29g Biocube

[Copingwithpods]

Some goodies came in. I looked everywhere trying to find someone who has used this pump in a biocube and found nothing so tomorrow we will find out. Also picked up some pond filter in anticipation of the higher flow and of course the replacement uv Iight that let out the magic smoke.

 

[Copingwithpods]

So it fits but not without removing the guard. Also because it is such a tight fit it isn't exactly quiet it must be hitting on of the side walls causing vibration noise. Not enough to make me chuck it but I can Def hear it. The flow it puts out is great and the tunability is awesome I'm so glad I went with this and not the mj1200.

At full blast it is too much flow and blows the sand everywhere, I have it set at 12watts just about half power and combined with the random flow generator it's doing great for clearing detritus. The mj1200 would 100 percent been the wrong option for my setup.

On a different note, what I thought was the mj900 was actually the mj600 which explains so much now. And come to think of it a certain vendor owes me a refund as I paid for a 900 and got a 900 box with an mj600 in it. No wonder I was disappointed with its flow.

 

[Copingwithpods]

Thought I'd share a few updates.

Finally got the Nero5 and so far so good. Knew if I wanted any sps I would need way more flow.

Glad I went with the DC pump, feed time is so much easier now just hit feed mode on the return and the Nero and I'm set. Interesting note, the return has been completely silent now. I guess it had to break in?

So with my stand being so small and space at a premium, I had to mount my dosing container on top my ato resevior, here my solution to filling the ato.

Hose clips onto the door, 3 gallons go in, then it's tucked back into place.

With summer on the way I added 2 more fans (40mm) to aid in avaporative cooling and added a 120mm to cool the fuge light.

Temperatures at the heat sinks are now below ambient which is fantastic. Should help tons on those hot summer nights. Before the fan the fuge light was raising water temp by 2 degrees. Not a problem now but in a few months it will be a huge deal.

Recent additions are a few sps, some more montis, a few zoas and a chalice,more incoming tomorrow.

Currently tunning in my dosing pumps and refugium schedule, man it's alot of work, been testing parameters like crazy.

 

[Copingwithpods]

Found a headlight wrap laying around the house and wouldn't you know it works pretty good for tank shots.

 

[Copingwithpods]

So something odd is happening with my pom pom crab, I just saw her for a split second (has been hiding more than usual) and snapped some quick but blurry pictures.

Either she has a clutch of eggs or she stole my condy anemone as it is currently missing and is for what ever reason carrying it around.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[Nico_853853]

That's one of the nicest tanks i've seen. How did you get your corals colors to pop so much? I wish my tank looked like that!

 

[Copingwithpods]

That's one of the nicest tanks i've seen. How did you get your corals colors to pop so much? I wish my tank looked like that!

Thank you very much. And to be honest I don't know. The pictures above are pretty close to real life but not quiet maybe 90%, I'm using a fog light filter for my phone and it throws my contrast off, some corals just look like color blobs. One of the saddest truths you'll find is that most people's tanks don't look anything like the pictures, I've often wondered why some people's corals looked so much better than mine and it turns out they just have a better camera/filter. Not to say that proper lighting and coral nutrition don't play a role in making a coral look it's best but theres definitely some added pazzas that only comes from the camera.

Same reason that coral you bought looked 10x better from the vendors pictures than in your tank.

 

[Copingwithpods]

Thinking of doing some aquascaping and adding a few more rocks, need more room for future coral placement. One problem, where to even begin...

 

[Treenk]

I'm not even sure how you attached that much to the rocks, or how you keep it so clean. How is your growth rates going.

 

[Copingwithpods]

I'm not even sure how you attached that much to the rocks, or how you keep it so clean. How is your growth rates going.

100% transparency here, short answer is recovering. In the 14 growth rates were great after transferring to the 29 there were a few hiccups and a few destabilizing events that either slowed or retarded growth. First one being the transfer itself, lots of corals lost color and there were times were I didn't think some of them would make it, a few didn't with the second destabilizing event. This one caused by me, got the calcium and Alkalinity lines mixed up with my doses, thought I was dosing cal, was actually dosing alk... Yikes! Alk was above 14. It was very depressing watching corals retract and color fade, not to mention all my hard earned coraline algae bleached and died within hours. With a spike came a huge dip which didn't help.

