andru24 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Current FTS (1/15/2011) Original Post: I have decided to replace my current 15g work tank (HOB AC110) with a 20 Long AIO. The dimensions of the display tank are going to be pretty much the same as the current 15g with the extra 6" dedicated to the refugium, filter floss, chemipure, heater & pump. The plan is to basically transplant everything from the 15g to the 20L (except for maybe my pistol shrimp as I am sick of him disturbing the sand bed. I am currently waiting for an order of Loc-line and other 1/2" plumbing pieces before I drill the hole for the pump discharge into the display. - The light will be a 150w MH with 14000k Phoenix bulb. - The pump is a minijet 606 I had from a previous project that was never completed. - Additional flow will be provided by a Koralia nano for the time being. The tank will be displayed as a peninsula-style with only the overflow and back chambers being black. Without further ado... PICS! Empty Tank... Overflow Construction Overflow Caulked In Side shot of Back Chambers with Media Rack in Back Chambers w/ Details Link to comment
violinist Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Off to a good start. Following! Link to comment
Falcon_Punch Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 looks good! MD? Do you go to Mr.Coral? Link to comment
andru24 Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 looks good! MD? Do you go to Mr.Coral? On occasion, when I can convince the wife that we need a Costco run. I mostly go to Aquarium One on Rockville Pike since it's about a 1/2 mile away. Link to comment
andru24 Posted January 28, 2010 Author Share Posted January 28, 2010 I received all of my piping today from Bulk Reef Supply and got the hole for the return nozzle drilled and the piping pieces installed. I filled it with water and leak tested the overflow wall, seems to be working perfectly. I then filled it up and turned the pump on. Worked great except the water level in the display tank was a bit too high (touching the lip of the tank). If i put my hand in the water it would overflow. So I drained some water took a Dremel to it and widened and lengthened the existing slots in the overflow and added one additional slit and it seems to be working pretty much perfectly now... maintains a good height in the display tank. First flow test After Dremeling threw some food in to see how good the flow is. Flow is pretty good... There are some dead spots near the bottom of the overflow wall, which is to be expected. I was still planning on adding a K-nano or K1 so it shouldn't be an issue. Next steps: 1) Going to add an additional small wall at the side of the refugium below the media rack, just to keep any small bits from falling down and floating into the pump. 2) Going to paint the sides of the chambers black. -Andy Link to comment
violinist Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 You're definitely gonna need that K1. Been following, you are quite the diy-er and it's looking good! Link to comment
andru24 Posted January 28, 2010 Author Share Posted January 28, 2010 You're definitely gonna need that K1. Been following, you are quite the diy-er and it's looking good! Thanks. Now that I am thinking about it, it might be nice to not have to put a powerhead in the tank. What do you think about the idea of getting a more powerful pump and then splitting the return into two nozzles coming out of the overflow wall?... one on each side with one a bit lower... Link to comment
violinist Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Got the cash for a vortech? If so, problem solved and they are really low profile in the tank. If not, yeah I would upgrade that pump. Even for softie's that's pretty low flow and with rocks in the tank it's likely to be worse. Vortech is also nice because you can keep it throttled down, and then if/when you need more flow it's just a matter of turning a dial. Link to comment
andru24 Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 Got the cash for a vortech? If so, problem solved and they are really low profile in the tank.If not, yeah I would upgrade that pump. Even for softie's that's pretty low flow and with rocks in the tank it's likely to be worse. Vortech is also nice because you can keep it throttled down, and then if/when you need more flow it's just a matter of turning a dial. Yeah I just bought one for my 40 breeder project so I don't think I'll be able to get another at this point. I'll probably just settle for a stronger pump and a K1 or K-nano for now. Link to comment
violinist Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 So how much display area is left after the overflow wall was put in? Link to comment
andru24 Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 So how much display area is left after the overflow wall was put in? I basically kept the same dimensions as the 15g that it is replacing. So it's a 24" long display area and a 6" area for the fuge. I am basically pretty happy with my current 15G; I just don't like the HOB AC110 and having the heater in the display tank, which is why I decided to upgrade. Link to comment
SnakPak Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Looks good! Plan for a lot more flow though. My dimensions for the back chamber and display are pretty spot on to what you have. I'm using a MJ1200 for return to tank, then 2 K1's inside the display for additional flow. Link to comment
