# McNasty's 55gal filled and running



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

it's not near being done but i like showing people what i planning on doingthe drift wood, light, stand and a 50' python thing came with the tank. it was all 100 bucks. i'm going to upgrade my lighting to a t5 fixture and i'm useing the 20 gal long for a sump . i cant wait to get it up and runing.

please feel free to give idvice


----------



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

good to know that it's not done, but interested to know what it may become...


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

thats a great deal for 100 bucks.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

thats what i thought


----------



## roybot73 (Dec 15, 2007)

Is the tank shimmed _on_ the stand? If it is, you'll probably end up with a 55 gallon cleanup.


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

is the tank underneath going to be a seperate aquarium, or will you connect the two (and waterproof the top of the bottom one).


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

what do you mean shimmed???


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

nate_mcnasty said:


> what do you mean shimmed???


What's the white on the bottom right corner of the tank, and will that be there once the water is in the tank... if so then it will cause some structural stability problems.

If you need to shim the tank to make it level, you need to shim it under the legs of the stand, not under the tank rim. That's what Roybot was asking/pointing out...


----------



## mgamer20o0 (Mar 8, 2007)

good luck


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

oh haha i was cleaning it out and i put something under one side so i could siphon more out those won't stay ha


----------



## zebra freak (Mar 31, 2008)

I like the placement of the driftwood myself...


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

thank you i had to mod the one the left to get it to sit the why i wanted it to it. i want to gorw some stuff off of it

haha is zebra freak alyx well it means much more than


----------



## TheCryptKeeper (Mar 9, 2008)

I like the driftwood too.. are you going to have any rocks?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i would like to have some rocks but i'm not sure what i want them to look like. i want to do a south American tank with apistos and such but i don't know what would look natural in a tank like this? some help would be nice


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

just bought an aquacontroller jr+dc-8 + temp probe+ back lite + serial port + ph probe + pc to controller cable all for only $270 brand new i'll get picks up soon pretty pumped to get it


----------



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

Nice find - let me know how setup goes, as I still haven't started futsing around with mine; If you have any questions, Neptune is really good about responding quickly and wholly to questions; there's a link on their website. Like I said, let us know how things go!


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i will still need to get my co2 and pumps them i'll onlly need my substrate and i'll add my water


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i just put up my diy fans and hung my light cuz my cat would jump on it 

tell me what you think


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

found out the aqua flora bulbs are 14K


----------



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

How did you mount your fans? I've never seen a design like this before, but it is nonetheless intriguing! What else is new with the tank? What bulbs will you be using?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i'm going to try to get the aqua flora bulbs but if i cant find them i'll try something else but 2 of those with my 10k bulbs i called sunlight supply and they said the aqua folra bulbs were 14K 

i just used this heavy duty clear tape then i'm going to silicone them i bought the fans off ebay then wired them up to a charger that i didn't use any more that put out 12dc volts it works great i put the two in the mid cuz i couldn't feel the fans there so thought it might help keep the bulbs cool


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

tell me what ya think


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

the fixture looks good, and the fans lol. oh and the wheel on you wall too (dont have room to put the winter tires?).


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

its a clock that doesn't work and i don't really like it haha i still live at my parents home so my tank is in my room 

do you think the fans will do what i want??


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

oh now i see the red hand.

they will help cool the tank, but i dont know how good it will work. i have on the reef fans and somedays they come on but not the iceprobe, so they do cool a certain amount, but i dont know how much (the whole tank is computerized, and my dad's the reef guy so he feeds the fish and all that. i just watch the hermits play "kill the corals").


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

I think it looks great NMc, how did you get them to stick?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

there more for the bulbs for my light to keep them cool and my tank will have a Aqua controller jr to keep th temp right i sould get that in 2 weeks


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

What kind of light fixture did you get? It looks realy cool. 2 chords and 2 switches. Sweet.


