Dinosaur to Phoenix, a new 22g long rimless high tech

[theatrus]

Hi!

I've been staring at this for far too long

Its a poorly neglected planted tank - it overgrows to the point where its just green against the glass, and then I go do a horrific pruning job ripping out a metric ton of java ferns. The above tank state is just after ripping out a bunch of stuff, the roots don't normally show o_O The stand matches absolutely nothing in the house, and its a particle board monster that is about 25 years old and somehow hasn't crumbled into a heap of dust. The 20H tank was replaced at some point because the similarly 25 year old AGA tank rim split and started leaking.

I never was good at planted tanks, so, as I realized all I have left is one cory and some shrimp, its time to rebuild this into a proper mini (is ~20g even nano anymore?) reef.

Constraints and wishes:

1. Its in a walkway, so tank can't be more than 12" deep.
2. I have up to 50" of width to play with
3. I want something low and shallow
4. I need to automate everything - ATO, dosers, etc. Lots of DIY will be had.
5. I want to uplevel my tank hardware building in time for a replacement of my 12 year old 90gallon tank (going 130-200g there), so practice in stand and finishing work.

Nothing is purchased yet thoughts are as follows:

Tank: Mr Aqua/Aquamaxx 22g Long Low Iron Glass

Tank will need to be drilled. Overflow design TBD (though I'd love thoughts)

Stand: Framed using 8020 profile (25mm?), finished with plywood sheets stained as appropriate.

Sump: Custom acrylic. I've built a custom sump for my 90g - no real issues doing that again at a smaller scale. Depending on sizing, I may elect to go skimmerless in this tank.

 

Thoughts, suggestions, well-wishing, are all welcome.

[WV Reefer]

4 hours ago, theatrus said:

Hi!

I've been staring at this for far too long

Its a poorly neglected planted tank - it overgrows to the point where its just green against the glass, and then I go do a horrific pruning job ripping out a metric ton of java ferns. The above tank state is just after ripping out a bunch of stuff, the roots don't normally show o_O The stand matches absolutely nothing in the house, and its a particle board monster that is about 25 years old and somehow hasn't crumbled into a heap of dust. The 20H tank was replaced at some point because the similarly 25 year old AGA tank rim split and started leaking.

I never was good at planted tanks, so, as I realized all I have left is one cory and some shrimp, its time to rebuild this into a proper mini (is ~20g even nano anymore?) reef.

Constraints and wishes:

1. Its in a walkway, so tank can't be more than 12" deep.
2. I have up to 50" of width to play with
3. I want something low and shallow
4. I need to automate everything - ATO, dosers, etc. Lots of DIY will be had.
5. I want to uplevel my tank hardware building in time for a replacement of my 12 year old 90gallon tank (going 130-200g there), so practice in stand and finishing work.

 

Nothing is purchased yet thoughts are as follows:

Tank: Mr Aqua/Aquamaxx 22g Long Low Iron Glass

Tank will need to be drilled. Overflow design TBD (though I'd love thoughts)

Stand: Framed using 8020 profile (25mm?), finished with plywood sheets stained as appropriate.

Sump: Custom acrylic. I've built a custom sump for my 90g - no real issues doing that again at a smaller scale. Depending on sizing, I may elect to go skimmerless in this tank.

 

Thoughts, suggestions, well-wishing, are all welcome.

Long tanks are awesome. Can’t wait to see what you come up with. 🙂

[Christopher Marks]

Great to see you @theatrus, this sounds like a fun endeavor! I really like the idea of the 22 gallon 36x12x12" tank, it would be perfect for your space. I love seeing 8020 stand builds, I hope you can share the construction process. Since the tank is only 12" high, you might consider making your new stand a little taller than usual, 36" would be counter height. As for the lighting, I can't wait to see what you create 🙂 !

[theatrus]

First up is planning the overflow. I'd like to push all connectors to the back, including pumps, as both sides are visible easily.

 

I'm thinking of an inside overflow box, coupled with two 3/4" bulkheads to an external box containing the standpipe.

 

 

In this example, the gasket would actually be sitting at the coupling of the two boxes at the glass layer. The box is planned to be made from .177" laser-cut cast acrylic. External box is not yet modeled. 

