

 

[EriksFish315]

Kool can't wait to see how this turns out. How hard was it to drill a hole?

 

[scottayy]

Thanks, I just got everything ordered for my sump, lights, pumps, heaters etc.

It wasn't very hard to drill a hole, but I've cracked 10 gallon tanks before when attempting it.

This time I added the acrylic sheet for support (not sure if it helped) and drilled very slowly with the drill running high RPM. Diamond hole saw.

 

[HPballer76]

What sump, lights, heaters are you going to run?

 

[scottayy]

I ordered an LED light fixture because I'd like to try them out and I think T5HO would run too hot in my small canopy. Thinking about running a 5 gallon sump if it will fit inside of my cabinet. If not, I'll run 2 2.5 gallons and have one of them be a fuge. The heater's just a small adjustable one.

 

[scottayy]

Alrighty, a small update. I taped this puppy up so I could paint the back of it.

And then painted it with krylon fusion spraypaint. It came out really well.. this picture doesn't do it justice. Looks like it came with a black back!

Then I made my overflow out of 4" PVC pipe and spray painted it using the krylon fusion. I didn't really have the proper tools to make the overflow so it doesn't look too great. But, I am sure that it will work.

Then I silicone'd it to the inside of the tank over the drain hole.

And finally, i put the eggcrate in the bottom of it so the rocks won't have a single point of impact on the glass.

Tomorrow I'll start on the sump.

 

[200 gallon reef]

Diggin the ambition. How easy (or hard) do u believe it would be to maintain a tank like that?

 

[scottayy]

Diggin the ambition. How easy (or hard) do u believe it would be to maintain a tank like that?

Ambition is about all I'm running on. This is only my second tank setup so acquiring the skills still. Especially the building skills LOL!

I don't think it will be too hard, but an automatic topoff is a must. With 10 gallons, evaporation would constantly swing the salinity.

Other than that I'm hoping it's the same as my other tank. Weekly PWC, test/dose for calcium, KH, and magnesium.

 

[200 gallon reef]

The reason I ask is, I am looking to put a tank in my office at work and am not sure what size I should go with. I don't want to go bigger than a 55 I think. What size is ur other tank? Do u recommend anything?

 

[Fishkeeper92]

I have a 20 gallon in my room that i enjoy and might upgrade to a 30 gallon soon. If you can find a 30 long like i have sitting around it would make a great piece for the office.

 

[scottayy]

Aw crummy. My equipment isn't going to be here until the 7th. Usually shipping is faster than a week.. they must've known I was excited.

 

[200 gallon reef]

30 gallon long? That sounds about right. Is there enough of a choice of livestock that can deal with a smaller tank?

Thanks.

 

[Fishkeeper92]

I only have two damsels in my 20 and they're entertaining enough. There is a few choices you can get though and enjoy. Im turning my 20 into a macro algae "planted" tank. Always something to consider for more visual pleasure.

 

[scottayy]

There's plenty of livestock for a 30. Chromis, clownfish, firefish, gobies, blennies, just to name a few.

 

[200 gallon reef]

Is it too small for a skimmer?

 

[Fishkeeper92]

Im not using a skimmer on my 20, i just use a HOB with carbon and my tank seems alright and chemistry is all good.

 

[200 gallon reef]

That would be nice for maintenence

 

[scottayy]

I'm trying to decide if I want to run a mesh bag filter sock off of the drain pipe or if I should have a little tray and a spray bar to evenly distribute the water over it? I would put 100 micron felt on the bottom and maybe even a carbon/gfo bag over the top of that.

What do you guys think?

 

[scottayy]

Okay well, this turned out better than I could've planned. An old 5 gallon bowfront fits perfectly in the cabinet space, probably better than I could've planned it!

I only had to raise the shelf a little bit higher to make room for the hood. Has a socket where I can put a 6500k bulb to grow some chaeto

So I built the sump.

First baffle I put holes in because I want the flow to go through the middle into the fuge.

I wanted 3 baffles for a bubble trap but didn't want to sacrifice any more fuge room so I just have a two baffle bubble trap. I don't think I will be running a skimmer so bubbles probably won't be a problem anyways. Some egg crate to stop things from going into the return chamber.

Here's a shot of it under the cabinet:

And here's a picture of my simple drain pipe.

I definitely felt the cramp of not having much to work with when doing the sump. I hope it all works okay.