Mashed Potato's 22L Build - Cycling (Finally)

[mashedpotato]

Hi All,

This thread will document my ongoing Mr. Aqua 22L shallow reef build. Newbie to this forum and hobby so feedback is appreciated.

Intro:

I have a little bit of experience with my dads Fish Only tank as a kid (the days when sumps were bio ball storage and the only thing that had an LED was your VCR). In College, I had a 70G saltwater fish only aquarium that, due to my fear of over bio-loading, only housed a cleaning crew, shrimp, and a lone clownfish. After years of interest/obsessing, I decided to pull the plunge and start building my first reef aquarium. This will also be my first experience with protein skimmers and LED lighting.

Current Equipment:

Mr. Aqua 22L

Mame Overflow

Eshopps RS-100

Nanobox Quad

36" ATI Sunpower

100w Cobalt Neotherm Heater

MP10qd

Icecap K2-50

IM Minimax Reactor

JBJ ATO

Apex Jr

[nickkohrn]

 

Hi All

 

 

 

Welcome!

 

It sounds like you (your wife ) has this planned out pretty well as far as expectations! I'm excited to follow your progression and excitement!

 

Do you know what kind of rock/sand that you plan on using?

[mashedpotato]

 

 

Welcome!

 

It sounds like you (your wife ) has this planned out pretty well as far as expectations! I'm excited to follow your progression and excitement!

 

Do you know what kind of rock/sand that you plan on using?

 

I had good luck with using all live rock. Any kind more sustainably sourced than others?

 

Looking for the finest grade sand that wont cause a sandstorm. Opinions on egg crate under the sand?

[nickkohrn]

 

I had good luck with using all live rock. Any kind more sustainably sourced than others?

 

Looking for the finest grade sand that wont cause a sandstorm. Opinions on egg crate under the sand?

 

 

I don't really have much experience with using live rock. I have started using dry rock so that I can limit the number of unwanted hitchhikers coming into my tank. I'll let others give you advice about live rock if that is what you prefer.

 

I used egg crate under a sand bed once and ended up removing it. It was difficult for my Nassarius snails to get down into the little squares and clean the sand. As far as sand goes, I have always used a larger-grained sand to keep it from blowing around a lot, so again, I will let others give you advice on smaller-grained sand.

 

What kind of coral do you want to keep?

[mashedpotato]

 

 

I don't really have much experience with using live rock. I have started using dry rock so that I can limit the number of unwanted hitchhikers coming into my tank. I'll let others give you advice about live rock if that is what you prefer.

 

I used egg crate under a sand bed once and ended up removing it. It was difficult for my Nassarius snails to get down into the little squares and clean the sand. As far as sand goes, I have always used a larger-grained sand to keep it from blowing around a lot, so again, I will let others give you advice on smaller-grained sand.

 

What kind of coral do you want to keep?

 

Yeah I forgot about the zombie snails.

 

I'd like to start off with softies once the tank is established. I'd like to have a large toadstool to host a pair of clowns. Coral first then clowns?

[mashedpotato]

Got the Oceanbox Design AIO today. Fantastic build quality!

 

 

Now to plan skimmer. The center chamber is 4.5" x 3.75"; don't think an icecap will fit. Suggestions?

[nickkohrn]

 

Yeah I forgot about the zombie snails.

 

I'd like to start off with softies once the tank is established. I'd like to have a large toadstool to host a pair of clowns. Coral first then clowns?

My preference is fish and then corals so that the bacteria in the tank will become established so that it can handle the bioload of the fish. Once the bioload is able to be processed, then you shouldn't have an issue adding corals.

 

I actually went through this issue recently, which was not fun. I added corals first, and the nutrient levels were so low that the bacteria weren't being fed well. Then I ended up skyrocketing my nitrates when I added a fish and a cycle began to happen. Not that this will be your experience, but it's just something that I have learned to do the hard way; I will add a fish and let the bacteria catch up for a few weeks before adding coral.

 

Any certain softies that have caught your attention?

[Marc.The.Shark]

Love that tank. I almost bought it, but they were out of stock for 6 weeks when I was ordering last year, so I had one made locally. Same footprint, just 2" shorter 36x12x10. You can do a lot with it & it looks like a much bigger tank. I've had Phuong over at Oceanbox make a few things for me, can't beat the quality, he does awesome work! Welcome to the community & keep us posted on the build progress.