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

heh, i have an aqua controller jr on the reef (well my dad does). just to let you know, if you have a lot of noise on the power it can spaz out (like turn the lights of for no reason and then back on when it realizes they are of in a minute or so).


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

the light is a 4 bulb t5 solar here is a tread on my lights 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/63932-just-bought-light-pics.html

what do you mean a lot of noise marko
and the fans have heave duty tape w/ silicone


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

electrical noise. a bunch of stuff makes it. lights, TV (makes a lot), comp, etc. there are filters you can buy which stop the noise, but you need a seperate one for each appliance. (thats what my dad did). i dont know all the details of exactly what it is and how the fitlers work, but my dad is a comp programmer and knows everything about electricity, i see him on wednesday so i can ask him about it if you want (thats a sacrifice, he goes on and on and on and on about stuff like that going into every little detail).


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

that would be awesome and would i need it just on my ac jr??? and can i get some brand and where to buy??


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

no, you need it on everything that makes noise (im pretty sure its EM).


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

ok that would be awesome if you could find all that out for me


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

well what he said improved it the most was removing the total amount of items the ACjr controlled, he moved them to the computer to control (with X10 signals).
noise is when some appliance, while electricity is going through it, sends back occasional wavelengthes with a different height of the wave (i forget the name), they may send lower troughs too, but i dont know. so he put a dozen filters on the different stuff that makes noise.
my suggestion is just keep 10 items or less on the ACjr.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

its a dc8 and i wasn't going to put any more than that on there thanks so much where do you get these filters??


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

i think the ones he has had radioshack signs on them, so im pretty sure if you can get them there. or online (google may help). but i reccomend seeing how it works before buying a bunch of filters.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

thanks for the info this helps me alot


----------



## Pomacanthus (May 10, 2008)

I have some advice - consider mounting your 6 oulet strip vertically where you cant spill water into it, unless your electroman and have a fireproof floor. These is ez by using cable ties, snugged up tight use one top and bottom the plugs still even go in, right over the ties.

Just my .02 worth
Pomacanthus


----------



## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

Can't wait to see this tank all the way finished. You seem to be putting a lot of thought into it (way to go!) I wasted a lot of money by not doing that!


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

thanks stargate it going to be awhile before i get water in it but i got my zebra stone drift wood and AC jr coming this week. it's a big week for me haha 

pomacanthus i'm not even close to puting water in the tank haha my Aquacontroller jr will have a dc 8 that i will be mounting on the wall i'm geting the acjr through saltwater empire you should know them sence you live in MN and do salt water tanks


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Just wanted to say Hi Nate. Hope your tank is growing well and Im sure your hard work will pay off. Its looking good!


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

thanks orlando when i start working again i'll be coming to your site to buy a reg.


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

there shouldnt be any electrical fire problems if you get a GFCI.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i already put one in ha


----------



## rountreesj (Jun 12, 2007)

definitely use orlando for a reg...He knows what he is doing. He hooked me up with some co2 equipment and look how my tank is doing!


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

thanks i really like the why orlando's stuff looks


----------



## Pomacanthus (May 10, 2008)

Hey you might wanna think about auto top off...with those fans your gonna have hella evaporation, like a gallon a day.
I use a simple mercury swith drilled into the sump connected to a powerhead. When the evap goes low, the switch kicks on the powerhead and shuts it right back off. Of course you will need room for a 5 Gl bucket or a 10 gallon tank to contain the refill water. Whole setup runs about $40 less if you have an old powerhead.


----------



## Pomacanthus (May 10, 2008)

PS Have you powered up those fans to test noise? Sometimes they sound like a hovercraft depending on wattage. I do a little trick where i buy the multi-voltage DC powersupply from RadioShack and powerdown to 9V instead of 12. You only need the fan to turn, and 9V is about 10X quieter than 12 in most cases


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i'm not to concerned about noise just want it to work well and it's not to loud i wired them up to one 12 volt out put so there is less power to all of them and where did you get the switch?? for the top off??


