3̶5̶l̶ ̶/̶ ̶9̶ ̶g̶a̶l̶.̶ 55l / 15 gal. Scratch/spare parts build (sortoff)

Dextar · May 19, 2023

Hi All,

Third tank, first build thread
Not sure how diligent I’ll be with this thread, but there’s only one way to find out I guess.

TLDR: A nano build using (mostly) parts I had lying around, just to see what happens.

As the name of the thread suggests this build is (so far) made up of parts I had lying around and the idea is to try and build a simple and low cost office nano. Inspiration (at least in part) came from a Reefbuilders video Jake did a while ago that uses the same type of tank I’m using here. Plans for stocking consist of soft/leather corals (mainly due to the lighting) and if all goes well a single tank bred yellow clown goby.

The kit list so far:

Dennerle scaper’s tank 35l
Tunze nano cleaner 3165 (floss/matrix)
Generic 100w heater
AliExpress led light (similar to/same as the stock deskmate light)
Cured rock from the sump of my main tank
Leftover dry sand from a previous tank

An ATO solution (one of those tank mounts for a soda bottle) will be the first new buy for this tank, probably in the same shipment as the corals. Manual top off till then.

Mixed up water yesterday (AF Hybrid Pro) and filled the tank, lets see what happens .

Forgot to take pictures yesterday, this morning I woke up to what I assume is a bacterial bloom (light is on for the picture only):

Will just let it sit and do it’s thing for now.

Dextar · May 19, 2023

After a couple of hours of working next to the tank, I'm already thinking of either swapping out the pump of the filter or the entire filter unit.

The current ( stock Tunze Silent) pump is turning out not silent enough for me, or the entire filter itself is just a bit too noisy due to vibration/resonance.

Dextar · May 22, 2023

Swapped the Tunze for an internal filter I had lying around. Doesn’t hold as much media, but I think it should still be enough. No more noise and a little higher flow (200 vs 150lph).
Also added a tiny 200lph exo terra waterfall pump for some additional flow.

The bloom cleared up very nicely over the weekend.

Dextar · Jun 2, 2023

Life!

Apart from the zoas these frags/genetic samples all came from a local fellow reefer so the latin names are best guesses but ahh well

Coral stock so far:

Toadstool (Sarcophyton Ehrenbergi)
GSP (Briareum sp)
Gorgonian (clueless..)
Finger leather (Sinularia asterolobata)
Random no name zoas.

Several snails from my big tank, and a tiny hermit.
Everyone is doing well so far

After the zoas were added I made the “mistake” of checking them under a black box LED I have as a backup light (to big and buggy for this build) which made quite the difference:

Current mainly white light

Blackbox (all blue)

Which forced me to buy a new (for me) Aqua knight v2 for the tank, which is still on it’s way.

Also added a ATO solution that works with a PET bottle, but it seems the new style coca cola/sprite bottles we have here (Netherlands) don’t quite fit so that’s still waiting for a fitting bottle.

MyFirstCar · Jun 2, 2023

Hey, looks great!

Just a comment, I've had all 3 of those cheap suction cup Glass thermometers go bad me. If your temps start looking weird, I'd check the thermometer first

Dextar · Jun 2, 2023

tstor said:
Hey, looks great!

Just a comment, I've had all 3 of those cheap suction cup Glass thermometers go bad me. If your temps start looking weird, I'd check the thermometer first

Thanks!

So far I've seen it come on once, seems the pumps are keeping the temp up on their own.
Depending on how long this setup stays online (already planning a WB peninsula 25

) I may switch it out to a dennerle heater or a simple titanium heater just to be safe, although I've never had any issues with these heaters yet.

MyFirstCar · Jun 2, 2023

Oh, not the heater, the suction cup glass thermometer in the corner.

Dextar said:
Thanks!

So far I've seen it come on once, seems the pumps are keeping the temp up on their own.
Depending on how long this setup stays online (already planning a WB peninsula 25 ) I may switch it out to a dennerle heater or a simple titanium heater just to be safe, although I've never had any issues with these heaters yet.

randomfishdude · Jun 2, 2023

This reminds me of a 2nd 10gal tank that I decided to put in my room and I built a lio unit for it out of acrylic and the old pump.

But really cool build.

Gumbies R Us · Jun 2, 2023

Dextar said:
Life!

Apart from the zoas these frags/genetic samples all came from a local fellow reefer so the latin names are best guesses but ahh well

Coral stock so far:

Toadstool (Sarcophyton Ehrenbergi)
GSP (Briareum sp)
Gorgonian (clueless..)
Finger leather (Sinularia asterolobata)
Random no name zoas.

Several snails from my big tank, and a tiny hermit.
Everyone is doing well so far

After the zoas were added I made the “mistake” of checking them under a black box LED I have as a backup light (to big and buggy for this build) which made quite the difference:

Current mainly white light

Blackbox (all blue)

Which forced me to buy a new (for me) Aqua knight v2 for the tank, which is still on it’s way.

Also added a ATO solution that works with a PET bottle, but it seems the new style coca cola/sprite bottles we have here (Netherlands) don’t quite fit so that’s still waiting for a fitting bottle.

Love the zoas!

Dextar · Jun 2, 2023

tstor said:
Oh, not the heater, the suction cup glass thermometer in the corner.

Lol, my bad
That already left the building as suction cup couldn’t handle the flow so the thermometer kept going for a swim around the tank

Dextar · Jun 2, 2023

randomfishdude said:
This reminds me of a 2nd 10gal tank that I decided to put in my room and I built a lio unit for it out of acrylic and the old pump.

But really cool build.

Thanks! I thought about converting this to a dyi aio, but with the dimensions of this tank it doesn’t really make sense. Also I’m kinda lazy and not sure I could pull that off

randomfishdude · Jun 2, 2023

Dextar said:
Thanks! I thought about converting this to a dyi aio, but with the dimensions of this tank it doesn’t really make sense. Also I’m kinda lazy and not sure I could pull that off

I built the aio while the tank was cycling so I had to build it in a little box form. It was cool though and it worked pretty well while the tank was up. The best part was the overflow didn't even haft to be under the waterline bc the tank was so leaky.

Dextar · Jun 2, 2023

Gumbies R Us said:
Love the zoas!

As do I! I also very much like this way of buying random zoas for cheap (these were about $26).

Gumbies R Us · Jun 2, 2023

Dextar said:
As do I! I also very much like this way of buying random zoas for cheap (these were about $26).

Not bad, especially for how they look!

Dextar · Mar 14, 2024

Sooo this has been a while. The original 35l tank ran up until about 2 months ago, and was then taken down.
Several reasons, filtration was a thing (small tank, small filter, didn't do it's job very well), space turned out to be a thing for me and then my GF tore down her planted tank which made that available to me. As they are both Dennerle Scapers tanks, the shape is similar which I like but just a smidge larger.

The new version of my office nano has been running for around 3 months give or take and after cycling I moved most of the corals and my clown goby + hermit to this tank.
Since then the goby somehow jumped out, which was kind of a shock as I didn't expect it to be a jumper and the tank has a glass lid. An ocellaris clown has since taken up residence and is doing good so far, still contemplating getting him a friend as he seems very shy so far.

New setup is now:

55L Dennerle scapers tank
Dennerle 50W heater
Tunze Nano cleaner 3165
Water bottle ATO
Reef factory Reef Flare XS
CaribSea Liferock from a previous tank (dead and then cycled in the tank)

I splurged a bit on the lighting for this new build, as I was getting sick of the Aqua Knight and its missing royal/dark blue channel. As all the rest is still parts that were "laying around" I'm still counting it as a scratch build

Some pics