DIY 20g Long Build Thread

[JasonBJones]

Thank you for taking a little bit of your time and stopping by. I will be using this thread to document the progression of my little piece of the sea. All feedback and comments are welcome and I am always happy to answer any questions.

The tank began its life as a rimless 20g long made by GlassCages.

I have been inspired by many tanks and threads on this site over the years, as well as from my friends over at DFWMAS, and have tried to combine the best of everything. This tank was designed with three focuses, to: 1) help my wife learn about the hobby and come to enjoy it as much as I do; 2) be simple and an all-in-one; and 3) use sustainable materials whenever possible.

I choose to create an all-in-one system for its simplicity. I am now starting my second year in law school and have limited time to devote to the tank during the school year. Also, I know I will be in apartments for the next two years, so I wanted to minimize the possibility of flooding or leaks.

I decided to make an angled filter compartment because I have always liked the way they change the shape of the tank. However, I don't like a completely angled look and I wanted to have an area to be able to place filter media if necessary. I used black acrylic to build the system. I started by building the box that would hold the media tray.

I cut slits into the box to allow the water to enter the box and act as a surface skimmer. I also wanted to allow enough water to enter but prevent any inhabitants from sliding over into the filter box.

The next step was to finish the rest of the compartment. I used painters tape to hold the box in the exact place I wanted as I attached the long acrylic piece to build the rest of the compartment.

After gluing all the acrylic together, I build a middle section that could be used as a refugium. I don't plan on running the tank with a refugium, but I wanted to have the option at a later date, plus it makes a good heater compartment. Once everything was complete, I siliconed the whole thing in place. If you have never siliconed acrylic to glass, it does not work very well. The silicone does not really attach to the acrylic. To hold it in place, you have to use the silicone in large quantities and use it to hold the acrylic in place.

The large compartment houses the skimmer and the return pump. I build the skimmer to be simple and easy to clean. The water enters through the bottom of the skimmer fed by a MJ 600 modified with a mesh wheel. To create the venturi, I used the piece that comes with the pump and connects to the output and has an airline inlet to create bubbles. I opened up the inlet housing on the pump so I could fit the piece in and then glued it in place. I also used a dremel to open up the inlet to allow more water to be pumped. I am very happy with the amount of air this simple set-up pulls in, I need to make a silencer because it is very noisy.

The water enters the skimmer into a small chamber with many holes drilled. Theoretically, this section helps to lower the turbulence in the skimmer and improves the efficiency, although there has been some debate about the effectiveness. The water and air mix then rises through the chamber and must make its way back to the bottom of the skimmer to exit. I made the exit tubing adjustable so I could change the water height in the skimmer. The exit is simple and just comes out the top of the tube and splashes down into the sump. Unfortunately, this set-up is extremely loud and I am going to experiment with was to quiet it down, any suggestions welcome.

The next step was to build a media tray. I used more of the black acrylic and some egg crate to make the filter tray. I have decided not to use the drip plate as it did not add anything and was unnecessary.

 

[JasonBJones]

Once the filter section was complete I performed a water test. Everything worked well and the filter department was water tight. I quickly realized that I had set the water level too high. I needed to lower the slits into the filter compartment and cut slits into the refugium section because the water level there was too high as well.

I cut the slits down to the level of the tape. I was careful to tape the glass to provide protection if the dremel slipped.

I also had to cut slits into the refugium section.

Besides the return pump, the tank will uses a Vorteck MP 10 for circulation. I knew I would need a little bit of room for waves. After cutting the slits, the water level was much better.

For lighting on this tank I was set on using T5HOs for several reasons. First, with this simple set-up, I wanted to keep heat to a minimum. Second, they are very efficient and effective, especially in a tank this shallow. Also, I have never run a tank with T5s and thought it would be interesting to try. I purchased a 30" Current USA SunDial.

I was also intrigued by the LED craze. I decided I wanted to check them out myself. I decided to wire in a LED to use as a refugium light if I ever decided I wanted to run a refugium. I wired an Endorstar 3-led into the fixture on its own switch. It is extremely bright for a single star

 

[JasonBJones]

Rock:

I have been very impressed with the recent developments in building backgrounds for tanks. Most backgrounds I have seen involve using foam and some incorporate rocks in them as well. While I think these generally turn out looking pretty good, they don't perform much function besides aesthetics. With such a small tank, I wanted to take advantage of every possible space to increase filtration capacity. To do this, I decided to build my wall out of DIY rock. I used a mix of cement, sand and oyster shell.

