New 20L Mixed Reef Build

[aparker]

So here's the start of my buildout thread/saga. Right now I've got big (well, nano) plans and a pile of parts, and am looking for feedback before I commit to putting them all together.

 

A teeny bit of background/bio (brief, I promise): I have been out of the aquarium game for a few years now, but got bit badly (again) over Xmas when I was hanging out in NYC w/my GF, and wandered into a LFS that had a really nice small AIO reef setup. Can't remember if it was a Biocube or what, but it was beautiful, and I immediately thought, "wow, I could do a little saltwater tank, and wouldn't that be cool". So I started grazing the internet, quickly found NR and RC, and have been lurking and absorbing info ever since. As I document this process I will try to remember to give props to all the nano-reefers whose great ideas I've co-opted for use here.

 

The reason it has taken since Xmas to get going on this is that I knew I would be selling my house and moving this spring/summer, and it just didn't make sense to set something up just to tear it down and move in 4 months. Overall, the wait has been highly valuable, as I've iterated through a half-dozen ideas for my tank, from buying a Biocube and modding, to getting an M-tank, to a custom acrylic build, to the current, final one (which I'll describe in a sec). The ultimate driver for the final design is space. I'm moving into an apartment that is mostly carpeted, and I'd like to not pay to replace the carpet when I leave (I've had enough aquariums to know that water just *gets on the floor* no matter what). So I wanted to keep the tank away from carpet and close to where I can work easily with wet stuff. The apt is set up so there is a pass-through window between kitchen and livingroom (pix later, once I actually move) which makes a ledge 34" wide open to the main living area on one side and the kitchen counter on the other. Voila - simply slap a wider shelf on there and get a 30" long tank. I debated a while 20L vs 29 and decided to stay small for now. No reason to push things structurally, and I did set out to build a *nano* reef, after all.

 

So on to some pictures/details before I bore all of you away from this thread.

 

As the thread title indicates, I decided after much thought to go with T5 lighting. Based on reading the endless T5 thread on RC, it's pretty clear that with an optimized T5 setup you can grow anything you want in a shallow tank, and probably in something quite a bit deeper than my 12" 20L. The keys to optimization are bulb temp (thus fans), good ballasts, and individual parabolic reflectors on each bulb. There are few 24" options that have all of these characteristics, in particular they tend not to have builtin fans (Tek), or tend to have one flat piece of reflective aluminum instead of individual parabolics (CAD and Finnex). The only thing I could find that has all the desirable features is the new Aquatinics TX5 24" (which is now on pre-order, to arrive hopefully next week). It was more expensive than a 150W MH from Current, which was my other thought, but cheaper than the MH plus a chiller. The light unit itself is 9.5 x 24 in size, which means I need to either hang it or make a way to set it on top of my 11.5 x 29.5 tank opening. I'm going to do the latter, making a black acrylic eurobrace-style drop-in that will also serve to route all of the returns from my overly-complex CL system back into the tank. Here it is:

 

 

From the back, the tank will look like this:

 

 

The top view without the lid, showing size of overflow walls for 'fuge outflow and CL (the latter will have deep teeth cut in to maximize waterflow):

 

 

The closed loop system. The key to this design is that the two SCWDs will return to the front and back corners of the tank respectively, and they will have slightly different rates of flow through them (different lengths of tubing and different nozzles hence different frictional resistance to water). Because the switching rate of the SCWD is flow-dependent, they will switch at different rates, causing the overall pattern of waterflow in the tank to oscillate between two states: "all left vs all right" and "left front/right rear versus right front/left rear". Is that at all clear? Should hopefully come pretty close to that ideal of random turbulent flow.

 

 

Finally the fuge (a 10g AGA). It will host the Aqua C Remora skimmer, a Finnex Ti heater, a pH/temp monitor, three different grades of substrate (rubble, sand, mud) and as many different non-Caulerpa macros as I can find. All in the name of maximum biodiversity in the minimum space. Flow will be relatively slow; I got a teeny powerhead that should push no more the 80-100 gph back to the main tank (fuge will sit on kitchen counter, with water level no more than 8" below the main tank).

 

 

Right now I have the empty tank and a pile of parts, which I will spare you pictures of. Next up, my diamond holesaws will appear in the mail, and we'll try drilling some glass...

