Over-Doing the Nano 29 Gallon Standard

NS Mike D · 11/28/2017, 09:37 AM

(I change some rockwork since that picture was taken, and sorry, I thought the quality was better, this was my first post using my iphone and tapatalk)

Normally I am a KISS person. However, I find myself pushing the limits of my little ecosystem. Let me share while learning from others.

In February of 2015, I did some very basic research and discovered I could keep a small saltwater tank in my apartment, so on a whim I picked up a 29 gal standard tank some live rock and other basics from the local Pet Smart.

Without really truly knowing what I was doing I quickly overstocked my tank and added equipment as if I was running a 300 gal. This includes a 5 gallon CPR HOB refugium cramming it with a hydro nano slimmer, and a reactor that at one time had bio pellets and now runs carbon (and occasionally GFO).

In addition, I decided to see if I could maintain a mix of corals. Recently, I pushed the limits further and added a mandarin that was already on frozen prawn eggs.

Which brings me to my latest endeavor to trip up the system. One, I never liked the CPR lack of surface skimming. I added a cheap sponge surface skimmer to handle that work, but it’s a PITA to keep clean as tuned. secondly, since I am overstocked, there is just too much detritus to clean up with waster changes and the the CPR is not designed to perform mechanical filtration.

So I am adding a DIY sump with filter sock, ATS, and possible a semi cryptic zone in the fuge. More on that later.

Enough for now. I’ll make additional posts to explain the current system and document the sump build.

Some pics more pics

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NS Mike D · 11/28/2017, 09:51 AM

I picked up a CPR skimmer box I plan to epoxy over the CPR pump, and if all goes well, it's big enough to also place the outflow of the DIY PVC. Hopefully, the box will have sufficient flow, and I can dial down the flow to the CPR since it's mainly to serve as a refugium for the Chaeto and pods.

I'll post more on the PVC overflow as I move along.

The sump is a 10 gallon aqueon. I picked up glass panels and aquarium safe silicone from HD over the weekend and cut them. I need to sand them before adhering them to the tank.

One thing I hadn't counted on, I was going to move my Hydor Protein Skimmer to the sump, but alas, it requires 10.5" of water height to run. For now it stays in the CPR. If all goes well, I'd like to go skimmerless. But that decision for another day.

NS Mike D · 11/28/2017, 10:17 AM

Trying to keep these guys happy along with the softies and mandarin.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

kevin j. · 11/28/2017, 11:07 AM

Just curious. What kind of lights do you have?

NS Mike D · 11/28/2017, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevin j.

Just curious. What kind of lights do you have?

Fluval Marine. The 2.0 on the WiFi and the older 1.0 running full 11am - 5pm on a timer. Both the 24” size. The 2.0 ramps up to full 3 hour window mid day than ramps down to actinic by 6pm and moonlight by 11pm.

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NS Mike D · 12/03/2017, 11:28 AM

I think I hit a limit with posting photos. I'll figure that out.

I installed the CPR 3-sided top skimmer box. My first attempt using underwater epoxy didn't hold, so I used aquarium safe silicone. That worked fine. Even through it's plexi to glass, it held just fine and I don't expect any pressure to pull the CPR from the tank . The pump for the CPR HOB fuge isn't strong enough to do much surface skimming yet, but I expect that to change when I add the overflow plumbing to the below sump.

I installed the baffles in the sump. Not the prettiest of glass/silicone work, but they are holding tight. The filter socks and holder also arrived. The Syncra Silent 1.5 arrives tomorrow. Today I will get the plumbing.

I'm keeping this very simple. Braided vinyl from the pump to a barb tp connect a ball value and then 2 pvc elbows to u-turn over the tank. The pump can use 3/8-9/16 hose, so I'll have to see what Home Depot has in stock and how I can match it to pvc. The return pipe will terminate about a half inch below the water line to limit back flow.

Since I have 3/4"pvc on hand, I will go with that for the overflow. I plan on making a u-turn with elbows starting about an inch below the water line in the CPR so the cpr will break the siphon in case of a power outage. I will install T near the top with an elbow and cap and a ball valve at the end of the pvc where it meets the vinyl so that I can prime the pipe if the siphon breaks.

Some quick says the 10 gallon sump can handle the back flow of an inch from the 29 gal DT and what back flows from the gal CPR. The sump is 12 9/16" high, the high baffle is 8" and 5" wide and the rest of the tank is 7" so I have about 4 gallon back flow capacity. One inch drop from the DT is 1.6 gallons. The CPR back flow is another 1/2 gallon.