I began by making a base for the wall out of egg crate.

After some trials making rocks to learn how to work with the mixture and how to shape them, I decided to begin working on the wall. I laid a thin layer of the mixture down and then placed some pieces of live rock where I wanted them. I then slowly build the wall around those pieces, using toilet paper rolls and other objects to try and create some caves and openings in the rock.

Next I build a mold out of cardboard to match the dimensions of the tank. I used the eggcrate on the small side with the filter inlet and did not use it on the angled wall because I was trying to keep it thin. Once the rock hardened and I pulled it apart, the angled wall cracked into several pieces.

I was very happy with the small section so I decided to try and build another section in the middle to connect all the pieces.

Once I finished the wall, I built 20 rocks or so to give me some options on the rocks I would use. I then cured all the rocks in buckets with weekly water changes for about 3 months.

 

[JasonBJones]

Tank Prep:

Everything sat idle from April until August as I finished finals and then clerked at law firms for the summer. In preparation for setting the tank up, I needed to do some painting. I painted the back glass with chalkboard paint and also painted the front section where the filter box would be. I did this to hide any algae that may grow in the filter compartment. I left the side where the filter box is unpainted so I could see if any detritus accumulates in there.

Once that was finished, I prepared to move everything back down to Austin to set up in my new apartment where I will be for the next 2 years. I was happy with how the tank looked once I set it up on the stand.

The next step was to put the rock wall in place. Unfortunately, the middle section I had already repaired broke again. I was able to glue it back together and made a few modifications to make it look normal. As a side benefit, a piece at the bottom broke off and I thought it looked like a tunnel in the rock and so I left it. It is now one of my favorite parts of the wall.

I also spent hours cleaning to sand until I could wash it and the water was almost clear. I went with CaribSea Aragamax. I love the look of a sandbed and wanted a sand that would not get blown around too much by the Vortech.

After that I went through all my rocks I built and selected a couple to go in. For flow and growth purposes, I wanted to go with a minimalist rockwork on the bottom of the tank. However, I have never been a fan of the minimalist look when there is not a background, so that is why the tank ended up the way it did. I feel like this provides me the best of both worlds. This will mainly be an SPS tank with some zoanthids and probably a few LPS.

One of the things I really like about this setup is that while it has sort of a minimalist look, but there is actually almost 20lbs of like rock thanks to the wall. I hope this will provide substantial filtration to the tank.

Side View:

Once it was all in place, the next step was to add water and test everything out. Luckily, everything worked flawlessly. After playing with the vortech on short pulse for a while, I was able to create a 3/8” to 1/2” wave across the tank. I knew it would be hard to get a true wave going on such a short and not uniform shaped tank, so I was happy with the results. There was a lot of random movement throughout the tank and I didn’t feel like there were any noticeable dead spots. (Note: the Vortech is turned down in this picture, the wave is much larger)

I filled the tank with RO water first so I could test to make sure all the rock had cured; I didn’t do that before. Unfortunately, after only a few hours, the pH was off the charts, so it looks like the tank will be sitting like this for a while longer until the rock finishes curing. I hope it will not take too long as I am now antsy to get the tank going. It has taken nearly 9 months to get this far.

The tank will be run with the carbon/bacteria method. I will start with Vodka and MB7 and then test from there.

As far as stocking the tank goes, I am letting my wife choose the fish to help get her involved and invested in the project. I think the current plan includes a goby and pistol shrimp combo, a pair of banner cardinals, a golden-headed neon goby, and a six-line wrasse. She also really likes the red scooter blenny, but we will have to see if we can find one that eats well. We will also have a cleaner shrimp.

 

[boosted chemist]

I like your all rock background, very well done, i need to glue some acylic to glass, not looking foward to it.

 

[Arizonah13]

Wow - you planned this out very nicely. Are you planning to seed it with a small piece of LR?
Can't wait to see you add some critters to that beauty!

