17g Rimless with Internal Filter

[marsdahl]

Hello all!
I've been eyeing a saltwater tank for such a long time! I'm sure that's how we all get started... ooohing and ahhing at the fish store marine tanks until we become grownups and can get the courage (and $$$) to take the plunge.

My tank is located in a room in my house we lovingly call the "plant room"... it houses all of my hobby items, which are mainly (you guessed it) rare tropical plants. I also have a veiled chameleon in this room (Lola, and yes she is a spicy show girl). I wasn't quite sure how it was going to work out having a saltwater tank in this room (i.e. saltwater evaporation around plants and other electrical equipment) but I really wanted it to be in my hobby room because that's my little oasis during the subzero temps of a Midwest winter. IYKYK. I knew a rimless tank setup would be quite the undertaking, but it would really fit the look of the space better if I could succeed.

I also wanted to start with something small... I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank in my living room, and my house is old (like 125 years old) so I was nervous getting anything bigger than 20 gallons because I'm terrified the most by catastrophic tank failures and leaks. I was also attempting to sort of restrain my budget a little (but is that really even possible anymore?) and I am a huge fan of smaller nano setups as well, both freshwater and marine.

So with all of this factored in, and a couple of months of research and lurking around FB groups I made initial purchases

• 17.1 gallon rimless glass tank
• Tunze Comline 3162 Internal Filter
  • I wanted to start with something that wouldn't take up a lot of space like a sump. I read the consensus on canister filters and decided against them, but this little internal filter from Tunze had good reviews and was relatively inexpensive, plus had surface skimming capabilities. Plus it had the ability to hide a heater and ATO sensor.
• Eheim 50W Heater
  • This is the only heater I've found that fit the Tunze internal filter. I tried probably three or four before finding this one, which is the one pictured in the Tunze manual.
• Dry live rock
• Caribsea Fiji Pink live sand
• Luminie (Amazon) S-20

I put together my small rockscape, placed it into the tank along with the sand, and filled 'er up. Started cycling using Dr. Tim's and ammonia drops.

This was all done around the first week of April... I'm a bit behind in starting this build thread, so stay tuned for the rest of the build story and to see the current tank!


Rockscape building


After filling - just waiting on the cycle to start


Trying out the new light (note: the light was not on during cycling, and the Fluval protein skimmer was returned after more research)

 

[marsdahl]

Week 1:
So I began with a bottle of Dr. Tims and dosed with ammonia up to 5ppm like the recipe says. Verified salt mix/running salinity at 1.025. Started with a fishless cycle.

Tested daily with the API test kit and saw the ammonia spike, then fall quickly. Needed to dose ammonia per the recipe on days 3 and 6. Then I just let the cycle ride.... had zero ammonia on day 9 but saw consistent nitrites over 5ppm for the next week and a half. I started testing for nitrates but later learned this was useless if there was nitrite so I was just trying to let it be for a while.

Day 1:
0 NH3
0 Nitrite
7.8 pH
1.025 salinity

Day 2
2ppm NH3
8.0 pH

Day 3
2ppm NH3 *dosed to 5ppm per recipe
0ppm Nitrite
8.4 pH

Day 4
4ppm NH3
0.25ppm Nitrite
8.0 pH

Day 5
4ppm NH3
0.5ppm Nitrite
8.4 pH

Day 6
3ppm NH3 *dosed to 5ppm per recipe
2ppm Nitrite
8.0 pH

Day 7
2ppm NH3
2ppm Nitrite
8.0 pH

Day 8
1ppm NH3
5ppm Nitrite
7.8 pH

Day 9
0ppm NH3
5ppm Nitrite
8.0 pH

From this point forward my ammonia has tested 0-trace via API kit but my nitrites were consistently over 5.0ppm.

Stay tuned for Week 2-3 update...

 

[Bigfishie]

Hello all!
I've been eyeing a saltwater tank for such a long time! I'm sure that's how we all get started... ooohing and ahhing at the fish store marine tanks until we become grownups and can get the courage (and $$$) to take the plunge.