 

All feedback is welcome - esp re: stocking. I'm pretty sure I want a mix of SPS and funky polyps, and probably a T. crocea clam, but have no clear vision re: fish. Obviously small ones that are easy to feed and do not eat corals or need a sandbed. Did I mention that? I will be going sand-less in the display, covering the bottom with tumbled travertine marble tiles, a la El Chupacabra. Oh, and one thing I'm sure of re: fish - no Pomacentrids need apply, Nemo or otherwise....

[AresDoggy]

You know, it would be alot easier to know what youre talking about if you included some detailed drawings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kidding. Thats going to be awesome! Cant wait to see some actual pics!

[aparker]

Kidding. Thats going to be awesome! Cant wait to see some actual pics!

 

Me too! Hopefully the rest of my stuff gets here this week and I can start putting it together...

[aparker]

Updating - I've begun to build this thing!

 

I move to my new apt tomorrow, so I am trying to get as much of the sawing, gluing etc as possible done today. I will have access to the old house for another month before I close, but it is a drive to get here, so I'm glad I've gotten much of it completed.

 

Here are most of the plumbing bits I'll need:

 

I started today by cutting out my tank cover from a sheet of 1/4" black acrylic. I don't have a table saw any more, but it turns out my trusty dozukai does a good job on acrylic - not fast, but razor-straight, even easier to be super-accurate than cutting wood:

 

Then drilled the holes that the closed loop will return water through, using a 7/8" holesaw:

 

 

The opening for the light fixture is outlined, but I'm hesitant to cut until I have the thing in hand (hopefully Salty Critter has it to me next week!). Supposedly it is 9.5 x 24, so I drew a 9 x 23.5 opening, but who really knows 'till it's in hand...

 

Next up was something totally new for me - drilling the tank. I got the requisite diamond holesaws from eBay, and set the tank in a sink so I could run water over it as I drilled. Took this picture while working up my nerve to try it. At least the tank's not too expensive if I f*** this up....

 

Success - this is not terribly hard to do, even freehand. For a thicker piece of glass I'd go for a drill press if possible, just to avoid the bit drifting due to fatigue. Each hole took maybe 60 sec to drill, though it felt longer at the time. The 1-5/8" saw produced a hole that was slightly too small for my 1" bulkhead, but I was able to hold the saw in the opening and gently drift it around until the hole widened out another 1/16" to fit nicely. The hole made by the 1-3/8 saw fit my 3/4" bulkhead perfectly as drilled.

 

Here it is with the bulkheads in place:

 

Here's a closeup look at how the closed loop returns will pass through the lid. The 1/4" acrylic is just the perfect thickness for the NPT connection to cinch up tight around it - like it was made to work this way. When I do the final assembly I will coat the threads with a bit of polyurethane glue just to seal it against salt creep.

 

Here it is sitting on the tank. I am thinking about making a 1" high riser around the tank lid to move it up so these don't stick down so far - ideally the nozzle would just peek under the water surface...

 

Finally I cut out the pieces to make the overflows that hide the bulkheads. I discovered that the coarser teeth on the cheap Home Depot saw were even better for acrylic that the real Japanese saw. A bit harder to cut perfectly straight, but faster and no clogging.

 

The overflow for the 'fuge will be a flat weir style, no teeth, and will be a "true" overflow, i.e. it will serve to set the water level in the tank. The barrier going in front of the closed loop intake does not set level, and it needs to flow a lot of water, so I went nuts on it with 1/4" router bit and 1/4" drill. The combo of slots and holes is just to up the flow without making the slots so long they might break (and I thought it would look cool):

 

Both of the overflows will be 5" wide and just 1" deep (away from the back wall), and siliconed in. Being that shallow, of course, I can't take the bulkheads out once they are installed unless I cut the silicone. So I have to get the bulkheads sealed right the first time. But I've done that before without trouble, so no worries, I hope...

 

I may put some sort of mesh behind the closed loop barrier to keep small critters from getting sucked through those 1/4" slots. I am thinking about getting green-banded and Rainford's gobies, both of which when small could easily go through...

 

OK, enough for now. I have to take this computer apart so I can move it tomorrow.

 

All comments, ideas, etc welcome, of course.

