20 Long AIO: New Minimalist Aquascape

I have been browsing the forums lately looking at others tanks, and the minimalist aquascape look has really grown on me. Since finishing the 20 long, I noticed that there are quite a few dead spots in the tank where flow does not easily make it – this is a problem and can cause detritus build up,...

20 Long AIO: Media Rack and Picture Update

I finally had some free time to work on the media rack for the middle chamber of the AIO. I must say, working with acrylic is pretty fun. As you can see, the rack has room for 3 types of filter media. I decided to go with Chemipure elite, Purigen, and a phosphate sponge to help keep things stable in this...

20 long AIO: Build day 5 Aquascaping

Finally the day has come to move everything from my 37 gallon reef to the newly constructed 20 gallon long all in one aquarium in my new apartment. The build was a great success and everything came out looking awesome. Unfortunately I was not able to get any pictures during the move or during the actual...

20 Long AIO: Build day 4 Painting

That false wall was painted and mounted with silicone. Finally the tank is almost complete – the last touch before adding live stock is to get the back of the tank painted and to set up the equipment. For this tank, I decided to have a few different viewing windows. 3 slits in the back chambers, just...

20 Long AIO: Build day 3 The False Wall

Continuation of the 20 gallon long all in one build. Today I will be showing the creation and fitting of the false wall in the aquarium as well as some silicone work and spray painting. Getting a quality, nice looking, silicone bead is tough to do in such small places. I recommend using a small bottle of...

20 gallon long AIO: build day 2

Continuation of the 20 gallon long all in one build… Finally had a little free time to get back to work on this tank. So far I have decided that I am going to go with a long ways build so that I have the full length of the tank for viewing area. The more I look at the tank, the more excited I...

Serpent star in my 20 gal long AIO

Finally caught a little video of this guy. He a serpent star I found at a local fish store and he’s only about 1-1.5 inches...

Pomp Pom crab in my 20 gallon all in one reef

Finally caught a little video of my pom pom crab who I have had from about 6 months now. Half way through the video the lights in my aquarium cut off for night time, but the light on the camera comes on. Hope you enjoy. They call them pom pom crabs because they carry 2 anemones on their...

20 gallon long AIO: Green bubble tip anemone eating my scarlet cleaner shrimp

Shortly after setting up the tank, I accidentally crushed one of my scarlet cleaner shrimp. I was configuring the aquascape, when a lose rock fell on top of the shrimp and crushed part of its body. The shrimp floated around injured until my anemone caught hold. Here is a video of my GBTA eating my scarlet...

1 Years Progression of my 37 Gallon Reef Aquarium

Combination of photos and video taken over the past year 12/2008 to...

20 Gallon Long AIO: The Design

Day 1 of the newest tank build: 20 gallon long DIY all in one saltwater aquarium As previously mentioned in another post, I am building this tank to go in a 3rd floor apartment. I want something that is very low maintenance with no risk of overflows or messes. This will be an all in one aquarium, much like...

Aquarium Glue

Aquarium glue is a pretty touchy subject in the aquarium hobby. Simply put, people don’t trust the chemicals the glue can release into the water after extended periods of time. In my opinion, they are rightfully concerned as many of us spend countless hours and more money than we’d like to on our...

Anouncing New Tank Build: 20 gallon long

Due to a recent move, I have decided that its time for a new build. I’m planning a downgrade of my 37 gallon with 15 gallon sump to a 20 long all in one. The reason I decided to go this route is I’m in an appartment so space is a concern as well as regulations of the complex (nothing over 20...

Aquarium Float Switch for Auto Top Off

An aquarium float switch is something that will have a few very crucial benefits for an aquarium. The first is for an automatic top off system. An automatic top off system for an aquarium is a setup that does exactly what it sounds like – top off the water in your aquarium automatically so you...

Tom aquatic mini deco 1 gallon all in one update

Hey guys. Been a while since I updated on this tank, but I must say, It is doing so well. I already have some significant growth of the yellow skirt zoanthids on the rocks, and with a 1 party cup water change every day, all parameters are in check and basically perfect. The cheato is also seeing decent...

Tom aquatic mini deco 1 gallon all in one build day 4 – Aquascaping

All the new equipment I ordered has finally arived! Unfortunately, I didnt take many pictures of the set up because I was too excited to finally start aquascaping. Ill take it apart and show how everything goes together next time. Items received: Hydor Hydrotherm temp controller Stealth mini 10 watt...

DIY Battery Powered Automatic Top Off

In a never ending attempt to make our aquariums as self sufficient as possible, so that all we have to do is sit and enjoy, someone thought of the brilliant idea of the automatic water top off system. These systems are great assets to any aquarium because they eliminate the need for manual daily top offs,...

Good and Bad News

Bad News: My buddies tank had a malfunction that cost him all of his fish and a few of his corals, so he decided to take a break from the hobby. Also, algae has once again started spreading in my aquarium. Good News: I got all of my buddies left over coral! Yellow green...

Mangrove growth 3/23/2010

Continuation of the post: Mangrove’s in the Reef Aquarium Just a couple pictures showing the size of the mangroves since the last post where we looked at growth rates from December 3rd 2009 to February 17th 2010. These are the most recent pictures taken on 3/23/2010. In the time since the last post, the...

Tom aquatic mini deco 1 gallon all in one build day 3

Last time we re-did the silicone, preped for painting, and had a little sneak peak of what the tank looked like on its new stand. Today, I just have a few pictures of how the paint came out, did a little leak test, fitted and tested all the equipment, and let it run for a few hours. Overall the paint job...