Aqueon 8 Temperate/Coldwater Marine Tank. Got a Fringehead in here now ;)

[AquaticEngineer]

11/27/13

Updated FTS:

 

10/9/13

UPDATED FTS:

Re-wired and hard mounted my DIY LED Cannon above the tank. Here's the newest FTS:

 

 

******Blackeye Goby (Rhinogobiops nicholsii) harem inbound!!! 6/17/13

 

 

 

 

 

******NAVANAX LAID EGGS! 6/7/13








******Some new pics as of 5/27/13


Opalescent Nudibranch (Hermissenda crassicornis) Its whats for dinner






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So I've had this tank in my peripherals for quite some time now. I would walk past it at Petco, even seen it used as a coldwater tank a couple times, and always wanted to try it out.

Finally went ahead and bought one the other day after I decided I wanted to do something different with my wall mounted tank. Since I had already had 2 of the Chillsolutions CSXC-1 chillers sitting here I figured I would finally try this idea out.

Livestock includes:
8x Sitka shrimp
2x Stout Shrimp
5x Hermit Crabs
4x Blue Porcelain Crabs
1x Smooth Bay Shrimp (sand burrower)
1x Blue Mud Shrimp (sand burrower, basically a coldwater pistol shrimp)
1x Juvenile Red Rock Crab
1x Ring Top Snail
2x Black Turban Snails
9x Painted Anemones
6x Moonglow Anemones
2x Fluffy Sculpins
1x Rockweed Gunnel
1x Pacific Sand dab (sand burrower)
Surf Grass
2 colors of Strawberry Anemones


Its definitely not a perfect solution, but it was a fast and easy one

I had the chiller, the tank was cheap ($89) I collected all the livestock and know that everything in the tank can stand temperature fluctuations. Its been hanging in the 57-63F range while the house has been as hot as 78F with humidity as high as 45%.

Anyways, less talk more pictures right? Feel free to questions about anything

[Nemcrazy]

Sweeeeeeet tank man!!! I like it. that's alot of critters in there:) Similar builds are happening, but I think this tank could be the new thing in temperate tanks. At 8 gallons it's plenty of elbow room and with this new chiller wow I'm excited:)

[AquaticEngineer]

Sweeeeeeet tank man!!! I like it. that's alot of critters in there:) Similar builds are happening, but I think this tank could be the new thing in temperate tanks. At 8 gallons it's plenty of elbow room and with this new chiller wow I'm excited:)

 

They are great little tank for people that don't run into extreme summer temperatures or are running a/c already.

 

From what I've read about them online there are a few easy mods that make them more efficient. I took the pump out and removed the flow rate control plate to let more water through. Just that and there is more than enough flow with the stock pump, and thats with pumping it up an additional 12" and through a chiller before coming back into the tank.

 

I think adding a JBJ Modular surface skimmer onto these is a good idea also.

 

The other modification I'll probably to is removing the standard filter pad and replacing it with an acrylic baffle so I can run carbon, gfo, chemipure, etc. Then just use filter floss on the top for the debris.

 

Still looking for the best skimmer solution since the back chamber is only 2 3/8" deep. Dont even know if the skimmer idea would be worth it with all the available room for chemical filtration.

[AquaticEngineer]

Added a few more shrimp, hermits, fluffy sculpins, turban snails, a couple small wavy top snails and 5 more sand dabs to the mix. Tons of little stuff in there, but I love all the action. There is something going on in every inch of the tank it feels like

 

I'll try and upload a video here shortly.

[AquaticEngineer]

Video of what I got going on

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg100/Stuwobbe/WP_20130515_003_1_zps8af3d54c.mp4'>

[AquaticEngineer]

Pic showing the stalked tunicates I added in.

[x3thelast]

how do you like the chiller? I'm looking for an alternative to the 1/15 hp chillers. There's no video of how it works on YouTube.

[AquaticEngineer]

I like it

 

Its an awesome alternative to needing a large compressor based chiller which I wouldn't have had the room to run on this tank. This chiller is small enough and lightweight enough that I am able to use double stick velcro and adhere it to the wall behind the tank.

 

The other option I had (which I may still do) is to drill into the side of the tank for an Iceprobe, but so far this chiller is doing the job

[AquaticEngineer]

Guess who has Surf Grass that is about to flower

 

 

[x3thelast]

So do you have it connected to a pump that runs continuously? I'm thinking about getting one for the summer.

[AquaticEngineer]

So do you have it connected to a pump that runs continuously? I'm thinking about getting one for the summer.

 

I have the main pump running water up to it and then back down into the display tank, plumbed the chiller inline with the existing return pump.

[Nemcrazy]

I didnt know sea grass flowered! I've got to see that! the progress on my build is slow at this point. I had a 64 hour work week but hope to catch up soon. If I could just get the rock wall in and fill it with water I would feel pretty good again. Those lil sandabs are awesome too. Anyway I love this tank

[AquaticEngineer]

Had to go get some crabs to fill an order today, so my dad came along and I took all 3 of my boys out with me Didn't get anything exceptional, but I found another small Blue Mud Shrimp to put in the tank and some more micro hermits.

[lnglostsurfer]

Wow, I don't know a thing about temperate tanks/inhabitants but those green fish make me reallllly interested. What are they? They look amazing. I love the coloring. Great tank overall too

[AquaticEngineer]

Wow, I don't know a thing about temperate tanks/inhabitants but those green fish make me reallllly interested. What are they? They look amazing. I love the coloring. Great tank overall too

 

Theres a couple green fish in there, one is a Fluffy Sculpin (Oligocottus snyderi) and the other one that is green and elongated is a Rockweed Gunnel (Apodichthys fucorum).

 

Check out who I caught molting

 

 

[BadCrab]

dat crab! haha, such a cool looking critter.

[AquaticEngineer]

I love the juvenile Red Rock Crabs! Check out how many different color variations there are when they are young!

 

[AquaticEngineer]

Photo update

 

 

[AquaticEngineer]

Put a nice looking orange calcified tubeworm into the tank today

 

 

Video I took of feeding time

 

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg100/Stuwobbe/WP_20130518_003_1_zps76935ca8.mp4'>

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

System is looking very nice! Micro-Reefs salutes you....

[FlowerMama]

ha- this is really "cool". It looks natural, and I like the shot of the crab and it's molt, like you're seeing double.

[AquaticEngineer]

Collected quite a bit of new stuff this weekend

 

Also got in my Nanvanax from california and already got to watch him eat a nudibranch last night

 

Put in a bunch more Moonglow anemones in all sorts of color and a couple small green surf anemones. Found some really cool small starfish and some tiny buffalo sculpins that are almost completely white. Pics are loading to photobucket should have em posted in a few.

[1.0reef]

Dang that looks great!

Is the surf grass growing in a tub of sand or on the rock?

[1reefluvr2]

Have no words to say how cool this tank looks.

[AquaticEngineer]