Aaron G's Biocube 29

[Aaron Gustafson]

A zoom on the left side of the tank.

Pictured (clockwise from top left):

Montipora Setosa
Unknown sparkley blue palys ( I call them Cosmos)
Utter Chaos
Crimson & Gold Leptastrea
ORA Bird of Paradise
Purple Hornets
Chiquitas
Daisies
Scarfaces
Blue Agaves
Green Blastomussa
Oxides
Superman Blastomussa Merletti

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

A few new pic:

Chiquitas

Blue agave palys and our pink rock flower ’nem

Gorgeous Yuma ricordea

Utter chaos

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

It’s been a minute since I last updated this thread. A few things have changed.

Current Equipment

• AI Prime - primary light
• Marineland Accent Hidden LED - Supplemental on front (1 blue, 1 red) & rear (1 blue) under the rim
• 2 TrueLumen Aquatic LED Strips (10-Inch) on the sides under the rim
• Hydor Slim Skim Nano
  
• Neptune Apex 2017
• Cobalt Aquatics Power Head/Pump MJ1200 - return
  
• Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm Heater, 100 watt
  
• Jebao RW-4

Fish

• Yellow Coris Wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus)
• Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica)

SPS

• Aussie Baby Blue Acropora
• Tricolor Acropora Valida
• ORA Bird of Paradise
• Forest Fire Montipora Digitata
• Orange Montipora Setosa

LPS

• Dragon Soul Favia
• Unknown Trachyphyllia (hitch hiker)
• Metallic Green Trumpet Coral (Caulastrea curvata)
• Superman Blastomussa
• Gold Leptastrea
  
• Jason Fox John Deere Leptastrea
• White Australian Pipe Organ Coral (Tubipora musica)
• Green & White Pipe Organ Coral (Tubipora musica)

Zoas & Palys

• Devil’s Armor Palythoas
• Sunny D Palythoas
• Nightmare Palythoas
  
• Red People Eater Palythoas
  
• Nuclear Green Palythoa
• Utter Chaos Zoanthids
• Gorilla Nipples Zoanthids
• Rasta Zoanthids
• Blue Eyed Blond Zoanthids
• Fire & Ice Zoanthids
• Jungle Juice Zoanthids
  
• Purple Hornet Zoanthids
• Eye of Rah Zoanthids
• Oxide Zoanthids
• Unidentified Zoanthid (purple with green mouth ring & skirt)
• Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoanthids

Mushrooms

• Golden Yuma
• Yellow & teal Ricordia florida
• Green Striped Mushroom
• Purple & Blue Mushrooms

Other Inverts

• Red Rock Flower Anemone
• Peppermint Shrimp
• Hermits galore
• Trochus snails
• Cerinth snails

More photos forthcoming…

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Whoops forgot a few things:

• Rainbow Acan Lord
• Scarface Palythoa
• Pandora Palythoa
• Galactic Zoanthids
• Large Feather Duster Worm

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

A few (relatively) new photos

 

[Tahoe61]

Beautiful.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Beautiful.

Thanks!

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Planning some major upgrades to the ’cube. The aim is better lighting and more stability. I also want to try switching to the Triton Method, using the ’fuge in the sump and converting part of the rear chamber into an additional ’fuge area. I’m eventually planning to upgrade to a RedSea Peninsula, so most of this is a little overpowered for my 29-gallon, but I want I’d rather not have to buy this stuff again, so…

Here’s the current list of what I’m looking to buy (and why):

• SeaSide Aquatics R-50 Sump
  This looks to be as large as I can go in the BioCube stand without going with a custom sump. It has enough room for everything and includes a decently-sized ’fuge.
• Marine Depot Overflow Box OF-300
  Need to check the size on this. Will probably require some trimming of the rear compartment separators.
• Neptune Systems COR-15
  If it’s available when I start purchasing stuff later this month. I want the DC so I can turn it way down for this tiny tank.
  Alternative: Reef Octopus VarioS-2 Controllable DC Circulation Pump
• Neptune Systems LDK Leak Detection Kit
  If I’m gonna run a sump, I need some water-leakage security. It will also help my marriage.
• Neptune Systems ATK
  I’m tired of topping off by hand.
• Neptune Systems OS-1-MOptical Level Sensor with Magnetic Mount
  Gonna drop this in the ATO container.
• Neptune DOS & DDR x2
  Going Triton (which requires 4 dosers) and I want precision on account of the small tank (and smaller margin of error).
• Eshopps S-Series Protein Skimmer S-120
  Small footprint and quiet. Has good reviews too.
• EcoTech Marine Radion XR15w G4 Pro
  I’m thinking of going with the Aquatic Life Hybrid T5 Light 48 Inch Fixture with LED Mounting System with 3-4 XR15Ws over the peninsula. I also hope to add the diffuser when it becomes available. For now I’ll use the RMS mount.
• Neptune Systems Apex Ecotech Marine Wireless Expansion Module (WXM)
  I’d like to run everything through the Apex if possible.

I’ll be adding plumbing too, but I still need to figure that out. Since I’m only planning on this being temporary, I may go with flex rather than rigid plumbing.

Any comments or feedback is more than welcome!

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Nice looking list!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Very nice!

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

We finally moved and I've gotten in most of the equipment for the new build. Still waiting on my COR-15 to ship. In the meantime I started doing the plumbing and the overflow is almost done and I'm about halfway through the return course.

In sad news, I somehow lost a bunch of candy corals in the middle of my huge colony, so I decided to frag it up and sell it to my LFS once I knew the remains were stable. I kept 4 heads to start a new one. But that cleared out a ton of room up to for acros, so it's not a total loss.

Pix of the plumbing setup forthcoming. I'm pretty proud of the work. It's been a while since I've worked with PVC.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Attached is the sketch of my plumbing plan. It's changed a little, but this is pretty close.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Just got confirmation that my COR is en route from BRS. So excited!

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Ok, plumbing is done and everything is hooked up. Here are some shots of the plumbing and sump section.

Return plumbing (1" with check valve):

Overflow plumbing (1"):

Close-up of the switch to 1/2" flex:

Close-up of the overflow box (had to do some plastic trimming to fit it):

Trimmed the covers to fit the plumbing:

Full sump shot:

Attempted shot into the return chamber with the COR and ATK (still have some wires to clean up):

Side shot of the sump:

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

New FTS

 

[Scubafrog]

WOW! Looks great.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

WOW! Looks great.

Thanks! Sadly I may be breaking it down this summer for a move to the other coast. I'm planning to keep most of the hardware & corals, re-home the fish, and the jury is currently out on whether I'll keep the tank or pick up a new one. Looking for new tank options now, knowing that I can't go too big as our first place in Seattle would likely be small, a rental, and somewhat temporary.

That said, I want something with a sump, preferably with a refugium area and a bit more room in the stand for my 2x DOS & DDRs. Looking at the Waterbox 40.1.

 

[Scubafrog]

Looking at the Waterbox 40.1.

Good choice. On sale right now for $699 with coupon.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Good choice. On sale right now for $699 with coupon.

Sadly, I’m not moving until June… Hopefully it will be on sale again around then.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

The skimmer's been going a little nuts and I'm not sure if it had anything to do with flow increases I've programmed in with the COR, but it's been annoying.