ScooterTDI's 10g tall

[ScooterTDI]

I've been out of the hobby for a couple years, but I always knew I'd be back eventually.  I always try to do something different when I build out a new system and generally try to improve upon the things that bugged me about my prior systems. My last system was a 12g long, so I thought I might go tall this time. Last year, I started building a custom system with some very specific objectives.

 

First, I wanted to have no equipment visible in the display. None. Not even an overflow box. I wanted it to just look like a cube of water. This required designing something I haven't seen around before: a remote overflow system.

Second, I wanted to maintain a deep sand bed for jawfish, but I hate seeing sand from the side of an aquarium. Consequently, the tank needed to be recessed such that the top of the stand is level with the sand.

Third, I wanted to keep things tidy in the stand, but still accessible and functionally designed. In my last build, I found raceways for wiring to be a real pain when any maintenance needed to be done. This time I wrapped any wiring in Velcro cable ties and put Velcro strips along the inside of the stand. It keeps the wiring tidy, but very easy to remove, replace, reorganize whenever needed.

Due to life getting in the way, it took longer than I expected, but it is finally operational. It has only been running a few weeks, but I think I've mostly achieved the intended effect. I'll start add some gorgonians soon!

[Kathryn Lawson]

That is super clean, and really creative! How did you end up doing the overflow? Drilled in the bottom center, pipe up through the sand, and flowing in/out the gap in the side of the rock structure? Is the lid just cut to size and placed on top?

[ScooterTDI]

42 minutes ago, Kathryn Lawson said:

That is super clean, and really creative! How did you end up doing the overflow? Drilled in the bottom center, pipe up through the sand, and flowing in/out the gap in the side of the rock structure? Is the lid just cut to size and placed on top?

Thanks! Essentially, yes. The plumbing goes out through the back under the same. The overflow is houses in the structure behind the tank that supports the light. The lid is just a piece of glass exactly the dimensions of the tank. I silicones little glass beads to the inside corners of the lid so it can slide off easily.

Edited June 20, 2025 by ScooterTDI

[teamschreiba]

Looks awesome! I’ve always wanted something this minimal. Have you had any issue with needing surface skimming? I tried to run without it and ended up with too much build up on the surface of the water.  

[ScooterTDI]

4 hours ago, teamschreiba said:

Looks awesome! I’ve always wanted something this minimal. Have you had any issue with needing surface skimming? I tried to run without it and ended up with too much build up on the surface of the water.  

Thanks! A tiny bit of residue was accumulating after scraping algae from the glass when I had the flow aimed at the side of the glass. I removed the 45 on the output, so the output points straight up now and it disturbs the surface enough that nothing can accumulate.

[YHSublime]

Another clean build. Super unique idea. I look forward to see if you run into (and obviously will overcome) any challenges, and watching it grow out!

[ScooterTDI]

The family went down to Fort Lauderdale over the 4th of July holiday weekend, so I seized the opportunity to collect some gorgonians and other critters for the aquarium. We came back with apparently Eunicea flexuosa, Muricea pinnata, and some other thicker Muricea species that did not survive the trip. One of the Eunicea Also suffered during the trip, but seems to have stabilized and might still bounce back. Also, I collected some sort of small conch (I think), a sponge decorator crab, and a tiny Molly Miller blenny. I was able to collect the blenny using an improvised slurp gun made from a dollar store water gun. Definitely fun to collect your own specimens for your aquarium!!!

[ScooterTDI]

With no nutrient management other than a skimmer and weekly 30% water changes, I am getting a daily coating on green film algae on the glass. While green film is not much of a problem and may be beneficial for the inhabitants (feeding copepods on surfaces and coral/sponges when I scrape it off the glass), I am getting tired of scraping the tank every day. In a past aquarium, I have used a diy trough-style algae scrubber that worked very well, but it took up space I just don't have in this small sump. This time, I am repurposing the filter sock space to be an algae scrubber. I simply mounted a night fishing light in the middle of a filter cup and lined the filter cup with a plastic canvas screen. It seems like the perfect solution because I wasn't planning on using filter socks anyway and the water already makes a waterfall as it passes into the filter cup.  I'll update if/when algae starts to grow!

[YHSublime]

Brilliant!