imlockes 20L rimless

[imlocke]

Hey guys, so I thought I'd put up a few pics of my 20L build, I will be adding to it over time.

The tank is a standard 20 gallon Long with the rim removed by me.

Equipment:
24" ATI sunpower 4x24 2 ATI BLUE+, ATI Purple, ATI aquablue special
Ecotech Marine MP10 ES EcoSmart Wave Driver and Powerhead
Modded AquaClear 70 HOB filter
100W heater
The stand is a 36" premade cabinet from Lowe's that I got on a discount because it was damaged.

Black Live sand, not sure how much Live Rock, I think I might take some out to make some more room and/or get rid of the Ball anemones I have on one of them.

First day still a bit cloudy 12/11/11:


Second day cleared up with a little view of the stand 12/12/11:

(The heater was temporary to help get the tank up to temperature a little bit quicker, it is removed now).

Thanks for looking I plan to keep a pretty well updated thread so that I can track how well my tank is growing if you guys care to keep following.

[teen]

lookin good.. cant beat rimless

[cm11599ps]

You removed the rim yourself? Is that a safe thing to do? I wouldn't trust it myself personally.

The rims help to keep the side from blowing out.

[imlocke]

Originally Posted by cm11599ps

You removed the rim yourself? Is that a safe thing to do? I wouldn't trust it myself personally.

The rims help to keep the side from blowing out.

Yes, I removed the rim myself. I did a bit of reading before I did so and a lot of people that are currently running reefs did the same, as well as people stating that anything 20 gallons and under the rim doesn't serve much purpose. But I did leave the bottom rim on just in case, to support the base of the tank.

I certainly wouldn't have been the first one to try it, seeing as how the tank is right next to my bed, I would end up very wet if anything went horribly wrong.

[cm11599ps]

Sounds good. I never looked into it myself so I was concerned. Good luck with it!

[imlocke]

Yup, thanks. :] Gives the tank such a cleaner look. It was quite a pain to get off and get all the silicone off though. They use a surprising amount of silicone under that rim... lol

[walnuts24]

I forgot where it was (I think nano reef section) but I just read a thread where someone took the rim off of a 10 gal and a year later the seam started to spread and leaked. Luckily for him it did not burst so he caught it in time. Maybe since your tank is more shallow than his the pressure will not be as great on the seams. I would recommend maybe cutting some pieces of glass into triangles and putting them on the corner of your tank for support.

BTW, the tank looks awesome.

[imlocke]

Originally Posted by walnuts24

I forgot where it was (I think nano reef section) but I just read a thread where someone took the rim off of a 10 gal and a year later the seam started to spread and leaked. Luckily for him it did not burst so he caught it in time. Maybe since your tank is more shallow than his the pressure will not be as great on the seams. I would recommend maybe cutting some pieces of glass into triangles and putting them on the corner of your tank for support.

BTW, the tank looks awesome.

Well, I think I could see that happening depending on how you dealt with the excess silicone in the corners of the tank. The corners of the tank have a lot of extra silicone and are the messiest place. All 4 corners had a big glob of silicone on top of the seal, you can typically see the glob even with the rim on because it goes over the rim. I did not really mess with these globs because I did not want to hurt the seal. I never brought my razor within 1/2"-3/4" toward where the bead for the seal is, so I don't think this will happen to me. I guess we will find out, but I did take the best precaution I could while removing the rim.

Thanks

[Vinny Kreyling]

That's not a marineland stealth heater by any chance is it?

[imlocke]

I think it is, it was the heater I used in my three gallon tank.

Well since you had asked about it, I decided to google it and noticed the recall.. lol I am glad I only left it plugged in for a couple of hours. I never seemed to have a problem with it for the few months I actually did run it though. When I took that picture the heater was actually unplugged, I just hadn't taken it out of the tank yet. (It's actually still in the tank, just being lazy lol)

[imlocke]

Most recent FTS 1/3/2012



I have picked up some inhabitants so I guess it's time to update my build log.

Inverts
4 red leg hermits
2 banded trochus
1 mexican turbo
3 more assorted snails I don't remember the name.
Fire shrimp

Corals:
Frogspawn
Hammer
Toadstool
Ricordia
Zoanthids

4 head hammer


About 8 head frogspawn that hasn't quite fully opened yet but is getting there


Zoanthids I picked up today


Fire shrimp


Zoanthid frag (before dip) that had a pest on it so it is closed up at the moment after an iodine dip (how long does it usually take for them to open back up?)