 

[chrishet]

Wicked cool! I am in the midst of my own glasscages.com AIO build...and will pay close attention to your build Jason.

 

[JasonBJones]

Thank you all for the comments.

Carolyn- I am planning on seeding with a live rock or two. I will also seed the sandbed and I hope when everything is cured to take 10g or so out of an established tank.

 

[Arizonah13]

sounds great!! I'm subscribing so I can follow your progress. Keep up the good work!

 

[TheBends]

This is an awesome build, especially loving the rock wall. This sort of thing makes me enjoy the smaller more compact and well thought out tanks more than the massive "throw everything in the stand" tanks.

Nice work so far - will be following your build progress.

 

[JasonBJones]

I did some testing today and determined the flat part of the back wall was the only piece not cured. I have taken that piece out for further curing.

After changing out all the water and letting it sit for quite some time, the pH remained stable. Since the tank was ready to go, I added salt. I will be running the tank at 1.026.

I am really impressed with performance of the skimmer. I may actually have to cut the outlet pipe down some because I can't get the water level low enough. When it was running in freshwater, the water level was about 2/3" of an inch below the top. In saltwater, the water level is rising above the top.

I made a silencer for the air inlet to the skimmer and it certainly helped, but it is still pretty loud. I also added some filter floss around the exit tube to keep the water from splashing and making a lot of noise, that seemed to help.

The main issue now is the micro-bubbles, they are terrible. I was concerned that this would be a problem since the sump section is so small, but I didn't imagine they would be quite so bad. I will play with the skimmer some and see what I can come up with.

 

[JasonBJones]

Worked on the skimmer and the tank a bit more tonight. It seems no matter how well you plan, you always find little challenges with a new tank.

I cut the height of the skimmer exit tube to allow me to lower the water level and to give more flexibility. Wrapping the pipe with filter floss really cut down on the noise of the water splashing back into the tank.

I made a silencer out of 3/4" pvc threaded caps and filled it full of filter floss. There is still a lot of noise though, so I am going to try drilling more holes in the silencer to see if it helps.

I am really happy with the skimmer over all. It is working much better than I expected. The entire water column is filled with tiny bubbles. I tried to take a picture to show this. For reference sizing, the skimmer is 3" x 3" internally and 8" tall.

I added some Microbacter 7 to start building up the bacteria in the system. I hope to pick up a couple of small pieces of cured live rock tomorrow.

 

[JasonBJones]

Time for a little update.

The back wall is still in a tub curing some more. I hate admitting this but I cured all of my DIY rock, except this one because it was too large, by sticking them in the tanks of toilets around my house. I figured they would get pretty frequent water changes, every time someone flushed the toilet, and would cure faster. I think it is the combination of not being cured that way and being the largest piece by far that is causing it to take longer. I wish I would have checked to see if it was cured because all the rocks sat dry from about April until I set the tank up last week.

I was able to cut down on the microbubble problem by putting a piece of filter floss between the skimmer and the return pump. It didn't eliminate the microbubbles but it certainly reduced the number. I also made a new silencer for the skimmer using cotton instead of filter floss, did the trick. The skimmer is now very quiet.

I purchased a couple of pieces of live rock with good coralline growth to help seed the tank. Every few days I break off a piece of coralline and ground it into fine particles in a small tub of water and then dump the water into the tank to help seed the coralline on all the DIY rock.

I added a couple hermit crabs last week and they are still alive, so I figure that is a good sign. Everything is looking good so far. I have been dosing MB7 in the high nutrient dosage to help the tank seed. I don't have an algae growth yet, but I am only turning the lights on when I am home.

I have also played with the vortech and have achieved a decent wave. It is about 5/8" of an inch on the left side and about 3/8" on the right side. I think the odd angle on the left doesn't bounce back as well. Here is a little video to show it in action.

I will probably pick up a couple of damsels later this week and let them help establish the tank for a month or so.

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[reeftanknewbie]

Man this is a great build. I am building a 20 long for my office and am not sure about building a compartment like yours or have seen them on both ends before as well.

 

[cooper13]

Exciting build! Really interesting design. I'll be following along.

 

[JasonBJones]

Man this is a great build. I am building a 20 long for my office and am not sure about building a compartment like yours or have seen them on both ends before as well.

