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Esabasard's 20L


Esabasard

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Hey guys, just wanted to share my tank. I had a 75 that needed to be taken down in hopes of making our house seem larger to sell it. My 20L was started on 11/10/09 as a way to keep some things my wife can't live without (toadstool leater & clownfish) and feed my addiction. I will have mostly SPS, with a few other things that catch my eye. Tank will be barebottom with black plastic on the bottom.

 

Tank equipment:

 

20L (30" x 12" x 12")

Current Sundial T5 4x24W

Bulbs: Blue+, KZ Coral Light, Fiji Purple, Blue+

Tunze 9002 Protein Skimmer

Tunze 3165 Filter

AC 50 with Chemipure

CPR AeroForce Skimmer

2 x Koralia 2

Vortech MP10

100W Stealth Heater

100W Eheim Jager Heater

ATO

 

And now some pictures:

 

Most Recent FTS - 10/26/10

 

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4/24/10 - Changed Bulbs Today

 

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4/12/10

 

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2/23/10

 

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2/14/10

 

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1/25/10 - After local frag swap

 

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1/24/10

 

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1/20/10

 

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1/13/10

 

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I did the barebottom just to try it, and after removing the rock from my 75 gal I am very happy about it. I can get everything much cleaner than I could with sand and I like the look.

 

My MP10 came in today so I can't wait to get that going. I will post pictures later to show it off.

 

I am not really liking the Tunze nano filter and am thinking of going to an Aquaclear filter with surface skimmer. Can someone recommend a size? I don't plan to use it as a fuge, just as a surface skimmer/chemical media holder. With the leather I don't want to risk not using chemipure or something simliar.

 

Couple of pictures:

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Got the Vortech hooked up last night. It seems to make a lot of noise. Maybe it is normal and hopefully it will quiet over time. It isn't super loud, but I can hear it while in another room if there isn't much other sound in the house. Love the flow and love the minimal look as shown below.

 

DSC_6811.JPG

 

Still curious what size Aquaclear filter to use for this tank, if anyone has advise please offer.

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An AC110 will take up one half the length of the rear wall. An AC70 about 1/3rd the length. The 70 has a fair amount of room in it, you could probably get buy with that one.

 

The MP10 I have whines when it spins up and down. I could see it getting really annoying but the skimmer noise pretty much drowns it out. Fortunately I can't hear either of them with the door shut on that room and I sleep just down the hall.

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I am surprised that your Vortech is making noise.

Mine is dead silent.

Are you positive that you have the Wet Side and Dry Side aligned correctly?

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Mine is aligned yeah. When it's not aligned there's vibration and a very obvious noise. This is just the motor making noise, or a bearing inside the housing. I have another one showing up tomorrow, I'm hoping it's as silent as yours is for you since it will be in the family room. But from what I've read, the whining noise is fairly common.

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I am surprised that your Vortech is making noise.

Mine is dead silent.

Are you positive that you have the Wet Side and Dry Side aligned correctly?

 

No I am not positive, but I tried for 30 minutes last night to adjust it and can't seem to make it silent. If I move it much it will get worse, but there is a decent amount of adjustment that make it sound the same. How small is the sweet spot? Also I noticed that there is an indention in the wet side foam from the packing, could that be causing any problems?

 

An AC110 will take up one half the length of the rear wall. An AC70 about 1/3rd the length. The 70 has a fair amount of room in it, you could probably get buy with that one.

 

I am not sure I even need anything as large as an AC70. Is that overkill for mechanical/chemical filtration? Definately do not want a 110. I used one of those as a fuge on a past tank and it is too big.

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I had an AC30 on my 20 hex for years and years and it did the job. The well is about 4 inches wide, 6 inches deep and maybe 2.5 inches from front to back. Let me know if you get it going with a surface skimmer. If I could find a surface skimmer I might toss it back on the hex and then I wouldn't need to worry about getting some sort of lid going on that tank to keep the dust out.

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Interesting. Is the alignment area super tiny? I contacted Vortech today and they asked me to give it a week or so to see if it just needs to get broken in. Now that I know it can be silent I will be getting this resolved. Thanks

 

Also, you have a Remora skimmer right? Are they all the same, just different pumps and how much does it hang down past the rim in the back? I am thinking of changing to a HOB, but my stand is limiting me to ~11" back there.

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Interesting. Is the alignment area super tiny?

 

Not really. Turn it up full blast and hold one side down while slowly moving the other around. I hold down the dry side and move the wet side since the dry side has that pad resting between it and the glass. I move side to side and stop at the spot that makes the least noise, then I move up and down from that spot till any remaining noise is gone.

 

I'll have to call vortech about my other one which makes the whining sound.

 

Also, you have a Remora skimmer right? Are they all the same, just different pumps and how much does it hang down past the rim in the back? I am thinking of changing to a HOB, but my stand is limiting me to ~11" back there.

 

I do. There are a couple of thumbscrews towards the bottom of the unit which are used to push it away from the back wall of the tank for leveling. The bottom of those thumb screws will rest on your stand on a 20L, it is a perfect fit. Both the pumps as well as the dimensions of the skimmer vary between Remora models. Check out proteinskimmer.com, that's their site. I have the Remora (not the Remora Nano, not the Remora Pro).

 

However, if the noise of the mp10 bothers you... ;)

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So how loud is the Remora? I like the quiet of the tunze, but I really want to get it out of the tank. I am not sure I can use the Remora though, my stand isn't flat across, it has a ridge it the back, I may be able to slide the tank forward and get a gap though.

 

This may sound weird, but do you have a picture of the back of your tank, like looking along the length of it, but with enough light to see what is going on behind it?

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There's no way I could get a shot. There are bookcases on both sides of the stand. It's loud though, constant white noise from the bubbling. There's a ghetto mod you can do with some paper towel jammed down in the chamber to mute it. I haven't tried that but posts I read claimed great success.

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Wow that tongue coral is pretty nice looking... Did you say the other large one was a leather? looks like a toadstool... Either way great looking tank!

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There's no way I could get a shot. There are bookcases on both sides of the stand. It's loud though, constant white noise from the bubbling. There's a ghetto mod you can do with some paper towel jammed down in the chamber to mute it. I haven't tried that but posts I read claimed great success.

 

I may have to try one, I thought I wanted everything inside the tank, but I am having regrets. Once I took the tunze nano filter out, I got so

happy to have the space back. I am skeptical if it will fit as is, but I think I can move my tank forward a little and wedge it in there. Crappy phone picture for reference.

 

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Wow that tongue coral is pretty nice looking... Did you say the other large one was a leather? looks like a toadstool... Either way great looking tank!

 

Yeah the large tan guy is a toadstool leather, there is a small neon green toadstool, but it is hard to see in these pictures. Thanks for the compliment!

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I don't know if it makes sense in your room there, but you could also hang it on the end opposite the vortech. Looking at your stand it doesn't seem like that raised ledge goes all the way around...?

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I didn't think of that, but I am not sure that would fly with the wife anyway. It would be too obvious while sitting at the dinner table.

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Yeah if it is in wife hearing distance I think it's going to be a problem for her (and therefore you). Every time my wife walks in my office she comments on how noisy the tank is.

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