Custom 20 gallon build

Aquius · Mar 28, 2018

This is my first saltwater thanks EVER!!!

Since I cannot do anything normal, I ended up going pretty much custom everything on this tank. The tank itself is a 20 gallon Ultum Nature Systems 60U tank. It is roughly 24L x 14 D x 14H, low iron glass, and has some pretty nifty mitered corners. Here is a basic Amazon link with some basics about the tank.

https://www.amazon.com/Ultum-Nature-Systems-60U-Rimless/dp/B01N0SXIJC

For the stand, I went weird again ---> 10 series 80/20, 38" tall to keep the toddlers away. In retrospect, I think I should have gone with square 2" verticals instead of the 1" x 2" ones. The way they are currently situated, I have a (VERY) little bit of forward and back movement with the weight of the tank on there. The side to side motion, however, is non-existent. 2" square verticals would have solved this problem... That being said, this is more me nitpicking than anything. The reality is that the stand is solid.

Now here is the really weird thing I did ---> My sump is actually a custom All-In-One. The main reason I went this route is because I am participating in Rico's Nano Challenge 2018 YouTube and the rules stipulate NO SUMPS, but AIO's are good to go. So I contacted Modular Marine and had them build me a custom ghost style overflow and AIO package. The entire "sump" area is about four gallons of water volume, consisting of a two gallon sock/fuge area, then skimmer section, and finally the return. Overall, I am estimating about 200 gallons per hour of flow through the back end.

2018-03-28 13_49_10-AIO_Assembly_1.pdf - Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.jpg

The thinner open section you can see is completely dry and is for running cables/holding the grow light for the window I have in the fuge section. I wet section has a lid to hide the skimmer and maintain a cleaner look...

2018-03-28 13_52_19-AIO_Assembly_1.pdf - Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.jpg

Here we are adding sand, the aquascape, and WATER!!!

Also, here is a good shot of the top... I ended up going over sized by adding a three inch ledge all the way around so I would have some space for "stuff" when working on the tank. The top two layers of 3/4" maple plywood I laminated together and then coated with a white marine grade paint. I am planning on adding a Corian or granite "skirt" on the top that surrounds the base of the tank.

If you did not notice, we used Dr Tims for the cycle.

To be continued...

Aquius · Mar 29, 2018

Continued...

And here is the inevitable sand cloud after adding the water

And here it is a few days later. Notice the mass of wires and "stuff" on the right side ledge? I need to do something bout that...

So... I made a drawer

I used 80/20 linear guides. It works alright, but it is very stiff. In a few weeks, I am going to pull the drawer off and install some soft close sliders from Lowes. I look at this as more of a learning experience at this point.

More to come...

Aquius · Mar 29, 2018

This gets my to the cycle.

What I did was pretty straightforward: I added the Dr. Tims and a small piece of liverock from my LFS. Then I dosed the Dr. Tims ammonia until I got up to 4 ppm. When it dropped down to 1 ppm a few days later, I brought it back up to 4 ppm. It only took a day to come back down to 1 ppm this time, so the next day, I confirmed my ammonia was at 0 ppm and headed to the LFS and picked up a Purple Firefish. Now, mind you, this was my first saltwater fish EVER!!! I was really excited to pick the little guy up and could not wait to see him swimming around the tank. So what happens is that I acclimate him, get him in the tank, and he then ends up hiding under the rock for a week (of course!!!)

Can you see him in this pic? I know I can't ;Watching

Also, see how good of a job I did cleaning up the wiring rats nest with that drawer?

Yeah. ;Bored

At least you are all laughing with me, and not at me. Right? ;Woot

After a week, the firefish started coming out a bit and appeared pretty healthy (the reason for the corrugated plastic sign serving as a temp lid). I figured this was a good sign, so I went to my LFS and picked up two baby "Blacker Ice" clowns and a single fire shrimp. I am not really sure of the clown fish's pedigree, but they have that snowflake look and were close to each other in pattern, but their coloration was different enough for the family to easily tell them apart.

And here is quick shot of the fire shrimp acclimating.

And still more to come...

Aquius · Mar 29, 2018

This gets me to the fire shrimp... It would appear that the purple firefish was a bad influence and inspired the shrimp to hide under the rockwork all day. I knew going in that the shrimp is not really a "cleaner" and I wanted him to be out in the open. So I did a bit of research and found that a second fire shrimp will help to get the other more active. So, about a week after the first one went in, I picked up a second and...

BEHOLD!!!

The other thing you will notice (after you ignore the temporary shop light) is that I was finally able to get rid of the corrugated plastic temp lid since the order I placed with Octo Aquatics finally came in. I have to say, this lid is NICE!!! I have not had any issues with it in the month I have had it, and the mesh looks to be easily replaceable if required. I do wish, however, that I had gotten a feed door. It is not really necessary since the lid is so small to begin with, it would still have been nice to have.

About that shop light... It was just there to get a little light in the tank for aesthetic reasons.

So what am I going to do about that silly shop-light?

Can you say ATI Powermodule

Here it is when I was test rigging it...

More progress to come shortly

Aquius · Mar 29, 2018

Before I get into mounting the light, here is a quick fish/tank status at the time...

The nutrient levels were still perfect (<5 nitrate, 0.02 phosphate, 0 ammonia). The fire shrimp are all over the place now and are pretty nifty to watch. Also, the purple firefish has found his courage and is spending most of the day hanging out in the display. I have to admit, he is REALLY stunning, especially when he "flashes" his fins. The clowns are, well, clowns. They are all over the tank and never seem to stay in one spot. I kind of attribute this to them being pretty young, and also to not having a host. I could be wrong on that, but it is my hypothesis for the moment... Also, in the fourth week of having livestock in the tank, I added just one more fish... You see him in there? He is my new FAVORITE!!!

(Midas Blenny

)

So, here we get to mounting the light. I continued to use 80/20 for the mounting arms. To get the light mounted, I popped the ends of the fixture off and removed the wire hanging kit (Still have it. Not for sale

). Then I used size six screws and a few washers to mount the fixture to the horizontal supports in which I had pre-drilled holes.