20 Gallon reef

[Canuckgod420]

So I just tore down my daughters tank, cleaned it all up, and now I wanna redo it.

It is sumpless, 3-4 inches of sand, 15-20 pounds of rock and a couple of fish.
Filled with zoa's, ricordia's, and maybe a couple of lps. illuminated with a new wave t5 4x24w.

So I guess to start with there has to be a way to filter surface scum off the water........surface. What I was thinking was creating some sort of divider in the tank to create an overflow area where a heater and pump can be situated to return water. I guess sort of like one of those all in one bio-cubes. Any ideas on how I can create something like this.

[JTaylor420]

Perhaps do a diagonal sectioned off area with glass just below the water level and put a powerhead at the bottom with a hose going back in the tank ( a hole through it or back up over and down a little ways back into the display ) thats the easiest and cheapest way to get a little surface skimming i can think of also u could put a bag of carbon in there to get a bit of filtration

[michika]

Hit up nano-reef.com or RC's nano area for some ideas on how to turn your standard tank into an all-in-one type. There are lots of fantastic ideas to be had.

[Canuckgod420]

thanks

[Diana]

A little overflow area would work, you would be loosing valuable tank space tho.

You could try to rig some sort of surface skimmer attachment onto some HOB filter, such as an aquaclear, and fill it with filter floss and carbon. If you get a big enough one you could even partition it, light it, and have a little fuge in there. I've seen like a tube that comes off the intake at a right angle and then goes directly up to the surface, with a little cage at the top to prevent fish getting in. This pulls water off the surface. But then also have the regular opening at the bottom of the intake as well incase the water level in the tank drops your filter wont run dry.

:bowl:

[Jack]

Check out the Tunze Nano cleaner. I have one and it works great. It removes all the surface slime and it's a good place for carbon.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=tz-ps3165

http://www.tunze.com/details.html?&L=1&C=CA&user_tunzeprod_pi1[prodid]=3165.000

[Canuckgod420]

A little overflow area would work, you would be loosing valuable tank space tho.

You could try to rig some sort of surface skimmer attachment onto some HOB filter, such as an aquaclear, and fill it with filter floss and carbon. If you get a big enough one you could even partition it, light it, and have a little fuge in there. I've seen like a tube that comes off the intake at a right angle and then goes directly up to the surface, with a little cage at the top to prevent fish getting in. This pulls water off the surface. But then also have the regular opening at the bottom of the intake as well incase the water level in the tank drops your filter wont run dry.

:bowl:

I have actually done that before on a freshwater tank once....it worked allright I guess, dont know whatever happened to it though...lol

I was thinking if I built some sort of overflow chamber on one end then I could have a decent little return pump(not 1/3hp monster lol) to create the flow(so no powerheads),
and the heater could be in there as well, and because the light would overhang it, I could grow some chaeto in there.

I got some black acrylic today and had it cut to size.
So the question is then, do i notch overflow teeth all the way across? Or just a shorter section on one end? Will this make alot of splashing noise going over? Arghh so many damn questions...lol

[Canuckgod420]

Check out the Tunze Nano cleaner. I have one and it works great. It removes all the surface slime and it's a good place for carbon.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=tz-ps3165

http://www.tunze.com/details.html?&L=1&C=CA&user_tunzeprod_pi1[prodid]=3165.000


you know jack I just pulled one of those out of my daughters tank, probably one of the worst reef products I've bought in a long time. It was noisy, didnt stay put(had to use magnets), and as soon as the water dropped even a little bit it would start filling the tank with micro bubbles. I think you where the one who sold it to me....lol


By the way.....anyone wanna buy a Tunze nano cleaner?

[Sebae again]

I would notch one end and see how it works.You can always notch more after.I have 500gph pump going into the hang on back fuge via u tube with a little rio pump pushing back into the tank.Next to no noise and no scum and minimal
water changes on a 15gal tank.

[ColinD]

I turned a 29G into an AIO, divided off one end resulting in a 5 gallon sump.
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp54/CDone_photos/IMG_3575.jpg?t=1239779957

Then divided that space into 3 compartments, one for heater and filter media, one for Cheato and thermometer and the last for a Rio 6HF pump
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp54/CDone_photos/IMG_3573.jpg?t=1239780053

http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp54/CDone_photos/IMG_3574.jpg?t=1239780079

and an old FTS, the tank is veiwable from both sides as it is in a dividing alcove.
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp54/CDone_photos/IMG_3569.jpg?t=1239780114

Colin

[Canuckgod420]

nice i like that.....its pretty much exactly what I want to do.


I think now I have to get a new tank, I was cleaning the glass and I found a good size chip on one of the edges. I dont know if this is gonna be a problem.

[Diana]

Sweet looking little tank Colin!

You could check out Reef.org's old Nano Reef Buildoff thread for some ideas, I know there were tons of DIY creations.

In the Red Sea Max they only have a small section ~4 inches notched for the overflow, and then a little plate that can slide up or down to make better surface skimming. If the plate is up too high it becomes a little noisy, but once the surface is clean you can slide the plate back down. :) It could be an idea.

-Diana