My tank is located in a room in my house we lovingly call the "plant room"... it houses all of my hobby items, which are mainly (you guessed it) rare tropical plants. I also have a veiled chameleon in this room (Lola, and yes she is a spicy show girl). I wasn't quite sure how it was going to work out having a saltwater tank in this room (i.e. saltwater evaporation around plants and other electrical equipment) but I really wanted it to be in my hobby room because that's my little oasis during the subzero temps of a Midwest winter. IYKYK. I knew a rimless tank setup would be quite the undertaking, but it would really fit the look of the space better if I could succeed.

I also wanted to start with something small... I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank in my living room, and my house is old (like 125 years old) so I was nervous getting anything bigger than 20 gallons because I'm terrified the most by catastrophic tank failures and leaks. I was also attempting to sort of restrain my budget a little (but is that really even possible anymore?) and I am a huge fan of smaller nano setups as well, both freshwater and marine.

So with all of this factored in, and a couple of months of research and lurking around FB groups I made initial purchases

• 17.1 gallon rimless glass tank
• Tunze Comline 3162 Internal Filter
  • I wanted to start with something that wouldn't take up a lot of space like a sump. I read the consensus on canister filters and decided against them, but this little internal filter from Tunze had good reviews and was relatively inexpensive, plus had surface skimming capabilities. Plus it had the ability to hide a heater and ATO sensor.
• Eheim 50W Heater
  • This is the only heater I've found that fit the Tunze internal filter. I tried probably three or four before finding this one, which is the one pictured in the Tunze manual.
• Dry live rock
• Caribsea Fiji Pink live sand
• Luminie (Amazon) S-20

I put together my small rockscape, placed it into the tank along with the sand, and filled 'er up. Started cycling using Dr. Tim's and ammonia drops.

This was all done around the first week of April... I'm a bit behind in starting this build thread, so stay tuned for the rest of the build story and to see the current tank!


Rockscape building


After filling - just waiting on the cycle to start


Trying out the new light (note: the light was not on during cycling, and the Fluval protein skimmer was returned after more research)

Is that a high par light could you add the link possibly?

 

[Liftoff]

Great! I am also starting very soon and am new to the hobby!

I have the comline pack from Tunze as well. For me the 75 W heater from the company Sera was fitting perfectly.

 

[marsdahl]

Weeks 2-3
I see that the tank is evaporating quite a lot and I'm looking to future me to see if it's going to be fun doing top-offs every other day (I decide it won't be) and I also worry about fluctuating water parameters. I also had purchased a small Fluval powerhead to start, but immediately see that I won't be able to control flow if I ever want corals or anemones, so I make a couple more purchases:

• Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO
  • Although a little pricey, this one seemed to have great reviews and the redundancy to safeguard against my greatest fear, flooding my floors/house. I also liked that I could hide the optical sensor on the backside of the Comline internal filter and also use this on a bigger tank when I decide to upgrade
• EZMioo Wave Maker (1000 GPH)
  • A little bigger than I wanted, but has adjustable flow and ability to control wave patterns. Took a chance on this because it didn't have very many reviews. Fortunately it's given me no issues yet.
• GoVee WIFI Water Sensor
  • Refer back to my greatest fear.
• Black aquarium background film
  • I decide that the tank looks very busy and that background film would help calm everything down

I'm also water testing every other day and still showing high nitrites. I do some research and the overall consensus that I see from many is that as long as ammonia is zero it's safe to add fish. So from there, I do a 50% water change just to be save and I commit Mistake #1...

I take my kids to the nearest big city for an event and of course have to go to the Big Chain Petstore while I'm there. Red Flag #1: As I'm standing next to the saltwater fish tanks, a guy comes up and takes a quick shot of the tanks. Comments "God they look terrible. I've reported them several times." I nod in agreement, they've got quite a bit of algae buildup and whatnot. But my eager anxious self can't wait to try to drop some fish in my tank, so hence forth Mistake #1: Purchasing two ocellaris clowns from Big Chain for my tank.

I take home two clowns and some additional rockwork to add to the tank. Two days later the fish are showing signs of sickness. I'm not sure if it's ich or brooklynella, but I'm not happy with myself. One fish in particular (the larger female) is worse, with a really bad spot sloughing off near her tail.

