My 12g AquaPod Build

[keithdoc]

I've been a member of this site for about a year. I've spent that time lurking, reading posts, and only recently responding to them. I want to thank everyone for their time and efforts in helping to educate all of us, and for helping to make this possible for me. Here goes:

I have been granted "permission" from the boss to start my aquarium. My orders are as follows: small tank, clean and quiet, no tangles of wires or lots of equipment visible, something that requires little daily intervention and that looks good. It has to fit in my office.

My goals are basically a nice looking nano Reef, a custom cabinet, lots of LR and corals (mostly SPS and LPS), and a minimal number of fish.

I decided on the Aquapod 12 with 70w HQI. 3" Aragonite sand bed, 1.5-2 lbs live rock/gallon.
Tunze Nano DOC skimmer, maxijet 900 with hydor flow, and a 50 watt heater.

After seeing some of the nice corals on Dr. Mac's site Pacific East Aquaculture , I decided to order the Aquapod from him. He's got a few of them setup, and has been running them for a number of months without any problems.

 

[keithdoc]

Cabinet

Cabinet

My first order of business was to build a stand to house the Aquapod and all the assorted junk I would need. I decided that 20x20x30 stand would house the tank, have room for some of the pinpoint monitors on the side and back, hold two 5-gallon tanks (one salt water, one RO/DI), all the test kits, and topoff water or fuge in the future.

After a few hours at Home Depot, and about 3 hours in the yard, here's the rough product.

I decided to overdo the wiring. There are 4 switches that each control an individual outlet (for Pump and skimmer, etc). I have 2 timers for lighting. Everything plugs into a GFCI outlet.

 

[keithdoc]

Aquapod 12 Arrives

Aquapod 12 Arrives

My Aquapod arrived today, hand delivered by one of Dr. Mac's sons all the way from Maryland. My office was full boxes within about 10 minutes. I had a number of mods I wanted to make before adding everything to the tank. First thing I did (after a little dance) was to remove the sponge filter, ceramic rings, and bio-balls. (Note: the stand has been painted black, and the door as well, which is not yet attached)

Step 1:

Change out the stock pump for max jet 900. In order to get it to fit in the tight spot on the back right I had to use my dremel to cut the sides off the mount that houses the suction cups (link available in mod section somewhere). I also modified the intake to make it a bit more flexible on the drop down. Please no comments on the quasi "manly" look of the pump here:

Step 2:

Trim the outer ring off the hydor flow deflector to slim down the profile. Again, dremel to the rescue. I also needed to lower the hydor about 1-2" below the spot where the powerhead returns water to the tank to keep it from splashing out. I attached it to one end of some 1/2" loc-line. There's a 1" fan blade on the other end of the T that helps to agitate the surface and give some directional flow.

Step 3:

Find a way to fit the Tunze Nano DOC skimmer in there. This was the bear of the project. I decided to break away some of the wall that separates the water return from the 2nd chamber. It may be hard to see, but the water intake comes in on the left, down under the 2nd and 3rd chambers, over to the 4th chamber for return to the tank.

After busting my nuckles with pair of vice grips, wire cutters, and a large crescent wrench for about 30 minutes, space was created. I made enough space for the skimmer to fit directly in the 2nd chamber and a little bit of overhang into the 1st chamber. If you look closely, you can see that the divider between chambers 1 and 2 has been deftly removed.

 

[saltycreefer]

I think you need a heater, tank is only 70.

 

[keithdoc]

Sand and Aquascaping

Sand and Aquascaping

The tank held the freshwater I placed in it without any leaks. The pump seems to work pretty well (although it was a little kinked in that position in chamber 4). After a little tweaking, it's ripping a nice current. Time for the saltwater!

I layered about 30 lbs of arogonite sand on the bottom (over 3 inches). I used the plastic bag and bowl method to add water to the tank. Suprising, the water was perfectly clear. I decided it was too clear, so I added a bit of live sand from Dr. Mac. It did a really nice job of obscuring the view.

I let the water settle for about 2 hours, fooled with the live rock and stirred up the muck again. Placed poly filter floss in chamber 1, skimmer in 2, chaeto in chamber 3, and some carbon in chamber 4 on top of the pump. Barely 14 hours after arrival, here's my tank (sorry about the flash spot).

Little feather dusters are everywhere. I'll keep my eyes open for more hitchhikers.

 

[keithdoc]

Tube worms gone. Urchin present?

Tube worms gone. Urchin present?

I've just returned from 2 days away. It seems that the feather dusters have "disappeared". The tubes are still there, but I don't see a single feather out waving. There are 2 that look kind of flacid. Water parameters look pretty good so far (I know it's early).

I've found some really cool little snails with half a shell on them mowing over the LR. They appear to be Stomatella. They're less than 1/4" mostly. There are a number of pods (likely hitchikers from the chaeto).

I also see what looks like an urchin hiding in a little "cave" in the LR. He's brown, spines about 1 inch, and appear to be moving a little bit. Anyone know what to do with him? I'm pretty sure that he could be a bad boy - eating coralline, mowing through colonies of polyps, not to mention venoumous spines.

Any help?

 

[keithdoc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8922027#post8922027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltycreefer
I think you need a heater, tank is only 70.

I have a 50 watt in the 1st chamber. The 70 you see is room air before salt water was in the tank. It's a comfortable 78.7 degrees right now!

 

[Nimmie]

Looks like you're off to a great start! What plans do you have in the way of fish?

 

[keithdoc]

Thanks for the encouragement. I have a pair of clowns waiting for their new home to be ready. I'm mainly interested in SPS and LPS. I may add a small goby or possibly anthias later down the road, but no definite plans as of yet.

