Mr Fishface's aquatop 40 gallon build

[Mr Fishface]

Hello everyone! If you're reading this, thanks for stopping by. I have been out of the hobby for a few years and am excited to be back. My last running tank was a 125 gallon, 6' long tank. It's still in my basement although not running at the moment. I have all my equipment for it, in case I decide to restart it.

In the meantime, I have decided to start again with a smaller tank. My living room is very small so space is at a premium. I also wanted to get something that looks really nice so I started looking into the rimless and cube tanks. My LFS had one of these "AQUATOP Recife ECO 40 Gallon Tank" but it wasn't on any sale. I checked on facebook and, as luck would have it, someone just took down their tank and was selling it with all of their gear!

I wasn't planning on ever getting an AIO tank but I'll admit, I sure love it. Not having a sump below the tank is very helpful. So far this is what I have:

The tank and stand, of course.
I have my 3 kessil a360we lights and a single gen 4 radion xr-15 pro.
Nero 5 powerhead.
Inkbird wireless temp controller & 500w titanium heater.
Icecap k1 nano skimmer (not plugged in yet).
Two kamoer wifi micropumps (not used yet).
Flipper scraper for the glass.
Some kind of tunze ATO (not set up yet)

My back compartment: my heater, then media baskets. Top has filter floss, 2nd has carbon infused media. 3rd has 2 bio spheres that were extra. 4th basket has 13 bio spheres

I have old reef rock from my last tank. I used the marco-rock cement to make some structures. I later added some pieces of live rock from tampa bay saltwater to it.
I started off with a fine sugar white sand. I bought live sand from TBS and I LOVE it! Beautiful sand.

Right now one Kessil is set above my tank. The used tank also came with a gen 4 radion xr-15 pro. I'd like to use both the radion and a single kessil. I love, LOVE, my kessil lights and the beautiful shimmer that they provide. I hear such great things about radion lights and think it could also work well. I haven't found a lot about

I'll attach a couple of pictures here. Long first post but I will keep updating as time goes! Once I get my nice nikon camera out I will have much better pictures.

 

[blaxsun]

It's a tank! Where are the fish?!

 

[Mr Fishface]

It's a tank! Where are the fish?!

Good point! My fish are very shy and I will need my better camera to get a picture! 1 springeri (blue sapphire) damsel, 1 hippo surgeonfish. Both between 1/2" and 1". For inverts I have some snails, hermit crab that came in with the rock.

 

[blaxsun]

Good point! My fish are very shy and I will need my better camera to get a picture! 1 springeri (blue sapphire) damsel, 1 hippo surgeonfish. Both between 1/2" and 1". For inverts I have some snails, hermit crab that came in with the rock.

And very adept at hiding! Don't worry - I won't rat you out to the Tang Police...

 

[Mr Fishface]

And very adept at hiding! Don't worry - I won't rat you out to the Tang Police...

Lol at least yet! I know it will need bigger. The plus side is I do already own a much more suitable tank. I'm hoping to move houses this spring and I figure a 40 gallon would be easier to drain and move than a full 125. But I'll admit... It was a little bit of a black friday impulse. Between .75-1" its so cute!

 

[blaxsun]

Lol at least yet! I know it will need bigger. The plus side is I do already own a much more suitable tank. I'm hoping to move houses this spring and I figure a 40 gallon would be easier to drain and move than a full 125. But I'll admit... It was a little bit of a black friday impulse. Between .75-1" its so cute!

Yes, then it grows up and becomes a jerk.

 

[Weeb]

What corals will you be keeping/plan?

 

[Mr Fishface]

What corals will you be keeping/plan?

Well that is a good question! I have a few right now. GSP on an isolated rock island, some green palys, couple mushrooms, and I believe an acan. I enjoy how the macro algae is making its way around the tank. I'm thinking about trying more SPS in this tank - but I'm not totally sure yet! I do love many LPS corals too...

I do know that I want to keep clams! All my livestock revolve around being clam-safe, which is partly why I lean more towards sps corals. I'll have to do some more research though to see what corals would be okay near clams. This is a picture of my clam from my last tank - it was my pride and joy! I'll update with some pictures tomorrow when lights come back on

 

[Weeb]

Gorgeous clam!!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Well that is a good question! I have a few right now. GSP on an isolated rock island, some green palys, couple mushrooms, and I believe an acan. I enjoy how the macro algae is making its way around the tank. I'm thinking about trying more SPS in this tank - but I'm not totally sure yet! I do love many LPS corals too...

I do know that I want to keep clams! All my livestock revolve around being clam-safe, which is partly why I lean more towards sps corals. I'll have to do some more research though to see what corals would be okay near clams. This is a picture of my clam from my last tank - it was my pride and joy! I'll update with some pictures tomorrow when lights come back on

Just have a spare tank for clams

 

[Mr Fishface]

Some small updates. My macro algae is growing very well. My pod population has really exploded which is nice to see. I have ordered a lid for my aquarium from Kraken Reef (can be seen at https://krakenreef.com/products/aquatop-recife-eco-40g-lid) and am very excited to get that!

 

[Mr Fishface]

Been a long time for an update! I have not added much in the last few months. I got a sea hare to help with algae and it really has. I got an acro I won from a local LFS auction. Oh I did remove the radio light and put on a second kessil. I like the shimmer of the kessil better and they can use the same controller. I tried adding chaeto to my back chamber but it didn't work out. Now I bought a holder for filter floss that sits back there. I tried putting the skimmer together but it made a lot of noise. Will try to work more later.

This full tank picture is about a month old. I need a new one. Also included are pictures of my sea hare and a starfish!

 

[Weeb]

and a starfish!

Not sure of the size of the Starfish. Is it one you bought or is it an asterina hitchhiker?

 

[Mr Fishface]

Not sure of the size of the Starfish. Is it one you bought or is it an asterina hitchhiker?

Asterina. I brought them into my tank on purpose. This one is about the size of a quarter!

 

[Mr Fishface]

Time for an update! My wife and I sold our house and are in the process of buying another. We had to move in with family while we kept looking for a new house. I can officially say I have moved a saltwater aquarium! My livestock made the transition minus my cleaner shrimp. Hard to say why but he was the only one to pass away about a week after moving my tank.

While moving, many of my rocks fell apart. I had my soft corals split up with the rocks so now they take up more of my tank. Not a bad thing at all! I will get some pictures to upload tonight to share progress. We are set to close on our new place next week so probably won't be much of an update until we move again.

 

[Mr Fishface]

maybe not the world's greatest picture but about the best I can do with my phone!

 

[Mr Fishface]

We have officially moved into our new home. Rocks had to get rescaped again, this time for a more flat look. Rocks don't go as high and this should let me have room for sps corals to grow up. After two moves my tank looks a bit rough. Most coralline has bleached or died off. Rocks aren't as pretty as they once were. I did get a chance while moving to remove a bunch of the bubble algae so that was nice. So far all snails, fish and corals have survived. I am having issues with the pump part of my AIO but hopefully will have this issue resolved before long so my system can go back to normal.

Here are some pics I got with my camera the other day.