Rickztah's Low Iron 22g Peninsula RBTA / Euphyllia / Clownfish (build)

[rickztahone]

Hello all. I finally felt I had enough stuff accumulated in this build to FINALLY start a build thread.

I knew I didn't have a large place to set up a tank so decided to go with a 12g. Did my research for many months, and while I was doing my research, the 22g Mr. Aqua was released. I got a great deal on two of these tanks, both the low iron variant, and decided to do a SW tank with one of them. This is my first time ever venturing in to the realm of SW, have always had FW discus.

After buying so much equipment for the SW build, I found myself without funds to even start the other tank which was supposed to be a fully planted tank. So, I sold that and had more money to spend on this setup

As the title states, this will be a Peninsula tank. It is only 22g, but with rockwork it should be much closer to 15g. I'm hoping to offset that a bit with a larger sump.

So, here are the specs:

• Tank:

Mr. Aqua 22g Long (Low Iron) - 36x12x12

• Light:

Maxspect Razor 16k 160w

• Filtration:

Bean Animal side mount overflow

Sump 30g Eshopps - 30x16x12

Skimmer Eshopps S-120

DC-12000 Swapping this out for a DC-3000

DC-3000 This will be the second DC-3000 to serve as redundancy.

3 Way Manifold - will probably end up being run by the second DC-3000

Siporax in eggcrate for bio

• Chiller:

Customsealife 1/5 HP

• Water movement:

MP20

• Water Treatment - RO/DI & ATO

Spectapure 90gpd unit

JBJ ATO - will probably replace this with a Tunze soon enough

• Dosing:

Still debating on which brand to go with

• Stocking:

1 Pair of Designer Clownfish. Toss up between Frostbite / Phantom / Premium Black Snowflake (Amphiprion ocellaris)

• Additional Equipment:

TFL Phosban 150 reactor

BRS GFO & Carbon Dual Reactor

2x SCT-1000 - Controllers for heater/chiller and box fans for stand



I like to overthink things and love paying attention to detail on builds, this is why this has taken me well over a year to even get to this stage. I have 80% of all the equipment needed.

I love DIY, and the one thing that is left is the stand which is where I usually drain all my money in to, lol. I don't plan on doing that this time and will try to keep it simple yet still look good.

I hope you follow along this new venture with me


Here is a pic of the equipment so far:
DSC08431 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

DSC08432 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

DSC08435 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

 

[rickztahone]

As I said , I love DIY. I chose to do my own overflow and drill and cut my own glass. Here's how that went at first:
DSC08395 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
DSC08397 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

That was fun

Here's my second try:
DSC08487 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
DSC08492 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
1 Hole - 2 Hole - 3 Hole by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

I also tried to cut the glass myself, however, that was a complete and utter fail. I bought a cutting wheel, running pliers and oil but just couldn't get it to work. A quick tip for those that are planning on getting the equipment to cut their own glass, just save your money and leave it to the pros. They charged me $2.50 per cut and it came out much cheaper for them to do it than it did for me to get the equipment to cut. lesson learned.

Here is how the panes look once cut to the measurements I specified:
DSC08495 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

Everything siliconed in to place:
DSC08496 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
DSC08497 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
DSC08499 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
Sorry about the mess in the tank. I was pretty tired at this point and even taking that out and putting it back in wasn't appealing, lol.

 

[rickztahone]

If for whatever reason anyone is curious of the sizes of the cut panes, here's this:
DSC08437 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr
the top piece will serve as a lid for the overflow setup

Also, this shot shows the difference between low iron and regular glass if anyone is curious about the difference between the two:
DSC08438 by Rick Vasquez, on Flickr

 

[Sbdud]

Nice

 

[theMerchant]

thanks for sharing. looking good

 

[Rakie]

Great build and solid documentation.

I'm guessing the glass broke because of the soft grass! Not that it matters anymore, but thegrun helped me drill a tank with a drill press and it couldn't have gone smoother.

