Aquascaped wonder Cube aquarium lit by LEDs
24 Comments
Reef Stock is just lesss than 48 hours away while I’m writing this. And if this is any indication of what it is in store for the Aquascaping competition then whoa! The 20-ish gallon 18″ cube aquarium uses a very unique aquascaping rock work designed by John Ciotti. The tank receives 50% water changes two times a week with feedings throughout the day and carbon and purigen is run on the tank 24/7. You’ll see various livestock specifically 7 cardinals and two gobies which were all tank bred. Also of note, we do talk a lot about LEDs on Reef Builders and this tank is lit by a panorama LED unit by Ecoxotic. You’ll be able to see more awesome stuff like this at Reef Stock.
50% water change twice a week? Yikes man, sounds like overkill
Although I have to say I like the structure, now if that could be done without sand to hide the “probably ugly” support at the base you’d see one of those in my tank
March 11th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Actually, no support base. What you see is holding it up.
I don’t dose anything and I feed VERY heavy to keep the dendros, sun corals and rics happy.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
You sir, are a god. Thank you for not piling a bunch or rubble in your cube. Thank you. And with the amount of feeding you described in the cover, sounds like you need those water changes. Thanks again, looks great.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
By the way, can I save that image as my desktop?
March 11th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Take the high res from my Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/24748259@N04/4425221791/
March 11th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Very Nice.
My LED, Azoox cube
http://i352.photobucket.com/albums/r332/Aquabacs/ARTISAN%2050%20G/IMG_5263-1.jpg
March 11th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
No support base on that? It’s gotta be low flow or something then so that thing doesn’t tip over.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
I like it….a lot actually. What do you use to keep the rocks where they are?
March 11th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Well I wouldn’t say it’s low flow, with no rock in the way the current really rips around the tank.
I drilled a hole through four rocks and inserted a 3/4″ pvc pipe. The rock on the bottom is extremely heavy for the size, so it keeps it up right just fine. None of the rock is touching the aquariums back while either.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Mike L- That tank is super cool! Do you have a link to more information on it?
March 11th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Sweet aquascaping…is this a little something for Scott to chew on ? LOL.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I actually had dinner with Scott and his wonderful girlfriend the other evening. The guy has some really cool stuff up his sleeve and I’m a little nervous to see what he pulls off.
But yes, chew on this Mr. Fellman!!!
March 11th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Thanks John,
The build is on RC, Manhattan Reefs, Ultimate Reefs, and a few others.
I recently started a thread on Reef Builders
http://www.reefbuilders.com/forums/reef-building-step-step/13829-aquabacs-50-gallon-azooxanthellae-tank-build.html
March 11th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
That is awesome design! Except for the stupid cardinals, I hate those things! Looking forward to getting some great ideas for aquascaping my cube tank!
March 11th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Just an awesome design. I like the rock structure and the minimalist (if you will) approach to the corals. In the right combo, sometimes, less is more. Now please come to help my tank…..
March 11th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Acro76- I’m sorry you dislike the stupid cardinals, they truly are enjoyable to watch in a tank like this though. I was also thinking of using Apogon Cyanosoma but have not found any that nice in a while. Also I love captive bred/raised fish.
Doug- Thank you for the kinds words, is your tank local to me? If not shoot me an email @ jvciotti at gmail dot com
Everyone else- Thanks a lot for the feedback I’m glad you dig the tank. Hopefully my next tank will be even cooler. It’s in the works right now about 4 ft away.
March 11th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
looks awesome man i LOve it well done!
March 11th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
I had the privelage to see this tank in person last night, as well as a few other tanks John has aquascaped, and wow is all I can say! Really gives me some new ideas for my next tank I’m going to set up. John good luck in the aquascaping contest.
March 12th, 2010 at 2:30 am
Hi John, beautiful design! how long have you had it running in this formation, and how often do you need to trim those SPS at the top? (I like the cardinals too–plenty of space for a long-spine urchin for babies
March 12th, 2010 at 6:33 am
I love how the structure distributes the light. Negative space is our friend, if used properly.
March 12th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Christine Williams-
Those SPS at the top are actually photosynthetic gorgonians and have not been trimmed yet. Very similar in light demands though and hard to tell the diff in a photo.
Urchins may get introduced if I feel comfortable with them not knocking the reef structure over.
I’m not sure exactly how long it’s been like this but all the corals have been under the same light for more then a year.
March 14th, 2010 at 3:21 am
Fascinating layout; I’m so happy to see people doing something besides the infamous “rock wall”. And two big thumbs up for stocking captive-bred fish; I stick to captive-bred or tank-raised livestock, too.
Question, though: how do you keep the Banggais (one of my favorite fish, BTW) from turning on each other? I’ve always understood that it’s only possible to keep a single fish or a pair, unless you have a very large system and a large school to spread out the aggression.
March 14th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
K. Gabreil-
Thank you for the detailed feed back I appreciate it.
As for the cardinals I have noticed that the fish from Sustainable Aquatics don’t really have as much of an aggression issue as others. They introduce other species into the fishes environment at an early age to change it’s behavior and they are easier to manage that way.
This group has not displayed any sort of of the above mentioned behaviors.
March 14th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
[...] John for a little Q&A about this nano tank. The growth of the corals is pretty decent since the original post and this reef tank executes a lot of great aquascaping principles. For starters it is asymmetrical [...]
July 31st, 2010 at 2:52 pm