 

[keithdoc]

Stocked!!!

Stocked!!!

I'm having lots of fun watching the inhabitants of my tank move around - especially at night. There's the little brown urchin who hides in his cave (and only comes out at night), the 3+" bristleworm (who I accidentally "saved" from the box the live rock arrived in), my cleaner crew (3 Astrea, 2 smaller snails, 1 conch, red leg hermit, 2 blue leg hermits), and my 2 ocellaris clowns.

I was particularly interested in identifying the little fluorescent wavy anemone looking creature that seems to move each night. It must be the wonderful Aiptasia! I see 3 more. The tank looks ready for an invertebrate.

After a 4 hour drip acclimation, my peppermint shrimp had fun exploring the tank. He went right to work cleaning the rockwork. The next morning, every single Aiptasia was gone! WOW. He's definitely pulling more weight than the two clowns (who've yet to eat).

 

[MyMonkey]

Nice start. Any pics of the full tank with stand? Or, how the skimmer fits in there?

 

[keithdoc]

I'll have my digital camera back Tuesday night - I promise to post some long awaited pics on Wednesday.

The skimmer fits neatly in the back (I added a little bit of acrylic to each side) to separate the 1st and 2nd compartments again. It's frothing up a storm for a little nano skimmer.

 

[keithdoc]

New pics.

New pics.

As promised, here are a few pics. The clowns are eating finally (they just needed smaller sized pellets, so I'm crushing the 1mm pellets a bit). The female is about 1 3/4", the male a whopping 1 1/4".

Here's the first official addition to the tank, a ricordea from my LFS (Fish World). It is incredibly fluorescent under actinics, and is starting to form a 4th head.

Here are some of the SPS and LPS from Dr. Mac. There's a tiny acropora crab in the orange one!

Here are a few of the zoos (excuse the putty) also from Dr. Mac.

I take pretty good pictures but this "thru the water" stuff is new. It'll get better. Anyone got any "tips" under MH lamps besides turning of the power heads?

 

[keithdoc]

New Addition

New Addition

I picked this guy up from the LFS last week. He stays out in the open most of the day. After feeding, when the pumps go back on, he quickly darts under his favorite rock to "hide" for the night.

 

[macperry]

PLEASE do me a favor and pop the hood on your AP so I can see how you installed the skimmer. I set my AP12g up about 9mos ago, and just decided I better get a skimmer...duh. I am working with Kyle over at Sapphire Aquatics on trying to mod one of his skimmers designed for the JBJ cubes.

 

[keithdoc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9061482#post9061482 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by macperry
PLEASE do me a favor and pop the hood on your AP so I can see how you installed the skimmer. I set my AP12g up about 9mos ago, and just decided I better get a skimmer...duh. I am working with Kyle over at Sapphire Aquatics on trying to mod one of his skimmers designed for the JBJ cubes.

I took out the wall between the 1st and 2nd chambers (hard to see in picture). Basically used a heavy pair of wire cutter pliers on the wall (be careful not to clip too close to the aquarium wall or you'll clip through the seam). It took me a good 20 minutes, just go slowly and carefully. I used a blade to remove the silicone on the far side of the overflow. See Pic:

I then took small strips of 1/4" acrylic about 1/4"wide and attached them to the sides of the Tunze Nano DOC skimmer so that total width of the chamber #2 is spanned by the skimmer. I fit the skimmer in with the cord coming out of the water intake side (chamber 1, left). The cup sits on the right side (nearer chamber #2). No water flows over the top (the acrylic strips start just below the rim of the tank and extend down about 7 inches). Water flows under the bottom of the skimmer. You'll need some more 1/2" wide pieces of acrylic as feet on the bottom of the skimmer. There should be about 1/2 to 3/4" clearance below the skimmer for water to flow into the second chamber.

When the AP12 is filled with water just below the MAX line, the water is just below the perfect level for the skimmer. If I can't see MAX - time to top off. It can get as high as the top of the letters, and the height is perfect for the skimmer. I'll hunt a picture later.

 

[grundig5]

Looks great...I'm thinking of setting up the 24 with a 150hqi now that my 75 is gone. I would really like to see a pic of the tunze nano skimmer in action if you have a chance. Thanks

 

[macperry]

Can't wait to see a pic of the DOC skimmer as it sits in the modded compartments. I am currently running a Sapphire skimmer in with the pump in chamber 2, and the skimmer body in chamber 3. It actually works pretty good, but I would like to see less microbubbles and a thicker foam skimmate. How does the Tunze perform so far?

 

[keithdoc]

Tunze Nano DOC Skimmer

Tunze Nano DOC Skimmer

Here's an overdue pic of the skimmer. Right now there's about 25mL of green liquid (not too dark, not a ton of bioload). As you can see, it produces fairly consistent bubbles from the reactor.

You can see the wadding in the first chamber. There's a sheet of acrylic that covers both water intake grates that are below the water line, to force ALL water to be skimmed over the top of this wall. Intake for the skimmer is from that first chamber on the left. Water then flows under the skimmer (about 3/4" clearance) into chamber 2. There's about 3/4" from the right edge of the skimmer to the divider between chambers 2 & 3. Water flows over that into compartment 3 (chaeto on top, LR rubble in sock at bottom, 1/2" eggcrate to keep most of it from flowing into chamber 4. You can just see the packet of purigen and the hose from the MJ900 on the right.

 

[macperry]

So you are going topless? That explains how you are able to use the Tunze skimmer. What kind of lights did you hang over the top? If you were going toples anyway, what made you choose the Nano?