Bilk
New member
I placed this thread here because it fully relates to equipment, how a system operates and what enables it to be more user friendly to performing maintenance, which we all know is required to keep a captive reef successfully. It's all about the system and the system is comprised of various components that need to be serviced in order to maintain water quality in a closed system.
Having successfully maintained a 110g for about 10 years, but then moving and having to sell off and disassemble that system, I was reefless from 2002 until 2010 when I initially built this 50g cube. It's located in my main living space and freestanding, away from walls and pretty much a focal point in the space as it's at the bottom of a spiral stair leading from the main level of my home. This location influenced the tank size and it's design.
The tank was running well up through the first half of 2012 when problems arose. For the first six months of 2012 I was involved in a very intense, time sensitive project, working six and sometimes seven days a week. As a result, the system I assembled for this 50g, thinking it was suitable, wasn't. It wasn't as conducive and user friendly for performing the necessary maintenance we all know every tank needs. In addition, the problem that arose went undiscovered until the damage was mostly done. A small leak from the bulkhead feeding the sump caused rusted water to leech into the sump and it went undiscovered for a long time because no water was missing from the system or visible on the floor. It's location made it difficult to detect. In addition, I was running Zeovit, all fine and a good system, but with my limited time and coming home well spent, I wasn't applying the system properly and sometimes not at all.
The results were a massive battle with algae and cyanobacteria, the likes I had never seen. I tried all the remedies and eventually came to the conclusion that the whole system needed to be taken down, cleaned and redone in a much better what. I also believe that cheaping out on the lighting was a contributing factor as I used no name Chinese led imports that were available at the time. I think they have come along further and may not be a bad choice, but not one I'm making at this point.
This is where my rebuild thread starts.
The footprint of a 50g isn't much to speak of and making it a square vs a rectangle complicates things a bit. Further complicating it for me was the location I chose for this tank. In order to make it somewhat serviceable and aesthetically pleasing, the supporting cabinet needed to be no larger than the footprint of the tank. So the confines are tight and fitting everything inside the cabinet is a challenge.
These are a few pics of what it started out as. I designed and built the stand and cabinet.
Everything was in a nice tight little package, but I soon learned the errors I made. Even though I provided access from three sides, being located where it is, access from the sides wasn't very user friendly. In addition, I hard plummed everything. Big mistake. It was difficult to remove the pump for servicing and even though there's ample height inside the cabinet, extracting the protein skimmer was still problematic. Pumping the Zeovit reactor was a real bummer and forget about removing it for cleaning and exchanging the stones.
The new system will utilize some Zeovit products but will not employ the reactor and stones. Instead I will be running an ATS which I am in the process of building and will add to the thread after it is complete. The remainder of the filtration will be a Tunze 9011 protein skimmer, a passive activated carbon chamber that will be placed in the sump, an ATO I had operating prior and 2 part dosing which was also part of the prior system.
Having successfully maintained a 110g for about 10 years, but then moving and having to sell off and disassemble that system, I was reefless from 2002 until 2010 when I initially built this 50g cube. It's located in my main living space and freestanding, away from walls and pretty much a focal point in the space as it's at the bottom of a spiral stair leading from the main level of my home. This location influenced the tank size and it's design.
The tank was running well up through the first half of 2012 when problems arose. For the first six months of 2012 I was involved in a very intense, time sensitive project, working six and sometimes seven days a week. As a result, the system I assembled for this 50g, thinking it was suitable, wasn't. It wasn't as conducive and user friendly for performing the necessary maintenance we all know every tank needs. In addition, the problem that arose went undiscovered until the damage was mostly done. A small leak from the bulkhead feeding the sump caused rusted water to leech into the sump and it went undiscovered for a long time because no water was missing from the system or visible on the floor. It's location made it difficult to detect. In addition, I was running Zeovit, all fine and a good system, but with my limited time and coming home well spent, I wasn't applying the system properly and sometimes not at all.
The results were a massive battle with algae and cyanobacteria, the likes I had never seen. I tried all the remedies and eventually came to the conclusion that the whole system needed to be taken down, cleaned and redone in a much better what. I also believe that cheaping out on the lighting was a contributing factor as I used no name Chinese led imports that were available at the time. I think they have come along further and may not be a bad choice, but not one I'm making at this point.
This is where my rebuild thread starts.
The footprint of a 50g isn't much to speak of and making it a square vs a rectangle complicates things a bit. Further complicating it for me was the location I chose for this tank. In order to make it somewhat serviceable and aesthetically pleasing, the supporting cabinet needed to be no larger than the footprint of the tank. So the confines are tight and fitting everything inside the cabinet is a challenge.
These are a few pics of what it started out as. I designed and built the stand and cabinet.
Everything was in a nice tight little package, but I soon learned the errors I made. Even though I provided access from three sides, being located where it is, access from the sides wasn't very user friendly. In addition, I hard plummed everything. Big mistake. It was difficult to remove the pump for servicing and even though there's ample height inside the cabinet, extracting the protein skimmer was still problematic. Pumping the Zeovit reactor was a real bummer and forget about removing it for cleaning and exchanging the stones.
The new system will utilize some Zeovit products but will not employ the reactor and stones. Instead I will be running an ATS which I am in the process of building and will add to the thread after it is complete. The remainder of the filtration will be a Tunze 9011 protein skimmer, a passive activated carbon chamber that will be placed in the sump, an ATO I had operating prior and 2 part dosing which was also part of the prior system.
The structure of the stand is made from American black walnut and is assembled with mortise and tenon, glued and doweled through with 5/8" oak dowels. You can sit an elephant on it. It's heavy and strong.
Not sure I can live with them now, but don't know what my options are. I'd love to employ a closed loop but not interested in drilling the tank and have the pump on the exterior on the back of the tank. 