Another Zoanthid colony (this frag has 3 different zoas on it)


Toadstool leather

[CHEMCHEF]

Wow looks great. What kind of sand is that?

[imlocke]

Thanks a lot.

The sand is natures ocean black beach live sand.

[quagmire]

Very cool look with the black sand and no trim. Nice work, its going to looks great when it fills in with color.

[imlocke]

Galaxea:


New Yellow Clown Gobies:



FTS 1/29/12:

[weezyfella]

Nice setup. It looks great without the rim.

[LightTackle]

I've heard that those clown gobies will nip SPS polyps. A friend of mine used to have one, while cute it was a terror!

[imlocke]

Originally Posted by LightTackle

I've heard that those clown gobies will nip SPS polyps. A friend of mine used to have one, while cute it was a terror!

Yea, I've heard that too, but I assume they will only do so if they aren't sufficiently fed. and worst case I don't have a whole lot of sps anyway. I like the clown gobies, and have been dying to get them for a few years a few tanks ago, but could never find them in stock anywhere. So hopefully they will behave in my tank if I can keep them nice and fat. We shall see. lol

[curryb15]

That looks like a great setup!!!! congrats

[imlocke]

Originally Posted by curryb15

That looks like a great setup!!!! congrats

Thanks, it feels like such a big tank compared to the other tanks that I have had: 5.5g, 3g, 14g biocube. But it already seems like I am running out of places to put things, and also allow space for things to grow, it feels contradictory lol.

[cm11599ps]

Originally Posted by LightTackle

I've heard that those clown gobies will nip SPS polyps. A friend of mine used to have one, while cute it was a terror!

I absolutely HATED mine. He would nestle in my SPS like a clown to an anemone. His favorite spots were always white. Not sure if it was from nipping or because he liked to lay there.

Not only that, but he always manged to go down my overflow box into my sump. It was a PITA to get him out.

I don't know what happened to the guy though. Haven't seen him in months. Maybe he got incinerated in one of the pumps in my sump.

[imlocke]

Originally Posted by cm11599ps

I absolutely HATED mine. He would nestle in my SPS like a clown to an anemone. His favorite spots were always white. Not sure if it was from nipping or because he liked to lay there.

Not only that, but he always manged to go down my overflow box into my sump. It was a PITA to get him out.

I don't know what happened to the guy though. Haven't seen him in months. Maybe he got incinerated in one of the pumps in my sump.

I haven't been home at all today to see what mine have been doing, one seemed to like the security or the extra flow in the back corner of the tank in a little crevice of the live rock. The other has either been sitting on the trumpet coral skeleton, the acan, or the hammer skeleton when I woke up this morning. So far they haven't gone near any of the sps, so I am hopeful.

I put the foam protector over the mp10 so that they don't get sucked into it. I was a little nervous about that. Also the AC70 shouldn't have any way of them finding there way into. Hopefully all goes well with them.

[mguili1947]

imlocke
I sent you a PM about Zoas you wanted to know if I was selling before meeting did you get it

Mguili1947

[imlocke]

Originally Posted by mguili1947

imlocke
I sent you a PM about Zoas you wanted to know if I was selling before meeting did you get it

Mguili1947

Oop, sorry about that haven't really had time, I will give you a call tomorrow (tuesday) after 6ish when I get off work.

[muffe]

Originally Posted by imlocke

Yes, I removed the rim myself. I did a bit of reading before I did so and a lot of people that are currently running reefs did the same, as well as people stating that anything 20 gallons and under the rim doesn't serve much purpose. But I did leave the bottom rim on just in case, to support the base of the tank.

I certainly wouldn't have been the first one to try it, seeing as how the tank is right next to my bed, I would end up very wet if anything went horribly wrong.

From a mathematical standpoint the bracing on the bottom does significantly more work load than the bracing on the top. In the design of dams you will almost always see them thickest at the bottom, as that is where a failure is most likely to occur. Similarly there is a limit on how tall you can build a wooden building; as the wood on the bottom has to support the weight of all the wood above it. I think you'll be just fine.