Biocube 29 and 10g Reboot

[Lazydayz]

Tank looked really nice with the moonlight tonight, so I tried the night setting on my Samsung S10 and think it came out pretty good!

 

[Lazydayz]

Started cleaning up the acrylic. It amazing what a little bit of dawn and some elbow grease can do! I still have to carefully scrape some more silicone off (they used sooo much, it was almost an inch thick in places) and the paper was left on the bottom of the acrylic so it isn't coming off without a fight.

Next I'll probably cut down the acrylic some since there was a little damage and most of the bonding was so bad I easily pulled them apart. So I think if I trim it that will make for a better bond. I'm looking at the dimensions being roughly 35"x21"x11" which works out to about 35 gallons.
Clowns are happy and healthy just waiting for the fallow period to end so I can get them back in the biocube. Still can't tell if the peppermint shrimp are eating the apstia or not. Corals are still thriving so I guess I'll just have to take the good with the bad for now!

 

[jk_s124]

Just caught up on your thread. I think I was missing updates. Wow a lot has happened in a few months! I’m sorry for the losses. But great job on saving your clownfish! The frag tank looks like it’s coming together. Good luck with that project. A frag tank is something I would really like to have someday. It would be nice to have a few frags of everything just for piece of mind if nothing else. And the stand you built looks great too! Did that get finished yet?

 

[Lazydayz]

Just caught up on your thread. I think I was missing updates. Wow a lot has happened in a few months! I’m sorry for the losses. But great job on saving your clownfish! The frag tank looks like it’s coming together. Good luck with that project. A frag tank is something I would really like to have someday. It would be nice to have a few frags of everything just for piece of mind if nothing else. And the stand you built looks great too! Did that get finished yet?

Thank you! I've always wanted to build my own Acrylic aquarium and when I found this one for $20 I figured it was a great way to practice for the big tank I'd like to build. The stand isn't done yet I've been slowly buying the material and debating how I want to finish it on the outside. I found some nice vinyl wood look planks that I wrapped my kitchen island in, and was thinking about doing the same to the stand but have been seeing so many really nice stand builds on here so my mind keeps changing haha. I did get the last of the supports in it and put the top on.

 

[Lazydayz]

Been a while since I've done an update. Crazy month with everything going on, I haven't really had time to work on the new tank or stand . Lots of house projects that were on hold are now getting done. Corals are still happy, the fallow period is over so I put the clowns back in the Biocube tonight. I also picked up a filefish from a nearby reefer that needed to rehome him. Started to slowly raise copper levels up in the 10 gallon. So far he has been eating and swimming all over the place!

The peppermint shrimp have definitely been munching on some Aiptasia but I think they still needed a little bit of help so fingers crossed that between them and the filefish I won't see anymore soon! After Easter I start another 10 day rotation off work so I hope I'll be able to get a little time to finish up the stand. I hope everyone is healthy and staying safe!

 

[Lazydayz]

Filefish is done QT! Placed him in the biocube last night, he started picking at the aipistia immediately.

Also started using reef flux since I got some bryopsis. Took some day 1 pictures to track the progress.

I ordered Red Sea Reef Energy AB+ that came today and also got my tracking number for the ingredients to make my frozen food from @Bulk Reef Supply, I can't wait to give it a try!

 

[jk_s124]

Your filefish looks happy to have broken out if qt! I think we all can empathize a bit . Good luck with the reef flux. I have used it myself before and I think it worked well. Have you considered vibrant? Also I don’t think I had noticed your modified canopy. That is really cool!

 

[Lazydayz]

Your filefish looks happy to have broken out if qt! I think we all can empathize a bit . Good luck with the reef flux. I have used it myself before and I think it worked well. Have you considered vibrant? Also I don’t think I had noticed your modified canopy. That is really cool!

I was looking at vibrant as well and it seems like there is a 50/50 split between people that recommend vibrant and people that recommend reef flux. If it doesn't get rid of it in a month I think I will definitely try the vibrant. The canopy actually isn't modified it's the old Oceanic brand HQI which I think I bought the last year of them selling them. The only thing that I don't like about it is in the front corners there are openings and that's how my goby got out ☹.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

I got rid of the metal halide that came with the tank and purchased the 30W Hipargero LED off Amazon, also I was told that the tank needed color right away so I got an artificial rock structure with coral and a silicon anemone. The clowns love it and its way easier to care for!