A couple of days later I'm able to get some meds, Reef Rally and Metroplex. I dip both fish with the Rally and start treating the tank with Metroplex. But the next morning I literally watched the female's tail fall off. I come to the terms that I'm going to have to put her out of her misery but she does it for me and I find her in the powerhead a few hours later after I get home from work. The smaller male fish is showing signs of improvement and seems healthy (spoiler: I still have him, he's doing great).

Weeks 4-5 update is next...


The fated clown duo - you can see the raw spot on the tail of the female fish in the rear of the tank.

 

[marsdahl]

Is that a high par light could you add the link possibly?

I am not sure on the par rating for this light, but it had good reviews from others who used it for both FOWLR and coral tanks. Just search for Lominie Aquarium Light on Amazon!

 

[marsdahl]

Great! I am also starting very soon and am new to the hobby!

I have the comline pack from Tunze as well. For me the 75 W heater from the company Sera was fitting perfectly.

I will keep that in mind! I had such a hard time finding a heater that either a. wouldn't stick out of the top too far or b. be too big around and I really wanted to use the heater integration feature of the filter!

 

[Liftoff]

This also works for UVC lamps (that fit/can put inside This heater place) by the way. That can save you an extra pump or flow unit through the UVC potentially.

 

[marsdahl]

This also works for UVC lamps (that fit/can put inside This heater place) by the way. That can save you an extra pump or flow unit through the UVC potentially.

Yes! It would work perfectly in that slot without having to buy an external unit if it was needed in the future. I'm running one in the sump of an AIO freshwater tank and it's worked wonders for the algae issue I had there.

 

[marsdahl]

Week 4:
I'm rattled by the death of one of the clowns, but I continue to dose Metroplex in the tank for the other clown just in case and I dip him one more time in Rally. Still not sure at this point if it was brook or ich, but by day 7 it's like it never happened.

I'm also doing water changes every couple of days because I'm testing high nitrites and wondering if that too had an effect on the fish health. IMO, this is Mistake #2. I do some research, and decide to stop changing the water and I begin adding Stability daily. Within 4-5 days, my nitrites have finally come down and I do one final water change to negate the nitrates that I can now accurately measure.

In the meantime I also commit Mistake #3: While I'm at the pet store (this time a legitimate specialized pet store in Omaha, NE) to get Rally/Metroplex for the clowns, I get starry-eyed at all the tanks and I get to ask knowledgeable staff all kinds of questions about fish and corals. I end up also taking home a Green Clown Goby. Not the most expensive fish, but should NOT have brought one home to a tank being actively treated for possible brooklynella! But, spoiler alert: he's still alive and well, even if I don't see him but every couple of days.

I'm going to lump this in with Mistake #3, but after I see that the second clown is improving and the goby remains healthy, I purchased several things Alyssa's Seahorse Savvy after seeing great reviews:

• A macro algae three pack (mermaid fan, red gracilaria hayi, green codium)
• a firefish,
• Duncan coral

I'm a plant person so I wanted to see how the macroalgae would fare in the tank. The firefish has been a great addition as well, I enjoy watching him dart around at feeding time. The Duncan acclimated well and opened up within a day or two.

 

[marsdahl]

Week 5:
So this week I've been doing less work and enjoying the tank more. After adding the coral I did decide that I will need better water testing methods. I've got a lab/chem background and have used the Hanna checkers in a commercial lab setting in the past, so I pulled the trigger on the Thomas's Reef Bundle on BRS. GAME CHANGER.

05/06/24 results:
Nitrate: 8.2ppm
Alkalinity: 8.5 dKH
Phosphate: 0.05ppm
Calcium 325ppm
Magnesium: not tested yet

I did purchase some Reef Crystals salt after seeing the low calcium result and plan to use it for my water change this weekend. I'm also looking into dosing Kalkwasser into my ATO in the future if/when I get more corals. Trying to keep it simple for the time being and seeing if salt mix alone will raise calcium level. I was previously using plain Instant Ocean.

