Brand New 8 gallon bio cube

[living_tribunal]

I have one hobby where I enjoy spending all my money on and have a terrible taste for really expensive pieces of equipment, I have no idea what I'll do when we have kids!

Neither. Being a single reefer is a double whammy on the bank account, but then again so would being married

 

[living_tribunal]

I’m kind of starting to become a little proud of this redneck rig.


Could be worse 2 and a half months in.

 

[Dylan7huskies]

I am brand new to saltwater. My son got an 8 gallon bio cube. I know this is too small, but I promised I'd try. I have 1 piece of dead coral for decor and that's it. We hope to have 2 tiny fish and maybe 2 shrimp. We also like hermit crabs. What equipment, substrate would you guys suggest? I'd like to use easy (forgiving) live macro algae to help balance this tank. Please be kind with responses. I have been called names elsewhere and was referred here to learn.

Use the “Carib sea” I believe it’s called, for substrate. Looks great, comes in different colors and contains helpful bacteria. I’ve had my small 20gal running for about 5 months and I just have a heater, filter sock, bio cube protein skimmer, and UV light running and it seems to be just fine

 

[sfin52]

Use the “Carib sea” I believe it’s called, for substrate. Looks great, comes in different colors and contains helpful bacteria. I’ve had my small 20gal running for about 5 months and I just have a heater, filter sock, bio cube protein skimmer, and UV light running and it seems to be just fine

Welcome to the party. You are post 39,003. I do like Carib see Bahama oolite. It's really great for sand sleeping wrasses.

 

[living_tribunal]

Does anyone know the specific rate at which nitrate decreases phosphate (not entirely sure what to name the process so forgive me)?

 

[JoshH]

Welcome to the party. You are post 39,003. I do like Carib see Bahama oolite. It's really great for sand sleeping wrasses.

I've always wondered what the best substrate for them would be, I'm a Fiji pink kindof guy but haven't tried the oolite yet. I wanted to on my last build but got worried about it blowing around everywhere

 

[Magellan]

Only one expensive hobby?

The 3Gs: Golf, Guns, and Gaming!

 

[living_tribunal]

Does anyone know the specific rate at which nitrate decreases phosphate (not entirely sure what to name the process so forgive me)?

Interesting read regarding this: https://appliedecology.cals.ncsu.ed...-growth-nitrogen-impairs-but-phosphorus-aids/

 

[Magellan]

Does anyone know the specific rate at which nitrate decreases phosphate (not entirely sure what to name the process so forgive me)?

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a post with randy talking about it. Google his name and nitrate+phosphate ?

 

[sfin52]

I've always wondered what the best substrate for them would be, I'm a Fiji pink kindof guy but haven't tried the oolite yet. I wanted to on my last build but got worried about it blowing around everywhere

It's very fine grain. Think finer than sugar little courser than powder sugar

 

[Magellan]

I've always wondered what the best substrate for them would be, I'm a Fiji pink kindof guy but haven't tried the oolite yet. I wanted to on my last build but got worried about it blowing around everywhere

It’s what I have in my tank, if you’re talking about the really small particles. It blows around but then settles right away. It’s almost like it packs itself down, more like an ocean floor than what you typically see in most tanks. But really soft, my nassarius snails love it.

 

[living_tribunal]

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a post with randy talking about it. Google his name and nitrate+phosphate ?

Finding a lot of interesting stuff on how nitrate Andy phosphate interact with coral growth. It’s not what you’d expect.

Seems like my hunch about phosphates is correct.

 

[Magellan]

Interesting read regarding this: https://appliedecology.cals.ncsu.ed...-growth-nitrogen-impairs-but-phosphorus-aids/

It says the phosphorus needs to come from fish poops tho. Otherwise it risks skeletal integrity. Solution: a school of fish for your tank

 

[Magellan]

Finding a lot of interesting stuff on how nitrate Andy phosphate interact with coral growth. It’s not what you’d expect.

Seems like my hunch about phosphates is correct.

I needs more links! Great stuff so far

 

[living_tribunal]

This blurb essentially sums up everything I’ve found and the consensus among the scientific community:

“We determined the effects of elevated phosphate on coral growth and density. Genetically distinct colonies of Acropora muricata were sub-divided and distributed among three 110-L aquaria, and exposed to phosphate levels of 0.09, 0.20, and 0.50mgL−1 for four months. Total skeletal length, living tissue length, weight, branch production, and polyp extension were measured. Linear extension and tissue growth increased under all conditions. Growth rates were highest at a phosphate concentration of 0.50mgL−1. Weight increased through time, graded from low to high with phosphate concentration. Density decreased through time, and was significantly lowest in the high phosphate treatment. Phosphate concentration produced no visible effects of stress on the corals, as indicated by polyp extension and lack of mortality. It is suggested that the phosphate enhanced growth was due to increased zooxanthellar populations and photosynthetic production within the coral.”