andru24 Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 Went to work today to do the transfer of everything from the 15g to the new 20L. Went pretty smoothly and I am pretty pumped about how it turned out... PICS! My glorious cubicle, bombarded by buckets and saltwater After getting all of the rocks and corals back in, no fish yet Lights on, water still a bit cloudy End Shot AIO Chambers Hot video action I waited a bit for the temperature to get to the right level, then added the fish back in. More pictures tomorrow when the water should be nice & clear. -Andy Link to comment
violinist Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Turned out nice. I like how you were able to recycle your lights. Link to comment
andru24 Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 Turned out nice. I like how you were able to recycle your lights. Yeah, the only costs were the tank and some acrylic. Wasn't really looking to do a major upgrade on this, just clean it up a little bit and get rid of the HOB AC 110. I can't wait to get to work tomorrow to see how it looks with everything settled... I plan on doing a good size water change to help deal with any issues caused by everything being stirred up during the move. Link to comment
andru24 Posted February 6, 2010 Author Share Posted February 6, 2010 New pics of everything after it settled below. I ended up losing a clownfish in the move. When I came back to work on Monday I found him on the floor a good 4 feet from the tank. He was either an amazing jumper or quite the flopper. The current tank inhabitants are a clownfish who was the male of the pair I had, a spotted madarin fish who I am currently training to eat frozen, and a coral banded shrimp... plus a bunch of snails. Oh and I have been finding a bunch of 1-2 inch long bristle worms in my chaeto refugium area which my coworkers have enjoyed seeing. I put one in the display to let him clean up some of my live rock. The tank is currently using the Minijet 606 return pump plus a K1 for additional flow. I am thinking of taking my MP10 out of my biocube and putting it in this tank. The biocube just hasn't been doing well since I put it in so I'll see how this tank handles it. The light is an Odyssea 150w MH with t5 actinics running a Phoenix 14000k bulb. Anyway... pics: 3/4 shot The remaining clown fish My spotted dragonet Full Tank Shot I am thinking of getting one more fish for this tank... suggestions? Link to comment
SpankythePyro Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 is the mandy eating frozen yet? Link to comment
andru24 Posted February 6, 2010 Author Share Posted February 6, 2010 is the mandy eating frozen yet? So far it's just live brine shrimp... Working on getting him used to eating from the syringe/airline tube. I am going to start incorporating frozen food next time I feed him. Link to comment
SpankythePyro Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 frozen bloodworms... I wiill guarantee you he will eat those!!! Bet you $100, it'll be cool too because he will suck them up like a vacuum Link to comment
andru24 Posted February 6, 2010 Author Share Posted February 6, 2010 frozen bloodworms... I wiill guarantee you he will eat those!!! Bet you $100, it'll be cool too because he will suck them up like a vacuum I'll give it a try. I'll see if he shows a preference between those or frozen mysis, etc. Link to comment
violinist Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Did you end up dropping the mp10 in this tank? Must be cool to have a tank at work, do people always come over and stare at it? Link to comment
andru24 Posted February 7, 2010 Author Share Posted February 7, 2010 Did you end up dropping the mp10 in this tank? Must be cool to have a tank at work, do people always come over and stare at it? Not yet. I added it to my BC29 but the corals don't seem too happy with it so I think I will be adding it to the 20L on Monday (or whenever I can make it through the 30" of snow that we have.) Yeah people at work definetly like to check it out, particularly during feeding times. Though they do try get me to do questionable things like cut starfish in half, or add a shark, etc. I love having at work because I can pretty much mess with it all day and it's easy to feed the mandarin throughout the day (at least whilst training). Link to comment
latteslave Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Can't believe I missed this! Great DIY job - looking at the overflow setup, it almost looks like the water passes around the fuge and into the return... How is the flow through the fuge itself? This looks fantastic! Link to comment
andru24 Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 Can't believe I missed this! Great DIY job - looking at the overflow setup, it almost looks like the water passes around the fuge and into the return... How is the flow through the fuge itself? This looks fantastic! Thanks! There is actually a 2" wall to the left of the eggcrate at the bottom left that will divert some of the water from the media rack. I added it after I had already taken this picture. There is also one slit in the overflow that bypasses the media rack altogether and goes straight into the fuge. I was trying to keep it so that there wasn't too much flow through the fuge, just a nice trickle... Link to comment
latteslave Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Got it - what are you keeping in there? I saw that you painted - did you cover the fuge as well or can you get a pic? Link to comment
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