Saliferous502’s 12g long

[saliferous502]

Hello all! I decided it was the right time to get back into the hobby after a 10 year hiatus. A lot has changed! I’ve always admired the 12g long tanks and the wife didn’t want anything too big so it was a no brainer to go that route. 
 

The numerous 12g long threads have all served as inspiration, but especially @WV Reefer as I wanted to go the natural filtration route (and her tank is beautiful). After lurking for a while and doing a bit of research, and making sure I still had a decent LFS in Louisville that I could depend on, I went ahead and bought most of the equipment over the last couple weeks.

 

Here is the first pic. I've always loved arches and wanted to do something dramatic to accentuate the length of the tank. Also love open areas and negative space so this might be the only piece of scape, but might add an island or something to the right side of tank. Things are going to progress slowly here so be patient on the updates. Hopeful to get wet next week. Any and all feedback and advice are welcome. Cheers! 
 

Equipment:

 

Aquamaxx 12g long

Current USA Orbit Marine 36”

2x Jebao OW-10

Orlushy 100w heater

 

Real Reef Rock

CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink

 

[mitten_reef]

I like it so far.  no more rock, except a few low-lying islands, would be pretty sweet.

[WV Reefer]

18 minutes ago, saliferous502 said:

Hello all! I decided it was the right time to get back into the hobby after a 10 year hiatus. A lot has changed! I’ve always admired the 12g long tanks and the wife didn’t want anything too big so it was a no brainer to go that route. 
 

The numerous 12g long threads have all served as inspiration, but especially @WV Reefer as I wanted to go the natural filtration route (and her tank is beautiful). After lurking for a while and doing a bit of research, and making sure I still had a decent LFS in Louisville that I could depend on, I went ahead and bought most of the equipment over the last couple weeks.

 

Here are the first pics. I've always loved arches and wanted to do something dramatic to accentuate the length of the tank. Also love open areas and negative space so this might be the only piece of scape, but might add an island or something to the right side of tank. Things are going to progress slowly here so be patient on the updates. Hopeful to get wet next week. Any and all feedback and advice are welcome. Cheers! 
 

Equipment:

 

Aquamaxx 12g long

Current USA Orbit Marine 36”

2x Jebao OW-10

Orlushy 100w heater

 

Real Reef Rock

CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink

 

 

I like it already. 😀

[Dafish]

I literally was looking everywhere for a super  Simple tank and i found a couple but then I stumbled across @WV Reefer tank and fell in love With it. I’m going to do a  Aquamaxx 22g long Version just gotta buy the parts. so far tho I’m digging yours @saliferous502 can’t wait to see it all set up and going.  Do you know what fish you want to add?  

[saliferous502]

11 minutes ago, Dafish said:

I literally was looking everywhere for a super  Simple tank and i found a couple but then I stumbled across @WV Reefer tank and fell in love With it. I’m going to do a  Aquamaxx 22g long Version just gotta buy the parts. so far tho I’m digging yours @saliferous502 can’t wait to see it all set up and going.  Do you know what fish you want to add?  And are you doing bb or adding sand 

I had a hard time deciding between the 12g and 22g. Still not sure I made the right decision lol. And thanks, I hope everything goes well once it’s cycled and stocked.

 

I’m adding a sand bed, just wanted to make sure the rock work is where I wanted it first and it got too late last night to do more. I’ll post more pics once water and equipment are in. 
 

Edit: forgot to answer the fish question. Nothing set in stone yet. Tossed around the idea of a clown pair, but I think I want more diversity. Love clown gobies and have considered a goby/shrimp combo. Who knows

[Dafish]

Lol that’s me all the time.  Can never make up my mind and when I do. I question my decision. I’m sure everything will go well. And I look forward to seeing the progress of you tank. 

[TatorTaco]

Looks lovely.  By natural filtration... do you mean no mechanical filtration like a sump or HOB filter?  Will this be drilled? 

[Picogoby]

Love the scape so far!

[saliferous502]

1 hour ago, TatorTaco said:

Looks lovely.  By natural filtration... do you mean no mechanical filtration like a sump or HOB filter?  Will this be drilled? 

No mechanical filtration, no drilling. Going dirty like @WV Reefer. The two smaller tanks I had in the past I did that way, however used live rock and sand. Hoping to have the same success. Fingers crossed!

1 hour ago, Picogoby said:

Love the scape so far!

Thanks! 

[cosmicbread]

Beautiful scape. Can’t wait to watch this one!

[saliferous502]

Got sand in this morning. Played with a few island rocks to the right and didn’t like them. Got some side pics of the scape and turned down the blues. 

Excuse the dirty glass and wires. Need to get those organized. Any suggestions? 

 

[Dafish]

Looks good so far. 