[theatrus]

Every build requires a tank.

 

 

[Dantrasy]

Nice planning. I’m transitioning from the planted world to reef atm too. I’m picking up my reef tank next week, so you’re a little ahead of me. 

 

Mind sharing your sump ideas? Thanks. 

[theatrus]

18 minutes ago, Dantrasy said:

Nice planning. I’m transitioning from the planted world to reef atm too. I’m picking up my reef tank next week, so you’re a little ahead of me. 

 

Mind sharing your sump ideas? Thanks. 

Custom, acrylic. I'm probably going to try to keep the sump to a 12x24 footprint, so I can build a 12" electrical side box seperate from all the water under the stand. I haven't selected a skimmer yet, which will dictate the actual sizing of the sump sections, but would also like to keep a refuge down there (and a pony and a unicorn).

 

I'm trying to stretch goal into a getting a mini-rollermat as the return, or a DIY/built-in solution to that. Haven't dug through all the possibilities yet.

 

 

[Tamberav]

I have a 22g...I made it an AIO but love the dimensions and clarity of these tanks!

[theatrus]

I'm trying settle on an equipment list for the core hardware.

Currently thinking:

Mechanical filtration:
I really like the idea of trying to provision a space for a Rollermat-like device. Still digging.

Skimmer:
Tunze Comline 9004 DC Pump

Return pump:
Sicce Syncra Silent 0.5 (x2 into the same manifold, or different returns? hmmmm)

Heater:
Eheim Jaegar / whatever I have around 

[theatrus]

Started some modeling

I'd like the facing wood to be flush with the glass, hence everything is inset by 1/4" - I'd also like to not show the end of a plywood sheet on top, though I may opt for a joined piece of board instead of plywood to have a contiguous surface on top for the glass edge.

The left side is for electrical and plugs, and the right 24" is for the sump. The top shelf is for housing containers for ATO water and two part.

I haven't modeled the facing, doors, and hinges, nor the connectors except for one.

[theatrus]

Currently musing using hinged doors on the front. Looks something like this:

 

This is using 3/4" ( "1 inch" - who came up with lumber dimensions its maddening) board on the frame. The sides will likely retain plywood. The door is made of a 3/4" (.703" ) plywood sheet - likely birch. The hinges are Soss 101:

As the doors are heavy I may need to go to 3 hinges. They can fold back 180 degrees and have zero protrusion on either side of the wood, but require me to be somewhat skilled with a router.

[theatrus]

A concept for the sump:

Inside the sump is (very rough) model of a Tunze DOC 9004 Skimmer, and a holder for a 4" sock plus two piping or heater holders for 1" Sch80. The two red boxes are modeling two Sicce Syncra 1.5 pumps (though I am planning to use 1.0/0.5).

Also, I re-did the stand tubing to have 6 points of contact to the ground instead of four corners.

[theatrus]

On further inspection (e.g. I bought one and looked at it), the Tunze 9004 expects to discharge out of the bottom. I can either cut holes into the body to let it discharge, or just raise it up. I've made a small tweak to further increase the water level in the sump to accommodate this. 

[theatrus]

Had a bad head cold today so not much progress on much of anything, except for looking at too many overflow designs to count.

Currently thinking of this, including plumbing. The gate valve in the sump is not modeled on the siphon drain (can't seem to find a ready made model out there, bummer)

I've shrunk the overflow to a single on-tank bulkhead, which allows decreasing a majority of the dimensions (and I can upsize that bulkhead to 1"). Two 3/4" drains to the sump, one of which will have a gate valve. I'm going to design a pipe strap (3d print) for the T-slot to the drain pipes to hold them in place and not carry the plumbing weight on the external overflow box.

I've been putting the design files online:

 

https://github.com/theatrus/phoenix-aquarium

 

For those of your who are interested.

Updates on the overflow and returns:

 

Two 1/2" returns. Bulkheads are so big here, it would be nice to get to a way to seal these holes with a smaller footprint, but if the back is entirely black who will notice?

 

The return box is now coupled with 1 1", and the entire return box has shrunk. The middle of the returns is 1.5" below the top edge of the glass - I don't want to drill any higher to the top edge., or I could just HOB the returns (easier! but breaks the rimless look). The horizontal spacing isn't set yet. The return weir bottom is currently set at 0.9" from the top of the tank, realistically the flowing water would be 0.7" or so.

 

 

I also have some Soss hinges on hand, as well as the router template. I'm going to test mounting the hinges into some scrap lumber first. I really love the motion though. Once I settle on the front door setup, I'll finally get to ordering the (significantly over specified and overbuilt) 8020.

Light holder concept: coupling 8020 25mm profile to MakerBeam 10mm black anodize profile, with just sinking an M6 connector through to the end of the 8020:

[theatrus]

Light concept 1. I may flatten these and switch to a blower-type fan to reduce height. The standard 80mm fan and 3.5" HSUSA extrusion is a bit... tall. Note that the lights would be boxed in, likely in black acrylic.

 

---

 

Light concept two, blowers mounted behind the heatsink. Much slimmer.

None of this mechanically works yet, will sort that out soon 🙂

 

 

---

 

And proof I'm not totally inept at woodworking, care of the Soss 101 Hinge Router Template:

[Christopher Marks]

👏👏👏

 

There's so much good nerdy design business going on it here, I love seeing it all modeled out! ❤️ Those Soss 101 hinges are a beautiful solution for tank stand doors.

 

Neat lighting layouts, I like the concept of having the blower behind the heatsink to keep it slim.

[theatrus]

9 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

👏👏👏

 

There's so much good nerdy design business going on it here, I love seeing it all modeled out! ❤️ Those Soss 101 hinges are a beautiful solution for tank stand doors.

 

Neat lighting layouts, I like the concept of having the blower behind the heatsink to keep it slim.

Agree. Slim will be much nicer, but do need to pay attention to noise as blowers are less flow, more pressure, and more noise over axial fans. 

 

R&D!

[Reefkid88]

I assume you will be using the new arrays here ?! Definitely gonna be killer regardless. 

[HookedOnAquariums]

What arrays are you using? The parabolic reflectors will be a good addition over lenses. I personally vote for the axial fan because I like the look of a smaller can or a box over my tank (like kessil) plus noise. If the coral and fish selection are as good as the actual tank this is going to be spectacular!

[Reefkid88]

1 minute ago, HookedOnAquariums said:

What arrays are you using? The parabolic reflectors will be a good addition over lenses. I personally vote for the axial fan because I like the look of a smaller can or a box over my tank (like kessil) plus noise. If the coral and fish selection are as good as the actual tank this is going to be spectacular!

 

 You know who @theatrus is right ?!?!?! 

[HookedOnAquariums]

27 minutes ago, Reefkid88 said:

 

 You know who @theatrus is right ?!?!?! 

Nope, lemme guess tho. They make Led arrays.

[Reefkid88]

53 minutes ago, HookedOnAquariums said:

Nope, lemme guess tho. They make Led arrays.

 

 Winner winner chicken dinner (that is not a PubG reference haha) lol,BlueAcro to be exact. 

[theatrus]

1 hour ago, Reefkid88 said:

I assume you will be using the new arrays here ?! Definitely gonna be killer regardless. 

Yes, though due to the small depth and 12" width will likely add barn doors in the enclosure to prevent light spilling out on the floor. Also under-drive to not cook everything 🙂

[Reefkid88]

50 minutes ago, theatrus said:

Yes, though due to the small depth and 12" width will likely add barn doors in the enclosure to prevent light spilling out on the floor. Also under-drive to not cook everything 🙂

 

 Come on you really don't want to light the floors too ?! You could stub a toe bud lol. What're you thinking of driving them,500mah ? What's the estimated distance from the reflector to the bottom of the tank ? 

[theatrus]

2 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

 

 Come on you really don't want to light the floors too ?! You could stub a toe bud lol. What're you thinking of driving them,500mah ? What's the estimated distance from the reflector to the bottom of the tank ? 

 

Tank is 12", mounting height probably around 8" (though still TBD), I'm looking at 20" _total_ to below the sandbed. 500mA is probably a good starting point, as I haven't done any PAR numbers on the new setup yet.

 

The light puck looks like this:

 

 

and at 40mA