Reefaddict's 12 gallon JBJ Nano Cube
Reefaddict has a real nice 12 gallon setup using one of the early JBJ Nano cube aquariums. He had his fitted with a custom canopy that are quite popular on these style of tanks. Inside is a moon light LED and a 70watt HQI metal halide, giving plenty of light for a nano reef like this one.
What Reefaddict did really well with his photos is highlight the changes that a reef tank goes through at the start. Starting out with just a few rocks and some sand. It's always nice to see such a clean tank, but you know it won't last. Notice there aren't any fish though, that's the right way to do it especially on a pico tank. The tank will cycle just fine with what comes on the rock especially if there is die-off, and there is always die-off.
On of the reasons many beginner aquarists get frustrated is that they become impatient with the process and just dump fish and other critters into a tank well before its ready. Like many things in life, patience pays off. An aquarium, acrylic, glass or clear aluminum, are like gardens that need time to grow into their own but with careful planning and care can really flourish. Check out the third week on Reefaddict's tank. Some more live rock, the sand has gotten a bit of color from growing algae and other critters I'm sure.
Now aren't you glad Reefaddict was patient? After 12 weeks the tank looks awesome! A pair of percula clowns, or Little Nemos as most common-folk would say now, swimming happily amoungst some great looking corals. The only thing I don't like in the tank is what appears to be a Gonioporia coral or flower pot. These are notoriously hard to keep and should be avoided as most die in captivity, a real waste and a shame.
Other than having a great looking tank Reefaddict took some great shots highlighting one of the big differences between acrylic and glass aquariums. Being able to more easily shape the acrylic material, manufacturers make nice rounded front corners to their acrylic tanks. Check out the two pictures, so nice. You get such a better view from the sides with these acrylic tanks. I'm a big fan of trying to limit anything that takes away from the display of your aquatic friends and this is just perfect. For that reason I do prefer open top aquariums as well, but hey I'd take this setup in a second.
Well, that and of course if you throw in the nice Nano-cube stand. JBJ does a nice job with matching their stands with their Nano-cube aquariums. Tanks never look nearly as good on some random desk or table dug out of the basement. Sure the focus is on the inhabitants of the tank, but it can just be distracting when you have a crappy looking support underneath.
Of course, nothing in the tank would look that good without decent lighting. So while Reefaddict has a nice 70watt HQI setup, JBJ just recently introduced the 28 gallon Nano Cube HQ1. Looking at how bright 70watts is could you imagine 150watts on a similar tank? Not to mention that there are already two fans and an IceProbe chiller trying to keep the tank cool! One more reason for an open top. Reefaddict also had a nice shot of what the little bluemoon LED shows at night
Over all a very nice tank, hope to see some updated shots soon!