Where did you find the pink anemone? I bought a glofish white one and was hoping my future clownfish would love it. This is great to hear. My tank is cycling...

 

[jk_s124]

Oh I see those openings now that you mention it. Well that’s too bad. Other than that I really like the design and looks. I think the reeflux will work great. I use a half a dose of vibrant every week now as maintenance. It’s seems to help keep the glass clear of the hard green algae that builds up in the front corners and around the top and bottom edges.

 

[Lazydayz]

Where did you find the pink anemone? I bought a glofish white one and was hoping my future clownfish would love it. This is great to hear. My tank is cycling...

I actually found it on Amazon

It took the clowns a little bit of time to host it but it worked great. I do recommend cleaning it weekly to biweekly as it did like to accumulate algae. But warm water, toothbrush and eco friendly dish soap kept it looking nice.

 

[Lazydayz]

Oh I see those openings now that you mention it. Well that’s too bad. Other than that Inreslly like the design and looks. I think the reeflux will work great. I use a half a dose of vibrant every week now as maintenance. It’s seems to help keep the glass clear of the hard green algae that builds up in the front corners and around the top and bottom edges.

Thank you! Wow a half dose a week those are amazing results, your tank is stunning! How long does a bottle last you if you dont mind me asking?

 

[jk_s124]

I just started last November and I haven’t made a dent in the 8 oz bottle I have. I dose 1.5 mls per week. Seems to keep it so I have to clean the glass once or twice a week. Just dirty enough to keep my astrea snails busy and fed. I have read that vibrant has some dangers if not used right. It can cause nutrient imbalances. So I tread lightly and keep an eye on my nitrates and phosphates. The reef flux works great though to attack an outbreak of algae. I used it to knock back some hair algae and did the trick.

 

[Lazydayz]

Reef flux is working great. 6 days in and all the bryopsis is almost all gone, and the GHA is thinning out.

Got some more of the stand work done yesterday. I'm going to paint the stand and slide the tank over so I can finish ship lapping the wall for my wife.

I have decided I like the ship lap so much that I'm going to ship lap the outside of the stand and add a white plastic cutting board on top of the small side of the stand as a work/fragging station.

The trim on the top edge is leftover PVC 1"×2" trim I had in the garage, hopefully that helps reduce the risk of any water damage down the road.

 

[jk_s124]

Looking great. Clever idea about the cutting board for a fragging section.

 

[Lazydayz]

Looking great. Clever idea about the cutting board for a fragging section.

Thank you! Fingers crossed it turns out as planned haha.

 

[Lazydayz]

Got the stand painted thanks to my little helper!

Moved it inside to transfer the tank over so it can be moved off the wall. Almost finished the ship lap wall then we are painting the wall that was behind the tank since it is moved and we wanted to paint eventually. Found out that I unwillingly built a viewing platform for the cat .

Got my order from BRS the other day so now it's time to try my hand at homemade frozen food

 

[Lazydayz]

I forgot to update about the reef flux. I'm a week and a half in to the treatment and all the bryopsis seems to be gone! The GHA seems to be on it's way out as well.

Also in the last picture you can see the Duncan's color is really starting to pop. I believe this is due to me dosing the new AB+ Reef Energy by Red Sea. The corals seem to be loving it and the acans actually show a feeding response now!

 

[Lazydayz]

So I made my very first batch of fish food! I used the basic Reef chili recipe from BRS and tweaked it slightly. It yielded 18- 1 quart bags, I think I'm going to have food for a good while!

Since today is my birthday and both my wife and I had to work, she is taking me to a couple of LFS' to get a couple of fish on Wednesday that I've been wanting for a while. I'm super excited and really hope I can find a few of them! Next update will hopefully have them in QT

 

[jk_s124]

First off happy birthday! After seeing your corals from your last post I’m thinking about getting a coral food. Your frozen food looks great too. Looks like you will be set for awhile. What kind of fish are you thinking about getting?