I don't think you can go wrong doing it either way. I wanted to something a little different, which is why I chose this design.

It does create a bit of a challenge to get a good gyre effect going in the tank. However, with the MP10 on the side wall near the back and the return pump coming out of the angled section towards the front, it somewhat overcomes the odd shape and gets the water moving in a good circular pattern.

Cooper- Thank you for the compliments. I wanted to try and do something a little different.

Things are progressing along nicely. I have picked up a couple of small Zoa frags, a small acan frag, a coco worm and a six-line wrasse. I didn't notice at the store, but this six-line is extremely shy and spends a good bit of time hiding out. I have always liked six-lines for their personality and constant foraging among the rocks. Here are a couple of pictures of the items.

My plan has always been to place zoas and rics all across the walls and let them grow to fill in the entire wall and leave the stand alone rocks for the SPS. However, I have come to realize that I will not be able to place Zoas all the way up the rock because they will only be inches away from the T5s. I think I may need to build some sort of canopy out of wire mesh that blocks some light from the top sections of the wall. My concern is taking away from the rimless look, so I may actually make a shade on the light fixture itself, we shall see.

Speaking of lights, I just ordered bulbs to replace the stock ones. I went with two ATI Blue+, one ATI Aquablue Special and one KZ Fiji Purple. I think that will make a big difference because the stock bulbs leave something to be desired. I also have a clean up crew coming.

I just finished dosing the bacteria at the high level nutrient dosage to seed the tank and will now lower the dosage and incorporate vodka dosing. I am waiting on all the test kits to arrive before I start with that though. I also ordered copepods to seed the tank with a provide a bit of food.

That's it for now, slow and steady wins the race.

 

[glennr1978]

sweet tank!! It looks very similar to mine

 

[JasonBJones]

Time for an update on the tank.

Everything has been doing well. I have been able to pick up some really great Zoas and Palys from some local reefers and from several online places. I have the left wall covered with about as much as I want to put on there now, and I have 6 or 7 frags, with several more on the way, to go on the back wall. However, I haven't really taken the time to take pictures of them all yet, partly because the only camera here I have is an Iphone, so I will do a better update on that later. All the livestock and corals have been doing very well.

I will focus this update on my Yasha goby and pistol shrimp. I have learned a lot through trial and error that I hope will help others to enjoy them. First off, even if you get a shrimp and goby that are already paired together, they don't necessarily find each other right away in the tank. The yasha goby is so shy when you first introduce him that he will find the nearest whole to escape into and you are likely not to see him again for a while. I have had mine a week now and he has just started coming out when it is feeding time. Just like the goby, the shrimp is really shy and will find the first area that he can make a burrow and he will go there. The first few days they were not in the same spot.

My next step was to try and catch them both and put them where I wanted them to build a home and to get them together. I created a little hole under a rock for them where they could go and that had the entrance in the front of the rock where I would be able to see them. I even lined the whole in the sand with larger pebbles to try and fence them in and to use my opening. Well it wasn't long before they decided that the opening I gave them was not what they wanted and they built an opening behind the rock where I can't see them at all. This defeats the whole purpose of having them in a small tank in my opinion.

Here is a picture of the goby before they decided to make a back entrance, you can see him on the bottom right side of the rock. I got the ricordea from Coral Morphologic and I have been extremely pleased with the purchase. The ricordea have some of the nicest colors I have seen. I wish the camera showed them off better.

I did some research and decided to try and build them a home out of PVC so I could place the "home" in the sand where I wanted it and it would help encourage them (read force) to build their opening in the front where they could be viewed. I didnt want to use just a straight PVC pipe because I wanted them to be able to hide behind a bend if they were startled and I wanted to seem like a larger hole. So I ended up with the shape in the pictures. I them glued sand and pebbles to the end of the PVC so if it gets uncovered you wont see pvc sticking out. I also plan to put some sand into the PVC tubes once it is placed in the tank so that it will seem more natural. I will try and install it in a few days when I have some more time.

 

[reeftanknewbie]

that's really cool...is your goobie using it?

 

[JasonBJones]

that's really cool...is your goobie using it?

Unfortunately, I have not have time to put it in the tank yet. School has been really busy for me this week. I will update you on how it goes once it is installed.