[alexmurovec]

now this is going to be good tank, keep up the creative work.

[aparker]

Updating again - move is finally over, whatta PITA.

 

Starting to get the infrastructure built in the new apt to put the tank in place. Here is a view of the window from kitchen to living room where the tank will sit. It is wide enough that it will just about fill the space.

 

Some people have dedicated rooms set up behind their aquariums to hold all of the filtration and other equipment required to run them. I have my teeny apt kitchen - here's the back side of the tank window showing the shelf I built for it, and the RO/DI unit I just bolted in place over the sink (need a faucet thread adapter to hook it up):

 

Finally, on the other side of the counter, the fuge-to-be with light and skimmer. I will be gluing baffles into the fuge tomorrow.

 

So why live in an apt that's all carpeted except for the teeny kitchen/fishroom, when I knew I wanted to set up a reef tank? For one, the view is pretty good from here:

(17th floor)

 

Also, it is just 4 miles from work, a perfect distance for enjoyable commuting on my new toy:

(with apologies for the non-reef bandwidth that just consumed)

 

I'll bring the actual display tank back from the old house tomorrow, and take pix of it in place with canopy and overflows done...

[NebraskaDocs]

Wow...extremely detailed, and well documented, plans. I'll be following for sure as I am about to setup a 20H that will surely benefit from your work. Looking really good so far.

[aparker]

Wow...extremely detailed, and well documented, plans. I'll be following for sure as I am about to setup a 20H that will surely benefit from your work. Looking really good so far.

 

Thanks! I'll have more to post later today.

[Nellis]

Thanks! I'll have more to post later today.

 

 

Maybe I'm just crazy... but is that the Boston skyline? If so... that would put you in either Watertown or Belmont, judging by your angle?

[aparker]

Maybe I'm just crazy... but is that the Boston skyline? If so... that would put you in either Watertown or Belmont, judging by your angle?

 

Very good! Cambridge, actually, but right on the Belmont line. Yourself?

[aparker]

Just got my RO/DI unit hooked up. It is a 25 GPD Kent Marine Maxxima Hi-S unit - two prefilters, high silicate removal RO membrane (= fewer diatoms, hopefully), and mixed-bed deionization resin filter. It apparently needs to be run for about 10 gal of product water without the DI filter, then that can be installed. So I'm doing that now. Only had to hook it up twice (one leak on the first pass)! I had read on RC that the units are only loosely assembled at the factory and every connection should be tightened before use, so did that and avoided a total dousing when first turning on the water.

 

I have not measured the output rate yet, but it looks by eye to be at least 3:1 waste:product water, if not a bit more. I guess this is about the best that these things do. Fortunately my "cold" tap water is room temp (plenty of time for it to warm up on the way from the ground to the 17th floor), which is optimal for these units. Once it has pre-run and I have the DI cartridge in, I'll test the output water to make sure it is adequately pure.

 

I would post a (fairly useless) pic of the thing running, but left my camera in the GF's purse last night.

 

Off to rough in my tank plumbing!

[aparker]

I have not measured the output rate yet, but it looks by eye to be at least 3:1 waste:product water, if not a bit more.

 

Correction - a quick measurement gives just over 2:1 waste:product ratio, at least right now. May get worse as the membrane ages, but pretty good so far. Pix of the plumbing rough-in tomorrow.

 

Also, went and helped a friend move his 75 gal reef today and got a promise of some small bits of LR for my fuge, plus a bunch of tank-conditioned sand (he has too much sand bed, if anything, so wants to get rid of some). This should help me cycle the new tank briskly, as his has been running for 2+years.

[juin21]

Sorry i didn't read your whole thread and don't know if someone has already mentioned this to you but you shouldn't put the ball valve before the pump but after. If you put the ball valve before the pump it will strain your pump reducing the life of your pump. Other then that I love your tank design. Can't wait to see the tank with live rock in it

[aparker]

Sorry i didn't read your whole thread and don't know if someone has already mentioned this to you but you shouldn't put the ball valve before the pump but after. If you put the ball valve before the pump it will strain your pump reducing the life of your pump. Other then that I love your tank design. Can't wait to see the tank with live rock in it

 

Hi juin21,

 

Thanks for the heads-up. I know not to restrict the flow of a pump on the intake side - the ball valve is just there as part of a true union that will allow me to take the system apart without having a bunch of tank water run out on the floor (i.e. I will close the valve when I need to disconnect the pump). It will be in the full-open position when the pump is running. You are absolutely correct that a valve in that position should not be used to restrict or adjust flow through a pump.