I am making an ATS for the sump. The LEDS and power arrived the other day. It will be submerged with an air stone with the LEDS on the outside held together with magnets. Not sure if that will be overkill since the CPR is packed with cheato, but for now I need to over feed to keep the mandarin happy. I am thinking of adding rubble to create a semi-cryptic zone.

NS Mike D · 12/03/2017, 11:49 AM

Here is a quick video of the tank. https://youtu.be/dP1fpsWP7yE

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NS Mike D · 12/04/2017, 07:20 PM

Plumbing parts and pump are in the house!!!!

NS Mike D · 12/05/2017, 02:11 PM

Sump is up and running. I need to add a sump float switch to turn off the pump if the water level drops so that I don't flood the DT if the siphon breaks. Also, I still need to test that the sump can handle the back flow with a power outage. I also have figure out a way to resume the over flow if there is a power interruption.

I am pretty sure I will need to add an overflow box on the outside of the tank and plumb the line to that. Heck, it's only pvc

Edit Update: 7 hours and no failures. Tomorrow I will get a flow switch for the return pump and acrylic to fabricate the outside over flow box. I'll also need to put a divider in the inside weir to prevent the CPR pump from breaking the siphon for overflow in case the water drops below the weir intake in a non-power interruption event. Additionally, I am really loving the additional flow that is keeping the detritus and cyano suspended and off the sand bed. Water is crystal clear, and even thought it's only been a few hours, the corals a lookup very happy.

https://youtu.be/PUtLwwTX1CE

NS Mike D · 12/07/2017, 09:56 AM

I fabricated an overflow box out of 0.22” acrylic last night. 5”x5” 8” deep I’ll plumb it today.

I may cut the hard pipe from the tank side so I can take the pump out of the weir and elbow it around it. I’m not concerned about loss of flow due to the elbows since I had to dial down the flow through the new tank to keep the siphon in the weir and a low flow in the CPR would expose the water longer to the skimmer and cheato The filter sick needs changing today so that much debris being taking out the tank that would have otherwise settled on the sand bed or HOB sump is good.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NS Mike D · 12/07/2017, 06:50 PM

Outside overflow done and tested. CPR pump moved outside of the weir box so I could increase the flow to the sump. I also lowered it so I can now draw debris from low-middle part of the water column. Recall one of my main reasons for doing this is to reduce the detritus that is settling on the rock and sand.

The flow into the weir is the limiting factor, but I'm happy with the valves at about 60% each which is seems to be tuned.

The sump float switch and the siphon set up worked. If the pump is sending water too fast into the tank or if the over flow stops, the float switch turns off the pump until the water in the sump rises. If water drains to the sump faster than from the weir to to the overflow, air will flow into the drain until the siphon refills without breaking. I have two siphons running.

The remaining to do list

ATS, I have the lights for the DIY. I have to rethink the layout as space it tight. Worse case, I can cut out the cardboard backing in the sump area of the cabinet.

Put down some egg crate, rubble rock and cryptic sponge in the fuge area. I'm sort of winging it here, since I am not sure if the flow is too fast, that it will take some time for the filter feeders to show up and if the small space would be sufficient. I am confident, however, that it will be a safe haven for more pods to make their way into the display for the madarin

NS Mike D · 12/09/2017, 12:17 PM

The sump:
Filter sock, reactor (carbon and GFO).

Fuge will be no light rubble rock in an egg crate box (on order)

last chamber is a float switch and return pump.

The overflow box.

The return line

The CPR HOB intake turned to a right angle so the pump is place low on the tank. This fuge has a hydor nano skimmer (I may remove) and full of cheato and some grape caulerpa, some sand and some rock. good population of pods and fan worms. and some aptasia.

with all the tinkering and kicking up a sand storm, nitrates tested a 0 and po4 at 0.06 this morning.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DesertReefT4r · 12/19/2017, 11:47 PM

Nice! I had great success with my standard 29g tank. Had a thriving mixed reef setup much like yours. 29g All Glass tank, HOB Utube overflow box, 10g All Glass made into a sump with fuge, Coralife SS65 modded, Current USA Orbit 130w PC light later upgraded to 150w Coralife MH. I miss that setup small but it did so well and had so much micro life in it and corals did very well, I never lost a coral in that tank.