[Oceanbox Designs]

Got the Oceanbox Design AIO today. Fantastic build quality!

 

 

Now to plan skimmer. The center chamber is 4.5" x 3.75"; don't think an icecap will fit. Suggestions?

 

Really glad it came in good shape (sometime they like to play ball with my packages..lol) and glad you like my work.

 

I can recommend a few choices of skimmer and heater that would fit nicely in the middle chamber.

 

Skimmers:

 

AquaticLife Mini 115 (can't beat price for quality)

Tunze 9001 w/Neo Therm Heater

MAME III

 

Heater:

75W Eheim Jager

75W NeoTherm

Love that tank. I almost bought it, but they were out of stock for 6 weeks when I was ordering last year, so I had one made locally. Same footprint, just 2" shorter 36x12x10. You can do a lot with it & it looks like a much bigger tank. I've had Phuong over at Oceanbox make a few things for me, can't beat the quality, he does awesome work! Welcome to the community & keep us posted on the build progress.

 

Thanks for the kind words! Always glad to help

[mashedpotato]

 

Really glad it came in good shape (sometime they like to play ball with my packages..lol) and glad you like my work.

 

I can recommend a few choices of skimmer and heater that would fit nicely in the middle chamber.

 

Skimmers:

 

AquaticLife Mini 115 (can't beat price for quality)

Tunze 9001 w/Neo Therm Heater

MAME III

 

Heater:

75W Eheim Jager

75W NeoTherm

 

 

Thanks for the kind words! Always glad to help

MAME III is pretty. Is it functional?

 

I've toyed with arduino and pi boards and considering setting up a simple auto change system. This would largely remove the need for a skimmer in a tank this small, right?

[Oceanbox Designs]

MAME III is pretty. Is it functional?

 

I've toyed with arduino and pi boards and considering setting up a simple auto change system. This would largely remove the need for a skimmer in a tank this small, right?

 

MAME works great for me, I'm using it along with my AquaticLife 115 skimmer as a dual skimmers setup. I really don't think auto water change can help with the fact that detritus builds up on sand bed. When I vacuum my sand bed there is always tons of detritus settled underneath it. In such a small system, I don't think I'd ever want to skip this part of tank maintenance.

 

ps. Let me know how the AIO kit fits for you.

[mashedpotato]

 

MAME works great for me, I'm using it along with my AquaticLife 115 skimmer as a dual skimmers setup. I really don't think auto water change can help with the fact that detritus builds up on sand bed. When I vacuum my sand bed there is always tons of detritus settled underneath it. In such a small system, I don't think I'd ever want to skip this part of tank maintenance.

 

ps. Let me know how the AIO kit fits for you.

 

I didn't intent to not vacuum the sand bed; just do it less often. Experimenting with a quick auto change system with a cheap dosing pump and a few 10 gallon tanks (Petco dollar sale). I've never had a dosing pump but this one is amazingly accurate for the sub $100 price.

 

I haven't siliconed the conversion kit in place yet but dimensions are accurate. I'm planning on modifications and I haven't even filled the thing with water yet

[mashedpotato]

Custom top. Nice to have access to a laser cutter.

 

[mashedpotato]

Picked up a new stand today. It was a sideboard I found at an outlet furniture in great condition.

 

 

However, this could change my future design now. I originally decided on an AIO conversion because a sump was out of the question. Now, a sump is a possibility and I am starting to weigh my options a bit. A sump would definitely be more expensive but would greatly increase system volume and hide most equipment.

 

Anyone go from AIO to sump want to weigh in?

[mashedpotato]

Things have changed a bit with design (which is a consequence of spending too much time online waiting for live rock to cure...). I have decided with a mame overflow and sump instead of the AIO. The AIO insert has been repurposed to a planted tank in the works. I have decided to go bare bottom with this build because of the shallow depth of the Mr Aqua and I like the ability to increase flow without risking a sand storm.

 

The Mame overflow is a sexy piece of glass and was easy to set up. It return siphons a little too much for my comfort so I will be adding a check valve this week. I could have drilled the tank but fell in love with the Mame which provides more than enough flow for the 22 gallon display.

 

I started the cycle with a prodibio kit yesterday. The 100w heater in the sump does not seem to keep up with dropping night temps so I temporarily stuck another heater in the display. I set up the Icecap less than 24 hours ago and it is already a beast. It's pulling iced coffee skim already (my prodibio, no doubt).

 

 

 

 

Sumpwork: