Stoneys Nano. A moded 12 DX

[stoney waters]

I think so. In my opinion three fish should be the limit as long as the are small.

[fiftymillimeter]

a couple of n00b questions:

 

your surface skimmer…

 

plexiglass cut to shape, held in place by what?

 

and did you glue sand to the hydor flos? is that just aesthetic?

[stoney waters]

The surface skimmer is plexi held in place with a little silicone.

The flo's are coated with reef sand. I brushed them with silicone then pop them in a paper bag with the sand and shake. I used to do it to the powerheads on my larger tanks years ago. After a while they start to look more natural especially when they get covered in coraline.

[stoney waters]

Due to some PM requests I am posting some pics of the piccolo in action. The skimmate in the cup has been accumulating since my last water change 5 days ago. Notice the water drop in chamber 3 this keeps the water level consitant in chambers 1 and 2. Evaporative drop will only occur in chamber 3, the main tank and chambers 1 and 2 will remain the same.

 

[elimmel]

nice skim-mate there.

just wondering, how wet do you skim?

[stoney waters]

elimmel

 

I have been able to produce a drier skimmate since I upgraded to a larger air pump. I purchased a dual pump with a built in rheostat. It produces finer bubbles and a drier foam.

If I could raise the cup a little higher I could dry it even more, but the only way I could do that would be to lower the water level by cutting a little off the dividing wall. I am satisfied with what I have now.

The skimmate used to be a greenish yellow color, but since I began using a poly filter pad it has changed to a yellowish brown. I don't know why.

 

Do you run a piccolo? How is it working for you?

[shao-lin nano]

hey stoney, got a full tank shot?

[stoney waters]

Here you go shao-lin.

 

The Full Monte.

 

[PaulP]

Stoney,

I just tore down my JBJ NanoCube (OG Version) after running it for 1 1 /2 years. I had mod'd with protein skimmer, surface skimmer and more lights. The dreaded green algae finally overcame the tank and I thru the towel in.

 

While down, I purchased a new DX hood for mine. Your mod's inspired me to get the skimmer down into the tank. To do that successfully, I need to lower my water levels in the back. Do you have any more details on the surface skimmer on your tank?

 

I see you put a piece of clear plastic into the grate. You mentioned grinding notches into it. Did you find that a certain number or size made a particular change in water level? Do you have any more pictures of that part of the tank?

 

Paul P

 

ps: I travel thru Central Illinois. Favored LFS in Bloomington/Peoria/Champaign or do you buy all on-line?

[stoney waters]

PaulP

 

There is one important aspect that I have not touched on yet. If you are going to lower the water level and you want to keep it from fluctuating you must first make sure that the back chambers are completely sealed from the main tank. I think most cubes leak from the main tank into the back compartments from around the seams. I ran a bead of silicon around the outside parameter. The trick is to make it act as a separate sump, only what gets pumped out comes back in. You also want to make sure that no water leaks into chamber 3 from around the bottom of the second dividing wall. As long as you maintain a lower water level in chamber 3 the water level in chambers 1 and 2 will remain unchanged. Ideally, the only fluctuation will occur in chamber 3 due to evaporative loss. Of course none of this can be accomplished without the use of some kind of surface skimmer.

 

The surface skimmer was cut out of a piece of acrylic. I cut the notches on a grinding wheel because it was the fastest way for me to remove material little by little until I got just the right water level. I guess you could use a dremmel or a router or even a power sander to cut back the acrylic. I don't think the notches are necessary since there is a grate in front of it. One thing I did do to get a better skim was to raise each of the grate slots about an 1/8". I used a dremel with a burring bit that fit the slots perfectly. This also helped raise the water level in the main tank to about a 1/4" behind the top trim.

One drawback to this mod is that it is not easily adjustable. If I were to switch out pumps with a different gph I would have to add material or cut it back some more. I have had it set up for almost six months and it has performed flawlessly.

 

There is no good shops in Bloomington for corals, but you could check out Sailfin in Champaign. That's where I ordered my piccolo. World Wide Pets in East Peoria is a neat little shop also.

 

Good luck

Stone

[PaulP]

Stoney,

I am re-Modding a 12OG. I understand how difficult it is to adjust water level, I ran into that with the slots I cut into the wall to serve as a surface skimmer. Will have to rebuild them now.

 

Can I ask where you found the half-round you used to form the skimmer chamber? It appears to be a plumbing fitting but I can't find black anywhere, everything is white.

