Chizer & Bunoi 67 Gallon Palace

[ChizerBunoi]

Hi everyone,

I had the following 24 gallon nano cube journal for about a year and a half and didn't think anybody followed it. But it wasn't until I received a recent uplifting message that I decided to start a journal on a new build. Thanks drumlizardo.

A little bit about me. I have been in the hobby for most of my life as my dad was really into fish keeping when he was a kid. Over the years, I have kept all types of fish. I used to be into planted aquariums as you can see from the journals below.

Planted Community
Pride Rock

Hey we are in the salty forum, what's with all the planted tanks? Get on with it already.

I am completely fascinated with SPS corals. Who would have thought these fuzzy sticks would draw so much attention and captivate me so.

Chizer and Bunoi are my 8 year clownfish. They are a mated pair. Chizer is the female and Bunoi is the male. They are also the names of my two yorkies but that's another story. Chizer is the male and Bunoi is the female in this case. These are names that I just made up and they don't translate to anything. But they do sound Japanese when I say it.

Chizer = Chizz-err
Bunoi = bun-oy

Some of you might have seen their last home? They quickly ran out of room and got evicted. They are now moving into the pent house.

They have been living in a 90 gallon tank since my tear down. This tank was put in my basement (which has a full renovation going on down there) and with all the dust down there, I thought it would be nice to downsize from my current 90 gallon tank and go with a nice setup in my living room. Now why downsize? Because my arms are short and 25" is way too tall. I hate getting my armpits wet. Life is also very busy right now so I decided to sell off all of my fish tanks and keep only the reef.

I think purchasing juvenile discus that required 50% daily water changes was the push over.

The plan is to go full zeovit on this setup as 90 percent of my corals are SPS. I also plan to use local Calgary tap water. I have been reefing for over 2 years and never had any issue using tap water, so lets see what happens. I have yet to have any weird parameter issues due to TDS or nitrates/phosphates. How long before I get desperate and cave on an RO setup.

Also, I will not add any other fish to this tank. Just the two brats and that's all.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Build Details

• Tank: 67 gallon tank (48" x 18" x 18") with external overflow (4 x 1" holes) and one piece acrylic on back side. This external overflow is huge and I wish I was more specific on the size before I had this tank built.
• Plumbing: Herbie setup with the two returns, will incorporate ball valves, gate valve, check valve, unions and maybe filter sock
• Light: TEK 6 bulb T5HO, 1 bulb will be changed out each month.
• Return Pump: Eheim 1262
• Protein Skimmer: Bubble Magus NAC5E HOB (what I have) rated for 80G - 120G, plans to upgrade in the future
• Zeovit reactor: to be purchased
• Heater: Eheim Jager 300W
• ATO: Tunze Osmolator 3155
• Controller: Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Lite
• Wave Movement: 4 x VorTech MP10 (still to purchase one)
• Sump: 20 gallon tank with no baffles
• Dosing: DIY 2 part on a Bubble Magus unit
• Salt: IO Reef Crystals

Stand
This is a bathroom vanity purchased from a hardware store that I modified to suite my needs.

I installed a piece of plywood on the top and reinforced the stand with lots of 2x4's.

I then painted it with an outdoor semi-gloss paint. I wish I could stain it but I don't have a garage and its way too cold outside (for the varnish to cure).

 

[Bige]

I look forward to the build. I followed your last build and your tank was amazing.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

The Tank

This was custom built from a very reputable aquarium shop in my city. They did a great job. The acrylic is a one piece silicone to the inside of the back wall. The weir overflow was also hand cut. I sort of wish that they offered laser cut precision. Oh well.

There are 4 one inch drains on this overflow box. I was planning to setup a bean animal overflow setup but then changed my mind. I prefer to use the two outside drains as returns. Then the two middle drains will be setup for a herbie setup. One will be a full siphon with a gate valve and the other will be an emergency drain. Returns will be over the top (my preference).

The tank will have a layer of Oolite sand. Knowing how much water flow I intend to have, I decided to paint the bottom glass with a sand color acrylic paint. That way, it won't look so bad where it becomes bare bottom (oops I said it again ).

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Plumbing

All 4 bulkheads will have true union gate valves on them. They won't be used except in case of an emergency should I need to modify my plumbing.

These pipes are held on with tie straps.

I still need to finish the plumbing inside the overflow box and inside the stand. Tomorrow's going to be a long day. I also plan to do the full swap over as well. Will post pictures afterwards.

 

[Bige]

Looks good. I like the cabinet. You should put a little granite piece around that front lip. Would look real nice and finished. I like my returns not drilled too. Breaks siphon better.

 

[klcon1]

Looks great!! I like what you did with the cabinet. Looking forward to seeing it full.

 

[obscurereef]

Wow your nano tank is awesome and completely full! What will you do with it once you have the new tank set up? Nice build, looking forward to the future progress.

 

[Beengirl]

Hi everyone,

I had the following 24 gallon nano cube journal for about a year and a half and didn't think anybody followed it. But it wasn't until I received a recent uplifting message that I decided to start a journal on a new build. Thanks drumlizardo.

A little bit about me. I have been in the hobby for most of my life as my dad was really into fish keeping when he was a kid. Over the years, I have kept all types of fish. I used to be into planted aquariums as you can see from the journals below.

Planted Community
Pride Rock

Hey we are in the salty forum, what's with all the planted tanks? Get on with it already.

I am completely fascinated with SPS corals. Who would have thought these fuzzy sticks would draw so much attention and captivate me so.

Chizer and Bunoi are my 8 year clownfish. They are a mated pair. Chizer is the female and Bunoi is the male. They are also the names of my two yorkies but that's another story. Chizer is the male and Bunoi is the female in this case. These are names that I just made up and they don't translate to anything. But they do sound Japanese when I say it.

