Enigma's 12 Gallon Reef (AIO)
 

This tank was started on March 27th, 2012.

Setup was very easy. I love the whole AIO concept! Very neat and tidy. This will be a pretty little tank that will go in our living room, though it is presently tucked away in "my" downstairs bathroom.

I'm unsure what it will be stocked with at present. Live rock will be transferred out of my ten gallon into the sump of this one.

Present Equipment:

Tank:
12 Gal JBJ Nano Cube Deluxe + LED

Circulation:
Hydor Koralia Evolution Powerhead (240 GPH)

Heat:
Marineland Visi-Therm Deluxe Submersible 100 Watt Heater

Substrate & Rock:
5 lbs dry marco rock
~10 lbs Caribsea Aragamax Select
~1 lb Caribsea Special Coarse Aragonite (if I remember correctly . . . need to confirm)

http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1332947565

Gotta love the feeling of a new tank! I see that little cave in the rocks there and it makes me think you should do a mated pair of smaller, cave-dwellers like gobies, jawfish or basslets (dare I say candy basslet? :P ). Keep the tank super mellow and you'll see those sorts of enigmatic fish more often, especially in a smaller tank.

That cave actually worked out really well! The pieces of rock just kind of came together that way. It was completely unintentional. :lol: The cave is quite large, and it goes all the way through to the back. I'm not thrilled with the way the rock looks . . . but the cave is so sweet I'm going to leave it the way it is.

I am having a conundrum about what will go in what tank. You may have just solved it for me. :)

Edit: The budget isn't there for Candy Basslets . . . though they are lovely!

Pseudochromis fridmani (orchid dottyback) would love that cave.

Wow, a second tank. This one looks just as good as the other one. A Royal Gramma would love that cave too but 12 gallons might be a bit small for it. What about a small Tail Spot Blenny. This little fish has so much personality.

Tail Spot Blenny
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...29&pcatid=2229

Wow! What a lovely fish. I think this tank might be a bit on the small side for it, though. I'm certainly putting on my list of interesting fish: for when I eventually go with a big tank.

:lol: The other tank is frustrating me a bit, and I think it is going to be a lot of work. There are so many bits and pieces. Cords are running everywhere. I should send a photo of it to the fire department so they can use it on their safety posters. It was poorly thought out. I had no plan . . . just went to the LFS and bought stuff.

This second one will be a lot easier. I've gleaned so much information in the last week+. I'm hoping that this one will keep me happy and optimistic while I work through the issues with the first one.

Is it possible to get mated pairs of the Tail Spot Blennies? I like the idea of it being a little "love nest" of sorts.

I have an Orchid Dotty and clown in my 12g AIO and while I wouldn't add another fish these two have lots of room and thrive. The Dotty inhabits the rock and crevasses the clown has the open water column.

Excellent to know. Thank you!

Well, I haven't done a whole lot to this tank. I've epoxied the rocks together, have tossed in some pretty huge quantities of fish food, and have added a bunch of bacteria.

The notion of an Orchid Dotty/Clown pair seems to have stuck in my head. Providing I can find a tank raised Orchid, I think that's the way I'll go.

Crashed cycle!

Oops. My bad.

Ammonia is 8+ (my test only goes up to 8). Nitrites and Nitrates are almost zero.

I figured I was pushing it with how much fish food i was adding to this tank. Then one morning late last week I put way too much in. My carpool was waiting out front, and I figured it would be okay if I just siphoned out the over abundance of food when I got home from work.

I'm sure it would have been: had I remembered to do so. :o

I'll do a big water change tomorrow, see if I can get the ammonia down to three or so, and then start over.

Drat. Lesson number 20 (or something like that) in three weeks of "reefing." I use that term loosely to describe my activities so far. ;)

So, the cycle appears to be doing what it is supposed to be doing now: more or less. Ammonia has fallen quite a bit (down to 0.5ppm on the API test this morning), Nitrites are through the roof (5+ on the API test), and Nitrates are 10-25ppm (ELOS test).

I have put in two small pieces of live rock from my other tank.

I tossed in a cube of frozen brine. I'm thinking that should probably reflect the amount of food I'll be adding on a daily basis: between the fish that will go in here and at least one CUC member who will need to be supplemented.

My little guy is insisting that he wants two clowns in there. "Nemo" must have another clown family member with him. I do really like the idea of the Clown and the Orchid Dotty, though.

A pair of clowns would be cool if they paired up. You could get a robust coral with lots of tentacles that can do low light, like a Duncan, that could stand up to their tough love if they decide to host it (I had a clown host my sinularia and Duncan).

I think a Duncan would be wonderful in that spot (I just Googled it). It think it is probably something I will be able to manage quite well, too. It should also do a good job of hiding my sloppy epoxy job (photo was taken before I got busy with the epoxy). It is a nice bonus if the clown(s) might take to it.

It looks like they might be on the challenging side to track down. Being an LPS I imagine they prefer a more established aquarium?

Duncans are one of the most hardy, easy to care for LPS. Give them light and flow and they could stand up to a nuclear blast. Not that hard to find either. Put out a call here on CR for a few heads and I'm sure someone in your area will have some. Wait a month or two for your tank to settle down a bit then you're good to go. I got a Duncan for my very first tank only a couple weeks after setting up and never had a problem.

Thank you for your suggestions . . . that sounds like a very good plan :)

Enigma,

Great progress! Very ecouraging to see another AIO setup as I am a big fan of them aswell.
Curious though, how do you plan on having your filter chambers set up. I believe you have 3 in the back correct? Will you be running carbon? Skimmer?

Please continue to post pictures!

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 5+
Natrates: 25 +

(I am adding a brine shrimp cube a day and dosing with bacteria)

I'm thinking a water change is in order, here. The last thing I want to do is crash the cycle again, and I'm really worried about the nitrites. My test only goes up to 5.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the back yet. There are three chambers, but it is presently stock with a bag of Purigen stuffed in there (as of yesterday). My new pump arrived yesterday (Maxi-Jet 900) but I haven't installed it yet. I plan to get that done tonight.

It still looks pretty much the same and is cycling away. :) There are two live rocks in there for the time being (transfers from my 10 gallon). When something changes I'll add photos.

Thumbs up for Maxi Jet upgrade! Probably the single best modification on these tanks.
If you get restless one day, another amazing mod is to remove the back plastic on the back of the center chamber and place a light on it. Then stuff your favorite macro back there. The center chamber has enough room and great flow to completely blow up your cheato or other macro. I had great results and it nulled my need for carbon.

*doing happy dance*

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10

I've done the pump upgrade and tossed in some Purigen.

silly question.... AIO means all in one?

Correct :)

(no, it isn't a silly question)

Well . . . this tank has now completed its initial cycle. It has presented me with an extraordinary diatom bloom.

I moved one of my Mexican Turbo snails and four Nass snails out of my 10 gallon into this one last last night (acclimated for two hours, but that probably overkill as the parameters between the two tanks are very close).

Mexican Turbos are amazing snails . . . a huge dent had been put in the diatoms when I woke up this morning. My little "kissy snail" (what my little guy calls the Turbos) is in for a nice little nori treat when I get home.

The Nass hadn't cleaned up much (if any) of the brine shrimp floating around in the tank. I am just not sold on the usefulness of these guys.