jabudda Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 After neglecting my IM Drop Off aquarium for nearly 1 year & just adding RO/DI water from evaporation, I decided to start a new build with the focus on Ultra Low Maintence. A few observations from neglecting my aquarium, the bio load is light with 2 clownfish. Keeping my hands out of the aquarium allowed some interesting biodiversity, lots of little critters come out at feeding time, no traditional cleanup crew, no carbon or media. Macro algae began to take root & grow, taking up the excess nutrients from the tank inhabitants. The clownfish are 3 years old & healthy. My 1 piece of live rock is covered with feather dusters & the sand is not covered in algae. I’ve noticed quite a few bristle worms in the sand & know reefers have mixed reviews on them. The aquarium for my build is the Fluval Edge 12 gallon, I know the various shortcomings of this aquarium & have planned for them. The HOB filter will be run empty & hold the heater to keep the clean minimalist look. I ordered black sand from BRS, a Vida-Rock magnetic shelf from Aqua-Tecture & for lighting I’m going to try out the Tunze Full Spectrum submersible light, with plans of mounting it at the very top & submerged. I have have lots of equipment from other tanks & will make modifications if necessary. I’ve ordered 2 of the Fluval Edge 12 gallon aquariums & will set the other one up in a similar manner, except it will be bare bottom, utilize some Vida-Rock magnetic shelves & NanoBox Light. Both aquariums will have flow via an MP10. Im going to let a small amount of Macro-Algae grow in the aquarium, seed the Vida-Rock in the established aquarium & allow the aquarium to cycle & watch temperature fluctuations & other new aquarium observations before introducing the clownfish. I chose the Fluval Edge for its minimalist look, minimal evaporation compared to open top & unique look. I’ve had saltwater aquariums for 30 years & a lot has changed, here are some builds, the 1st picture is the neglected aquarium, but you could pick that one out lol 3 Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 Found this gem, my 155 gallon bow reef, with a MH light that made my electric meter spin like a UFO ? if I remember correctly, it was 3 MH bulbs at 400 watts each & 4 blue actinic CF bulbs. 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 5 hours ago, jabudda said: Found this gem, my 155 gallon bow reef, with a MH light that made my electric meter spin like a UFO ? if I remember correctly, it was 3 MH bulbs at 400 watts each & 4 blue actinic CF bulbs. That light fixture looks so familiar! Was it textured ABS plastic with fans on the ends? I had a similar PC bulb fixture over my large reef back in the day. I wish I could remember the brand. Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted January 24, 2018 Author Share Posted January 24, 2018 The light was a Hamilton, 72 inches. The aluminum was textured with fans on both ends & 2 or 3 ballasts that constantly hummed. Good times. 1 Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 Tested the Tunze full spectrum light, transferred the clowns over & put live rock from existing aquarium in. Had to use a hammer to make some adjustments to the live rock to accommodate the new build. Will be ordering a smaller heater to place into the HOB filter. 3 Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 Things are settling down & adjusting. 1 Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 Ordered a smaller heater someone suggested in the forum, hope it fits in the HOB filter....if not a reefer can always use an extra heater. https://aquaforestaquarium.com/collections/heaters/products/na-thermometer-10mm-celsius Quote Link to comment
supertech99 Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Interesting light selection. How did you decide on that? I have not seen it before. Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 I chose the Tunze because it’s waterproof, attaches with magnets, German engineering, the light was relatively inexpensive & blends in with the aquarium. The intensity & color changes with a magnet on the end...Tunze loves their super strong magnets. Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 The heater that was suggested by a fellow Nano Reefer fit perfectly in the HOB filter. 1 Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Now to add some corals, probably some hammer corals, candy cane & green star polyps Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 I’ve had the live rock for 5 years & never noticed the yellow sponges growing or various mushrooms. Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Top down view Quote Link to comment
Sjadet Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 I’m not sure if you’re interested but as a fluval owner thought it’s worth mentioning I have used this skimmer before. It worked extremely well and fits a little pocket for a filter. It’s dead quite if installed correctly. the only bad thing is you’ll need to cut some of the top mesh on the hood to fit the cup. 1 Quote Link to comment
jabudda Posted February 7, 2018 Author Share Posted February 7, 2018 That’s a pretty compact skimmer & looks like it works great, I bookmarked the page for future builds. After 1 year of neglecting my 20g dropoff aquarium I thought about filtration. The only filtration was live rock & macro algae & no traditional cleanup crew, just lots of copods, feather dusters, sponges & bristle worms. This aquarium will only have the 2 clownfish & some soft corals & weekly water changes of 40%. I want to use as little equipment & filtration as possible & see how things work out. The only thing in the HOB is a sponge to filter out particles & heater. So far I’ve observed that I can go 3 days before I have to add top off water, if I go on vacation I do have a Tunze ATO unit I can use. My next build will will be a Mr Aqua 12 gallon, with a HoB refugium by CPR, the refugium will be used for equipment to keep it out of the aquarium, heater, ATO, live rock & macro algae. This will be a species specific aquarium with a 1 blue mandarin. I will let the copod population grow for 2-3 months, then buy one of PJ’s nauplii feeders for additional food for the mandarin. Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 On 1/31/2018 at 8:51 AM, jabudda said: It just occurred to me how you mounted the Tunze light under the top pane of the tank, how cool! A rare opportunity for most aquariums ? Do you have a link to that product you could share? I'm not familiar with this submersible light. It's like a ceiling lamp! Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Cool light! I have a cheap Chinese submersible light I use in a QT tank. Awesome to see one that might actually support something living. I love these edge tanks, I keep wanting to buy one! I literally was just looking at them today and daydreaming about having one and replacing the light with a nanobox puck tucked in there. 1 Quote Link to comment
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