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

i dont remember where my dad got the float valves he used, but im sure it cant be too hard to locate. also, just a suggestion: if you are using an inline heater (and your really should), have the top-off water go through the filter so it is tank-temp when it gets into the actual aquarium.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i have a sump so my heater is in there and thats where the top off would go


----------



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

rountreesj said:


> definitely use orlando for a reg...He knows what he is doing. He hooked me up with some co2 equipment and look how my tank is doing!


Agreed! Orlando's stuff is the bee's knees! 

Thought I'd stop by and see what's new with your tank...I was worried you might have beat me to filling it up!! Everything seems to be going pretty well, can't wait to see things come together. Hey just curious: did you order a serial cable with your AC? I think it'll be much easier to program it from the computer rather than using that tiny little screen!!


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

yeah i'm getting a cable with it i get it at the end of the week i'm super pumped


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

any updates?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

got my ac jr and zebra stone i'll take pics on Monday cuz my girlfriend doesn't like it when i'm on and shes here haha


----------



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

your girlfriend still around? what about some new pics?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

here is my ac jr


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

nice. so what are you hooking up to it? lights? heater? feeder? automatic top-off? CO2 (ph controled or timer?)?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

just my lights .heater, fans and co2 for now i would like to get a feeder and a top off but i'm not sure yet.


----------



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

when do you get to set everything up? Maybe get some water in the there? Come on...you're even slower than me! Although I guess I can let it slide since you've got another tank you've been working on...


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

yeah its kinda slow, but thats what happens when attempting high-tech. top-off isnt neccissary depending on how often you do water changes, but it does look nicer when you water level is at the top, plus auto top-off is a cool gadget you can brag about lol


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

my water will always be at the top because i have a sump  and i'll be able to hide everything in there too. i'm going to be working on it today cuz i don't have to work. so i'll try and get more pics up today


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

So how 'bout them pics


----------



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

yeah, nate....how bout them pics?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

what would you like to see not much has changed?


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

the sump, the tank, everything.


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

anything new? Oh wait, your using it to grow hc arent you....


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i no you can donate me some money to get it done


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

can we have some kind of timeframe for this tank, like if the gravel will be here by 2010, and if you will get it planted by 2015...
lol :biggrin:


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

soo... how the hc growin'


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i left the tops open like the 3 day in so i had a die off but now i's comin in nicely


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

well theres water in the tank but it's not what you would expect


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

well, we still need pics


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

here you go i know you guys art going to be happy with me






















































so there you go


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Well no wonder your HC died! 

Umm Nate, I hate to break it to you... but someone pulled a fast one on ya- what you got thur is a SALTWATER TANK!!!

How'd that all get in thur?

:hihi:


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

WHAT THIS IS A SALT WATER I THOUGHT THOSE WHERE DRI FERTS I WAS DOSEING!!! haha jk 

i traded my cat for all the live rock sand hermits skimmer and pump and refugium


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Sweet! So is this gonna be a reef tank or a FOWLR?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

this going to be a reef tank


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Sweet!!!


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

thanks i have alot of people near me that do reefs so i'm getting alot of free stuff


----------



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

you traded your CAT?!?! 

The tank's not what I was expecting...cool tank though, nonetheless. So what are your plans for this guy (something more specific than reef tank, please)!?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i would like to get zoas and other softy corals with some sps and lps coral. i would like a tone of inverts and 2 black clowns and some chalk bass and a gobie and blenny


----------



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

Once again: you traded your CAT? How long had you had him? Was it you that had that crazy tiger-striped cat?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

yeah leopard spots i'm going to have to move i think and he was being cooped up in my room all day it was for the best and i got a good deal out of it too


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

well i know you guys don't care much about my reef but i love you all so much that i'll show it to you any way


----------



## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

let's see a FTS...