Last week after adding the firefish I did finally put together my screened lid. I had purchased this initially with the tank and filter but hadn't really seen the need to install until the firefish went in.

I also forgot to note that I also added some coralline encrusted snails from Seahorse Savvy.

I've noticed that the green codium algae is breaking apart and floating around the tank. It looks otherwise healthy, so I upped the white light and moved one of my plant lights closer to the tank. I know it grows slowly and breaks apart easily, so maybe I will have to move it to a lower-flow portion of the tank. Any advice/experience with this is appreciated!

Here are some pictures of the tank today:



Under-tank setup: Mounted wavemaker and ATO controls onto magnets so they attach to the legs of the stand. The ATO jug sits on the lower shelf of the stand. Everything connected to a WIFI plug so that if I get an water alert I can shut off ATO remotely.
I will eventually need to get a tank cabinet to hide the mess below. I was trying to utilize a minimal stand but stupid to think I could do that for a saltwater tank.

 

[kevgib67]

Well thought out build, sorry for your loss!

 

[marsdahl]

Well thought out build, sorry for your loss!

Thank you!

 

[marsdahl]

Mid-week 6 update:
Last night I was prepping to do my water change that was overdue from last weekend. I had started mixing the salt water and was letting it sit and stir/heat for a while. Literally from the time I mixed the salt water to about an hour and a half later, the tank clouded up and I found my clown goby dead on the sand. I am not sure if his death caused the tank to cloud or if the cloud was a result of his death.

I went ahead and performed the water change and tested parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 11.4
Alkalinity: 7.5
Salinity: 1.021

I was truly puzzled but was hoping it was a fluke. I did go ahead and add ChemiPure to my filter and left it overnight. It was less cloudy this morning.

I was doing a water change in prep for a corals shipment that I was going to receive today. I went home at lunch to unpack and acclimate the shipment. The tank had cleared and I added the zoa frag to the tank. But then I saw that a clown had died as well. I am very puzzled!

Last weekend I went to our local fish store and talked with one of the guys there, he sold me on a Mini Maxi carpet anenome, which was added last Sunday (four days ago). I also added a new temperature controller (Inkbird) and a cooling fan (controlled by the Inkbird) because I noticed that when the temperature rises in the room in the afternoon, then tank temperature tends to get warmer, about 82-83. Could either of those be the root cause?

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

you're going to need a Mangrove setup now

 

[marsdahl]

you're going to need a Mangrove setup now

Yes! I did start two Mangroves, but I don't think I got very good specimens (they were from Big Chain Pet Store) and they didn't survive being acclimated to my tank. Probably weren't acclimated to saltwater to begin with. I was going to try and get the tank settled in for a few more months before I tried it again, but I definitely have the ideal setup for plant lighting, etc.

 

[Troylee]

Digging the hidden skull rock!

 

[marsdahl]

Digging the hidden skull rock!

This is great, never noticed that before!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[marsdahl]

Week 7 Update:
After the clown goby death I have been watching and waiting to see any notable trends in water chemistry, and I don't really see anything alarming. However, the day after I lost the clown goby, I lost the ocellaris clown. About a week later I lost the firefish. None of the fish had any external signs of illness, no spots or ammonia burns around the gills. The clown fish I found swimming furiously at the top of the tank when I got home (per usual, he liked to eat), but he was very pale. It didn't look like brook, but just to be safe I went ahead and prepped a Rally dip.... he did not survive the dipping process.

So currently I am running fishless. I am thinking I need to go fallow for a couple of months just to be safe, but also the deaths correlate with the addition of the mini-maxi anemone so I'm wondering if it could possibly have anything to do with it?

I do have an Evo 13.5 set up upstairs that I have slowly been cycling and adding fish, so that will give me my fish fix for a little while as this tank runs fallow. I received a custom plexiglass lid for the Evo tank from a seller on Etsy, and I liked it so much that I messaged them to create a lid for this tank as well. I'm not loving the aesthetic of the netting lid that I originally bought and I think a plexiglass lid will look so much nicer.

Current lid situation on the 17 gal

13.5 Evo setup