22 gallon Sumpless DREAM BUILD!

[LaxFrags]

Updates!!!

 

[Brady4000]

Updates!!!

+1

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Hey all!

It seems like anyone who has ever had some positive success in the hobby can never really leave the hobby for good. I haven’t had a true reef tank set up for about a year in a half to two years at this point. I’ve had beautiful Red Sea tanks, a 200 gallon planet aquarium that was designed for the original owner by mrsaltwatertank and have even had a 22 gallon with a sump in the past. Out of all the tanks I’ve owned some how I never was pleased with the turn out with the original 22 gallon. So here I am trying to do it again with a nano build and why not share the build with everyone!

The plan:
The 22 gallon was decided on bc I loved the dimensions and the rimless look. It’s a beautiful tank with dimensions that make you feel like it’s much larger than it really is. I decided to go sumpless since there was no room for a sump due to the stand decisions I had made. The rock will most likely come from kp aquatics and I have some dry rock as well once I figure out the desired aquascape. Filtration plan is going to be the rock and water changes. Im most likely going bare bottom and no skimmer. As I watch the tank, I will add a airstone skimmer if I feel like I need it. The reason I’m not starting with a skimmer is I have delt with dinos in the past and I feel like it’s so easy to strip your water of nutrients.

Current equipment:

Tank - Mr Aqua 22 gallon

Stand - custom built by myself

Lighting - 2 ecotech radion xr30w gen 4 pros (yes overkill but I love it)

Ato / surface skimmer - Xp aqua sumpless ato

Powerhead - ecotech MP10 (somewhere lost in the mail)

Controller - 2016 apex

Love your stand design. I may have one built for my FW tank.

 

[Denisk]

Any updates?

agreed we need updates!

Read all 9 pages and now I NEED to know what's going on with this tank. I'm invested.

What they said!

Hope all is well! Any updates? Super neat tank.

updates coming soon.

 

[Denisk]

Updates!!!

+1

Updates coming haha

 

[Denisk]

Love your stand design. I may have one built for my FW tank.

Thank you! Please do. It’s definitely one of a kind when it comes to aquarium stands

 

[Denisk]

Update:
Sorry to everyone who followed this page expecting that there would be many updates on this build. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The goal was to set up my dream nano tank and turn it into a dominated sps tank.

Sadly a couple months after setting up my tank, my little helper on this build (my chihuahua) had gotten ill. Two different doctors said there was nothing that can be done and unfortunately had to be put down.
The passing of my dog took a lot out of me since he was with me for 10 years. So many memories made and so many shared through good and bad times. It really is true when they say a dog is a “man’s best friend”.

Although I was deeply saddened by what happened, I knew I couldn’t live without a dog either. So as time went by, I decided to start looking for another dog to adopt. My first dog was adopted and I figured why not do it again after having such an incredible experience.

So after searching and searching, I finally came across a dog to adopt. He came from a farm where he sadly lived outside his whole life. It appeared no one wanted to adopt him since he wasn’t potty trained but somehow I felt it was a great idea. I did a quick Google search on how hard it is to potty train a adult dog’ and felt reassured that I could do it haha.

Then two months later after having the new dog, he also had to have surgery…. So you can imagine that the reef tank was not on my mind. Luckily the surgery wasn’t anything life threatening but he had to get a BUNCH of teeth removed since the vet said due to him living outdoors, he must of chewed on rocks and sticks his whole life.

Fast forward to today. I want you guys to all see my newest helper name Teddy.

Now for a little reef tank update:

So from everything above that happened, the aquarium hobby wasn’t really on my mind. I was just doing the bare minimum for the tank, feeding the tank, checking parameters. Unfortunately my clowns passed and I wasn’t sure if it had to do with my heater. But after they passed I just literally was feed my inverts every so often but not doing anything else. After awhile I opened my apex and realized my heater wasn’t working for about a year. The water was just 70 degrees, no notification nothing. So I ran over to petco and grabbed a little 100 watt heater for the tank realizing I’m not spending much time on this tank and should probably just sell it.

Fast forward to a week ago, I signed into my local reef forum and on here to start listing my equipment and came across this build thread.

I’m not sure if it’s a miracle or if this is just what the hobby does to you but
4 days with equipment on the market, I decided to bring this tank from the dead and not sell anything. Winter is around the corner, why not spend the time continuing the build. So here I am, adding a way overdue rant about where I’ve been and why I slacked on the tank.

