My 20 Long build

[boaconchicken]

Hi, i recently came into possession of a used 20 long tank. The tank had already been drilled and had an overflow installed. Ive set up a couple other small tanks before but this one was the first to require the use of a sump.
Ive got a 10 gallon sump with a rio 1700 return pump, and some loc-line for the return. i'm still unsure as to what kind of lighting i'll be using. I'm open to any and all suggestions as this is all fairly new to me.

A few days ago me and a buddy of mine put together the stand, although i'm still going to add extra supports in a couple days.

I just mocked up the plumbing the yesterday and i'm really looking for opinions on how to setup my sump and the plumbing.


With the bulkhead at the bottom of the overflow i'm wondering what the best way to set it up so that its as quiet as possible.

[gregbot9000]

put a 90 degree elbow facing down in the bulkhead.

if the bulkhead was higher to the top of tank, that would have helped.

[cthedaytrader]

build a standpipe do some searches on RC for them there a re a few differnt types, they are easy to build yourself, and will make it much quieter

[boaconchicken]

yea i was thinking about using a stockman overflow, because i don't think i can fit a durso standpipe in the overflow. i'm not too familiar with the stockman but i'm researching it now.

[cthedaytrader]

I use a stock man works great

[boaconchicken]

today i got a few things in the mail that i ordered the other day. i just finished putting a swing check valve and some loc-line returns. now its time to figure out how i'm going to set up the baffles in my sump.

i borrowed this pic melev's reef. i was thinking of setting my 10 gallon sump up like this one but with a smaller section on the right. i'm probably not going to run a skimmer so the right side can be a lot smaller.

[boaconchicken]

alright, ive now got the sump all put together and freshwater in the tank now to check for leaks. Here are some pics...

[boaconchicken]

today was tank day. I got all my water mixed and put my sand in and filled her up





i also put together my stockman standpipe and threw that in there too.

[boaconchicken]

just figured i'd post a couple pics of the tanks that led up to the creation of the 20 long i am working on now.

3 gallon deco kit. i had it set up for about 10 months, and this was my most successful reef yet.




And then there was the short lived upgrade to ten gallons...

[boaconchicken]

WOO HOOO i got my light and now its time to really get this ball rolling. I decided to try the 150w pendant from Fishneedit.com. The build quality is just so-so, but for 140 bucks shipped to my door i can't really complain. hopefully i'll be hanging it in a few days. i really want it to look clean and not have those ugly black legs there. it even comes with is own hanging kit with looked pretty heavy duty even thought the pendant itself doesn't weigh hardly anything at all!

[boaconchicken]

the cycle has started .... i cant wait until i can start stocking it. you guys have any suggestions as to what would be some fish suitable for a 20 long mixed reef.

[HowardJ]

Update?

[robot2222]

pretty cool

[boaconchicken]

well its update time, now that ive got a few corals in the tank and it seems to be running smoothly.
I'm going for a very open reef flat look with little to no live rock in the display. I think i'm gonna try and get some colorful macros to keep in the display.

I grabbed the monti cap the other day for ten bucks. Under 400w radiums at the store it was a beautiful olive green with a purple rim. in the front you can see a trumpet coral i am nursing back to health. on left back of this picture is a green fungia thats in the middle of splitting. it even already has two mouths.





This next one is the left side. Its gonna be just zoas and rics. The zoas are still kinda closed because the light just turned on in the pic.



A ricordea i just picked up the other day



Maroon blasto that i scored for 10 bucks.



and the only fish in the tank, my bangaii cardinal getting in the way.

[boaconchicken]

ugh i hate the way frag plugs look in the display tank.

[Lance M.]

Hey, I will be setting up a 20L with a 20L sump in about a month.

How is that overflow working for you? I'm trying to figure out what style I want to do. Is yours silent?

How is that return pump on water flow?

Is there anything you would do differently if you could?

[boaconchicken]

the overflow works pretty well. the stockman is not totally silent but not loud. i'm going to try and remake the standpipe and hopefully i can get it nice and silent.

Also, i'm getting a lot of bubbles entering the sump. So many bubbles that they fly right through the bubble trap so i have been running it with a filter sock. I'm trying to figure out a good way to reduce the amount of bubbles coming down the drain but i haven't had any luck yet.

With the loc-line and the swing check valve the flow isn't crazy, but i'm not really shooting for extreme flow or nothing, as my tank is going to be mostly softies and Lps.

So far i don't have any big regrets on this build, but i would like to re-do the return plumbing so that it is tee'd off back into the fuge to take some pressure off of the pump. Also i would really like to add some sort of skimmer in the future, maybe a tunze nano skimmer or something along those lines.

[Lance M.]

I actually just got a Tunze 9002 yesterday. It's in my 10 gallon right now but it will be going into the 20L system. It's the first skimmer I've ever had so I can't compare it to anything, but it looks good so far. It's still breaking in though so hopefully it'll be producing some skimmate in the next couple of days.

Let me know what you decide to do with the plumbing. My system will be in my room so I need it to be fairly quiet.

[boaconchicken]

Originally posted by Lance M.
I actually just got a Tunze 9002 yesterday. It's in my 10 gallon right now but it will be going into the 20L system. It's the first skimmer I've ever had so I can't compare it to anything, but it looks good so far. It's still breaking in though so hopefully it'll be producing some skimmate in the next couple of days.

Let me know what you decide to do with the plumbing. My system will be in my room so I need it to be fairly quiet.

i'll be sure to let you know when i fix it

[cameron91806]

Hi nice tank how long is that light and kind of light you got 14k or 20k

[boaconchicken]

its about a foot long. i'm running the 14k now bulb but im not really happy with the color. it turned out to be way more yellow than i had hoped. Im going to be ordering a 14k phoenix here very soon, hopefully that will have the balance of blue that i'm looking for.

[phenom5]

Originally posted by boaconchicken
ugh i hate the way frag plugs look in the display tank.

Get a cutting disk for your dremel (assuming you have a dremel...no reefer should be without one. ), and cut down the plug some. Then you can wedge it into that hole, maybe secure it with some 2-part epoxy if you like. It'll be much less noticeable that way.

Those plugs aren't too bad...I hate the ORA plugs...too big, and a pain to cut down. Love the corals that come attach though.

[james3370]

i saw a guy that used those small white tile squares from hd/lowes & they practically disappear in the tank

[cameron91806]

do 20k it will be better

[atwinparadox2]

I think your tank is too crowded, you might run into issues down the road.



Just kidding, great job so far, I have always felt that DIY project always give a little more satisfaction than a shop and stock tank.

Also, if you don't want to switch bulbs you can always go for a retro T5 actinic for the color supplement. Just a thought.