OneWayne's 24

I think its best to start at the beginning since so many changes have taken place over the last couple months, thanks for any advice in advance.

Back Story
After more than 10 years ive again been bitten by the reef bug, I decided to go much smaller than my previous builds although at this point I am already planning an upgrade, bigger, stronger, faster. The original configuration of this build was a bone stock jbj Nanocube 24. After getting it setup I quickly became aware that my previous experience was not going to sit idly by and continue working with something that felt more like a toy than a tank.

Starting Equipment
JBJ NanoCube 24 w/ stock stand
PC 105w Quad light
JBJ 1/15 Chiller
2x MJ1200s (italian)
Aquatic Life 115 protien skimmer

 

My original idea was to keep it as an AIO style tank, housing the chiller in the stand and trying to use the flimsy chiller setup kit, no way was this going to fly!!! In retrospect I now realize that my decision to drill the tank is where i crossed the line. I decided that I would still use the AIO style but plumb the chiller intake from the 2nd chamber and the return through the 3rd directly back to the DT.

Drilling
This was the first time I have ever drilled a glass tank, if you have any thoughts that its too difficult, erase them. Seriously a patient monkey can drill, keep it slow and keep it cool. Luckily for me the tank fit nicely into my shower enclosure, the bucket keeps a reservior under the fixture and a powerhead pumps from the bucket to the drill spot then down the drain, worked like a charm.

 

Instead of returning the chiller flow back into the rear chambers I decided to add that flow to the DT, this was a bit tricky to line the hole up perfectly to thread the pipe through the 3rd chamber, i got lucky, measure 46 times drill once.

 

At this point in the build it became painfully clear that I was not going to be happy, so after admiring my handy work for a day or two and making sure the used chiller worked it was time to get serious and start from the ground up. If I didnt get this setup for practically free I would have just sold it and bought something else, but that would have been a hard one to explain to the wife.
After failing to find a stand that was taller and would have enough space for a sump I built my own from a used cabinet. Reinforced on all sides this thing could hold up a car.

 

Now things start to get serious. No more rear compartment filtration joke, for me I could barely fit my hands in to arrange anything, 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag seems like a fitting description. A protein skimmer that has a collection cup that is smaller than a thimble didnt seem like a very good idea, it all has to go.
Removing the rear wall took about 10 seconds, the new overflow was also fairly straightforward. I will not go into how and why as the pics are self explanatory. Only hitch were the bulkheads, they were originally 1/2", so using a dremel tile bit i hogged em out to 1", the toothless overflow is 8" pvc.

 

Fast foward a bit. A free 10g tank and some pieces of glass for baffles made a good sump, to small but works for now. I am not a plumber and alot of this was trial and error so the return as well as the drain, mostly the drain will be changed to various configurations to eliminate noise. The sump return is powered by a mag 9.5, if I didnt have the chiller this would be a very bad choice im afraid and will be going soon in favor of a sicce. The mag goes into a manifold dividing the flow to the chiller, phosban reactor, open return, and DT.
Some of the problems ive encountered are directly due to my original placement of the bulkheads, I had no idea that this would go so far and have had to go through many re-works to get it to the point it is now, silent, but at this point it was rather noisy, plus alot of micro bubbles. Trying to silence the overflow drainpipe was a nightmare, the first photo shows the Hoffer Gurgle Buster, this did not work all that well in this config, and to get it somewhat quieter required limiting the flow way to severely.

 

Added 35 pounds of rock, ehiem 150w heater, Bubble Magus 3.5 curve skimmer, and 2 new fans in hood.

 

Tank is cycling along, the rock has been curing for quite sometime so i dont antcipate much in the way of spikes, but who knows. Couple dead shrimp to fuel the fire. In the meanwhile I fixed the drain noise and flushing with the addition of an external durso. I found a used sump on craigslist that fits the dimensions for my stand. Removed the existing sump walls and built baffles and a bubble trap on the drain which is now dead silent by corkscrewing flexible pvc down to bubble trap. Refugium will go in front section for my viewing pleasure, middle section for return and heater, and rear has drain and skimmer. With the mag 9.5 I can push some serious water now with no flushing and very little noise although i back down the return a bit by increasing flow thru refugium section.

 

Refugium up and running. Additions to tank are 3 scarlets, 2 blue legs, 8 astreas, 3 narrasus, bristle stars and worms in refugium along with chaeto. All levels are at 0, pods are doing well, a bloom of diatoms is almost gone but the green algae is coming in now, beefing up water changes as well as adding some more grazers to the tank.

 

nice job sir!