superfrog's 5.5 gal AIO custom pico build

[superfrog]

hello folks

So i thought I'd share what I've been up to lately. After having great success with my Dymax IQ3 Pico and my RSM 130D I've decided to start a new project. Unfortunately, I've had to decommission the RSM for various reasons, but the tank is still around and will be wet someday soon.

In the meantime, I'm dabbling in the pico world again since i find these little tanks to be fantastically fun and interesting.

The plan:

• 20 litre, rimless, AIO setup
• Filtration will include chemical and biological filtration - no skimmer. Nutrient exchange to be supplemented using a built in AIO refugium with macro-algae.
• Lighting provided by a custom built Cree LED fixture (50/50 XR-E Cool White and XR-E Royal Blue) with integrated moonlighting and refugium lighting.
• No additional flow pumps for now. All water movement being facilitated through the return from the AIO filtration (AquaOne 600 lph return pump).
• Custom built 10 litre ATO with overflow protection (had a close call once before ).
• Custom built fuge/media rack (this is an idea I've been toying with...want to see how it turns out...stay tuned)

Scaping for this tank will be primarily a bonsai type of setup. Inspiration comes from the awesome work the freshwater planted guys are doing on their iwagumi style tanks. So this will be a marine iwagumi of sorts


Will be using:

• 2kg Fiji pink sugar fine aragonite
• 2kg Tonga Branch live rock
• 2kg Kenya/Indo live rock
• 1kg Kenyan live rock (for the fuge)

Stocking:
At the moment the coral socking list is primarily softies (zoas, shrooms, GSP).
Haven't decided on the fish yet as I'm trying to find something really striking and unique that is still suited to a smaller setup.

NOTE: please excuse some of the references to litres instead of gallons. It's just a bit of pain constantly converting as we work on litres over here in South Africa

 

[catran]

Awesome! I'm tagging along since I'm considering a pico tank build this July for my new office. I'm especially interested in the led light build. Will you be using dimmable drivers?

 

[Reefmack]

Following along on this one!

 

[superfrog]

yup! definitely dimmable with such a small setup as the light the crees are capable of putting out will most certainly be too much if left untamed. This is even more of a concern if (like me) you don't want the light orbiting the tank from another galaxy! I prefer to have the light sitting a little closer to the water...

I've made quite a bit of progress with the lights...but i'll get to that soon. I'm going to upload some more pics in an hour or so...

 

[Reefmack]

Looking forward to the pictures!

 

[superfrog]

so this is the basic concept...nothing too fancy in the basic design. simple and uncomplicated is what im going for...

The picture above shows just one baffle in the filter. I ended up with 2 baffles which allows a better flow path for the water.

 

[Reefmack]

This thread may be of some help - very similar to what you're doing:

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/nano-reefs/48891-24hr-5-5-gal-pico.html

 

[Reefmack]

This thread may be of some help - very similar to what you're doing:

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/nano-reefs/48891-24hr-5-5-gal-pico.html

 

[superfrog]

thanks reefmack! that's quite a nice build...im busy reading through the thread right now...

 

[Reefmack]

Hey - you're welcome! It may give you some ideas in case you haven't started the project yet.

 

[superfrog]

ok here goes, please excuse the crappy quality pics. my camera battery was dead and i was too lazy to charge it. so all i have at this stage of the project is cellphone pics of the progress. The pics get better later on, i promise!

i picked up this tank real cheap for around 120 south african rands, thats around 17 USD, which is really cheap over these parts of the world. It's just an empty glass box with the curved front corners i wanted to finish the look a bit better. The lights you see on the tank are a pair of Dymax Robot LED lamps i had lying around from the IQ3 setup. These will be used until I'm done building the Cree fixture...

and since i was so excited about the build i just had to make a mock-up out of cardboard and 'pre-fit' the tank and plan the filter dimensions around the pump and heater while i was at it...

 

[superfrog]

False wall and one baffle cut, smoothed, polished and test fitted. This was constructed out of 100% opaque black perspex/acrylic.

view from the side - equipment fitting well in the back. future proofed it as well by allowing a little more space in there should i have to use a different pump or heater. Also allowed some space for the ATO switch to be installed...

Next step...give the tank a good cleaning and prep for painting...

 

[Uslanja]

Looking Good! I really shouldn't follow along because it is going to cause me to try something similar with all the spare pieces and parts we seem to have collected. For now I'm living vicariously through your project photos!!

 

[superfrog]

hahaha, i know the feeling! i couldnt fight temptation any longer and just had to start this project.
unfortunately, i have to tempt you a little further with some more pics

primer and first coats applied... (thanks to my father in law for letting me use his workshop)

paint applied to the back and side, wrapping around the front to cover up the filter. Also took an angle grinder to the false wall and cut out the surface skimmer overflow...

painting and overflow cutting done!

 

[Reefmack]

Nice job on the setup. Using the cardboard to figure out the dimensions ahead of time was a great idea!

 

[superfrog]

After painting I manged to work in the second baffle in the filter that i mentioned earlier - and silicone everything into place. Also manage to find a nice flanged return nozzle so i could plumb everything in nice and neatly when i fill it...

With the tank painted and cleaned up, i decided to move forward and do a little planning for the scape. As i said before, i'm going for a sort of bonsai iwagumi look. The idea is to have a bonsai tree scaped from Tonga branch live rock and use various zoanthids as foliage for the tree. So i did a little bit of mock scaping using paper and masking tape to build up a tree structure.

These pics with the mock scaping give you a good look at the finished tank after painting. I'm quite thrilled with the finish. It's smooth and glossy with no blemishes! (not bad for a first try)

This last pic gives a view of the finished filter section, if you look closely you can see the two baffles in the middle...

 

[Reefmack]

Nice work! That bonsai/zoa rock scape will be really unique!

 

[QuentinB]

Great ideas and great build! Have fun with it!

 

[superfrog]

@ Reefmack: been trying to collect a few different varieties of zoa frags. hope this comes out as im imagining it...

@ QuentinB: thanks man


So the next step was to work on my fuge/media rack idea. The idea is to utilise the limited space i have in this tank to include both chemical filtration and a refugium. From past experience i've found stuff like purigen and chemi pure to work wonders in small setups like these, especially with the lack of mechanical skimming.

So i wanted to see if i could incorporate both a refugium and chemical filtration into what little space i had to work with. And this is the concept i came up with...

The top most 'chamber' of the rack (the largest space between the top most plate and next one) is going to be a little fuge area. The idea is to strap down a few smallish chunks of live rock to the second plate and have a bit of cheato floating above that. The design sketch above was a little flawed since i'd forgotten that chaeto floats. So i ended up removing the top most 'plate' to allow free movement of the cheato ball.

The subsequent chambers below the fuge area are basically shelves for chemical filtration media. I'll use the bottom most one for purigen/chemipure and the middle one is available should i need to run some phosphate removal media or even a temporary layer of filter floss for polishing the water.

The grid pattern of the plates varies intermittently so that the water is forced to choose a new path every time it passes through another layer. I'm hoping this would force the water to kind of move latterally and spend more time moving through the media, hopefully enhancing the effectiveness of the media. The media bags and plates are designed to fit the chamber exactly so the water is also forced to move through the plate as opposed to around it.


Once i got busy with the perspex/acrylic, this is what it ended up looking like... (The picture shows the rack with the top most plate still attached. That plate has been removed for the free float chaeto application discussed above)

 

[Reefmack]

Nice DIY on the rack! I hope it works well for you.