11/28/2017, 09:37 AM	#1
NS Mike D Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 391	Over-Doing the Nano 29 Gallon Standard (I change some rockwork since that picture was taken, and sorry, I thought the quality was better, this was my first post using my iphone and tapatalk) Normally I am a KISS person. However, I find myself pushing the limits of my little ecosystem. Let me share while learning from others. In February of 2015, I did some very basic research and discovered I could keep a small saltwater tank in my apartment, so on a whim I picked up a 29 gal standard tank some live rock and other basics from the local Pet Smart. Without really truly knowing what I was doing I quickly overstocked my tank and added equipment as if I was running a 300 gal. This includes a 5 gallon CPR HOB refugium cramming it with a hydro nano slimmer, and a reactor that at one time had bio pellets and now runs carbon (and occasionally GFO). In addition, I decided to see if I could maintain a mix of corals. Recently, I pushed the limits further and added a mandarin that was already on frozen prawn eggs. Which brings me to my latest endeavor to trip up the system. One, I never liked the CPR lack of surface skimming. I added a cheap sponge surface skimmer to handle that work, but it’s a PITA to keep clean as tuned. secondly, since I am overstocked, there is just too much detritus to clean up with waster changes and the the CPR is not designed to perform mechanical filtration. So I am adding a DIY sump with filter sock, ATS, and possible a semi cryptic zone in the fuge. More on that later. Enough for now. I’ll make additional posts to explain the current system and document the sump build. Some pics more pics Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Last edited by NS Mike D; 11/28/2017 at 09:53 AM.

12/05/2017, 02:11 PM	#9
NS Mike D Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 391	Sump is up and running. I need to add a sump float switch to turn off the pump if the water level drops so that I don't flood the DT if the siphon breaks. Also, I still need to test that the sump can handle the back flow with a power outage. I also have figure out a way to resume the over flow if there is a power interruption. I am pretty sure I will need to add an overflow box on the outside of the tank and plumb the line to that. Heck, it's only pvc Edit Update: 7 hours and no failures. Tomorrow I will get a flow switch for the return pump and acrylic to fabricate the outside over flow box. I'll also need to put a divider in the inside weir to prevent the CPR pump from breaking the siphon for overflow in case the water drops below the weir intake in a non-power interruption event. Additionally, I am really loving the additional flow that is keeping the detritus and cyano suspended and off the sand bed. Water is crystal clear, and even thought it's only been a few hours, the corals a lookup very happy. https://youtu.be/PUtLwwTX1CE Last edited by NS Mike D; 12/05/2017 at 08:57 PM.

12/07/2017, 06:50 PM	#11
NS Mike D Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 391	Over-Doing the Nano 29 Gallon Standard Outside overflow done and tested. CPR pump moved outside of the weir box so I could increase the flow to the sump. I also lowered it so I can now draw debris from low-middle part of the water column. Recall one of my main reasons for doing this is to reduce the detritus that is settling on the rock and sand. The flow into the weir is the limiting factor, but I'm happy with the valves at about 60% each which is seems to be tuned. The sump float switch and the siphon set up worked. If the pump is sending water too fast into the tank or if the over flow stops, the float switch turns off the pump until the water in the sump rises. If water drains to the sump faster than from the weir to to the overflow, air will flow into the drain until the siphon refills without breaking. I have two siphons running. The remaining to do list ATS, I have the lights for the DIY. I have to rethink the layout as space it tight. Worse case, I can cut out the cardboard backing in the sump area of the cabinet. Put down some egg crate, rubble rock and cryptic sponge in the fuge area. I'm sort of winging it here, since I am not sure if the flow is too fast, that it will take some time for the filter feeders to show up and if the small space would be sufficient. I am confident, however, that it will be a safe haven for more pods to make their way into the display for the madarin Last edited by NS Mike D; 12/07/2017 at 07:02 PM.

12/09/2017, 12:17 PM	#12
NS Mike D Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 391	The sump: Filter sock, reactor (carbon and GFO). Fuge will be no light rubble rock in an egg crate box (on order) last chamber is a float switch and return pump. The overflow box. The return line The CPR HOB intake turned to a right angle so the pump is place low on the tank. This fuge has a hydor nano skimmer (I may remove) and full of cheato and some grape caulerpa, some sand and some rock. good population of pods and fan worms. and some aptasia. with all the tinkering and kicking up a sand storm, nitrates tested a 0 and po4 at 0.06 this morning. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Last edited by NS Mike D; 12/09/2017 at 12:32 PM.

