22 gallon Sumpless DREAM BUILD!

Denisk · Jan 11, 2021

kiet_kat said:
Love how this is turning out

Much appreciated!!!

Denisk · Jan 20, 2021

Planning is the key with any build! So for the last week I’ve been coming up with how to hide all the equipment. But finally on January 14h I was able to decide on what I was going to do.
Figuring out how I will hide the apex/auto top off container with being so obvious was important to me.

Denisk · Jan 20, 2021

And so it began on January 15th! Made the front panel first so I could figure out what height I wanted and decided to go with the taller one for aesthetic reasoning but it also gave me more room for the apex controller.

Denisk · Jan 20, 2021

January 15th. Always have your side kick with you when dealing with air tools haha

Denisk · Jan 20, 2021

January 15th almost finished it up. In the mean time I had to send back one of the radions hence why there is only one hanging. The seller was nice enough to take it back bc it was flashing red and green and he sent me out another one with no issues.

Denisk · Jan 20, 2021

Decided to give it almost a floating look so I added a 1x2 piece of pine as the legs to raise it just a bit.

Denisk · Jan 20, 2021

Now time for some paint!

Denisk · Jan 20, 2021

Let there be two gen 4 xr30w pros again!!!! If anyone is running radions, let me know what program you run? Curious if anyone runs more white than what the ab+ gives

Denisk · Jan 21, 2021

Get the apex all buttoned up. I think I’m just going to run the temp prob. Not sure if the salinity prob matters to me. I feel like back when I had it on my old tank, it was so finicky. Then eventually when the tank demands reach the need of dosing, I’ll use a ph prob.

Rubberfrog · Jan 21, 2021

Dude... that stand is killer. I make tables and I always need good ideas for the base.

Denisk · Jan 21, 2021

Rubberfrog said:
Dude... that stand is killer. I make tables and I always need good ideas for the base.

haha Thank you!!! Much appreciated! I’m sure a table would look incredible with this base!

Denisk · Jan 21, 2021

These drill bits come in such handy. I think I’ve had them for over 10 years and they still cut through wood like butter.

John08007 · Jan 21, 2021

Denisk said:
December 21st 2020
Once I got the tank stand where I wanted, I realized the stand top was off balanced. I know my floors were slightly uneven but I also than realized the 4x4 posts where the butcher slab was going to sit on wasn’t flat. So here I am in a high rise on the balcony in the middle of winter sanding away at the surface to get rid of the high points I found so I can have a perfect surface

I've lived in s jersey and driven through md many times over the years, don't think I've ever seen high-rise buildings like that. That Baltimore?

Denisk · Jan 21, 2021

John08007 said:
I've lived in s jersey and driven through md many times over the years, don't think I've ever seen high-rise buildings like that. That Baltimore?

No not Baltimore but about 45 minutes out from there. Surprisingly Montgomery county has more high rises than one would think. We are also so close to dc!

Denisk · Jan 21, 2021

Now I had to go pick up some plants but most likely will have the snake plant on the top shelf and the bottom shelf will hold the tablet for the apex.

MONTANTK · Jan 21, 2021

This is such a cool build! Seems like it could really change the way we think about the hobby, or at least nano tanks, if all goes as planned. Also seems like the perfect tank to use an AWC system on. How do you plan on dealing with evaporation? What is your plan for coral?

Denisk · Jan 21, 2021

MONTANTK said:
This is such a cool build! Seems like it could really change the way we think about the hobby, or at least nano tanks, if all goes as planned. Also seems like the perfect tank to use an AWC system on. How do you plan on dealing with evaporation? What is your plan for coral?

THANK YOU! I really appreciate it. If I had the space to store the water for the awc, that would be a definite solution to making my life easier haha. But unfortunately for me it’ll be just be doing weekly water changes.

As far as evaporation goes, I went with the xp sumpless auto top off so it’ll have the ability to surface skim for me but also acts as a auto top off. Most likely I will have a 3 or 5 gallon container that will fit in my new cabinet I built.

So for corals, I originally was writing that it will be sps focused but after slowly putting this build together, I realized I wanted sand and movement in the tank. It’s something I didn’t really have in the past since I’m a big fan of sps but movement is genuinely so pleasing from a viewing standpoint. I also don’t want sand building up or having random spots of no sand which means lower flow is needed. At this moment it looks like it’ll be a mixed tank, some sps (most likely just acros and stags), lps (torch corals maybe a Goni, a Duncan), some soft corals ( maybe if I find a weeping willow toadstool or just a regular one) and a rose bubble tip anemone since I’ve never owned one.

MONTANTK · Jan 21, 2021

Denisk said:
THANK YOU! I really appreciate it. If I had the space to store the water for the awc, that would be a definite solution to making my life easier haha. But unfortunately for me it’ll be just be doing weekly water changes.

As far as evaporation goes, I went with the xp sumpless auto top off so it’ll have the ability to surface skim for me but also acts as a auto top off. Most likely I will have a 3 or 5 gallon container that will fit in my new cabinet I built.

So for corals, I originally was writing that it will be sps focused but after slowly putting this build together, I realized I wanted sand and movement in the tank. It’s something I didn’t really have in the past since I’m a big fan of sps but movement is genuinely so pleasing from a viewing standpoint. I also don’t want sand building up or having random spots of no sand which means lower flow is needed. At this moment it looks like it’ll be a mixed tank, some sps (most likely just acros and stags), lps (torch corals maybe a Goni, a Duncan), some soft corals ( maybe if I find a weeping willow toadstool or just a regular one) and a rose bubble tip anemone since I’ve never owned one.

Good call with the XP Aqua! If you still wanted to do SPS with sand you could probably get away with aragalive reef sand. Probably wouldn’t have much issue with sand blowing around. Either way thought it seems like it’s going to be an awesome build! Looking forward to following it

Denisk · Jan 21, 2021

MONTANTK said:
Good call with the XP Aqua! If you still wanted to do SPS with sand you could probably get away with aragalive reef sand. Probably wouldn’t have much issue with sand blowing around. Either way thought it seems like it’s going to be an awesome build! Looking forward to following it

Thank you! yeah I’ve used the reef sand in the past. I’m either going to go with that or Fiji pink since I do love the finer grain look. We shall just have to wait and see.

Pntbll687 · Jan 21, 2021

Nice build so far!!

I have that same ato on my nano. The is directions aren't very clear, but the second pump needs to have the water exciting out the little hole in the front to create the "overflow" to where it creates a second water level inside the box. You'll see what I mean when you install it.

It works great, but makes a little too much noise for me.