going back to the reef with a nano

[joedirt]

hELLO, I've been out of the reef world for about 4 years now and I have the "bug", "MONKEY" or my back again...

I started with a 45 high long time ago FOWLR and moved my LR to a 20 high and ran a berlin system for a while...I later moved the whole 20gal reef to a 75gal with sump. The system ran fine for a year until I got cheap and ran my vho's for 15months without new bulbs and I let the hair and bubble alge take over. I bought a house during this time and let my wife talk me into ripping the whole thing down.


Now, I think I know exactly what I want and how I want to do it!

I do have the cash now to put up the dream tank I always wanted but I really don't want a huge reef full of corals waiting to die during the next mistake/act of God(you know what I mean)!

I want to put up a small 15 to 20 gal Nano. One thing I hated about my 20h was the lack of surface skimming and the look of the powerheads, heater,etc. I had a seaclone skimmer, and it sucked.

What I want now is a 15 or 20 long with a black or blue acrylic partion like a nano cube. I want to partion the back 4" for a closed loop with surface skimming on one end and a main pump on the other.

I had decided to skip the skimming and do water changes but have since changed my mind. What I would like to do is find a way to build a CPR urchin-type skimmer in the back of the tank. I will be using a standard 15 or 20 long glass tank. I had planned on making a custom tank from 1/2" acrylic but I want to spend the extra $ 100 on the lighting.


So, my big questions to date are: What is the best method of attaching 1/4" plex to a glass tank....And if you had 4" of space behind a tank and wanted a skimmer what whould you do?

For the skimmer I thought I would buy a CPR bacpac collection cup with o-ring, build a reaction chamber to fit it and attach it to the partion in my tank. I would feed the reaction chamber with a line from my system pump and use a air pump to drive a limewood air stone inside the skimmer. I might also build a bubble trap for the return water(copy the CPR urhin). I figure I would have about 1" of space around the skimmer to return water to the main pump. I think the body of a CPR is about 3".

How much higher would the reaction chamber have to be than the water line? What pump would you get to run two 1/2" bulkhead return lines and feed water to my skimmer?

I think That 16gal custom is the bomb, I just want to avoid the sump and the $200 acrylic bill and add a air driven counter courent skimmer.

I plan to light the 24"x8" area with a 150 HQI/ WITH PC 03'S.

What do you think of the Model Odyssea 20" 223W Metal Halide with moon lights for $150 ?

thanks to all that view and post,

Andy

 

[brandon4291]

glad to see you on board Sir! Lemme bump this thread so some of the technophiles can assist on your water lines and possible skimmer options or retrofits. Silicone will hold the acrylic/glass junction just fine in my opinion. And, if we don't hear much from the retroskimmer crew I'd like to offer the option of using that extra chamber for a heavily-infested macroalgae refugium, lit in a reverse or constant-on cycle as compared to the front system. Thanks for stopping in, glad to have you
b429

 

[joedirt]

Thanks, The Fuge will be a go. I am looking into building a custom glass tank, with a fuge in the back.

Thanks

 

[joedirt]

I'm getting pretty pumped about this project! I just landed a Remora on Ebay for $85. I think this will be a fine skimmer for whatever size tank I choose to build. I'm thinking of 18"x18"X16" or 18x20x16...I can even go 24x24 with a Remora skimmer. I'll wait for a quote on the starfire 1/4" glass before I make up my mind. I will not go bigger than 24x24 because I want to light with a single HQI 14k. I don't think I go higher than 16".

~Dirt

 

[Len]

I think you did good by getting the skimmer. I tried the W/C approach but it was way too laborious and not as successful as a skimmed nano.

The only way you can attach plexi/acrylic to glass that I can think of is silicone. If the fuge is in the back, you'll want to figure out a way not to skim from the fuge. You can easily plumb the remora so it draws water from the display portion of the tank.

The Odessa line of lights are good values, but they aren't supremely well-built. I believe it's the same lights JBJ manufacturers (or some other Chinese company). I guess the way I'd describe them is: they're reliable enough and cheap enough I'd seriously consider them, but there are definitely better for more money, including DIY'ing your own system.

 

[joedirt]

Thanks Len!

I been thinking more and more about flow and heat...I have a mag 9.5 that might fit the bill if I add the head of a sump and a squid. If I drill the tank and add a sump I can plumb that 9.5 outside and avoid the heat issues of an intank system pump! I would just partion the entire back with 1/4" black/blue acrylic to provide about 2-3" of space for surface skimming and return water plumbing.

I could really go nuts on a custom acrylic sump/fuge. The remora skimmer can be used insump or HOT.

What I really want to focus on is the basics...flow,lighting,skimming,quality salt/rodi water.

