TheReefDaVinci's 20 gallon Vitruvian Nano Aquarium.

[TheReefDaVinci]

TheReefDaVinci's 20 gallon Vitruvian Nano Aquarium.

Hello everyone, I have always wanted a large aquarium. However, I currently live in an apartment and until I purchase a home I cannot force myself to build a large reef aquarium that could possibly need to be broken down due to some unforeseen circumstances that are beyond my control. So I decided that with my current situation a small 20 gallon nano aquarium would have to suffice. But that doesn't mean that I have to skimp on the quality and performance of the equipment that I purchase. So please feel free to engage in this thread as comments, suggestions, and criticisms are always a welcomed factor in building a great aquarium.

 

[TheReefDaVinci]

Tunze DOC 9010 Protein Skimmer.

Tunze DOC 9010 Protein Skimmer

I have had numerous recommendations from people that a Protein Skimmer would do nothing more then take up already limited realty in an 20 gallon aquarium measuring on 12.5 Inches in Height x 12.5 Inches in Depth x 30 Inches in Length and that water changes every 2 or 3 days would suffice. However, I feel that a Protein Skimmer is a necessity and would suite me better if I included one in this aquarium setup as I intend to hold sensitive SPS Corals. As a personal rule of thumb I believe that you should get the most efficient model protein skimmer that your budget allows.

I have personally used a Tunze Nano DOC 9002 in the past with great success so I figured that it wouldn't hurt to stay in the family. I contacted Tony at Reef Exotics in Long Island since he is my number one person for gathering all equipment manufactured by Tunze and has provided me great service with every transaction and had him send me a Tunze DOC 9010 Protein Skimmer. Many people I'm sure many would consider overkill for my setup since the Tunze DOC 9010 Protein Skimmer is rated for aquariums up to 264 gallons of total water volume. However, it's relatively small dimensions of 4.9 Inches in Length x 4.4 Inches in Depth x 16.9 Inches in Height and low power consumption of only 21 watts of electricity made it an ideal choice for my setup. It is even equipped to allow ozone to be equipped.

The protein skimmer is installed on the rear right side of the aquarium using the provided clamps and rails. It actually uses up a very small area of real estate within the aquarium. The foam production height can be altered easily by adjusting a small air intake screw located at the neck of the protein skimmer. One observation that I have noticed is that I will have very dense foam production for a short period of time such as around feeding time after adding food to the aquarium then the dense foam head is almost non existant but the water is absolutely clear! I'm thinking that the protein skimmer may be so efficient that foam production only occurs when their is dissolved organic matter exist to be skimmed? I'm not sure but that is just a theory I'm going on.

Photographs - Tunze DOC 9010 Protein Skimmer installed in my 20 gallon Vitruvian Nano Aquarium

 

[JohnS_323]

Welcome to NJRC! Good luck with your 20g and just know that before long you're going to find yourself saying "I could put a 120 right over there. It won't be tooooooo bad if I have to move it!"

 

[TheReefDaVinci]

Reply to JohnS_323.

Welcome to NJRC! Good luck with your 20g and just know that before long you're going to find yourself saying "I could put a 120 right over there. It won't be tooooooo bad if I have to move it!"

JohnS_323, thank you. I know we all eventually say that to ourselves. ;D

 

[jtnova13]

hey, so far so good.

I'm in the same predicament as you, being that I am renting for at least 1 more year, but i couldn't wait any longer so here I am building a 90 gallon...

 

[ReeferNets]

huh?

 

[Phyl]

This user's account has been closed since they already have another ID on the forum.