 

Paul P

[Sayyjimm]

Where did you get the Hydro Flo's. Thanks

[stoney waters]

The first one I purchased at a lfs, the second one I ordered from Foster & Smith. Most online aquarium supply houses carry them now. $12.00 to $15.00 is the the price range

[xsamx]

Stoney, your tank is absolutely gorgeous! Im working on the skimmer idea. I didn’t get the pico skimmer like yours. I bought the berlin airlift. Im using your concept. Im in the process of cycling a 10 gal to keep all my livestock in while im modding the crap outta my cube!

[PaulP]

Stone,

I tried sending you a PM but your mailbox is full.

 

Can I ask where you found the half-round you used to form the skimmer chamber? It appears to be a plumbing fitting but I can't find black anywhere, everything is white.

 

Paul P

[shao-lin nano]

Love the tank stoney.

 

Paul, as an alternative you could just glue rocks onto it to conceal the white.

[stoney waters]

Paul,

What I used was a slip fitting for 3" ABS. The hardest part of the whole project was the search for that piece. I was about to order some online when I found one locally. I will gladly ship one to you if your search is unsuccessful. Most general hardware stores wont carry ABS fittings that large. Try plumbing supply companies.

Thanks for letting me know about my mailbox. I cleared it.

 

 

xsamx

What size is Your tank?

From what I remember the Red Sea berlin skimmer was too tall to fit in a 12 gal. I don't think I was going to be able to shut the hood with that skimmer. You might be able to cut out a section of it to make it shorter. I did a search for a month and found 3 that could work. Two were made by Sander and one was made by Coralife but I think it was discontinued.

[stoney waters]

Originally posted by shao-lin nano

Love the tank stoney.

 

Paul, as an alternative you could just glue rocks onto it to conceal the white.

 

Thats a good idea. I have seen people that have used live rock rubble to cover the entire back of their tanks. Very unique look.

[stoney waters]

Here is a link to the Sander web site.http://www.aqua-sander.de/index.en.html

[ereefer]

Alright Stoney, first off YOU RULE!

I am copying your protein skimmer work but on a 24g dx. I think it is way cool. Now i just would like to see where the skimmer sits from the inside chamber, is that poss?? and how did u bridge the half circle gap under the "u" you created with abs? Sorry to ask such ques but I am going after this one. This is one of the coolest mods I've seen. Thanx

[stoney waters]

ereefer

 

Thanks for the intrest. I will see if I can post a few pics of the skimmer with the cup removed so you can see how it sits in the chamber. The bottom piece you are referring to I cut from an ABS drain cap I found at the hardware store. Thinking back on it I could have used the piece that I cut out of the back wall.

 

I would like to make a correction from an earlier post. I mentioned the slip fitting was for 3" ABS pipe. It is actually a 4" slip fitting. It has been so long I couldnt remember what size it was.

 

Stone.

[ereefer]

I hope that same skimmer will pull some good skim out of a 24dx.

Do you think so??

[PaulP]

I saw Stone's mod and it coincided with my 12OG update. I never did like the skimmer cup sticking out the top of my hood. But how to get it into the rear chambers?

 

A little homework and wa-laa:

 

Using a short Lee's Protein Skimmer,

1) Ground the back edge of the tank, much like Stone did

2) Couldn't find a black fitting (PVC is white, ABS is black and most areas outlaw ABS sewer fittings) so I decided to modify the cup

3) The Lees cup and lid is round. I ran it against a sanding wheel to flatten one side. Then I filled that in with plastic. My cup and lid is now D shaped and fits into the rear chamber without cutting out the front wall.

4) I had to shorten the stand-pipe by 5/8" to get the entire thing to fit under the hood without cutting it.

5) The skimmer now fits into the 3rd chamber just as nice as can be. I lost about 25% of the cup capacity but I always drained it weekly anyway.

 

The water level will have to be around 4" below the rim in the 3rd and 4th chambers (Remember, I'm using a 12 OG style tank). I am now working on my auto-topoff switches to maintain this level. Much of the success of a skimmer depends on water level

 

More to follow

 

Paul P

[stoney waters]

Excellent Paul!

 

Where were you when I was hacking up my cube? lol. If you did the same to both sides of the cup you wouldn't have to modify the tank at all. You should start a thread with some pics. I'd like to see what you've done.

 

Stone.

[stoney waters]

ereefer

 

I think it would function the same in a 24 gallon. Sander makes a larger size piccolo that would most likely fit. You might want to check out the Maxi-Skim by Sander, it looks like a nice little air driven skimmer. http://www.aqua-sander.de/produkte/maxiskim.en.html

 

Stone.