Chizer = Chizz-err
Bunoi = bun-oy

Some of you might have seen their last home? They quickly ran out of room and got evicted. They are now moving into the pent house.

They have been living in a 90 gallon tank since my tear down. This tank was put in my basement (which has a full renovation going on down there) and with all the dust down there, I thought it would be nice to downsize from my current 90 gallon tank and go with a nice setup in my living room. Now why downsize? Because my arms are short and 25" is way too tall. I hate getting my armpits wet. Life is also very busy right now so I decided to sell off all of my fish tanks and keep only the reef.

I think purchasing juvenile discus that required 50% daily water changes was the push over.

The plan is to go full zeovit on this setup as 90 percent of my corals are SPS. I also plan to use local Calgary tap water. I have been reefing for over 2 years and never had any issue using tap water, so lets see what happens. I have yet to have any weird parameter issues due to TDS or nitrates/phosphates. How long before I get desperate and cave on an RO setup.

Also, I will not add any other fish to this tank. Just the two brats and that's all.

Wow!!! That tank is gorgeous!!!!! I'll be following!!!

 

[Qube]

Looks great so far! Love the surface are arhat overflow covers!

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Looks good. I like the cabinet. You should put a little granite piece around that front lip. Would look real nice and finished. I like my returns not drilled too. Breaks siphon better.

Thanks Bige. Glad your around to follow this thread also. I'm not sure on how I want to finish it in the future. It does look great the way it is right now though. I do have the check valve on the return line too, plus extra room in the sump for all the water. Always good to use 3 fail-safe than just the one method.

Looks great!! I like what you did with the cabinet. Looking forward to seeing it full.

Thank you. That was a very expensive cabinet so I'm glad I didn't butcher it.

Wow your nano tank is awesome and completely full! What will you do with it once you have the new tank set up? Nice build, looking forward to the future progress.

I ended up transferring all of the contents in my nano into a 90 and then decided to downsize to this tank. I gave my nano to my sister who recently got into fish as well. Thanks for the comments.

Wow!!! That tank is gorgeous!!!!! I'll be following!!!

Welcome. Don't forget to share some popcorn with me.

Looks great so far! Love the surface area that overflow covers!

Thanks. The external box is quite large though which I regret. The overflow is great and I'm expecting some good surface skimming out of that baby.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Update

Now Chizer, pose for the picture.

Oh no, I think Bunoi is going to spend her days underneath the tank stand.

I also picked up a 9 outlet powerbar. This plus the RK PC4 and I'm all set.

It's 36" long and fits on the top back wall (inside the stand) nicely.

 

[Zactheninja]

Following.

Tank looks sweet.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Finish the Plumbing

Everything has been glued together, but the down pipe connected to the 45 is not.

The two herbie stand pipes are not glued in.

The main siphon has a union then a gate valve.

Here you can see the emergency drain. The main drain will have a filter sock on it with a bag of carbon inside. I also have my tube holder for the dosing pump and ATO.

And then the return pump. It goes from the return pump using flex tubing into the inside of the barb (it does not leak as it runs inside quite a bit and there is no way to pull that tube out now. Then it goes to a barb fitting, flap style check valve to a union. There will be a green piece of memory foam under the return pump to dampen humming noises.

And the finally the sump. Only enough room for my protein skimmer, heater and a zeolite reactor.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Following.

Tank looks sweet.

Thank you. I'm glad your coming along for the ride.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Let's Get Wet

Leak test was a complete success. That is 8" of water in the sump right now. I'm going to have my ATO in there to keep the water level steady for the protein skimmer. Notice how my emergency line sits above the water line. I did this on purpose so that I can hear if my primary line is clogged. Mostly it's an indicator that my filter sock needs to be replaced.

This picture shows the water level when the pump is on. You can see that I decided not to drill any siphon break holes into the pipe as the end sits above the water level at all times. Not only that, but with the Vortech power-heads, the water is going to turn over in some very random patterns.

And when the water is off, this is where the water level is at.

The water level in the external overflow box. The primary drain sits about 2 inches below the water line. This is enough for the water to not gurgle or create a vortex.

The emergency drain then sits 1/4" above the water line. You need to balance this out to the point where you hear absolutely no water coming over the weir itself.

Once you have the water level set properly, close up the gate valve on the primary drain and leak test the emergency line. It should be able to handle the full drain. If not, you have an issue waiting to happen.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Tank Transfer - Day One (Dec-13-2012)

All of these images are 30 minutes after the transfer. I can't believe how happy most of my SPS are. They already have polyp extension.

To be fair, the 90 gallon tank is bare-bottom as well so there are no ammonia spikes. If you are doing your own transfer, I highly suggest you dose some Seachem Prime to the tank prior to. That will prevent any ammonia spikes from stirring up your sand bed. Notice that the sand bed has not been added yet.

All of the shots are going to be actinic and then day lights.

Notice how ugly my coral colors are. This is from 5 months of ULNS with vodka only. Hence the reason why I'm going with Zeovit.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

This is suppose to be a pink millepora. Notice the polyp extension?

And the happy couple are digging their new cave that I made for them. It's a penthouse mansion.

I made an extra large cave for their breeding purposes. They are actually going to breed soon so that's exciting. Every 14 days on the dot nowadays.

 

[Evansimp]

Wow looks incredible!! So jealous!

 

[ChizerBunoi]

I decided to re-aquascape prior to adding sand in. I prefer the Iwagumi look of just having two islands instead.

And in goes the sand. It's maybe 5lbs of Oolite sand? A good 1 inch only. I plan to never siphon it but will stir it up regularly. That plus the 3 Vortech MP10's, it moves around a lot.

I just added the sand so it's still covering all the corals/rocks. It's also on the glass which I didn't bother to clean yet.