Stan's 20H Custom Project

[stan]

Current FTS 5/5/2008

 

Current FTS 5/20/07:

 

Current FTS 1/25/07:

 

 

 

NOV 1, 2006: After months of planning and procrastinating i finally got my 20H custom project started. Been in the hobby for about 4 years now and i finally got enough knowledge to tackle a more involved reef project. My setups up until now has been a 12 gallon eclipse that i super modded out on a budget

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=90970

 

The goal: A clean looking tank to put onto the built in cabinets in my hallway. I'm not a great DIY guy, so i outsourced all the cosmetic stuff.

 

The setup:

 

Tank: 24x12x16 Custom acrylic built by Gen at Krittertanks.com (thanks supernip for the referral). If you're in NoCal and need custom.. check them out for sure. External overflow with return and drain drilled into same. Rounded edges, black back.

 

Canopy: Custom built by the LFS. Pine with a polyester finish. It's around 11" tall to acccomodate an HQI without melting everything.'

 

Pic1: The tank when i first got it home

Pic2: Tank with the canopy on top.

 

In retrospect i shouldve have gone a tad bit taller with the tank to even out the tank to canopy ratio. Oh well.

 

Lighting: 150W PFO Mini HQI with Phoenix 14K bulb. IceCap ballast with PFO quick connect kit.

[stan]

Plumbing:

 

10 Gallon AGA sump

Mag 7 Pump pushed through a SCWD

Drilled two 3/4" bulkheads into the tank with two lockline nozzles for the flow. I was thinking that i'd have to go with a closed loop, but this isnt too bad. The flow is nice right now.

 

Here's a pic of the oveflow box and how i plumbed the SCWD, you can also see the durso pipe i got in there.

 

I have nothing to compare it to, but the Mag7 seems a little on the loud side. I may swap this thing out for an Eheim or something.

[stan]

Installing the lighting in the canopy.

 

This was pretty delicate matter. The pendant fits easily into this canopy, but the problem was mounting it in the right place so i could still open the door on top. I have like 1mm clearance from the bottom of the pendant and the door.

 

The height from the water looks pretty good. Not too close to the water where i get a spotlight effect, not too much heat buildup either.

[stan]

The Sump:

 

This is still a work in progress. The biggest obstacle was me putting a sump nto a built in cabinet. Space was an issue as this thing was not designed as a fish cabinet.

 

Anyways.. here's the sump so far. I have a clip on light with a 29W 6500K screw in bulb to serve as my fuge bulb. I have like 20 lbs of extra live rock, so my plan is to create a rock wall that will create a fuge area in the sump

 

You'll also notice the skimmer in the front that i haven't installed yet. I got it from Sapphire Aquatics. It's built for the Biocube 29 but will serve my purposes well. I originally wanted to slap my Remora on there but my water level is like 8" and the remora hangs in around 12". That 4" waterfall would be too loud.

 

I havent run it yet, but the size is right and i dont plan on being super aggresive with stocking this tank so it should do the trick.

 

 

 

 

And Finally... some full tank shots.

 

Been running for 2 weeks now with rock only. The rock was from an established tank and had been curing in my garage for 3 months. I probably didnt even need to cycle it but what the hell.. i've been busy with work anyways so i've been patient and just let this bad boy run.

 

Ammonia, Nitrate, Phos.. etc has been rock solid at 0 and hasnt gone up or down, so i figure whatever mini-cycle was going to occur already did.

 

The camera doesnt quite pick it up.. i dont know the settings on this thing, but the tank looks really cool with the 14K bulb. It's got a really cool deep ocean thing going on.

[Tony]

It looks a lot different than your 12 gallon eclipse did. I'll have to check out crittertanks for my next tank upgrade.

[stan]

The Eclipse was getting so modded out it was looking Frankenstein. I was hoping for a more complete reef setup this time.

 

I recommend them big time. They're in San Carlos. The turnaround was fast, customer service was awesome and the pricing was just slightly above those seaclear or truvu type tanks.

[Tony]

I'm glad everything has worked out. You were talking about upgrading your tank when I bought one of your anemone's about a year ago.

[stan]

Yeah, it took me a year to decide on what to do. I thought about a full size reef for that area, but i didnt want the hassle or pay that monthly energy bill.

 

I then thought about a sumpless 20G project. That would've been cheap and easy, but then it would be like my Eclipse only slightly bigger, so what's the point?

 

So i went custom with a sump. I'm working on plumbing today, still cant get this thing dialed in right to cut down on the noise.

 

The levels are all good but the durso intake gurgles a bit much and the drainpipe make an annoying waterfall sound.

[Tony]

I was worried about the same thing with mine, but so far no noise at all.

[stan]

Just a few updates...

 

Installed the sapphire aquatics skimmer in my sump last week. Here's my take.

 

Pros:

1. Fits perfectly into a 10Gallon AGA sump!

2. Super quiet.. can't even tell it's on.

3. Built very well, sleek design and i like the blue.. reminds me of a bottle of bombay sapphire (hence the name i guess).. hmm a martini sounds good right about now.

4. Bubble trap works well if the cup is set correctly

5. I'm getting some thin amber colored skimmate right now which i'm happy with seeing as this is a brand new setup with minimal stock. My remora got about the same colored stuff when i had it on a new tank back in the day. So as far as skimming ability goes, i'm pretty sure this is gonna do me right.

