Our 20L progression thread

[Conceyted]

Well, we have been posting in a seperate thread about our progression with the setup. We decided we would make a thread dedicated to our tank.

Today we mixed the salt in a brand new Rubbermaid trash can that we bought. The trashcan says it is 32 gallons but we filled it with 20 gallons of water and the salt mix and it seemed to nearly fill the trash can all the way up? Anyway, we put the CA1800 (the pump that came as the return from the sump to the tank) in the trash can and its mixing up that salt quite well for now as you can see! The current is so strong it even has the trash can slowly swaying back and forth which is very funny to watch.

Some other pictures including some of the other items we bought to go with the tank. And then an empty tank photo that follows.

At the moment we have these items on order:
-Current USA (orbit) 2x65w 30" Lighting
-3 Maxi-Jet 600's (one will be dedicated to mixing the saltwater)
-Reefkeeper Aquarium Controller
-a second tank 20L w/ black silicone and drilled at the bottom (considering two different types of bulkheads)

More Updates to come soon!

 

[neotekz]

u won;t need that wet-dry in a reef system, the bio balls will actually cause nitrates to rise unless u clean them often. just use the wet dry as a sump and put the skimmer in there. are u going to drill your tank?

 

[Conceyted]

u won;t need that wet-dry in a reef system, the bio balls will actually cause nitrates to rise unless u clean them often. just use the wet dry as a sump and put the skimmer in there. are u going to drill your tank?

We are taking the bioballs out and putting live rock in instead. If you look at the two bulkhead drawings to the bottom of the page you will see what we are contemplating doing. One tank we ordered is already drilled at the bottom for me so we may go that route. If we dont like the bottom drilled tank we will get this tank drilled in the back and have the bulkhead situated like the above diagram shows.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

IMO if you keep live rock in there just make sure that it stays under the water or you will have more prob. but so far everything you have looks great keep it up

 

[Conceyted]

IMO if you keep live rock in there just make sure that it stays under the water or you will have more prob. but so far everything you have looks great keep it up

make sure the rock stays under the water? Oh you mean make sure the rock isnt exposed to open air... For a second I was thinking, what?!? rocks sink...

We will make sure it stays under water.

Thanks.

 

[neotekz]

for a small tank like that i would drill the back since a corner overflow, if bottom is drilled, will take up a lot of space.
that's a lot of 4litre jugs lol why didn;t u just buy a large 5gallon one? or a rodi unit

 

[Conceyted]

for a small tank like that i would drill the back since a corner overflow, if bottom is drilled, will take up a lot of space.
that's a lot of 4litre jugs lol why didn;t u just buy a large 5gallon one? or a rodi unit

We didn't buy a ro/di unit because we spent so much on initial cost that we wanted to save in some areas for now. A ro/di will be on the list for the future. Also, you think thats a lot? Think of that times 3! We had just finished putting 20 of those gallon jugs in the trash can! Heh, it was definatly a chore.

 

[K-Dubbs]

Keep up tha good work, hope my thoughts are helpin

like i said... no bio-balls, and drill in back is much better (IMHO)

good luck
and
have fun

K-Dubbs

 

[spoon671]

Chris and Jamie,

I didn't even notice you had this thread! The 20L is a pretty sweet looking tank. If you are going to go small, then there are few tanks if ANY that look better than a 20L with black silicone! And you know this, mann!

You are doing such an awesome job so far. You are pretty much doing all the things I would've done, had I known all the things I know right now back when I started mine. Be sure to use those Micron pads in the trickle portion of your filter (where the overflow hoses meet the wet/dry). Your water will be sparkling, guaranteed. Also, please put the sand in BEFORE you put the water in. Also put a rock or two in as well and then use a siphon tube to slowly fill the tank, while holding the tube in a way so that the water just trickles down the rocks. Even though it might take just a little bit of time to fill your tank, this method will prevent the dreaded SAND STORM! We all hate that.

More pictures guys! :beer:

 

[Conceyted]

We will post more pics as soon as we get our light in and the other two mj 600's we have on order. We got one of the mj600's today and I must admit it seems a little weak. I am curious if they will be strong enough to create the current I am looking for in this tank. Only time will tell.

After talking to spoon I think we are going to need a heater (something I kind of blew off when first thinking about the tanks needs) Wont be horribly expensive or anything though so its not such a big deal.

I am going to have to check out exactly how we will add the sand and rock etc. Havent even thought that far into this yet. I will post pics as soon as we do the first wet run of the tank.

 

[jafoca]

I'd like to request pics of your standpipe/overflow. I am starting a 20L and am unsure what to do. Thanks

 

[Conceyted]

I'd like to request pics of your standpipe/overflow. I am starting a 20L and am unsure what to do. Thanks

We are in the same boat The drilled bottom w/ standpipe tank is on order and wont be here for another week (or less I HOPE) the other style where i would drill the back will only be done if i dontlike the drilled bottom tank, and that way will require drilling the all glass tank I have. Once I get everything situated I will post pics of the way I decided to go with.

 

[spoon671]

Where are you at so far?

 

[Conceyted]

Alright, btw spoon we saw your new lighting pics and we are jealous!

So we ordered a heater. Theo is the name of the heater. Ordered the 100 watt version. Also purchased some 50 micron filters for the wet/dry (sump) and some micron filter floss for my powerheads. Also on order is one of those nifty little glass magnet cleaner deals that cleans the tank and floats if the magnetic field breaks loose along with some outer glass cleaner (aquarium safe). And finally ordered a test kit, the marine kit by Seachem and a hydrometer (dont want to spend 50 dollars on a refractometer at this moment).

Still havent gotten the call from our LFS saying our tank lights and pumps are in, we are very anxiously awaiting that call!


Also something non reef related... I (chris) spent a good 4 hours today doing an exhaust install on my Z. Went great but the summer days are so hot down here in new orleans. Anyway just to show it off heres a pic of the finished product...

Thanks for checking up with us, we will post more info as our tank progresses.

 

[Conceyted]

Oh, another thing. The Hydor Theo Heater we got doesnt seem to get much feedback or reviews so we will let everyone know how things go with it. Originally plans were to put the heater in the sump and mount it horizontally close to the bottom of the sump. Now I am wondering if this might be kind of dangerous to heat the water up in such a small area. Maybe it would be better mounted in one of the corners of the tank.

Feedback is encouraged. Thanks!

 

[FuriaReef]

also non reef related z looks very low, would you have other pics of the side/front view..

btw tank setup is looking good

 

[spoon671]

Damn that's a sexy behind, on that Z. Chris, install the heater in your sump. Water from the tank will be constantly flowing into the sump. Water will be constantly flowing out of the sump and back to your tank. It will not cool down on it's way back to the tank if that's what you are worried about as well. In actuality, you are heating your system, not just your sump. As a matter of fact I have my digital thermometer up in my tanks overflow, while my heater in technically on the opposite side of my system (in sump).

And since you posted a car pic! My baby 1976 Toyota Corolla SR5 (TE37)

 

[Conceyted]

Cool looking car!

 

[29GallonReefer]

sweet ride chris. Where do you wait tables at?

 

[spoon671]

Oh man, New Orleans. Take a run over to Bubba Gumps and tell Joel that Justin said what's up!