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10 gals display, 20 gals DIY sump

Five-Tiao_people

NJRC Member
Suuuuup~ Guys!

I am new to the forums and wanna share with you guys about my tank setup~
I was initially in the freshwater hobby and started enjoying the reef tanks since the quarantine began. The whole system was DIY, and the sump has a refugium, the system cost me about $200, including the equipment.
At first, I watched some Youtube videos and heard some people said the reef tank is very challenging, and I am so curious why and how it is so difficult. So I keep digging into it. The more I know about it, the more I like it. And finally, I decided to build my reef tank. (Posted my freshwater 55G and 10G tank below).
1597720475(1).png 1597720569(1).png


I think the reef tank is pretty much the same as the advanced controlled freshwater tank, except the creatures are more sensitive to lighting, chemicals, and water flow.
I chose nano tank just because this is my first time for the reef, and I want to keep everything cheap just in case I screwed it up :)

Having that said, I brought some PVC pipes, soft pipes, and rented a saw from Homedepot. And on the day one, my display tank looks like this:
1597721285444.png 1597721338115.png

Then the quarantine happened, I was forced to cycle my tank until June :eek:. Then I went LFS to get some inverts. And now my tank looks like this:

1597721662631.png

I have a maxima clam, a pair of pistol and goby, cleaner shrimp, clove coral, xenia, an urchin, some snails, and hermit crabs. I gradually added these creatures in the past few months. This is a habit from my freshwater hobby -- slowly add animals into the tank so the bacteria and other things in the system can adjust to the ammonia and other wastes.

I just got three Damselfish, but they don't do well with my pistol and goby, I am trading them for some cheap, easy to care corals.

I have only one picture for the sump, and on the right side is a plastic box with ceramic ring and sponges, the middle is the macroalgae, the right side is heater and pump. Sorry for the wires mess, I was trying to sort them when I was taking the pic.
1597721940749.png

This is an on-going project, I am still trying different stuff, but I am happy with my current setup, the sump adds 20 gal water volume and space for bacteria. I like to feed fish and coral heavily, but so far, no issue.
Please leave a comment below if you like my system, or if you think I should improve somewhere, please also feel free to let me know! I am opening to all thoughts, ideas, and advice!

Appreciate your time, thanks for watching my post!
 
Love it. Very innovative. And quite a leap. In general you are correct it is cheaper to go nano but things can go wrong real quick in a nano reef. Because of the lack of dilution factor. Little mistakes are magnified. But looks like you have it under control and based on your gorgeous fresh water tank I’m sure you will be successful applying what you have learned. I am a pinch concerned for the maxima clam. That’s a fairly new setup for that clam. What are you feeding it? Either way best of luck and keep posting.
 

Five-Tiao_people

NJRC Member
Love it. Very innovative. And quite a leap. In general you are correct it is cheaper to go nano but things can go wrong real quick in a nano reef. Because of the lack of dilution factor. Little mistakes are magnified. But looks like you have it under control and based on your gorgeous fresh water tank I’m sure you will be successful applying what you have learned. I am a pinch concerned for the maxima clam. That’s a fairly new setup for that clam. What are you feeding it? Either way best of luck and keep posting.
Thanks for the comment!
I forgot I got a favia last week, I am feeding the clam, and the corals with phytoplankton and reef-roids coral food mix every other day. Sometimes the goby will come up and swallow the coral food, which is very fun to watch.
May I ask do you have any care tips or advice for the clam? I know they get most of the energy from Photosynthesis, and feeding only serve as supplemental.
 
To be honest. Your doing great. Phyto and roids are great. I’m certain you are on the right path. Do you any idea what PAR your light is putting out?
 

Five-Tiao_people

NJRC Member
To be honest. Your doing great. Phyto and roids are great. I’m certain you are on the right path. Do you any idea what PAR your light is putting out?
After I saw your comment I immediately went to check the manual, but I really can't find that information. That LED is a Chinese black box from amazon, 11 hours on and 13 hours off.
I was considering get the 16HD prime and use this cbb for the refugium.
 
N
After I saw your comment I immediately went to check the manual, but I really can't find that information. That LED is a Chinese black box from amazon, 11 hours on and 13 hours off.
I was considering get the 16HD prime and use this cbb for the refugium.
no need to run out and spend money on something you likely don’t need. Just keep an eye on the clam. If it looks like it is happy. Your good but if it starts to shrink and look just not right. I would consider the possibility of the light. Also. It’s early and it’s small. So it won’t have a big calcium uptake issue as long as you do regular water changes. But I would keep an eye on your calcium and alkalinity levels. Don’t chase them. But be sure they don’t plummet
 

Five-Tiao_people

NJRC Member
N

no need to run out and spend money on something you likely don’t need. Just keep an eye on the clam. If it looks like it is happy. Your good but if it starts to shrink and look just not right. I would consider the possibility of the light. Also. It’s early and it’s small. So it won’t have a big calcium uptake issue as long as you do regular water changes. But I would keep an eye on your calcium and alkalinity levels. Don’t chase them. But be sure they don’t plummet
Thank you for your advice! I will keep that in mind~
 

Five-Tiao_people

NJRC Member
Just an update, my tanks are doing good! Got a bubble tip in there and it was fun to feed it. Don't know when it will split though.
But the wire and sump are messy due to its all DIYed. Looking to upgrade to some neat rimless cube, better with sump@@. But it hard to find and also cost a lot.

Anyway, I am happy about what it looks like right now, everything is happy and grow fast.

Mytank.jpg
 

erics210

NJRC Member
LOVE IT! You put the "IT" in DO IT YOURSELF.

Some creative solutions. Even the overflow box., Simple yet very effective.
 

Five-Tiao_people

NJRC Member
Anywhere else you can store the brush so it's not sitting in your tank? Typically rust is no good around the tank, submerged or not. :D
Thx for the advice, but I put the bush inside the pipe to prevent the noise (avoid the extra air get into the pipe). It's handy for a sump system.
 
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