 

[TheWB]

Update:
Sorry to everyone who followed this page expecting that there would be many updates on this build. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The goal was to set up my dream nano tank and turn it into a dominated sps tank.

Sadly a couple months after setting up my tank, my little helper on this build (my chihuahua) had gotten ill. Two different doctors said there was nothing that can be done and unfortunately had to be put down.
The passing of my dog took a lot out of me since he was with me for 10 years. So many memories made and so many shared through good and bad times. It really is true when they say a dog is a “man’s best friend”.

Although I was deeply saddened by what happened, I knew I couldn’t live without a dog either. So as time went by, I decided to start looking for another dog to adopt. My first dog was adopted and I figured why not do it again after having such an incredible experience.

So after searching and searching, I finally came across a dog to adopt. He came from a farm where he sadly lived outside his whole life. It appeared no one wanted to adopt him since he wasn’t potty trained but somehow I felt it was a great idea. I did a quick Google search on how hard it is to potty train a adult dog’ and felt reassured that I could do it haha.

Then two months later after having the new dog, he also had to have surgery…. So you can imagine that the reef tank was not on my mind. Luckily the surgery wasn’t anything life threatening but he had to get a BUNCH of teeth removed since the vet said due to him living outdoors, he must of chewed on rocks and sticks his whole life.

Fast forward to today. I want you guys to all see my newest helper name Teddy.

Now for a little reef tank update:

So from everything above that happened, the aquarium hobby wasn’t really on my mind. I was just doing the bare minimum for the tank, feeding the tank, checking parameters. Unfortunately my clowns passed and I wasn’t sure if it had to do with my heater. But after they passed I just literally was feed my inverts every so often but not doing anything else. After awhile I opened my apex and realized my heater wasn’t working for about a year. The water was just 70 degrees, no notification nothing. So I ran over to petco and grabbed a little 100 watt heater for the tank realizing I’m not spending much time on this tank and should probably just sell it.

Fast forward to a week ago, I signed into my local reef forum and on here to start listing my equipment and came across this build thread.

I’m not sure if it’s a miracle or if this is just what the hobby does to you but
4 days with equipment on the market, I decided to bring this tank from the dead and not sell anything. Winter is around the corner, why not spend the time continuing the build. So here I am, adding a way overdue rant about where I’ve been and why I slacked on the tank.

Sorry to hear about your dog, a lot of us have been through the same things and it’s always heartbreaking when you have to make those decisions. I have enjoyed your build since the beginning. Glad to see you are going to give it another shot.

 

[Chlorinated]

Update:
Sorry to everyone who followed this page expecting that there would be many updates on this build. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The goal was to set up my dream nano tank and turn it into a dominated sps tank.

Sadly a couple months after setting up my tank, my little helper on this build (my chihuahua) had gotten ill. Two different doctors said there was nothing that can be done and unfortunately had to be put down.
The passing of my dog took a lot out of me since he was with me for 10 years. So many memories made and so many shared through good and bad times. It really is true when they say a dog is a “man’s best friend”.

Although I was deeply saddened by what happened, I knew I couldn’t live without a dog either. So as time went by, I decided to start looking for another dog to adopt. My first dog was adopted and I figured why not do it again after having such an incredible experience.

So after searching and searching, I finally came across a dog to adopt. He came from a farm where he sadly lived outside his whole life. It appeared no one wanted to adopt him since he wasn’t potty trained but somehow I felt it was a great idea. I did a quick Google search on how hard it is to potty train a adult dog’ and felt reassured that I could do it haha.

Then two months later after having the new dog, he also had to have surgery…. So you can imagine that the reef tank was not on my mind. Luckily the surgery wasn’t anything life threatening but he had to get a BUNCH of teeth removed since the vet said due to him living outdoors, he must of chewed on rocks and sticks his whole life.

Fast forward to today. I want you guys to all see my newest helper name Teddy.

Now for a little reef tank update:

So from everything above that happened, the aquarium hobby wasn’t really on my mind. I was just doing the bare minimum for the tank, feeding the tank, checking parameters. Unfortunately my clowns passed and I wasn’t sure if it had to do with my heater. But after they passed I just literally was feed my inverts every so often but not doing anything else. After awhile I opened my apex and realized my heater wasn’t working for about a year. The water was just 70 degrees, no notification nothing. So I ran over to petco and grabbed a little 100 watt heater for the tank realizing I’m not spending much time on this tank and should probably just sell it.

