SPS 12.5 Gallon Micro-Reefs Aquariums AIO evolution!

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Hey Reefers,

 

On August 17th, 2005 I started a thread on a 72 gallon bowfront aquarium and had an amazing experience, documenting all of it's trials and errors.  Now, nearly 15 years later, under the direction of a small company that I built, fabricator of acrylic, I come back as an educated reefer and wish to document the evolution of my 12.5 gallon AIO system!  

 

Equipment:

1/4 inch acrylic AIO 12.5 gallon system (Micro-Reefs Aquariums) w/independent cover tops

Eheim 1000 return pump (264) GPH

1/4 inch acrylic 3 stage media basket (Micro-Reefs Aquariums)

Aqua Illumination 16 HD prime (White version)

Aqua Illumination tank mount black

1/4 inch acrylic 32 inch stand (Micro-Reefs Aquariums) white version

1/2 inch bulkhead w/elbow 

Loc-line directional nozzle with ball socket

ChillSolutions: Chiller w/Sicce nano pump 2.4watts@110gph

JBJ chiller installation kit: 2 U tube fittings with 12ft 1/2inchID hose

Coralife UV mini sterilizer 5 watt

Nero 3 Aqua Illumination 20 watt

 

 

Filter media:

RedSea charcoal (100 gallons) version using 1/2 charcoal

Filter Floss (Coralife)

2 Foam black blocks (Eshopps) one in media basket, second as pre-filter to return pump to work as bubble stopper. 

 

Live goods:

20 lbs. live sand rock Bimini Pink (CaribSea)

10 lbs. live rock

Fritz 9 bacteria

(1) Yasha Goby, (1) Barnacle Blenny, (2) Striped Gobies,  (2) Red-head Gobies

 

Now, technology has changed a lot since 2005.  We are using LED fixtures, cultivating bacteria mixtures to cycle tanks much quicker and the way we purchase live rock has changed in the process of preserving the ecological niche we pull from, making our carbon footprint much less for the new generation to enjoy!

 

I hope to open the eyes to many new reefers, how wonderful a 12 gallon AIO system can be to set up and the wonderful colors you can create in such a small footprint of space to the larger aquariums we see on RC.  

 

I plan to use the power and technology of YouTube to bring forth a wonderful voyage of evolution as I call it, sit back and enjoy the reef. 🙂

 

 

 

 

[ajmckay]

Looks like a really nice tank!   The Acrylic stand is certainly unique as well.  

 

I assume you'll let the live rock cure for a bit?  Looks like good stuff.  At least where I live most LFS have pretty much stopped selling what I would have considered live rock years ago and now it seems more of the purple tinted rock that's pre-cycled is around.  Note that I'm not against the "real reef rock" at all - it's actually really convenient to have mature looking rock right away!  But I do think actual rock still looks great and overall it seems like you get a more diverse sampling of coralline.  

 

Still if I do happen to come across a rock or frag that has some nice coralline algae on it I'll sometimes pick it up 🙂  

 

Looking forward to the progress.  

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

5 hours ago, ajmckay said:

Looks like a really nice tank!   The Acrylic stand is certainly unique as well.  

 

I assume you'll let the live rock cure for a bit?  Looks like good stuff.  At least where I live most LFS have pretty much stopped selling what I would have considered live rock years ago and now it seems more of the purple tinted rock that's pre-cycled is around.  Note that I'm not against the "real reef rock" at all - it's actually really convenient to have mature looking rock right away!  But I do think actual rock still looks great and overall it seems like you get a more diverse sampling of coralline.  

 

Still if I do happen to come across a rock or frag that has some nice coralline algae on it I'll sometimes pick it up 🙂  

 

Looking forward to the progress.  

I really appreciate all comments, feels good to be able to come in and thank you for your insight about live rock.  Coming back into the hobby, I was shocked to find out that we didn't have access to live rock, like we did in the past when I built my 72 gallon bowfront I was able to pick up boxes with all sorts of colors on it, I loved the smell of the ocean from the rocks.  Those days are gone, so I had to look hard and ask many reefers on this board where to purchase some live rock?

 

KPA aquatics came up with another, buy they were open for business and my brother ordered 20 lbs of it.  He has the same tank as mine, called the Batman series, I will show you some pics, we started at the same time and the 20 lbs couldn't fit in his tank, so he gave me half and well that is why I sad okay why not start a thread of my evolution to show off a Micro-Reefs Aquarium and how beautiful it can be even if it is so small.

 

Here is the part 2 video of my 1st video, enjoy and like always I appreciate all and every comment you guys/gals make:

 

 

[debbeach13]

This should be fun to follow.

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

This should be fun to follow.

Thanks, here are some pics of my brothers 12.5 AIO black version of mine.  We call it the Batman series, they come all black with AI HD16 prime in black too!

 

But KPA Aquatics live rock os gorgeous, check oit the detail, it is just so colorful and real!

 

We started our systems one day apart his being one day before mine, 😆.

