My Drilled 22g

[Doberman13]

I got this sweet little tank from another member on here and decided I didn't like the blue background.


When I started pulling the background off I realized that it went underneath the top frame. The silicone on the edges was pretty worn so I decided to reseal the whole tank. I like the look of black silicone on the seams so I ordered some specialized black aquarium silicone that supposedly is the same red Sea uses to make their large rimless tanks.


I picked up some cobalts, 150w and 100w from another member. I also picked up a eshopps wet/dry filter with the intentions of putting it on my 120g planted FW tank and using my current 29g diy sump for the reef tank. The Jager heater I use for FW wouldn't fit and the 29g is longer than this reef tank so the stand would be wider than I'd like. Homemade sump it is.


As for the stand, I've worked for a custom furniture builder before so a small stand is something I can put out in 30 minutes.

I did not take a picture of some of the extra supports I put on the stand but they are there. Everything was clamped, wood glued, and pocket hole screwed. This stand is solid.
Water testing the sump, not super pretty but I'd put money on it holding for 15 years.

I originally wanted to box the stand off however with the stand stained I think it looks great. I don't have any kids yet and my dogs stay out of my office for the most part.

I am running the aquastation 2500. The flow through the sump seems like a good bit.

 

[Doberman13]

So this is how the tank sits now.




Been cycling the live sand and dry rock for 8 days. I got a huge bag of cycled matrix from another member and threw it in the sump yesterday.

I have an ato on the way. Possibly buying a skimmer tomorrow, I need to get one that can scale up but is also less than 22" tall. I would like to get a nicer light but that will have to wait.

 

[Doberman13]

Pick up a used reef octopus nwb-150. Is there a break-in period for used skimmers? I might have to raise it up a bit but I only have about 4 in to play with between the top of the skimmer and the bottom of the tank.
I read the manual but still can't get the flow right. I know this is pretty oversized for this tank. I just know in a year or two I will be switching out my 120 fresh water for saltwater

 

[jcook54]

I have the exact same skimmer and it looks like the water level in the sump is pretty much the same too. However, the output seems really low on yours. Does it look like it's been cut or shortened somehow? The top of the red adjustment knob is (at most) 1" below the black plastic ring on the skimmer neck where the collection cup sits. I've also added a 90° elbow on mine to direct the water output below the surface of the water. You would need something similar if the output assembly was up higher where mine is. The center of the output "hole" is almost lined up with the first step down on the skimmer body. I don't know how big of a difference that would make and it seems like the lower the output, the lower the water column in the skimmer would be but it's still a pretty big difference between the two.

 

[Doberman13]

I have the exact same skimmer and it looks like the water level in the sump is pretty much the same too. However, the output seems really low on yours. Does it look like it's been cut or shortened somehow? The top of the red adjustment knob is (at most) 1" below the black plastic ring on the skimmer neck where the collection cup sits. I've also added a 90° elbow on mine to direct the water output below the surface of the water. You would need something similar if the output assembly was up higher where mine is.

So it looks like this one is shortened. It is about 4" lower than the ring. I put a rack in to raise the skimmer 2 1/4" It's not overflowing but the bubbles don't look as fine as they were when it was at the full 10" of my baffles. Do you think raising the outlet would help me put it back on the bottle of the sump? This is my first skimmer so I'll have to learn the nuances.

 

[jcook54]

It actually looks pretty good. The bubbles will start really fine and as they work their way up the neck they turn more into a true foam. I think yours looks pretty good now. If you don't change anything, you'll start to notice a film develop where those larger bubble are starting to form. However, it looks like your bubble line is a bit too low. I'd let it run like this for a little while and start slowly closing the gate valve to get the water level in the body of the skimmer up.

There's always a line in the body of a skimmer where the really fine bubble start to turn in to a froth. The gate valve allows you to raise and lower that level and it will in turn produce a "dry" or "wet" skimmate. Your "froth" seems to start right around the bottom of the red adjustment knob. If this were my skimmer, I would leave everything the same and close the gate valve a 1/4 turn. At this point, you'll be getting think gunk starting to form right around the 1" mark of your rule and it will continue it's way up the cup. Ideally that would start a little higher up in the skimmer body do you can clean the gunk out easily be removing the collection cup. It's looking good right now though, just raise the water level in the skimmer a hair and see how it does.

