FishI Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Hi nanoreef, I have been mostly lurking for a year plus. I have learned a ton and learned a lot from this forum. I currently have a 10 gallon reef tank that is almost 2 years old. I am upgrading to a 20 tall. I know not a long but my light wont nearly have enough spread for that and I am not ready to get a new one yet… I wanted to do this upgrade because I want a sump. I am tired of looking at HOB crap on the back. Oh and I want more fish/coral =) Equipment: 20 Gallon Tall $ per gallon special =) - Drilled and black painted back Sump DIY 20 long -left over from when I was a kid Hydor Koralia Nano 240 x2 Hydor 740 Pump for the return Ehiem Jager 100Watt Inhabitants Ocellaris clownfish - Banjo Canon Red legged Hermit Crab - Mulder Bunch of snails from ReefCleaners Coral: Branching Frog Spawn Hammer Coral Green Star Polyp Picture of Canon Ball in the ten from awhile ago.. This is how the tank sat yesterday. I put sand in it last night and more water... Ill be making the sump this weekend. Link to comment
FishI Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 Got the sump plumbed and in the bottom of the stand. Bone head move: I measured to make sure the sump would fit but never considered how to get it in there. The middle bar was in the way and I had to pop the back of to get it in lol.... Link to comment
FishI Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 I put an inch maybe a two inch sand bed in a couple days ago. The Ehiem Jager 100Watt couldn't heat the water up enough. It was warm to the touch but the temp never got about 74 and would drop to 70 when the room was at 60 degrees. I had it cranked to the highest temp too. I stopped by deathco on the way home and bought a 150 watt aqueon heater. Heated the tank right up to 79 degrees. Oh well. I have been testing and am seeing nitrates in my tank. Pretty sure the cycle is over. I added some ground up fish flakes this morning and will see what the ammonia levels are when I get home. Link to comment
crashburnoveride Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Keep the updates coming! Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I got a similar build, 20 tall, hob refugium not a sump... yet. I'm following. An ideas for a chiller? I've noticed a 2 degree raise in temp over the "sunny" day. With a 57 degree outside temp and comfortable inside temp. Link to comment
FishI Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 oops. Didn't see the notifications. I have all the livestock from the ten in the tank. Everything went smoothly with that. The coral is opening up a lot. I got a Midas Blenny Sunday. He seems to be doing well. Loves to shoot out and shoot back into his hiding spot. Here is a quick pick. I add Link to comment
FishI Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 I got a similar build, 20 tall, hob refugium not a sump... yet. I'm following. An ideas for a chiller? I've noticed a 2 degree raise in temp over the "sunny" day. With a 57 degree outside temp and comfortable inside temp. I dont have a chiller. And i didnt need one on the ten. What type of light are you running? And how close to the surface. My temp probably swings close too 2 degrees too but pretty slowly. It is probably 2 degrees higher from when the lights turn on to when they turn off. Also I have them turn off mid day for an hour or two. Mostly so they are on longer when I am home. I had a glass top on my tank and that made the temps swing way more. I would try a fan on the water surface before I spent $$$ on a chiller. The ice probe is the smallest one and might be enough. I have heard good things about them too but no personal experience. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I running fluval marine reef led. On the top edge of the aquarium with a glass top in between. Link to comment
FishI Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 I running fluval marine reef led. On the top edge of the aquarium with a glass top in between. Yeah get rid of the glass top that is your problem. I just ordered some netting from BRS to keep my Midas from jumping. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Yeah... I wish I could. It's part of the rental agreement... and it's either glass top or no tank. Link to comment
FishI Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Got a quick FTS last night. Also got my clean up crew from cleaners. Floated for 15 and dropped them in. Most of the guys started crawling around. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Branching hammer or frogspawn? Link to comment
FishI Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Branching hammer. I have a serious algae outbreak. I think it is normal for a tank this new. But that doesn't mean I am happy about it... Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 I'm battling that right now too... feed once a day. Shorten light cycle. It's coming back around. I did a huge 3 hour cleaning last Friday. "Recycled" about 20 gallons of water and finally added 5 gallons new. Scrapped, brushed, siphoned everything into a filter sock in a 5 gallon. Dumped the bucket back into the tank... 4 times of that before being satisfied and added the last 5 gallons as new water. It helped but it's coming back definitely lighter this time Link to comment
FishI Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 Nice idea about the filter sock and recycling water... Probably could just leave it in the tank too though. Syphon it into the sump through a filter sock. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 I don't have dump... YET! I'm working on it Link to comment
FishI Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 I don't have dump... YET! I'm working on it Work faster it is AWESOME. My ten didnt have one and I love mine now. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Did you drill 2 or 3 holes? It looks like you have an overflow box and 1 return line. 1 drain line to the sump and an emergency drain? How did you silence the system? I'm going to switch from a 20 tall to a 20 long and use the tall for my sump. Planning on an ehiem 1250 pump. Any tips? Link to comment
FishI Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Ehhh i am living on the edge a little... I just have one drain line and one return line. I only drilled the drain line.... No silencing. Its not that loud. I have the pvc draining under water so It doesnt make too much noise. And its in the family room which is never really quiet..... Although I think I have to go pee more when i am in there. =) Ehiem is a good pump a little expensive. I got the Hydor seems to be plenty of flow. But who knows. I also like That i can turn it down at the pump. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 How do you keep your water level above your drain? Link to comment
FishI Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 Overflow box keeps the water level above the drain. I bought off eBay with a bit. It was way cheaper than glass holes. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I need to make a decision on my overflow. I can't make a decision... thinking about corner mount and putting the return nozzle in the opposite corner. And aiming my power at a 45 to the center on my glass to keep the whirlpool effect down Link to comment
FishI Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 Yeah if I did it again I would do it that way or at least have one from bottom to top. Then I'd have more room for an emergency drain etc... Link to comment
FishI Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 So we bought a condo and my wife gave me the go ahead to build a custom stand. I think mostly because I leave my fish crap out too much and she wants me to have a place in the stand to keep it. Link to comment
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