 

 

[debbeach13]

Also a nice start. I hope you continue to show both tanks to us peepers. You both are going with a deeper sand bed than most people seem to have these days. Are you both planning on sand dwelling fish? 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

25 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Also a nice start. I hope you continue to show both tanks to us peepers. You both are going with a deeper sand bed than most people seem to have these days. Are you both planning on sand dwelling fish? 

Very observant and yes, I am going to pair up a Yasha goby and pistol shrimp, my brother inherited a tiny baby mantis shrimp, a smasher so he will halt from the shrimp so his deep sand bed will mostly go to sifter snails that will be food items. 😞

 

 

 

 

[KnH]

Did you get the KPA Aquacultured starter rock or the more expensive Aquacultured Live Rock

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

2 hours ago, KnH said:

Did you get the KPA Aquacultured starter rock or the more expensive Aquacultured Live Rock

Brother paid $270 shipped next day air of 20 lbs live aquaculture rock....  So I assume it is the nice stuff....

 

Take a look at my rocks same box as his....

 

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

6 hours ago, KnH said:

Did you get the KPA Aquacultured starter rock or the more expensive Aquacultured Live Rock

KPA Aquacultured

[Tamberav]

Looks great!!

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

On 1/29/2021 at 9:38 PM, Tamberav said:

Looks great!!

When elegance and beauty is needed in really hard to find areas of your home, please see video and tell me if Micro-Reefs Aquariums, can be your #1 choice for nano-sized systems!

 

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Here is how my brothers system is doing, Batman all black series!

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Please enjoy the video of the Batman/Black series aquarium.

 

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Update: 02/11/21

 

AIO nanos that have cover tops are notorious heat traps.

 

With 15watts of heat from the Eheim 1000, I have reached a limit I cannot have for success long term SPS corals.

 

83.5 F is what my tank climbed to and although I have a great turn over flow rate it comes at a price, too much trapped heat.

 

Here is the pic of how I dropped the heat while my chill solutions chiller arrives.

 

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[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Chill Solutions arrived with all the connections, I will install it over weekend and share the results.

 

 

[salzwasser]

Hope that chiller does the trick for ya.

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

12 hours ago, salzwasser said:

Hope that chiller does the trick for ya.

Thanks, I connected the wall mount which is tricky because you need to level the bracket and use the correct drill bit 13/16.  No instruction on the wall mount bracket is found on the site only the chiller.

 

But so far I am impressed with the flush sturdy look and feel of the chiller.

 

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Went with Sicce nano, watts are only 2.4 compared to 3.4 with the Rio 180.  And I get 110gph vs 120gph from Rio.    Less heat in your nano the better, so look at your pumps watts.

 

 

[JustReading]

Did you get multiple chillers to try or just that one?

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

35 minutes ago, JustReading said:

Did you get multiple chillers to try or just that one?

I have worked with ice-probes from Novatech, compressed chillers from JBJ and Oceanic and Chill Solutions.  I have reviewed the Chill Solutions in the past here on nano-reef but only as a cold water option, when I was testing them for 55F degrees sustainability. 

 

When I designed this tank you see 12.5 acrylic, I could have used the Ice-probes 2 would have been perfect to control the temps of the rising heat.  But, since I moved forward with the design without making the cuts underneath I wasn't able to add them.

 

I later, regretted it as I saw that the 12.5 was reaching 84F degrees with closed tops. (I am not a fan of open tops)

  

So, because I want SPS corals in mine, I knew that I had to get a chiller.

 

Chill Solutions is perfect choice when the system is up and running and you then need a chiller, as it can be plumbed in without having to make cuts into a glass or acrylic aquarium.  As you see in my demonstration with photos, it is not hard and you can dial it in relatively easy.

 

It is performing really nicely, in about 12.5 gallon of water,  remember I have the Eheim 1000 and that has 15watts of constant heat and with the lids, well you get the 84F in the end of the day with ambient being 77F controlled AC system.

 

I have it set to 78.0F and it will turn on and drive the temp down to 77.5F it will rest for 30 mins and then fire back up during the day, night time I haven't been able to assess.

 

With the Novatec chillers, the whole system would be out of view, so a lot of reefers like that look.  I tried to show how nicely the Chill Solutions works with the wall mount bracket they sell on the their site; very nice and clean look, with the temp gauge showing were your system is at.

 

If I missed any questions, please ask them and I will try to answer.

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

This Chill Solutions is doing a superb job of keeping my nano at 77-78F.... I give it a thumbs up for small nanos 12 gallons.

 

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Hey reefers, my Gobies made their official appearance on film.  In only 32 secs of filming, I was able to capture the Red-Headed Goby, Tiger Goby and the Barnacle Blenny.  Enjoy the short clip!

 

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

With the system starting to become more stable, the gobies are starting to come out much more and I was able to capture some macros.  Gobies in a nano tank are just priceless in how they can entertain you with how the hop and skip on the rocks.  

 

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Ordered my AI Nero 3 tonight from Marine Depot, they emailed back!  THEY ARE BACK IN STOCK!