11/28/2017, 09:51 AM	#2
NS Mike D Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 391	I picked up a CPR skimmer box I plan to epoxy over the CPR pump, and if all goes well, it's big enough to also place the outflow of the DIY PVC. Hopefully, the box will have sufficient flow, and I can dial down the flow to the CPR since it's mainly to serve as a refugium for the Chaeto and pods. I'll post more on the PVC overflow as I move along. The sump is a 10 gallon aqueon. I picked up glass panels and aquarium safe silicone from HD over the weekend and cut them. I need to sand them before adhering them to the tank. One thing I hadn't counted on, I was going to move my Hydor Protein Skimmer to the sump, but alas, it requires 10.5" of water height to run. For now it stays in the CPR. If all goes well, I'd like to go skimmerless. But that decision for another day.

11/28/2017, 10:17 AM	#3
NS Mike D Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 391	Trying to keep these guys happy along with the softies and mandarin. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

11/28/2017, 11:07 AM	#4
kevin j. Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Broadview Heights Posts: 75	Just curious. What kind of lights do you have?

12/03/2017, 11:28 AM	#6
NS Mike D Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 391	I think I hit a limit with posting photos. I'll figure that out. I installed the CPR 3-sided top skimmer box. My first attempt using underwater epoxy didn't hold, so I used aquarium safe silicone. That worked fine. Even through it's plexi to glass, it held just fine and I don't expect any pressure to pull the CPR from the tank . The pump for the CPR HOB fuge isn't strong enough to do much surface skimming yet, but I expect that to change when I add the overflow plumbing to the below sump. I installed the baffles in the sump. Not the prettiest of glass/silicone work, but they are holding tight. The filter socks and holder also arrived. The Syncra Silent 1.5 arrives tomorrow. Today I will get the plumbing. I'm keeping this very simple. Braided vinyl from the pump to a barb tp connect a ball value and then 2 pvc elbows to u-turn over the tank. The pump can use 3/8-9/16 hose, so I'll have to see what Home Depot has in stock and how I can match it to pvc. The return pipe will terminate about a half inch below the water line to limit back flow. Since I have 3/4"pvc on hand, I will go with that for the overflow. I plan on making a u-turn with elbows starting about an inch below the water line in the CPR so the cpr will break the siphon in case of a power outage. I will install T near the top with an elbow and cap and a ball valve at the end of the pvc where it meets the vinyl so that I can prime the pipe if the siphon breaks. Some quick says the 10 gallon sump can handle the back flow of an inch from the 29 gal DT and what back flows from the gal CPR. The sump is 12 9/16" high, the high baffle is 8" and 5" wide and the rest of the tank is 7" so I have about 4 gallon back flow capacity. One inch drop from the DT is 1.6 gallons. The CPR back flow is another 1/2 gallon. I am making an ATS for the sump. The LEDS and power arrived the other day. It will be submerged with an air stone with the LEDS on the outside held together with magnets. Not sure if that will be overkill since the CPR is packed with cheato, but for now I need to over feed to keep the mandarin happy. I am thinking of adding rubble to create a semi-cryptic zone.

12/03/2017, 11:49 AM	#7
NS Mike D Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 391	Here is a quick video of the tank. https://youtu.be/dP1fpsWP7yE Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

12/04/2017, 07:20 PM	#8
NS Mike D Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 391	Plumbing parts and pump are in the house!!!!

12/07/2017, 09:56 AM	#10
NS Mike D Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 391	I fabricated an overflow box out of 0.22” acrylic last night. 5”x5” 8” deep I’ll plumb it today. I may cut the hard pipe from the tank side so I can take the pump out of the weir and elbow it around it. I’m not concerned about loss of flow due to the elbows since I had to dial down the flow through the new tank to keep the siphon in the weir and a low flow in the CPR would expose the water longer to the skimmer and cheato The filter sick needs changing today so that much debris being taking out the tank that would have otherwise settled on the sand bed or HOB sump is good. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

12/19/2017, 11:47 PM	#13
DesertReefT4r Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Mesa Az Posts: 771	Nice! I had great success with my standard 29g tank. Had a thriving mixed reef setup much like yours. 29g All Glass tank, HOB Utube overflow box, 10g All Glass made into a sump with fuge, Coralife SS65 modded, Current USA Orbit 130w PC light later upgraded to 150w Coralife MH. I miss that setup small but it did so well and had so much micro life in it and corals did very well, I never lost a coral in that tank.