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Coral Vue Hydros

The DP Roberts 12g AIO


DPRoberts

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Here's my new tank, set up on 9/18/10:

 

AquaEuroUSA12g001.jpg

 

 

Equipment (so far):

Aqua Euro USA 12g AIO

Rapid PAR 30 bulb in a swing arm, drafting-style fixture

Viper 70w MH

Hydor Theo 50w heater

 

Circulation - nothing yet, I'm waiting for the LR to cycle. Maybe a Reefkeeper Lite w/ 2 Koralia Nanos, or an MP10, I haven't decided yet.

 

Livestock:

Just LR and LS from Reef Systems until the cycle is over. The LR is half covered in cabbage coral, so I'm running it on a normal lighting cycle already. I don't expect much of a cycle, since the LR came from an established tank & is already covered in purple coraline algae, some corals, etc.

 

Cleanup crew: I'm planning on adding a Detritivore Kit from IPSF or Inland Aquatics, I've had good luck with both of them.

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I've been very interested in some of the threads on here about the color of LEDs. Many people have mentioned that the blue in the LEDs tends to overwhelm the sensors in digital cameras. I've taken several pictures with two different cameras, and the results have been all over the place. And, the one thing I can say for sure is that NONE of the pictures look ANYTHING like real life. For example, here are a few with an "uncorrected" white balance:

 

AquaEuroUSA12g004.jpg

 

AquaEuroUSA12g003.jpg

 

 

 

And here are a few with a camera that auto corrects for white balance:

 

IMG_3208.jpg

 

IMG_3210.jpg

 

 

In the first two pictures, the tank looks a lot more "washed out" than in real life. It also looks bluer. The LED actually gives the tank more of a purple tint than blue, but it's not really washed out. The second set of pictures is too "normal" - it took away the purple tint that the bulb actually has. I wish the tank looked more like the second set of photos, that looks natural to me. In summary, uncorrected photos look too blue, corrected photos don't look blue enough.

 

 

Honestly, I've never had this much blue on a tank my pico has the standard 50/50 PC bulb, and that's as blue as my tanks have ever been, but I really like the color on my pico. This is just too blue for me. The 3:2 blue/white ratio is just too much. I'm really hoping that Rapid or one of the other companies comes out with a 3:2 white/blue LED, or even a 4:1 white/blue, but I don't know if that would be enough PAR for most corals. I'm considering supplementing with an all-white bulb just to balance things out, but I don't know if that would spur algae growth or cause heat problems. I also might get used to it over time - the pico's 50/50 bulb looked really blue to me at first too, but now it just looks normal.

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For those of you looking for a cheap AIO in the 12 gallon range, the Aqua Euro USA 12g can be had for a pretty good price. I paid just $68, including shipping, using a widely-available coupon through the CSN stores (normally $79 shipped). Add in about $70 for one of the PAR 30 bulbs currently on sale through Boost LED or Rapid LED, a $14 light fixture, and you have a 12 gallon AIO for about $150, including shipping. Considering that a JBJ or Biocube in that range will run you about $200 and won't have LEDs, I think this is a pretty good deal.

 

 

There are a few little things I don't like about it. Like many AIOs, there are a series of vented intakes for the return. I went to Home Depot & got some cheap acrylic, cut it into appropriately sized squares, and glued them over the vents. That problem was easily solved.

 

Slightly more complicated - and somewhat weirder - is the HUGE logo on the front of the tank. I'm not sure why anyone would want the brand name of their aquarium in 150-point font, especially with the stupid model name (Congratulations, you're the proud owner of an EU-T12R!" I've seen car badges that were smaller than this one). Several (6? 8? I lost count) coats of spray paint eventually covered it up, but it seemed unnecessary. Here's a before photo:

 

cafe022.jpg

 

 

My last quibble - the hose connecting the pump to the outlet doesn't attach very well. If I put the nozzle on the outlet, half the water seems to shoot back into the pump compartment. I haven't figured out how to fix that yet. I might just go buy some new tubing and see if that works.

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awesome light. i just ordered one (but par38). did the aqua euro come w a glass top? or is it just open?