I would like to avoid probes and controlers on this tank. A chiller might be an option but not my first choice( a fan on the sump would be my first). A DIY auto top-off with KW and RODI is in the future. I'm thinking I might just test DkH and buy a PH probe for adding KW later on when Ca load is very high and I need to dose B-ionic and all make-up wih KW.

I figure dosing Bionic When dkh is testing low and adding as much KW-make-up as the pH will allow will maintain the tank.

I guess what I really need is for a pick on the lighting...I want the look of 6500kSE 175W MH W/2 VHO 03's in a single HQI. 14k or 20k, I can DIY anything and would like to keep the cost under $250. I can add moon lights/dawn/dusk later if I DIY.

Do you think I should DIY a pendant or jusy buy a Sunpod?

Dirt

Dirt

 

[Len]

A Mag 9.5 on a scwd will be fine. Without the scwd, it would probably be a bit excessive.

Personally, I think the best approach for a nano reef is to utilize a dosing pump such as the Litermeter III which allows you to dose multiple solutions. I'd use the main pump to top off freshwater (keeping temp and salinity consistency plays a significant rule in heath for smaller tanks). I'd use two auxillery dosing pumps (controlled by the LM3) to dose Bionic. If Ca level dips too low, you can route the top-off freshwater through a kalkreactor. To be honest, I imagine bionic will provide most of your nano's needs.

A 6500 + two actinics actually still looks pretty yellow I know from experience. Personally, I think your best choice for DE ("HQI") is Phoenix 14K DE, Reeflux 10K DE, or XM 10K DE.

If you have the room above the tank, get a Lumenarc III or Lumenarc mini reflector. You'll have to go with single ended mogul bulbs for these reflectors. Unfortunately, Phoenix doesn't make a SE 14K IIRC, but Aquaconnect has a very nice 14K, albeit expensive. With ballast and bulb, this setup will probably cost a little more then $250. It will provide you incredible, even light distribution .... better then the Sunpod. But admittedly, the Sunpod is very attractive for the price, especially since you have the choice of the Phoenix 14K. If you can't tell by now, I like this bulb a lot

So many available choices these days! 8)

 

[joedirt]

Thanks len, I think I would be really happy with a single DE 15k Phoenix.

I was also looking at a 250W se Retro on Ebay today. $189 shipped free, 250w Coralvue Retro with choice of 10k,14k,20k. I liked this setup because the included ballast can fire a HQI too.

What bulbs do you think are over the top too blue. I think if I go 250w 20K I'll have the look I want with the par of a 150w 10k. BTW, this is going to be a SPS, clam dominated cube.

And, I just found that link to illuming.com that has a 150w 14k phoenix retro kit for 205.99.

Thanks,
Dirt

 

[joedirt]

I found another good buy on ebay...Aqua medic penant 150w HQI with a 15k XDE bulb and a 20k Bulb for $153. I think the 20k will be nice during the startup.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 7748046902


I'm going to really take my time on this tank...probably 6 months before the first SPS. The 20k sould fit the bill for getting the coraline going on some new rock and working out issues with problematic algae. I'll switch to the 14k or buy a 14k phoenix later.


Dirt

 

[joedirt]

Went nuts today :twisted: : paid for the light $165 shipped(not bad), purchased a 6 stage ro/di, bought everything for the flow except common plumming parts and squid(enough ball joint fittings for a real party,7 bulkheads), parts to fix my mag 9.5, test kits, dig therm, pump for my Remora, got some aqua-grade silicone for my DIY tank, and ordered my starfire glass for the tank(pretty cheap, <$100 for 3 sides 1/4" starfire and back and bottom 1/4"plate with finished edges).

The only thing left is to build the tank, stand and a custom sump(probably the hardest part due to the small footprint of the display tank). I'm thinking of putting a stair around my stand to let my kids get a good view and it would also allow me to fit a much larger sump under my 18"x18" tank.

BTW, I've changed my mind about putting a fuge, skimmer behind the display. I'm just going to partion the back 3" for a overflow and the drill the bottom back glass for two 1" standpipes and a 1" return line. I will just run my squid behind the overflow to two 1/2" bulkheads which will feed the bajillion ball fittings I just bought(2-1/2" ballxmpt,4 1/2" spreaders,2 ball y fittings, and a 6" flex).

So, for the flow I will be running a mag 9.5 out to a swid which will feed 2 1/2" lines with 2 outputs each. I think the chance of dead spots with good rock work is near zero on this 18x18 tank.

I'll post some pics after i start the tank build.

Later,
Dirt

 

[Meloco14]

It will be fun seeing this tank come to life .