 

[rickztahone]

Great build and solid documentation.

I'm guessing the glass broke because of the soft grass! Not that it matters anymore, but thegrun helped me drill a tank with a drill press and it couldn't have gone smoother.

Correct, I will say one thing about the shattered glass pic of me drilling. There were a couple of things that I did that could have easily prevented this disaster. First, the bottom was unsupported. If you check out the pics of the successful drilling, there is a plywood piece as well as 1/4" Styrofoam piece when you drill through.

Also, in the failed attempt, I forgot to lower the chuck to 1. When I hit full speed, it shattered immediately. Going slow at first on 1 will not allow you to go faster than you need to be. Once I got the groove going, I upped the drill to 3. Never really went full speed, because I decided to take my time because the small pane could have easily cracked because of the close proximity of the holes.

 

[phatsonate]

Wow, pretty awesome, especially for a first timer!

 

[dodgerblew]

Go Rick!

 

[CaboKent]

Following!

 

[COENONE]

Cool

 

[rickztahone]

Wow, pretty awesome, especially for a first timer!

Thank you. Like I said, I spend way too much time researching and asking questions.

Go Rick!

In fact, here is the person I pester constantly with questions haha

Following!

thanks for the follow. My time line isn't super fast right now, but once the stand is done, it will be cruise control from there.

The plan of attack here will be to incorporate magnetic doors on the stand, as well as an access panel right at the front of the tank.

 

[OllieNZ]

That first piece of glass was tempered which you shouldn't try to drill or cut anyway.
Cool build.

 

[dodgerblew]

Did that pump I gave you work. It had been in storage for a couple years

 

[blkg35]

Congrats on finally getting the saltwater tank going Rick!!
My vote is for a frostbite clown pair. I've always wanted a pair but haven't found a nice pair yet. If you're going to do zoas, I have a frag of purple hornets you can have if you're ever in OC area.
Looking forward to this build.

 

[pandimus]

Looking, good. Now i understand the pics you sent yesterday.

 

[rickztahone]

That first piece of glass was tempered which you shouldn't try to drill or cut anyway.
Cool build.

How can you tell?

Did that pump I gave you work. It had been in storage for a couple years

Yeah, it did actually. I gave it a vinegar bath and it worked like a champ. It will be my storage barrel pump since I was able to source a redundant pump by way of the DC12000. Everyone laughed when I kept telling them I wanted to use that pump for this setup, so I gave in, lol.

Congrats on finally getting the saltwater tank going Rick!!
My vote is for a frostbite clown pair. I've always wanted a pair but haven't found a nice pair yet. If you're going to do zoas, I have a frag of purple hornets you can have if you're ever in OC area.
Looking forward to this build.

Thanks man . I really love the frostbite ones as well, however, I really like the ones that have the little dots in the body. I have seen them referred to as bullet holes, but not sure if that is just a weird naming thing. Still a toss up as the kiddos seem to prefer the premium black snowflakes.

I'll tell you one thing I told Rik also, I am scared to do zoas. I read a thread here in RC that completely freaked me out about actually having them. Loved Rik's tank with BEBB's, but still not sure if I want to go that route.

I just googled them and they sure are beautiful!

Looking, good. Now i understand the pics you sent yesterday.

haha, I didn't see your text till about 1am and didn't want to bother you at that time. Sorry for just shooting you a text with pics, haha

 

[OllieNZ]

How can you tell?

By the way it shattered. Float glass cracks, tempered shatters into small pieces which is why it's also known as safety glass.

 

[rickztahone]

By the way it shattered. Float glass cracks, tempered shatters into small pieces which is why it's also known as safety glass.

Gotcha, makes perfect sense. I'm glad the one I decided to drill wasn't tempered! I never even thought to check actually. All glass panes were given to me for free.

 

[dodgerblew]

Rick, zoas are cool and colorful. Stable parameters is what helps them the most. Your lighting, flow etc will be great and purple hornets are still in my top 3-5 zoas.