 

It came with the glass top. That was one of the deciding features for me, as getting one cut to size would have cost a fair amount. It's not hinged, and it doesn't have a handle, so right now taking it off is somewhat of a pain. I'm going to try and get one of those handles they make for the glass doors on entertainment centers, or something like that, so I can at least lift it up.

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It came with the glass top. That was one of the deciding features for me, as getting one cut to size would have cost a fair amount. It's not hinged, and it doesn't have a handle, so right now taking it off is somewhat of a pain. I'm going to try and get one of those handles they make for the glass doors on entertainment centers, or something like that, so I can at least lift it up.

 

yeah im thinking the same thing.

you can get an "L" or "I" shaped plastic piece (depending on whether the glass is lower than the rim, or level) and super glue or bond it so that you have a little almost nonvisible tab that you can use to lift. Kind of looking like a book mark.

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Looks like a good build so far. I bought 2 of the Rapid PAR38 and I'm amazed, they are on a 36 corner. Just looks like a good anemone tank to me. However softies would look great, especially some of the more colorful variety. I bet the green and yellow leathers would really POP.

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  • 2 weeks later...
It came with the glass top. That was one of the deciding features for me, as getting one cut to size would have cost a fair amount. It's not hinged, and it doesn't have a handle, so right now taking it off is somewhat of a pain. I'm going to try and get one of those handles they make for the glass doors on entertainment centers, or something like that, so I can at least lift it up.

 

Did you get that fixture at Staples? If not where did you get it?

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be careful with that fixture. the par 38s have no active cooling and need to have the heatsinks exposed to open/circulating air. looks like that's a closed in fixture. the heat could really shorten the lifespan of those leds

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be careful with that fixture. the par 38s have no active cooling and need to have the heatsinks exposed to open/circulating air. looks like that's a closed in fixture. the heat could really shorten the lifespan of those leds

 

Yeah, I don't have a picture of it yet, but I took the shade off. I think it looks better that way, & it will be a lot easier to fit a second light above the tank.

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  • 2 months later...
update?

 

I haven't done much lately - I bought a bunch of $5-$10 frags from my LFS a month or so ago, (an acropora, two discosomas, a zoa, some clove polyps, a ricordea, and a few others), & now I'm just watching them grow. Everything except the ricordea seems to be getting bigger. I'll try to post a few pics soon.

 

I may change the lighting in the next month or two. I still have the one PAR 30 bulb - I'm thinking of adding a second PAR 30, or maybe moving the PAR 30 over to my 3 gallon pico & a PAR 38 (or something like it) for the bigger tank.

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Sympodium:

Sympodium.jpg

 

Kenya Tree, which is getting very big. Also, my Acropora (kinda fuzzy-looking in the picture, sorry), which was the stump for several frags that had been cut off. It has grown over the white spots where the frags were cut off, and looks a lot better.

KenyaTree.jpg

 

Galaxea, and the two mushrooms:

Bigmushroom.jpg

 

Zoas, and the ricordea & a mushroom:

Smallmushroom.jpg

 

All those frags are pretty small. They were dime-sized when I got them, & I'm sure it will be a while till they're grown out. I have them on the sand bed in front of the big rock until they're big enough that they don't get lost in the rock. Here's the obligatory FTS:

FTSDecember2010.jpg

 

These polyps have sprung up out of the LR. I have no idea what they are:

Unknownpolyps3.jpg

 

 

I'm thinking of switching the lighting - the corals seem to like the PAR 30, but it's awfully blue, and I'd like something bigger and/or a second light for more coverage. Everybody has the 70w Viper on sale now, and I may just go with that (and move my current PAR 30 LED over to my pico). OTOH, I'm trying to read up on the Vipers, and mostly finding old classified threads where people are offering them for cheap, so maybe they're not the best option...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi there DPRoberts!

 

I just picked up one of these tanks and i am about to set it up, just a quick questions about your setup.

 

Did you modify the AIO Filtering setup at all or are you using the bioballs, ceramic discs, and sponge as it came stocked?

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Hi there DPRoberts!

 

I just picked up one of these tanks and i am about to set it up, just a quick questions about your setup.

