20L tank build.

[armagedon48]

tank- 20L with 10G sump
lights- 175W metal halide
skimmer- coral life 65 super skimmer

bottom of tank is drilled for overflow. stand is made of 2x4's that were just laying around. front of stand is foam board that is glued on, and the main piece is held on with Velcro. the open space in the sump is going to contain some LR, sand bed, and fuge.

the overflow is covered in aquamend and shells, shark teeth. i will grow stony corals off the overflow. i will also use most of the back side of the tank for zoanthids and some lps corals. the bottom of the tank will have some monti caps and some micromussa added. the few larger peices of live rock that will be in the tank will have branching montipora and some acropora someday.

now for some pictures.















more pictures to come as i progress.

[kevvcon]

this looks pretty interesting. please show more pictures as you progress.

[armagedon48]

i forgot...

evap will be handled by my auto top off. i will also drip kalk. i will dose calcium, alk, and mag with the twopartsolution.com additives.

[bkoz]

Did you drill the bottom yourself? Dremel or hole saw? Im getting ready to start a 29g build with 29g sump and would rather drill the bottom but am affraid to. Looks good btw!!!!

[armagedon48]

i drilled the tank myself with a diamond hole saw. i used a drill press to do it as well. make absolute sure you have something on the back of the glass your cutting so that it doesnt chip the edges as your almost through. and make sure you research your tank, call the company if needed, to find out if its tempered.

and finally, some more pictures. i added some dead rock, i bleached it because i had hydroids and hair algae on it. it will be live again shortly. i have live rock in the sump area to handle bio filtration.


i made a screen cover to avoid any fish jumping.


this is where the majority of my water circulation will come from, it rotates at about 60 degree angle. it holds a maxijet 1200 that is kinda hidden behind my tonga rock.


then here are my supplies before i assembled the screen lid. today i will spray paint it then seal it so that the metal doesnt affect my water.

[Jimbo327]

Very good DIY job.

I'm scared just looking at those rocks on the glass. Might be a good idea to put some starboard on the bottom.

[armagedon48]

i was thinking about that too, so i might take some epoxy putty and lightly place the rocks in place. first i need to place the rocks how i like them.

[MplsMan]

for the picture with the return in it did you drill holes in the top of the cap, have you tried it as far as noise?
thanks

[armagedon48]

the cap thats on the exit pipe has 3 small holes in it. its basically silent, other than the noise of water flowing through the pipe. which isnt a problem because my pump on my freshwater tank overpowers that noise... lol

the return has a anti-siphon hole drilled. im not sure i like where it is because its high enough it splashes.

[MplsMan]

i tried something similar on my 20 , only the drain is drilled in the back towards the bottom. what i got was the gurguling sound, i tried the duroso style, thats where i got the sound, just wondering if this style was better.
since the tank is in the bedroom i was looking for something quiet. you know what i mean

[armagedon48]

in my 65 gal, i had the tank drilled twice towards the top. i have the durso type up high and i didnt have much of a noise issue. get a few endcaps and drill lots of holes in one, one hole in another, a few holes in another, and try them out to find which is more silent.

[mangus7175]

Tagging along...look great BTW

How will you deal with any fish or critters going through the open overflow?

[armagedon48]

the gap between the larger diameter pipe and the endcap is small. also, the screen is very close to the waters surface, so any jumps should keep the fish from clearing the edge of the pipe.

i do have a small net that might work, otherwise i have a long tweezers to reach fallen hermit crabs.

[armagedon48]

i got the corals moved into the tank yesterday, the picture was from last night, some of the corals have expanded more today.

i used all cured live rock out of my established tank, and have not noticed any ammonia/nitrite at all. i may have skipped the cycle

anyways, here is an updated photo. the maxi-jet broke its impeller... im going to get two or three more and hide two behind the overflow, and one in the corner where the current one is now.

tomorrow i get my 175watt metal halide. i cant wait!!!

[mangus7175]

looks great so far...

[armagedon48]

i got the halide. put it all together, and here it is!


here is a photo i thought was funny. the cleaner shrimp stuck its cleaner arm into one of my micro oysters and the oyster clamped shut onto the shrimp. the shrimp is frantically trying to remove the oyster, but its not coming off.

another angle.


and a few nights ago my single cleaner shrimp apparently had babies. here is a picture i took of babies i captured.

[buttons buster]

Are you going to try and raise them?

[armagedon48]

Originally posted by buttons buster
Are you going to try and raise them?

no, it would take alot of time and resources to raise them, and success is not likely. they provided a very nice meal to my corals though. the next day all my LPS were extra big.

[armagedon48]

updates.

my flower anemone


a tank shot.


and here is a starfish i put in my 10 gallon tank. i will move it to a 40 gal when it gets larger.

[armagedon48]

something i noticed from my micromussa, after a few days under the metal halides, it has produced 7 baby polyps along the outer edge of the colony.

[Moonstream]

thats a nice looking tank. how is the care of the flower anemone? hard? lighting requirments? how long does it stay in one place? feeding? what is the livestock in the tank? nice clows by the way.

[armagedon48]

the flower anemone has been so easy for me. i got it when it was the size of a quarter. it has battled its way through two tank crashes, and an interstate tank move. it grew just fine under 80 watts PC, and is expanding huge under my halide. it only moves on me when it doesnt get light or if it have to much flow on it. otherwise it usually stays where i put it.
i have
micromussa (red)
favia (neon green centers)
maze brain (neon green center)
pink palythoa
dragon eye zoanthids
xenia
hammer coral
green star polyps.
two monitopora caps and one digi (green, orange, and red)
flower anemone
false percula (2)
ricordia
feather dusters, amphipods, isopods, mini starfish, bristle worms, and tiny oysters.

[armagedon48]

updates

[armagedon48]

[racksteris]

Nice Work..