Tideline office tank

prokhk · Mar 17, 2025

Finally setting up a tideline AIO 21g cube that I won at the Frag Farmers market in CT two years ago! It is going to be an office tank, so I am aiming for something low maintenance. The plan as of now is to keep it a soft coral only tank so I can get away with only doing water changes. I was looking at a pair of midnight clowns at the LFS the other day that really caught my eye so they may be good candidates for first fish.

It is a very simple build so far:
- DIY stand made from 2x4s
- AI prime 16HD
- Eheim Jager 125w heater
- Stock filter sock
- Lazybone ato with dual sensors
- Stock return pump with stock random flow nozzle
- Live sand
- Dry rock
- Auto feeder

What I still need to get:
- Lid - not sure if I want to go mesh and deal with more evaporation or find a glass lid and deal with too much heat.
- Filtration - I don't think I want to add a skimmer. I am considering a small fuge and more bio media.
- Flow - not sure if only the return pump will cut it

I also think I may be having an issue with some stray voltage in the tank. Sometimes when I touch the water I get a shock. I am pretty sure it is not the heater since I replaced the original heater I had with the Eheim, and I am still having the issue. I did notice that I was happening after I put on a fuzzy coat so it may be static? Otherwise it has to be the return pump. I ordered a GFI to make sure I don't burn the building down. I won't add any livestock until I figure this out.

I would love ideas for stocking! Besides the clown fish I may add one or two more easy to care for fish that go for pellets. As I said I want to keep it soft coral only since I don't want to worry about dosing. For some reason I could not keep zoas alive in my tank at home, so this may be a good opportunity to try again and see if they like this tank better.

Tahoe61 · Mar 17, 2025

Two year wow!

Great start. Looks bigger than 21 gallons.

I am a huge fan of Royal Gramma, and Firefish. Blennies and YWM are good choices.

AgentKooper · Mar 17, 2025

prokhk said:
Finally setting up a tideline AIO 21g cube that I won at the Frag Farmers market in CT two years ago! It is going to be an office tank, so I am aiming for something low maintenance. The plan as of now is to keep it a soft coral only tank so I can get away with only doing water changes. I was looking at a pair of midnight clowns at the LFS the other day that really caught my eye so they may be good candidates for first fish.

It is a very simple build so far:
- DIY stand made from 2x4s
- AI prime 16HD
- Eheim Jager 125w heater
- Stock filter sock
- Lazybone ato with dual sensors
- Stock return pump with stock random flow nozzle
- Live sand
- Dry rock
- Auto feeder

What I still need to get:
- Lid - not sure if I want to go mesh and deal with more evaporation or find a glass lid and deal with too much heat.
- Filtration - I don't think I want to add a skimmer. I am considering a small fuge and more bio media.
- Flow - not sure if only the return pump will cut it

I also think I may be having an issue with some stray voltage in the tank. Sometimes when I touch the water I get a shock. I am pretty sure it is not the heater since I replaced the original heater I had with the Eheim, and I am still having the issue. I did notice that I was happening after I put on a fuzzy coat so it may be static? Otherwise it has to be the return pump. I ordered a GFI to make sure I don't burn the building down. I won't add any livestock until I figure this out.

I would love ideas for stocking! Besides the clown fish I may add one or two more easy to care for fish that go for pellets. As I said I want to keep it soft coral only since I don't want to worry about dosing. For some reason I could not keep zoas alive in my tank at home, so this may be a good opportunity to try again and see if they like this tank better.

Looks good!

I think the return pump alone will not cut it. Since you already have an AI Prime, a Nero 3 would be good for flow — they both use the same app to control. I have the same setup in a 13.5 gal and I really like it.

I have a lid from Kraken that is mesh but has an optional evaporation cover that fits over the mesh. It’s a great lid. I don’t use the evaporation cover much, since my 5-gallon ATO reservoir lasts 3-4 weeks even without it, and the cover also reduces my light intensity.

prokhk · Mar 18, 2025

AgentKooper said:
Looks good!

I think the return pump alone will not cut it. Since you already have an AI Prime, a Nero 3 would be good for flow — they both use the same app to control. I have the same setup in a 13.5 gal and I really like it.

I have a lid from Kraken that is mesh but has an optional evaporation cover that fits over the mesh. It’s a great lid. I don’t use the evaporation cover much, since my 5-gallon ATO reservoir lasts 3-4 weeks even without it, and the cover also reduces my light intensity.

I will check those out! Thanks for the suggestions.

kevgib67 · Mar 18, 2025

prokhk said:
I will check those out! Thanks for the suggestions.

Can’t go wrong with a tailspot blenny, great personality, small bio load and just look at those eyelashes.

prokhk · Apr 5, 2025

Some photos of the stand before I stained it then after I just filled the tank. This was my first time building a stand, definitely learned a lot but reasonably happy with how it came out all things considered. I used cheap 2x4s from Lowes that were not straight and had to add quite a few shims to make it level. But as long as you don't look too closely it looks ok IMO. :face-with-tears-of-joy:

prokhk · Apr 5, 2025

I was still getting shocked so I ended up replacing the return pump with a sicce 250gph pump and I think that solved the issue. I Also added a hygger mini wavemaker for some more flow. The tank has been running for a while now, so after adding a bottle of bacteria, I got the first inhabitants, a bicolor blenny, and a handful of hermits! It has been about a week, and the blenny has been perching all around the tank, so I am very happy with him. I ordered a Kraken reef lid, so while I am waiting for it to arrive I have some mesh on top of the tank so he can't jump out. I also ordered a Kreative reef insert to replace the filter sock, and some bio media to add to the insert which should all arrive on Monday. Looking forward to the tank getting settled so I can start adding corals!

I am also considering ordering the 1lb box of reef rock rubble from gulf rock to seed the tank with some more diverse microbes/ critters, but I am a bit worried about adding it to a tank that already has a fish since it might cause an ammonia spike. In my experience the more diversity of stuff in the tank the more stable it is, so it might be worth it in the long run. I would love some feedback if anyone has experience with their live rock!

prokhk · Apr 27, 2025

The Kraken reef lid came in! Love the look. I also got the first corals for the tank and a couple of zoas. If these zoas do well, it will be time to fill it with coral!