 

Did you modify the AIO Filtering setup at all or are you using the bioballs, ceramic discs, and sponge as it came stocked?

 

I didn't use any of the bioballs, sponges, or anything that came with the tank. I've got chaeto in chamber 1, the heater in chamber 2, media in chamber 3, and the return pump is in chamber 4. Since InTank doesn't make a media basket for this tank, I'll probably get some eggcrate and make a media rack for chamber 3.

 

I ran it for the first few days with the sponge in chamber 1, just to filter out some of the finer particles. I must say it was a lot quieter with the sponge in there, but I would have had to clean it quite often to prevent it from becoming a nitrate factory.

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New fish!

 

I was at my 3rd favorite LFS yesterday - just browsing after work - when I saw a few High Fin Red Banded gobies (Stonogobiops nematodes) on display. I've always wanted one paired with an alpheus shrimp. The problem seems to be that unless you buy the fish & shrimp together, they don't necessarily find each other in your aquarium. I've seen them advertised together on websites, but you never know whether they were really "paired" or not. So I was watching this guy, who was hovering near a hole in the sand, & I saw a little shrimp climb out behind him! The LFS employee was actually kind of psyched for me - they had no idea that pair was in there. He said he's going to watch the other tanks to see if any of the other gobies somehow had a shrimp with them.

 

When I got them home & acclimated them, they at first went to separate sides of the aquarium. However, by the next morning I saw them come out of the same hole.

 

Excuse the blurry picture - my little camera doesn't do macro very well:

Goby006.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
Looks great. Where did you get that light fixture?

 

Blick's Art Supplies. It's only $15 (or less). It has been holding up my PAR 30 without a problem.

Swing Arm Lamp

 

I need to post more pics, but I recently switched my lighting around. I moved this PAR 30 over to my pico, and added a 70w Viper MH to this tank. So far, I love the switch. The Viper is a lot brighter overall on the 12g, and has that nice shimmering effect. And I LOVE the PAR 30 on the Pico - one PAR 30 gives nice, even light over a tank that size.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Ever since I switched over to my 70w Viper MH I've been getting a lot more nuisance algae - no surprise there. However, my chaeto hasn't been growing at all. I had a submersible light in with it, which I think just wasn't enough. I'm actually getting more chaeto growth in my pico, and less nuisance algae there too.

 

So, I thought I'd scrape the back of the tank & add a bigger grow light to the back of the tank. I need to do some research on those lights & then head to Home Depot - not sure it will get done this weekend with the snow we're having and other projects going on, but I scraped the back today to check things out.

 

I knew there was a false floor in chambers 2 & 3 in this tank, but I hadn't realized how it all went together until now (Aqua Euro doesn't have any good diagrams or photos on their site. So, here's a photo:

 

20511007.jpg

 

 

Water enters chamber 1 (on the right side of the image), & then enters chamber 2 above that false floor, overflowing into chamber 3, & then back through another opening above the false floor into chamber 4, where the return pump is located. That's fairly standard. What I didn't expect was that chamber 4 is open to that false floor - in fact, chamber 4 is "L"-shaped and runs under the previous 2 chambers.

 

I'm a little concerned about the water flow in that area. Of course, the return pump is in there, so it's probably not totally stagnant. However, I'd like to mess with that a little bit (I can't help it, I mess with stuff). However, since the tank is up and running, there isn't a whole lot I can do - it's not like I can drain the tank & re-silicone a bunch of stuff.

 

However, I did move things around a little. I had chaeto in chamber 2. However, in order to fit on a decent sized light, I have moved it to chamber 1, moved the heater to chamber 2, and then broke up my media rack to hold my Chemi-Pure in chamber 3. My little "refugium cover" only covers Chambers 1 and 4 completely; this way, when I add a big light to the back I won't get too much light leakage.

 

However, I'm thinking I'd like to get more flow into that dead space in chamber 4. Perhaps I should try to drill some holes in the bottom of chamber 3? I think I could drain enough water out to get my battery-powered Dremel in there. Is that worth it? Any other suggestions?

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  • 3 months later...

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