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

but i'm trying to be just like you cole and never take FTS
hahahahahahahah

fine i will brb


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

The tonga branch is nice. MOVE IT TO THE FRONT. Get something to grow on top of it. GSP is nice, maybe some fast growing zoas or palys. GO GO GO.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i hate the branch thats why it's in the back haha i'll get some thing on there though so it will cover up the branch look to it haha

her is one for cole i have alge on the glass with no scraper so bear with me


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! FROGSPAWN!

Now, time to blow a million dollars on coral. Good luck.

That's the reason I broke down the reef tank.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

so far i have spent $45.00 for fish and coral and live rock and my octopus 200 and a magdrive 7


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

nate_mcnasty said:


> so far i have spent $45.00 for fish and coral and live rock and my octopus 200 and a magdrive 7


...don't forget a cat. 

You can get deals on corals too. Look for big tank breakdowns. You can get cheap corals there, but for the nicer pieces, expect to pay big bucks. 

Awesome start so far. Makes me miss the reef.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

the cat too i guess and i know how the prices are and i don't like the looks of that haha i'm in a local club and i seem to find some really good deals on there 

the growth rate of corals is a lot different than plants. it takes FOREVER ha but i think i'm going to try and do only lps, softys and zoas


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

nate_mcnasty said:


> the cat too i guess and i know how the prices are and i don't like the looks of that haha i'm in a local club and i seem to find some really good deals on there
> 
> the growth rate of corals is a lot different than plants. it takes FOREVER ha but i think i'm going to try and do only lps, softys and zoas


You need to separate those rocks out and have them stand up and try different scapes.

Scaping with rock that you didn't specifically pick out yourself is very very very hard. Much harder than plants sometimes. Might be easier out of the tank...once you can get a decent looking scape, you can glue your corals on. Don't glue them on now without scaping it. You'll regret it because it's such a huge pain prying corals off rocks to rescape the tank. Plus disturbing the sand bed may cause a small cycle, depending on your tank.

What's your flow in the tank? How many powerheads?


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i have just one maxi 1200 and my mag drive 7 

i just put in a ton of corals in today so i reall haven't done a scape yet


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Time to buy more pumps! Koralia 2/3 probably for your size tank.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i know i need them bad


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

nate_mcnasty said:


> i know i need them bad


Don't put it off or else you'll get cyano which is ugly ugly. Not hard to get rid of, but you wish you had the flow from the start. Maybe a bag of PhosBan wouldn't hurt too to start off with. 

I'm not trying to tell you what to do...just advice so you can avoid the mistakes I made from the start.

I'm interested in the progression of the tank!


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i'm planing on getting both ha if i didn't like what you were saying i would tell you haha


----------



## fishboy87 (Feb 19, 2008)

I always thought a big toadstool coral would be cool either at the top of a mountain or the end of a ledge because they can get so big. I'd recommend an acropora but they are hard if I'm not mistaken and you said you wanted soft. You need at least one BIG coral in there!!! You have to keep us posted too


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

for all who care






























































































































and the new tank


----------



## youareafever (Mar 18, 2008)

i remember seeing ur tank on RC, looks like ur stocking up really nicely. though ur birdsnest is lookin kinda rough there.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

looks much better in person i had to pick out algae that had got all cought in it so the polyps are retracted and the color is off on that pick and my green acain looks wight for some reason too


----------



## youareafever (Mar 18, 2008)

ahhh i c, i have trouble getting the correct white balance right off the bat too when i photograph my tank. either then that great tank.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

thanks


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Wow nice, Nate! :thumbsup:


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

thanks laura. sorry i haven't been on here lately!


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

the birds nest doesnt look happy. i could barely tell what it was. 
maybe it needs more light? mine is much more branchy.


----------



## nate_mcnasty (Mar 11, 2008)

i had just got that and its 3 weeks old to my tank it was practically white when i got it and all the new nubs on it are new grows since i've had it


----------