 

Cons:

1. It's still breaking in, but i've not been able to set my cup to the proper height. Some days i get too wet and overflowed my collection cup, the other day it was too high and got nothing. It's party my fault as my sump water level is in flux from me fiddling with my setup.

2. See #4 above. One day i had my cup set a little too low and it pushed the bubbles down past the trap and i had bubble clouds all over.

 

Overall: So far i'm happy with it and would recommend it and i feel it's sized perfect for nanos like ours (some of the big boy skimmers overskim). The price is right and the customer service is A+++. As with most skimmers, there is a break in period so i'm pretty sure the height adjustment issues will resolve themselves. I've also ordered an autotopoff.com sump switch so that should definitely stabilize things.

 

I'll keep a running diary on this thing.

 

 

On another note, my fuge idea didnt work.

 

I originally wanted to create a live rock wall that would create a fuge area in the sump where i didnt have to build something. Well.. it turned out not to be a good idea. It's just too hard to find the right pieces of rock that will make a tight enough wall. Even if you get it right.. one little knock and your wall comes tumbling down and it's a jigsaw puzzle to get it right again..

 

Here's a pic of the sump from the top. To reduce the noise and downsplash i had to create this weird little manifold to slow the water and let some of the air in there boil out. You'll notice my wannabe rock wall and the chaeto climbing it.

 

And i finally added some livestock to the tank.

 

One of those famous BTAs from my old tank and a percula clown.

[supernip]

Are you ready for some Zoanthids yet?

[stan]

Hey Nip! Yeah i'm big time ready for some zoos!!!!

[Tony]

you know Stan I'm really surprised your not getting any play at all from fellow N-reefers. The tank looks great. Did you ever get some Zoos from Nip?

[stan]

Well, from a hardware standpoint, i think i did a pretty clean job but i am think on livestock right now so maybe i'll get some more views when i stock up more.

 

The holidays are on us, so i havent had time to hook up with Nip.

 

I got the last of my sump equipment so i'll post a few more pics soon

[Tony]

any new news on the tank Stan?

[stan]

Hey Tony!

 

Nothing much in terms of livestock but i finally dialed in my equipment.

 

1. Added a CPR in tank fuge to the sump and have gracillaria and cheato growing in there.

 

2. I had problems with microbubbles, so i finally fixed that by installing a hang on filter sock. You'll notice how crystal clear the water is now.

 

3. The loud overflow i also fixed with a simple drinking straw on the advice of a guy at the LFS. I dropped the straw down the durso pipe until the sound stopped. This solved the sound, but didnt allow me to regulate the water flow, so i simply used a piece of black electric tape on the straw to cut down the air flow til the levels were right. The loudest thing on the whole setup is now the pump.

 

4. The BTA is loving this tank and is practically doubled since i put it in. I've stopped weekly feedings on it and only feed every 3 weeks or so to keep down the growth.

 

Now that the holidays are finally over i can devote more time to stocking this tank.

 

Here's some assorted tank shots.

 

[rleon3003]

Im listening to Eminem's song Stan. and youre stan haha. i really like your tank. It looks great.

[travisurfer]

awesome stan. I love this style of tank, reminds of your 12g eclipse. where do you get your rock from?

 

rleon, get some real music lol

[stan]

Hey Travisurfer... i actually bought all the live rock from a local reefer with a FOWLR tank. I cooked it for almost 4 months in the garage to make sure it was clean. I think that was my mistake with the last tank. I didn't get all the gunk out of the rock before i started cycling and it really made for a bad start.

 

rleon: you're not the first guy to mention that song. It's either that or the guy from South Park. Stan always seemed a common name to me (like dave or jason) but for some reason, people always point it out when they hear it.

 

TANK UPDATE!

 

Well i finally started stocking the tank a bit. Here's a recent full tank shot.

 

Here's some kind of Favia that i picked up as part of a zoo rock and a little SPS frag that's not going to make it.

 

Some pretty cool Zoos that are doing well.

 

These zoos are some of my favorites, but i think the light might be a bit too intense for them, they seem to growing away into the shade. Maybe it's time to put this frag lower.

 

And last but not least.. everybody's favorite BTA queen and clown. You'll notice the BTA is growing nicely.. maybe it'll split again.

[Obsessed Reefer]

O man, I'm loving this tank. Mostly cus of the RBTA. Wish you were on the East Coast, I might have bought a split from it. But beggars cant be choosers.

[travisurfer]

Tank is coming along great. I love the clean look with the focus on the bta/clown

[stan]

Thanks for the compliments. I'm really digging the tank more and more now that i got a few frags going.

 

Damn it! Found an Aiptasia last night. I guess it was just a matter of time before i got a pest hitchhiker. Maybe it'll just stay put and not multiply. If not, peppermint shrimp time!

 

Here's a weird one, some of my new zoos (2 weeks in the tank now) were spitting out brown strands. I think they're expelling their zooxanthellae. I hope it's just an adjustment to the MH lighting..

[travisurfer]

Hopefully its just coral poo. Have you considered joes juice?

[stan]

i've used joe's juice before. I actually have some here at home. I've noticed it doesn't eradicate them. It nukes them and then a few weeks later they grow back from the little bits of meat left over. I've had really good luck with peppermint shrimp though.

 

This was totally wierd and not coral poop. At least none i've ever seen. All the zoos were spitting out brown stringy things that were maybe 2" long. The zoos look fine though and no color changes, so maybe it wont be a problem.

[travisurfer]

I've found that you need to cut the flow for an hour or two for the stuff to actually work. HTH.