 

[Doberman13]

My $20 ATO. Still need to grab a shut off valve for it.



Thanks to @bobz for the screen tutorial and @Steve Burton for the screen



Just moved over the fish, rock, corals and some of the sand from the 10g.
I need to grab some epoxy to finish my scape for now I just tossed everything over.



I still need to move over the temperature controller and a few other things and hide all the wiring.

 

[ZapataInc]

Good job. I love the ATO (cereal) container. lol

 

[Reefchef]

My $20 ATO. Still need to grab a shut off valve for it.
View attachment 9692View attachment 9694View attachment 9693


Thanks to @bobz for the screen tutorial and @Steve Burton for the screen
View attachment 9696


Just moved over the fish, rock, corals and some of the sand from the 10g.
I need to grab some epoxy to finish my scape for now I just tossed everything over.
View attachment 9695
View attachment 9697

I still need to move over the temperature controller and a few other things and hide all the wiring.

Man I love it so far, I really love the way you do a lot of diy and just thinking outside the box. Great job bro!!!

 

[ricky5415]

Raise the skimmer up a little so that the outlet is on top of the water line. Hope it makes sense

 

[Doberman13]

Raise the skimmer up a little so that the outlet is on top of the water line. Hope it makes sense

I raised it using eggcrate. check the 5th post on this thread. Is that what you mean? Or raise it a little higher?

 

[ricky5415]

Yup. Raise it a little higher so that the water coming out from the skimmer is on top of that water line (where that skimmer sits)

 

[Doberman13]

Unfortunately If I raise it up any higher it is going to be within a half inch of the bottom of the tank. Jcook54 thinks that the vertical output pipe has been shortened on this skimmer. When I get home I will check and see if it looks cut. If so I'll get a replacement pipe and hopefully that will work.
Does this look too wet for skimmate?

 

[Doberman13]

1 Month Update


Everything has been going great, I fully broke down the 10 gallon after my Ruby Red Dragonet Goby was out of QT. He is doing great in the tank. Thanks to winning the first Heisenberg Aquaculture drawing I have tons of pods that have established in my DT and my refugium.

He's been hiding a lot, but out every night taking a toll of the pods. This photo was taken at night so hes not very colorful. He starting show his top fin yesterday. It is huge! I'll try to get a picture of it but I need to get a filter for taking pictures.

I needed a weir comb but the only one I saw that I liked was $50 shipped from the UK. That's just not me, I have plenty of beard combs(brand new), I'll make my own. Saw the Pod hotel products, I have plenty of never used signs in the garage. If I do ever see one in a store I'll buy it. Such a great idea, my pods took to it really quickly.
I had the skimmer exactly where I wanted it and then I had an Issue with it overflowing(can't remember why) and dialed it down all the way. Now I have it skimming pretty dry but tightened the valve an 8th of a turn to produce a little more. I'll see how it goes.

I'm so glad that I found my missing tailspot blenny in the 10G's HOB. He was in there for 21 days and didn't have a mark on him. I really don't know how he was able to move around. The chaeto I pulled out of there was like a solid cube.

I was so worried that I was going to lose the left head of this hammer. For over 6 weeks including the move from the 10G It was shrunken. It hardly expanded, most of the time looking completely deflated. A few days ago it opened fully. The next day I noticed about 12 bumps around the collar. Now you can see a bunch of small heads forming.
Frags from the softy demo are doing great. I haven't decided where I want them to go yet so most are still on the plugs. Sorry about the poor picture quality and color distortion. Photos taken with Pixel 3 on HDR+ mode

 

[ZapataInc]

Frags from the softy demo are doing great. I haven't decided where I want them to go yet so most are still on the plugs. Sorry about the poor picture quality and color distortion. Photos taken with Pixel 3 on HDR+ mode

I have a Pixel 3 as well. Is this with white light or with Blues? If you take pictures with blues you can go into the picture and edit it with the phones editing tool to adjust the colors to closely match what the colors are. Im planning on getting a lens for my phone and DSLR.

 

[Doberman13]

All pictures were taken under blues. I've tried using the phones native editing but it's really subpar compared to any others I've used. It just never looks right. It's really odd, with the HDR + mode if you take a photo from straight on it turns out all blue.