[saliferous502]

Reef Crystals and Bio-Spira were way cheaper online than the LFS. They’ll be here tomorrow, will definitely have water in this thing Saturday afternoon, hopefully sooner. 

[saliferous502]

We have lift off! 
 

Beefed up the rock work this morning. It just looked incomplete and I wanted more surface area. Love the way it turned out.

 

Salt showed up this afternoon so wasted no time filling her up. Obviously need to play with the flow, but will add bio spira and shrimp tomorrow. 

Also had some time to think about stocking plans. Initially I was going to do a royal gramma, clown goby, and red banded goby/randall shrimp pair. However, I couldn’t shake the pink skunk clowns. So I’m going to do a pair of them and the goby/shrimp pair. Hopefully that’s not pushing it too far with the bio load, let me know if you think otherwise. 

 

[mitten_reef]

Seen someone else posted something like this for your cable organizing solution, obviously there are plenty options like it. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/OHill-Organizer-Management-Organizing-Adhesive/dp/B071FXZBMV/ref=asc_df_B071FXZBMV/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241940662738&hvpos=1o9&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6403356849152924019&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017451&hvtargid=aud-801381245258:pla-465269144583&psc=1

[saliferous502]

10 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

Seen someone else posted something like this for your cable organizing solution, obviously there are plenty options like it. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/OHill-Organizer-Management-Organizing-Adhesive/dp/B071FXZBMV/ref=asc_df_B071FXZBMV/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241940662738&hvpos=1o9&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6403356849152924019&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017451&hvtargid=aud-801381245258:pla-465269144583&psc=1

Thank you! I ordered some white electrical tape to wrap the cables and then tie them

into one, but I’m going to order the white version of these to keep them organized underneath. 
 

The tank is on a built-in in an addition the previous owners added to the house. Luckily it was used as an entertainment console so it has holes drilled in the two shelves for wires. I’ll take a pic of the location once I clean up the room. 

[Reefkid88]

ILOVEIT. Seriously though I like the open space on the right side of the tank,for some reason. 

[saliferous502]

8 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

ILOVEIT. Seriously though I like the open space on the right side of the tank,for some reason. 

Thank you! 

[TatorTaco]

You might not want to tape the wires together. That sounds like a headache when it comes to maintenance like cleaning a power head. 

[saliferous502]

25 minutes ago, TatorTaco said:

You might not want to tape the wires together. That sounds like a headache when it comes to maintenance like cleaning a power head. 

You’re definitely right. Sorry, that post read very confusing. The plan is to wrap each individual wire in white tape for purely aesthetic reasons, and then zip tie them all together at a couple points. Worst case, cut a couple zip ties and replace. 

[Reefkid88]

Why not use this instead way better looking than electrical tape. 

 

https://www.stevesleds.com/Wire-Sleeve-Sheath-38-95mm_p_190.html

[Seadragon]

Another option is velcro ties/straps.  Super cheap and super fast to put on & take off.  You'll never have to waste/replace anything and its soft so it won't damage or scratch anything like hard plastic can.

 

Tape can leave a sticky residue, it's single use, and can be hard to take off.  Sleeves can be a pain to take off and put on.  Hard plastic zip ties can scratch glass and possibly damage soft rubber over time.

 

 

[saliferous502]

21 minutes ago, Reefkid88 said:

Why not use this instead way better looking than electrical tape. 

 

https://www.stevesleds.com/Wire-Sleeve-Sheath-38-95mm_p_190.html

That would be perfect, however I don’t see it in white. Everything around the tank is bright white, just wanted everything to blend in. I’ll be looking for something similar in white. 
 

10 minutes ago, Seadragon said:

Another option is velcro ties/straps.  Super cheap and super fast to put on & take off.  You'll never have to waste/replace anything and its soft so it won't damage or scratch anything like hard plastic can.

 

Tape can leave a sticky residue, it's single use, and can be hard to take off.  Sleeves can be a pain to take off and put on.  Hard plastic zip ties can scratch glass and possibly damage soft rubber over time.

 

 

 

This is perfect, just purchased some.

 

You all are clearly smarter than me lol. Thinking very basic over here. 

[Seadragon]

15 minutes ago, saliferous502 said:

This is perfect, just purchased some.

 

You all are clearly smarter than me lol. Thinking very basic over here. 

 

You'll love them.  I use velcro straps all around the house wherever there is a cord that I need to tidy up (such as in the kitchen for the rice cooker cord near the sink).  Rubber bands tend to become brittle and break over time and twisty ties tend to rust and become dangerous over time.  If the velcro strap is too long, you can easily cut them into shorter pieces which saves you even more money!

[saliferous502]

Ammonia is at zero, Nitrites almost gone. About time to get the light cycle up and running and get algae going. Need some advice!

 

Current USA Marine Orbit users: do you have a preferred photoperiod and spectrum? What’s worked/what hasn’t? Thanks!