Now with more knowledge and careful parameter monitoring I've been able to stabilize everything but the damage is done. Nothing good happens fast and I can tell everything is slowly recovering but it isn't 100% there yet. That's why I said in the beginning, recovering. Since then I've added easy sps and even 2 acros which are all doing good. Growth as of late has been great and I can tell things are starting to pick up again, specially with more flow. The sps and lps are pulling more and more alk and cal so I know they are happy and growing, the pretty pink algae is yet to recover but I know that will take time.

My apologies for the novel just didn't want to post a super fake answer that was misleading.

 

[reefiniteasy]

If the fans don’t work give this a shot.

Chill Solutions CSXC-1 Unboxing and Installation

I purchased the Chill Solutions CSXC-1 hydroponic chiller for my 16 gallon BioCube. Even after taking the top off the cube, high weekend temperatures in my classroom were causing a small spike in temp. I want my aquarium to consistently be at 77 degrees. There are a few videos on YouTube and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Copingwithpods]

If the fans don’t work give this a shot.

Chill Solutions CSXC-1 Unboxing and Installation

I purchased the Chill Solutions CSXC-1 hydroponic chiller for my 16 gallon BioCube. Even after taking the top off the cube, high weekend temperatures in my classroom were causing a small spike in temp. I want my aquarium to consistently be at 77 degrees. There are a few videos on YouTube and...

www.reef2reef.com

Super cool thanks for sharing, I'll keep that in mind.

 

[Copingwithpods]

As to how I keep it clean, I have some help.

1 sand sifting star
1 red sea star
1 lettuce nudibranch
1 longspine urchin
1 pistol shrimp
4 scarlet hermits
4 blue hermits
3 Halloween hermits
2 blue tip hermits
4 baby hermit (for the pistol)
2 trochus snails
2 astrea snails
2 spiney star snails
1 super Tongan snail
4 bumblebee snails
2 turban snails
1 fighting conch
1 emerald crab
1 pom Pom crab

I'm sure I'm missing one or two.

I like inverts, in my opinion it isn't a reef without them.

 

[Treenk]

That's one heck of a cleanup crew you have. Seems to work though. I'm thinking of changing my water flow in my 29g is it just that one powerhead on the left? And how strong is it?

 

[Copingwithpods]

That's one heck of a cleanup crew you have. Seems to work though. I'm thinking of changing my water flow in my 29g is it just that one powerhead on the left? And how strong is it?

Just the one powerhead and a return pump upgrade. It's the AI Nero5, I have it set at 35%max so about 1000gph, any more than that and it's a sand tornado. The return is the mightyjet 326ghp, I added a random flow nozzle that seams to really help the sand stay in place.

 

[Treenk]

dang I have way too little of flow if that's the case

 

[Copingwithpods]

dang I have way too little of flow if that's the case

Depends what you have really I've see some great tanks with just a return pump upgrades and no powerheads

 

[RiversideReefer]

nice tank! how long after I've had fish in the tank would you recommend I start introducing some clean up crews?

 

[Copingwithpods]

nice tank! how long after I've had fish in the tank would you recommend I start introducing some clean up crews?

Thank you.

That depends on how clean your system is and how much you feed. If there are little to no signs of algae they will probably go hungry and could starve. If you feed enough that your fish let food reach the bottom they might be able to get by with that until you get enough algae to sustain them.

I know most clean up crew members are advertised as "will eat uneaten fish food" and what not but in my tank which I don't feed much no food ever reaches the rocks or sand. Once in a while I'll pick one lucky winner and give them a whole mysis shrimp just for fun. Not necessary but cool to watch how happy they get.

What ever you decide to do, do it slowly add only a couple at a time maybe 2 crabs 2 snails to start (depending on tank size) and move up from there as needed. Remember the clean up crew also add to your bioload and in a new tank it's best to take additions slow.

 

[RiversideReefer]

Thank you.

That depends on how clean your system is and how much you feed. If there are little to no signs of algae they will probably go hungry and could starve. If you feed enough that your fish let food reach the bottom they might be able to get by with that until you get enough algae to sustain them.

I know most clean up crew members are advertised as "will eat uneaten fish food" and what not but in my tank which I don't feed much no food ever reaches the rocks or sand. Once in a while I'll pick one lucky winner and give them a whole mysis shrimp just for fun. Not necessary but cool to watch how happy they get.

What ever you decide to do, do it slowly add only a couple at a time maybe 2 crabs 2 snails to start (depending on tank size) and move up from there as needed. Remember the clean up crew also add to your bioload and in a new tank it's best to take additions slow.

thanks for the information!