I have finally gathered all the supplies and such to build my "Dream" tank, and I think it is coming along quite nicely. I will post pictures if I can of the build process from start to finish. Also will include a list of equipment, and soon to be equipment soon!

This is a Mr. Aqua 54 gallon low iron rimless tank custom drilled, Sitting on top of my own creation of a stand. Very simple stand, couldn't go too complex because it would have cost more, but if I get the money I will spruce up the final product! The sump came from the MWRF 2014 raffle! So excited for this year to try and get more equipment! It is an Elite Aquatics custom sump, of course I've added a few modifications myself to fit my equipment.

Alright, starting off the tank dimensions are about 35x18x18, so its a nice size tank with the depth I was looking for. It has a dual overflow so it is completely silent.

I will be hanging a 120w led fixture from the ceiling over the tank which should be plenty of power. It will have a mesh covering to keep fish from jumping, and is a "floating" cover, which looks pretty cool. See future pictures.

Tank will contain 1 or 2 WP-25 powerheads for flow, One is already plenty enough. The sump has homemade filter socks, very nice at 12 cents a piece, and modified them to fit on the filter sock ring.

Skimmer is a cadlights pls 100

150 watt heater on its way to fit nicely in the heater slot.

Soon to be mag 5, 7, or jebao dc 4000 pump to power two reactors. (cant decide yet) One BRS type biopellet reactor and one BRS type carbon reactor. Also will be inline with a 15W Aqua Ultraviolet UV sterilizer returning to the filter sock before the skimmer.

Running a Jebao DCT6000, I'm sad they don't work with the apex :( would save me a space on my EB8. Also running full power, but may have to turn it down as its plenty powerful! Also barely fit, had to disassemble then reassemble in the sump compartment! Phew, that was close.

ATO will be accomplished by 3 float switches. A high and a low, and a tank overflow emergency that hopefully will never go off.

SOON I will hopefully have a DP-4 doser to dose CA, ALK, MAG, and amino or trace. Will drill holes in the sump to run the lines to the top.

Running a full APEX system. Using that to control my WP-25 right now, and may rig it to control my LEDs soon, may need another EB8 to do that though. I was able to find a cheap wireless bridge to power the internet for it.

Was able to make the system completely silent after a few modifications with some filter pads and foam, very happy about that.

Stand is made of 4x4 and 2x4 pieces, with a wrapping of red oak stained colonial maple and Gloss polyurethane. Had a ton of fun building this as I like woodworking.

Pics soon to follow!

Gathering Supplies! And woodworking!

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Woodworking pics

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Time for more!

It took a while to build the stand, but I finally got it together. The stand was actually built in California while the tank was here in Utah! Was a tight fit but ended up perfect! It is 4 4x4 posts that the tanks 4 corners are resting on. Then 2x4 bottom support and 2x6 top support to set the tank into the stand and to hide the bottom glass and most of the sand bed. It is sitting about 2.5 in or so into the stand. A feature that I personally like. Looks more "clean" to me.

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I also made a bottom piece to sit on top the 2x4s to support the sump which is actually sitting just behind the stand so the return pipes had a straight shot down. Stained and polyurethane also. Watersealed all the wood twice too.

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As you can see I also added a layer of foam to protect the tank glass from any uneven pressure points on the wood, also insulated, reduces vibration, and doesn't allow me to see through if there is no sand.

I ended putting panels on the side to mount reactors and made an entire APEX board where all my equipment would hook up. I tried to make this as far away from any water splash potential as possible. This not only helps with hanging things, but ended up adding a ton of structural rigidity as before I could bump into the tank and it would rock, now its rock solid and doesn't budge a bit!

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I was able to get Colonial maple stain to do the entire wrap that you would see on the outside, I am also not quite finished also. Still need a piece of edging to hide the corner gaps between the panels. Easy weekend fix though.

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And pretty soon I had something resembling a tank!

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Alright, moving on!

Soon I had the tank drilled for overflow, and installed the box soon after! Siliconed it in well.

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Soon I was working on the plumbing and overflow. Also modifying sump to fit the auto top off switched. Ended up drilling the top out to fit a third emergency switch.

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The dremel was my friend

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I was BARELY able to fit a DCT 6000, kind of sad they don't work with apex, but ohh well. I literally had to completely disassemble jebao to get it to juuust slip in with literally no room to spare. Then reassembled in the compartment, that was a real challenge.

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I then soldered all the wiring and organized it all neat and was ready to go and start filling!

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It literally took just over 24 hours to fill, so not bad for around 65 gallons total.

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After the tank was filled I added what rock I had and started fiddling with the filtration, was able to get it dead silent by adding a few foam, pieces in places to water couldn't slosh around.

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Then I started getting the apex board together and sprucing it up.

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To keep the front and side panels on, I used magnets. The panels slide into the baseboard on the bottom for a clean look, and magnetically latch to the top so they don't fall out.

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I still need to get net for the screen top, if anyone has spare that would be nice

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I put plastic bumpers on the bottom to give it a floating look, which I like, and it allows the Jebao power cord through without lifting a part.

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Just a few days ago I hung the led light and it started to look more complete!

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I then added a few corals and fish that I had In a 10 gallon and so far everything is doing great! Of course I dipped everything before to keep it pest free as long as possible.

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I used microbacter 7 to kickstart the process as well as seed the biopellets and stuff to get nutrient export going.

I was able to T in a mag 5 pump to a brs biopellet reactor and a carbon reactor, and the UV sterilizer is inline with the biopellets feeding back in front of the skimmer. I swear the plumbing parts are the most expensive, every trip to home depot was like $25+ and I made multiple trips. All just for a few pieces of pipe and fittings.

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Just yesterday my lovely jebao doser arrived at my door, very happy as it was 74.95 shipped to my door  Made a mount out of spare wood and brackets, then I velcroed it on so it wouldn't move and drilled a hole in the back wood for the power cord and fit it snugly above the sump. Was able to drill 4 holes in the sump where the bubble trap is so it can dose right into the pump where it will be mixed and wont go through reactors or skimmers.

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And that brings us up to today! All is going well and I'm excited to start stuffing the tank with coral fish and rock!

Here's a quick update from today. Everything seems to be going well. Got most things dialed in. Modified my LED to be controlled with the apex. I now have it following a modified sunrise/sunset cycle on the season table. However LEDs keep going out even after I just replaced them. Weird things.

Was able to get a Naso tang, one of my favorites. Also got a banggai cardinal, twin spot goby, and anemone crab.

I was lucky enough to have won the bleeding apple bowerbanki. Its doing fairly well in the tank. Any know how to make this thing thrive? What is the best location, like lighting and flow?

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No that's my photon pair in California. they are doing great. I had a pair of phantom clownfish. $200 for the pair. The bigger one with the orange face was the female that died. She was always a snot and mean to the other but was doing better and they got along. I also lost a baby onyx Picasso extreme. I think that was caused by a massive aptasia. So now I put the onyx Picasso that I had left with my phantom, and they are both mild mannered so I think they will get along. So now I only have the pair left here in Utah and a pair in California.

This was the female, but she was much bigger, this was a year ago when I got her.

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Weird stuff...