Mr Aqua

[rdetune]

Well I ordered my Mr. Aqua 12g long (35.4 x 8.3 x 9.4). I was inspired by kristonenicolas and i liked the dimensions. This tank is going to fit perfect on my counter in my small studio. The bad news is that its on back order, unless anyone has one for sale or has seen it at a store (I tried most local stores via phone). With the tank on backorder till mid/end of april on MarineDepo, I'm stuck here piecing stuff together/ planning till i get the tank. So with all this time/ talking with kristonenicolas I'm learning from his mistakes . Thought id run it by you ladies and gents and get some feedback of what I've been thinking.

This the counter top it is going to go on and that hose going into the cabinet is the overflow drain. On the underside only one side has a cabinet and the other side was used for a refrigerator that i got rid of. The counter top is extremely sturdy but for safety measures i was thinking of putting a pole underneath in the middle to reinforce it. You can't really see it in the picture but up a little higher is where ill mount my lights. So far i ordered two par38 bulbs from ocreef.com 6 Royal Blue Cree LEDs, 4 Cool White Cree LEDs, and 2 UV LEDs, for a combined wavelength of approx. 18,000 Kelvins.

here is some rough estimates of what i have planned pumps and overflow wise. I took the plunge with an MP10 and right now i have it my 30g and have been playing with the settings. Love it! Glad i bought it. One thing i was unsure of is the overflow box, was going to go with a hang on one, but was convinced to just drill it to give it a cleaner look. Reason for it being in the middle is to miss the cabinet when i drill a hole in the countertop (don't worry its cheap home depo counter top) So the overflow box i bought is in route right now from glass-holes.com 1" bulkhead rated for 300gph (Thanks Mario) Think it might look better if i move the box in the corner by the mp10? Anyways the return is going to be the quite one 1200 (295 GPH) i figure with 4 ft head maybe 1 or 2 90s and a flapper valve will drop that down quite a bit. Going to run the return 1/2 inch as well and going to plug a hole on the opposite side of the tank.

For the sump I'm just going to use the same 16x16x16 that LarryM made for my cube tank. Looking into getting a different skimmer. Just not that happy with the AquaC. Going to plant some mangroves this time in the refuge to try something new.
I know this is pre mature, but just wanted to throw everything out there and get some feedback before i go drilling holes in everything and mounting stuff on my wall Thanks and can't wait to get the tank here and actually have pictures to show

[solefald]

Ha! I just saw a thread on nano-reef for the same exact tank. You may want to check it out
Have to say, these are sexy little tanks

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...pic=299338&hl=


As far as propping your counter top, I don't believe it's necessary. That tank will weigh no more than 100-120 lbs, loaded. Your counter will easily hold that without any additional support.

[jessegarcia28]

Nice layout! Have you checked out aquatic warehouse, i remember these guys use to have these in stock most of the time
gl

[rdetune]

Yeah I've been looking at a couple build threads of the tank so far. Check this one out if your interested in a 12g long floating tank. This guy went nuts
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...owtopic=289344

Nice layout! Have you checked out aquatic warehouse, i remember these guys use to have these in stock most of the time
gl

Yes i did call, but they didn't have any

[solefald]

Yeah I've been looking at a couple build threads of the tank so far. Check this one out if your interested in a 12g long floating tank. This guy went nuts
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...owtopic=289344

Oh yeah, this dude is crazy. Have you seen the rest of his tanks??? He is now working on plumbing 5 smaller tanks into a single one.

[rdetune]

No, link it i would be interested in reading it

[solefald]

No, link it i would be interested in reading it

ah. i guess he never posted much updates to it, so its just plans for now

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...owtopic=297381

[rdetune]

That guy just has money to spend... Must be nice. Well while at the gym today i started to think about how to make it a cleaner look with out having stuff scattered all around the tank. What if i put all the equipment on the side up by the wall? Don't think id even need to paint that one side of the tank to hide anything with the return and overflow right there. Any feedback on how the flow would go? thats going to be a hell of a travel for the return which will give me less flow but I'm not worried about flow with my mp10.

Feedback appreciated.

[solefald]

I would not put an MP10 so close to the side. It will end up washing away all your sand in that area because all flow on the side will end up being directed up and down. And why not go with HOB overflow? With a tank like this you never know where you are going to put it next and HOB overflow gives you some room to play with.

But if you are drilling and going to drill your counter anyway, then just drill from the bottom. Why have plumbing take space outside your tank? I like that location of the overflow, but I would put the MP10 on the opposite side. Dead center.

[rdetune]

Reason for drilling the tank is i didnt want stuff hanging over it. I would go from the bottom but the side of the tank is only 8" so im assuming id have to get a pretty big box to do the return and drain behind the overflow box? So say i keep the box where it is should i move the return up next to the box -where the mp10 is currently or leave it where it is? I like the idea of having the MP10 on the other side just wish it didnt have a cord >:|

[solefald]

You don't really need a "box". Just a black acrylic divider a few inches from the wall. And if you really want to get all fancy, you can build a "dry box" inside the overflow to put MP10 dry side in there.

check out this post. it shows what i mean by dry box.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...6&postcount=73

[rdetune]

Wow... your really making me re think all this. That dry box seems crazy! do you have the link to the rest of his build. Curious to see it all now

[solefald]

Wow... your really making me re think all this. That dry box seems crazy! do you have the link to the rest of his build. Curious to see it all now

sure do
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1757436


i've been obsessing about this dudes build for a few weeks now. building a stand like his, but mine is going to be pretty much bulletproof
http://www.sandiegoreefs.com/forums/...ilding-a-stand

[rdetune]

Well the day has come. Picked up my tank last night. Mario came over and drilled it tonight (Mario you got lucky i didn't have my card in my camera when i took the picture of you drilling). Have 2 1" overflows in the far corner with the return on the other end. Figured id give you guys a little teaser now that i got the holes in the tank



Mario did an excellent job drilling my tank and would recommend him to anyone!

[miguel]

Where you got the tank?