Fast forward to a week ago, I signed into my local reef forum and on here to start listing my equipment and came across this build thread.

I’m not sure if it’s a miracle or if this is just what the hobby does to you but
4 days with equipment on the market, I decided to bring this tank from the dead and not sell anything. Winter is around the corner, why not spend the time continuing the build. So here I am, adding a way overdue rant about where I’ve been and why I slacked on the tank.

Sorry for your loss. Been in those shoes more than once sadly.

Happy the update asks kept you going! Keep at it and enjoy your new helper!

 

[Denisk]

Sorry to hear about your dog, a lot of us have been through the same things and it’s always heartbreaking when you have to make those decisions. I have enjoyed your build since the beginning. Glad to see you are going to give it another shot.

Thank you. I’m definitely excited to see what happens with the tank.

 

[Denisk]

Sorry for your loss. Been in those shoes more than once sadly.

Happy the update asks kept you going! Keep at it and enjoy your new helper!

Thank you! I appreciate it. I’m glad to be back sharing the tank build.

 

[Denisk]

Looks like I had a bristleworm come out while I was looking at my tank after the lights went off. The moment I got close, it immediately went back under the rock. Not sure if I’ll be taking it out or not but at the moment it doesn’t seem to be harming anything.

 

[Denisk]

Tank isn’t doing as well as I would wish. I have a few sps I brought into my tank over the last couple weeks and appear to be losing fish to velvet. Not sure if it was from the yellow coris wrasse I just brought in but I have lost a clown, a green chromis and a fire fish in the last 2 weeks. Not sure if its velvet 100% but it appears to be that way. The yellow coris wrasse and one clown is left. The clown is not doing too well and the coris is just flashing against rocks there and here. Trying to catch the wrasse I’m afraid will be a nightmare so I haven’t really decided what to currently do.

 

[Denisk]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[Denisk]

Sadly I’m only down to my cleaner shrimp and yellow coris wrasse. I guess yellow wrasse is very disease resistant which is good however it makes me wonder if I’ll ever be able to add another fish. I did however add a Halloween hermit since I couldn’t add fish and wanted a little bit of bio load for the sps. The Halloween hermit crab seemed to be doing super well for the first day. The second day around I noticed it just picked a corner of the tank and has been super still. However I can tell it is still alive and all my other hermits and shrimp are moving and grooving.

is this normal?
He ready to molt? Sadly wasn’t expected he needed a new shell so I don’t have a larger one.
should I do anything?

 

[Aqua Man]

is this normal?
He ready to molt? Sadly wasn’t expected he needed a new shell so I don’t have a larger one.
should I do anything?

Hermit is probably ok. The Halloween hermit I have does the same thing sometimes. They grow slower than other hermits I’ve had so you should have time to find a shell for future growth. Might want to add some meaty food for the hermits. With just the one fish, they may not be getting enough leftovers.

 

[Denisk]

Hermit is probably ok. The Halloween hermit I have does the same thing sometimes. They grow slower than other hermits I’ve had so you should have time to find a shell for future growth. Might want to add some meaty food for the hermits. With just the one fish, they may not be getting enough leftovers.

Good to know! Thank you! 10 years with a reef tank and yet never got a Halloween hermit. I appreciate the information.

 

[Denisk]

Since Saturday the Halloween hermit still hasn’t been moving from the place I took photos. I don’t know what it looks like when hermits molt but my cleaner shrimp molted just fine over the weekend. Odd that everything else including all the corals are doing great. I also don’t want to be that person that pokes it but I’m not sure if it’s dead or not. I would assume all the other hermits and shrimp would go after it if it was.

 

[NanoJHB]

Really loved spending my evening reading through this thread and your journey.

I hope things pick up for you and the tank! It will be so worth it to have yourself a thriving tank again after all the work and effort you put into it.

Wishing you all the best!

 

[Denisk]

Really loved spending my evening reading through this thread and your journey.

I hope things pick up for you and the tank! It will be so worth it to have yourself a thriving tank again after all the work and effort you put into it.

Wishing you all the best!

Much appreciated! I know it will definitely pick up to the point where I’ll be happy with it. I think with this hobby sometimes when it rains it pours and when you’re around the hobby long enough, you learn to just be patient. Thankfully my sps look great which is why I need to find time to bring out the dslr and take some photos for all of you.