 

I'm also dyin to see it with rock in it! I should get the last plumbing bits I need this week, and then hopefully to a FW leak test next weekend. Then onward to salt!

[eklikewhoa]

Very cool thread!

[Deleted User 7]

Wow! I will be following this one!

[aparker]

Very cool thread!

 

Wow! I will be following this one!

 

Thanks!

[aparker]

A quick update on plumbing progress:

 

Got the baffles put into the 'fuge. This is a slight departure from my original plan (see drawing above), but an improvement I think. Plan is to have about 6" deep LR rubble on both sides of the rightmost baffle, so that skimmer effluent flows down through it and back up the other side. Then through a wad of Chaetomorpha that will hopefully "surf" on the upwelling waterflow and be contained by the eggcrate grill so it will not migrate into the leftward area designated for sandbeds and other types of macroalgae. Or so the theory goes.

 

Here is a look at the display tank sitting in its final location, w/various bike geek paraphernalia thrown in because I was too lazy to move them.

 

Closeup of the front (pardon the flash) showing (trying to show) how low-profile the closed loop return canopy is - you can just barely see the nozzles peeking under the tank rim.

 

Progress on the plumbing rough-in. Should get the rest of the parts I need on Wednesday. Those tubing runs will not sag when it is all assembled (dammit).

 

That's it for tonight.

[KoolFish]

Excuse me while I wipe the drool first....

 

This has to be one of the nicest and most thought out setups I've seen!

 

Excellent!

 

I'm tagging along...

 

- Chris

[aparker]

Excuse me while I wipe the drool first....

 

This has to be one of the nicest and most thought out setups I've seen!

 

Excellent!

 

I'm tagging along...

 

- Chris

 

Thanks for the good word, Chris!

 

It really helped that I spent Dec-April thinking about this thing and reading NR obsessively before actually starting to build. I went through about 6 totally different design ideas before coming up with this one. Also really useful was reading the third Delbeek and Sprung book, and the Fenner/Calfo Reef Invertebrates book. Both highly recommended.

[spanko]

Tagging along.

[moe sizlack]

Great setup.

 

What gear are you running on that pedalcycle?

[C Jerome]

Looks like a nice clean start. I like the idea of the top mounted return lines. I never had good luck with the SCWD, but I know several reefers in my area that use the products from OceansMotions and love them, they are more expensive but are quality built and work great, something to consider when one of the SCWDs jams.

 

Jerome

[aparker]

Looks like a nice clean start. I like the idea of the top mounted return lines. I never had good luck with the SCWD, but I know several reefers in my area that use the products from OceansMotions and love them, they are more expensive but are quality built and work great, something to consider when one of the SCWDs jams.

 

Jerome

 

Yeah, I have read mixed reviews on SCWD longevity. I thought long and hard about possibly going w/the OM instead. More money that 2 SCWDs, but hey, this hobby is all about spending money...

 

Main reason that I went the SCWD route in the end is that I am hooked on this idea that the two will switch at different rates, going in and out of phase with each other, and thus producing a very nearly random pattern of flow over time (as vs the OM, which gives the same repeating pattern). How much does that randomness *really* matter? Who knows? - not me. If the SCWDs turn out to be unreliable, then I'm getting on the OM bus.

[aparker]

Great setup.

 

What gear are you running on that pedalcycle?

 

Aack - more non-reef bandwidth!

 

But here goes:

 

56cm Soma Delancey frame (DB Tange Prestige)

Thompson stem

Nitto bar

Sugino track crank - 42T

Nitto pedals

Soma toe clips

Mavic Open Pros (32H) on Surly hubs (flip-flop 16T fixed/free)

Panaracer 700-25 touring tires

generic seatpost

Brooks leather saddle AND bar tape

Cane creek levers w/105 calipers (to be replaced with just-found-on-eBay NOS 70's Dia-compe non-areo levers and center-pull calipers for enhanced retro-cred).

 

It's a sweet way to get to work....

 

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