30 gallon ADA Build

[nanoguy]

Here’s my new pet project that I’ve been working on. It’s a 30 gallon ADA (24”x18”x18”). I wanted something a little different from my main tank so I decided on doing a foam rock wall for this setup (http://www.bareefers.org/home/node/8264).

Pic of the tank

I picked up a couple of these guys on ebay to drill the tank……1” bulkhead for the drain and ¾” for the return. I was a little worried about drilling the tank but it was actually very easy. There are a ton of vids on youtube that demonstrates on how it’s done. Just make sure the glass you are drilling is not tempered.

I applied a black background to the left and rear of the tank. It goes on like window tint and is very easy to apply…..just pre-cut to size, spray the glass with soapy water, peel off the adhesive backing, apply and position, then scrape out the air bubbles with a credit card and let dry.

Here’s a pic of the tank with the background on and holes drilled.

Acrylic for the overflow cut and ready to be glued together

Test fitting the overflow on the rock wall

Building the stand. Luckily for me, a buddy of mine have a lot of wood clamps!

Test fitting the tank on the stand.

Here’s the completed stand. It’s finished with an automotive paint and clear coat.

Another test fit for the completed rock wall and overflow box. I still have to do a little more foaming and epoxy work to blend it in. Hopefully it will not be such an eye sore when it's all done.

That’s all I have for now. I will be working on the light rack over the next few days and will update as this build progesses.

 

[Erick]

Umm... make me one? lol that thing is awesome, I love the ADA tanks. Seeing Amano style FW tanks is what got me looking into starting a tank in the first place, then it spiraled out of control once I found Nano-reef and saw a pico there.

I see that your tank is drilled, what do you have it hooked up to? and does your stand have a door or is it just a stand? it all looks so clean and elegant. I am jealous

 

[sfsuphysics]

Wow an automotive finish for your stand? First that badass foam/rock blend, now that stand? You got some skills!

Also not to detract from the stand, but what kind of floor is that in the garage?

 

[Elite]

wow that stand looks great...

Mike, that look like concrete floor with epoxy paint.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Is it? The speckles almost remind me of a formica of some sort.

 

[nanoguy]

Erick......the stand has no door. I wanted the stand to be completely seamless. It will be plumbed into my main system's sump on the other side of the wall.

Mike.....the garage floor is painted with an epoxy paint and then colored flakes applied to the coating. Shoot me a pm if this is something you want to do and I will give you more details on how it's done.

 

[nanoguy]

Couple of quick updates.....

Light rack done and fixture hung. I also finished up the foam work to cover up the overflow box.

I did a 20 gallon water change on the main system and dumped the water into the new setup. I will run the tank without lights for the next month or so before plumbing it into the sump in the garage.

I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out. All I have to do now is decide what to put in there .

 

[sfsuphysics]

I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out. All I have to do now is decide what to put in there .

My vote is one of those bubbling treasure chests

 

[CookieJar]

I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out. All I have to do now is decide what to put in there .

My vote is one of those bubbling treasure chests

:bigsmile: LOL!!!

that setup looks sweet. Nice work! fits so nicely into available space and I like the way it's the side & back wall w/ rocks and the front & other side are clear.

 

[nanoguy]

I actually like this more but will take your suggestion into consideration.

 

[iani]

Very nice Jimmy, where did you get the stand painted?

 

[Erick]

I was thinking about setting up my refugium to be spongebob land

 

[sfsuphysics]

HA! When I first started in the hobby and saw those ships in the DF&S catalogs I really wanted one... although I figured when corals grew on them it'd ruin the realism

 

[Erick]

It wouldn't ruin the realism if you your whole aquascape was just a portion of a sunken ship, it would like the coral grew on it, like normal

 

[adolfo425]

Very sweet tank. Like how you went the extra mile and made it very clean and shows true worksmanship.


Will be following this thread to see what ends up living in this tank.

 

[nanoguy]

Thanks guys.

Ian, a buddy of mine sprayed the white for me at his body shop but I had to do all the prep work which was a real pain in the butt. A ton of bondo work was done to the stand to get the smooth finish. If I had to do it again, I would've just used MDF boards for the outside panels.....lesson learned.

 

[Ibn]

What kind of hangers are you using for the lights there?

I've got the same tank that I'm trying to get moving along.

 

[Gomer]

Where did you both get those ADAs from and for how much? I didn't think the ADA60P was 18" deep. I know the 75P is (but 30" long) Ian linked me the Mr Aqua tanks (looks just like those in very similar dimensions) and was tempted ..very tempted.

 

[Ibn]

Usually not shipped to the US, that's why, Tony. AFA had one sitting in their warehouse for awhile and that was snatched up by a friend of mine. When he downgraded, I took it off his hands.

Here's the one sitting in the back with added overflow and matching custom ADA knockoff (poplar) courtesy of Max and company.

 

[Gomer]

Thanks Eric. I got to see that in Max's shop completed before you did!