ReeferMush's 20 Gallon Nano - New Fish and Dry Goods!!

[ReeferMush]

Welcome to ReefeMush's 20 Gallon Nano Build. I've been reefkeeping for about half a year and have a 5.5 gallon nano that have been looking to upgrade, so this is a great opportunity!

I think every good build starts with alot of planning and a goal for your tank, so I've done my planning and have an overall goal to be reached.The plan starts with wanting a complete Display Tank with Reef,Inverts,Fish, Refugium and Sump. The goal of this build is to reach a "Critter Paradise" semi inspired by the Lembeh Straight.

So here's the start!!

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/ReeferMushDrawing001.jpg
There are two 1" Bulkhead Drains from the display, one going to the Sump and one to the Refugium. The Refugium also has a 1" Drain Bulkhead, all controled by gate valves.
There are two half inch Return lines from the sump back to the display tank that hang over the rim. A homemade skimmer and the Power Center


I have had some equipment lying around including :
-20 Gallon long Tank inside dimensions 29.5" x 12" x 11.75"h
-5.5 Gallon Refugium Tank
-36" 4xT5 homemade Light Fixture
-12"Coralife Light Fixture
-Seaclone Catch Cup
-Maxi Jet 1200
-50 Watt Heater
-Coralife Mounting Legs

[ReeferMush]

Here is a cabinate my buddy gave me, it used to sport a 32 gallon on the top so it'll be no problem for my 20
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/CabinatePics001.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/CabinatePics004.jpg
And the end product:biggrin:
Just need some acrylic windows and the next step is when the diamond tipped drill bits show up we can drill the holes for the bulkheads

[superduperwesman]

Welcome to ReefeMush's 20 Gallon Nano Build. I've been reefkeeping for about half a year and have a 5.5 gallon nano that have been looking to upgrade, so this is a great opportunity!

I think every good build starts with alot of planning and a goal for your tank, so I've done my planning and have an overall goal to be reached.The plan starts with wanting a complete Display Tank with Reef,Inverts,Fish, Refugium and Sump. The goal of this build is to reach a "Critter Paradise" semi inspired by the Lembeh Straight.

So here's the start!!

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/ReeferMushDrawing001.jpg
There are two 1" Bulkhead Drains from the display, one going to the Sump and one to the Refugium. The Refugium also has a 1" Drain Bulkhead, all controled by gate valves.
There are two half inch Return lines from the sump back to the display tank that hang over the rim. A homemade skimmer and the Power Center


I have had some equipment lying around including :
-20 Gallon long Tank inside dimensions 29.5" x 12" x 11.75"h
-5.5 Gallon Refugium Tank
-36" 4xT5 homemade Light Fixture
-12"Coralife Light Fixture
-Seaclone Catch Cup
-Maxi Jet 1200
-50 Watt Heater
-Coralife Mounting Legs


Can't tell for sure but wouldn't you want your refuge to also drain to the skimmer side of your sump? You also might want a baffle between the skimmer and return pump to trap any bubbles. Just some thoughts, but I might be seeing something wrong? Also your left side return doesn't go to the pump it turns into a drain?

[superduperwesman]

I'd also turn one of you drains into a back up and split the other one to go to both your refuge and sump. The you'll have a herbie ie less noise. The drain from you're refuge to the sump may also be a source of noise as it currently is?

What is going in the sump? May also want to add a baffle(s) before the return pump if you're planning to put anything in there that could clog up the pump?

[ReeferMush]

:smile: Well I'm using that extra drain off the return lines to have as a bypass to the return system, for precautionary measures and for easy water changes. As for the sump I going to change the baffles and set up something more traditional, the pump on the far right and skimmer on the left with rock inbetween. The refugium will drain into the rock portion to help pods make their way to the display tank.

[superduperwesman]

Oh I see now. The returns split at a 4-way tee. 1 being the inlet, 2 going to the display and one being the bypass back to to the sump

[ReeferMush]

The drill bits I ordered from Honk Kong finally came in the mail and I have sucessfully drilled my first tank. I used a drill press at 640 rpm with a 45mm diamond tipped hole saw and lots of water and it turned out great.
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/DrillHoles001.jpg

[ReeferMush]

Here is the sump and the refugium in the back holding water just doing some testing. The sump baffles and the one baffle in the refugium are made from acrylic and held in place by silicone
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/SumpandRefugium001.jpg

[ReeferMush]

Here is the light switch for the light on the inside of the cabinet
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/CabinateSwitch001.jpg

And the light in action...Lightening up the "control room" and the sump for easy maintenance
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/CabinateLight001.jpg

[ReeferMush]

The time has finally came to fill the tank and the refugium. I love this part of the build, i've bought some sand had enough salt for the cycling process to start. I bought 15 - 20 pounds of rock and chucked a bag of carbon in the sump and some nice rock in the refugium and filled the display tank with the rest of my rock. There were some chunks left over for the sump and after some check overs I had everything running. Enough said lets check it out!!

