20 gal Tank Plan

[midgetwaiter]

So I've decided that I wanted to change some things about my 15 gal nano to take care of a couple potential issues and I thought I'd see if anyone had some ideas. I have zoas, ricordias, a few softies and an open brain. Only other thing I want to add is a maxima clam, maybe.

First problem is that I'm running about 8 degrees higher than room temp in the tank, that kind of concerns me. It's not a problem yet, it usually hits 81 now but in the summer it could be an issue. One of the reasons for this is that I have 4 powerheads in the tank, 2 rios run the backpack skimmer, one more rio for flow and a zoo med powersweep for kinda lame wave action. Replacing the flow powerheads with a sieo would help probably but I think that the rios on the skimmer put out too much heat for a small tank.

Which brings me to the second problem, if I switch back to the HOB Super Skimmer I bought for this tank I run the risk of dumping water all over the floor, again. I really should have bought a remora.

So I started assembling some peices for a new, slightly bigger tank. I'm going to use a 20 for the display and another for the sump, I thought about going bigger but I already have 24 inch lights. You can see in the picture that I'm going to put in a corner overflow with a stockkman standpipe. I'm going to do return via a 500 g/r pump connected to a SCWD wavemaker that outputs to 2 bulkheads on the back of the tank. I'm going to put a 6" chunk of loc-line on each output so I can direct the flow as needed. The SCWD should switch every 7 seconds or so and leave me with 350 plus g/h flow.

The sump is dived into sections with 2 sets of over / under /over baffles. The first section is to keep some rock and some macro in. I'm hoping the baffles would keep the macro in place, I'm going to space then 3/4 " apart but I'm not sure. Then the skimmer section and finally the bubble trap baffles and return.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Ruth]

I am a big supporter of protein skimmers - IMO you cannot overskim a tank. However on small systems I think it is entirely possible to not use a skimmer at all. I have 2 X 12g and 1 X 24g Nano tanks that I do not skim. Well actually every once in a while I will throw a skimmer (Remora Pro) on the 24g. I think it is entirely possible to manage your water quality with regular water changes. I change between 40-50% of my water on these small tanks every week. Just something you may want to think about.

[TheReefGeek]

Are you doing the overflow yourself, or is the tank already drilled?

I have a 20g bow I am setting up, but I am not sure whether I can drill the bottom glass or not. I know bottoms are tempered on larger tanks, not sure about a 20g though.

Your setup looks sweet. I would use the BakPak, you already have it, and the heat will not be an issue on this larger setup.

Make sure you account for head pressure when picking your return pump, not sure if you want 500gph before head pressure, or after.

[mr_alberta]

Does the return pump have to be submersible? If you run an external pump, you won't add nearly as much heat back into the water.

[midgetwaiter]

I already have the other skimmer too and I may as well use it. If I don't get all this going before it starts to warm up I may just shut off the other one.

Rory, The tank is just a standard 20 gal from Bow Valley, I have access to a proper low RPM drill and the hole saws so I'm just going to do it myself.

On a 16 I doubt the bottom is tempered as it would need to be cut to shape, then cooked. Only way to know for sure is to ask the company that built it or look at it through polarazied lenses, if it it tempered you should see waves in the glass.

I hadn't thought about an external pump for some reason, I already have the return but there is no reason I couldn't get a mag or something. I'll probably try it with the one I have now first but good idea.

For head loss and etc, I should get 350 - 400 g/h considering rise and elbows, at the SCWD, that is going to cost me a bit of head there but according to the table I found at Marine Depot (http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=3Q1111) I should be getting between 250 and 350 to the tank. As long as I hit 250 I think I'll be happy, I can add a seio for extra flow if I need to.

[TheReefGeek]

So you are drilling the bottom of your 20 then? I will contact the manufacturer of my tank to make sure.

How are you building your overflow box?

[Murminator]

I would put the skimmer in the 1st compartment and the macro in the middle just to cut down on the micro bubbles getting to the return pump and back into the display

[muck]

I would put the skimmer in the 1st compartment and the macro in the middle just to cut down on the micro bubbles getting to the return pump and back into the display
Yep me too. As well as not skimming out a lot of the pods that grow in the Fuge before they even have a chance to make it in to your tank.

[midgetwaiter]

Good points about the skimmer in the first compartment , that would allow me to really reduce the complexity of that first seperator as well.

I will be drilling the bottom of the display for a 1 inch bulkhead.