Here's the full cabinate shot with a temporally light on the display while I fab up the custom T5 light, my old 12" Coralife fixture with one 50/50 and a 10,000k rest on top of the refugium(also lighting future mantis home)

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/CabinatePics005.jpg

A shot of the cabinate doors open

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/RefugiumPics002.jpg
A closer look at the future mantis home, I couldn't do this build without having stomadapod, I just love the way they are.:wink:

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/RefugiumPics004.jpg
Here's some tumbling action for beneficial algae

[ReeferMush]

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[ReeferMush]

This is the light I fabricated from 3/4" aluminum angles, the T5 ballast bellow, and some facia soffit for houses is the top. I cut holes for the special mounting hardware that comes with the coralife mounting legs. I welded together the frame using the DHC 2000 Cobra torch http://www.diversifiedenterprises.ca/ and cut everything with a dremel. I bought the ballast at home depot for 80$ so including the bulbs the whole fixture comes out under 200$ the bulbs killed me on this one with the whole cheapness part, but most of the these parts were laying around so all I really bought was one 10,000k and the angles.

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/DisplayTankLightPic001.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/DisplayTankLightPic002.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/DisplayTankPic006.jpg

[the marine apprentice]

Awesome idea using the sofit has lots of ventilation too. Loookin good dude

[ReeferMush]

Ok so as much as I would love to spend the money and get a nice Reef Octopus skimmer or a little bubble king, but I'm cheap and have a Maxi Jet 1200, Sea Clone Collection Cup and about $40.00 so I mean cheap! I bought the acrylic container from superstore and then the rest is plumbing parts from home depot: 3 1/2" to 1 1/2" PVC pipe, three 3/4" Elbows, one Gate Valve (actually from Can Tire) and 3/4" Street Elbow, and 2" of 1" Vinyl Tubing.


http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/ProteinSkimmer001.jpg (http://s840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/?action=view&current=ProteinSkimmer001.jpg)

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/ProteinSkimmer002.jpg (http://s840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/?action=view&current=ProteinSkimmer002.jpg)

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/ProteinSkimmer003.jpg (http://s840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/?action=view&current=ProteinSkimmer003.jpg)



And now I have fitted the parts and let it run over night
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/ProteinSkimmer007.jpg (http://s840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/?action=view&current=ProteinSkimmer008.jpg)

So here is what I woke up to this morning and I'm very happy with the preformance!!:biggrin:
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/ProteinSkimmer006.jpg

[ReeferMush]

The Refugium has been doing a great job just check the pod production and this is in the display tank.
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/RefugiumPics006.jpg

[freezetyle]

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/ProteinSkimmer006.jpg

I did not expect that sucker to work as good as it seems to. Great job! I would put that on the Ghetto rigs post on RC

[ReeferMush]

I've have moved a couple things around in the refugium and the display, and its about time for an update on the tank so check it out.
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/DisplayTankPic008.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/HarlequinShrimpPics001.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/BumbleBeeShrimpPics001.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/BubbleCoralPics001.jpg
I've been trying to get a pic of my Hector's Goby and the Mandarin but they're just to shy!

[ReeferMush]

The sump has been doing a good job collecting small sediment and pieces of algea, so I felt like it was time to pull out the sump a give it a good clean.
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/CabinatePics007.jpg

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/SumpandRefugium003.jpg

[ReeferMush]

All I know is that this skimmer works, maybe to well! This is all coming out of the little hole in the cap.

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/ProteinSkimmer009.jpg

[ReeferMush]

The mantis (still haven't found a name) is getting used to the refugium and have been seeing it out and about.
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/MantisShrimpPics003.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/MantisShrimpPics002.jpg

[ReeferMush]

I haven't seen the Harleqiun Shrimp for almost two weeks and had thought it was molting so I decided to pull the rocks out and clean the tank a bit but no sign of the Harlequin. In some good news I bought a 24" Odyssea for cheap and the rock work has been moved and scrubed of any unwanted algea, leaving it looking great! I also brought home a Starry Blennie and a Domino Damsel, and they have been loving the new tank :smile: and everybody gets along which is which is nice. On another note my buddy bought a 3 lbs piece of liverock and inside one of the crevasse's was a hitch hiker anemone so if anyone can ID it that would be very helpful!! Well here are the newly updated pics with the new livestock and new tank shots.

http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/DisplayTankPic009.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/DisplayTankPic010.jpg

So Chech out this Hitch Hiker, I've done a little research and can't really pull up anything on this, I thought it might be a Tealia Anemone of some kind but no positive ID.
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/AnenomePics001.jpg
And just some other nice Hitch Hikers that came on some of my rock.
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/KenyaTreePics001.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/GreenMushroomPics001.jpg

Here are the fish!
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/GroupPics001.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/HectorsGoby001.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/StarryBlennie001.jpg

[ReeferMush]

I've been fighting phosphate levels since i've started and can't seem to get the algea under control. So enough is enough, lets see what we can do, how bout 4000 HH (800GPH) and 2 Kordelia Powerheads (1 and a Nano), and new reactor for NP Pellets. So now my system runs around 1000GPH when the timer kicks on the powerheads, and I'm also running a marineland pump(247GHP) to tumble the NP pellets.
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/Pump002.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/DisplayTankPic011.jpg

On another note I've added a few new fish to liven up the tank a bit, a yellow eyed blenny, 2 barnicle blennies, and a lemonpeel angel. I also bought a nice piece of SPS, this is the color change over a week.
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/Collage001.jpg
http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/lukemush1/20%20Gallon%20Build/LemonPeelAngel001.jpg