The optimal nitrate to phosphate balance is 6.4-6.8.

Excess nitrate is significantly more damaging to corals than excess phosphates.

One the main reasons scientists attribute to the loss of our global reefs is phosphate reduction in the ocean.

Context-dependent effects of nutrient loading on the coral-algal mutualism | Request PDF

Request PDF | Context-dependent effects of nutrient loading on the coral-algal mutualism | Human-mediated increases in nutrient availability alter patterns of primary production, impact species diversity, and threaten ecosystem function.... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on...

www.researchgate.net

 

[living_tribunal]

Some more, fish poop has the optimal balance of n/p. An additional main catalysts for the loss of reefs is mass fishing.

Phosphate is absolutely mandatory for reef systems. Of course nitrate is too but it needs to be present and in very very low quantities.

The I’ll effect of high phosphate is significantly faster coral growth but at the expense of a more brittle skeleton. Nothing that would affect our corals in our tanks but certainly would in the wild.

 

[Magellan]

This blurb essentially sums up everything I’ve found and the consensus among the scientific community:

“We determined the effects of elevated phosphate on coral growth and density. Genetically distinct colonies of Acropora muricata were sub-divided and distributed among three 110-L aquaria, and exposed to phosphate levels of 0.09, 0.20, and 0.50mgL−1 for four months. Total skeletal length, living tissue length, weight, branch production, and polyp extension were measured. Linear extension and tissue growth increased under all conditions. Growth rates were highest at a phosphate concentration of 0.50mgL−1. Weight increased through time, graded from low to high with phosphate concentration. Density decreased through time, and was significantly lowest in the high phosphate treatment. Phosphate concentration produced no visible effects of stress on the corals, as indicated by polyp extension and lack of mortality. It is suggested that the phosphate enhanced growth was due to increased zooxanthellar populations and photosynthetic production within the coral.”


The optimal nitrate to phosphate balance is 6.4-6.8.

Excess nitrate is significantly more damaging to corals than excess phosphates.

One the main reasons scientists attribute to the loss of our global reefs is phosphate reduction in the ocean.

Context-dependent effects of nutrient loading on the coral-algal mutualism | Request PDF

Request PDF | Context-dependent effects of nutrient loading on the coral-algal mutualism | Human-mediated increases in nutrient availability alter patterns of primary production, impact species diversity, and threaten ecosystem function.... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on...

www.researchgate.net

Whoa whoa whoa, that didn’t alarm you? For the same reasons as the other post? “Density decreased through time, and was significantly lower in the high phosphate treatment”. And that was over a period of just four months! Imagine if someone offered you a pill that would make you taller but give you terrible osteoporosis. The more you took, the more osteoporosis. Would you take the pill?

 

[Magellan]

Some more, fish poop has the optimal balance of n/p. An additional main catalysts for the loss of reefs is mass fishing.

Phosphate is absolutely mandatory for reef systems. Of course nitrate is too but it needs to be present and in very very low quantities.

The I’ll effect of high phosphate is significantly faster coral growth but at the expense of a more brittle skeleton. Nothing that would affect our corals in our tanks but certainly would in the wild.

The best reefs always seem to have a ton of fish. That’s where my thoughts went at least! @JoshH this clearly means you should get the copperband ;Hilarious

 

[living_tribunal]

“... Phosphate is critical for photosynthesis, likely from its multiple products in the Calvin cycle (e.g., Martin et al. 2000), although this has not been specifically examined in zoooxanthellae. Likewise, phospholipids are incorporated into the organic matrix of corals and may be vital for the control of nucleation and crystal growth of the skeleton (Ferrier-Pagès et al. 2016 and contained references). However, an undersupply of phosphate coupled to an increase in inorganic nitrogen disrupts photosynthesis and causes a loss of coral biomass, ultimately leading to coral disease and bleaching ( Rosenberg et al. 2007;Wiedenmann et al. 2012;Rosset et al. 2017). ...”

(PDF) Coral Food, Feeding, Nutrition, and Secretion: A Review

PDF | Tropical scleractinian corals are dependent to varying degrees on their photosymbiotic partners. Under normal levels of temperature and... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

www.researchgate.net

 

[living_tribunal]

Whoa whoa whoa, that didn’t alarm you? For the same reasons as the other post? “Density decreased through time, and was significantly lower in the high phosphate treatment”. And that was over a period of just four months! Imagine if someone offered you a pill that would make you taller but give you terrible osteoporosis. The more you took, the more osteoporosis. Would you take the pill?

As I mentioned earlier, while this is important in the barrier reefs, it’s not nearly as porous as you think and has no bearing on the corals in our tank. As noted in the study, there was no stress observed or mortalities. In fact, polyp extension was longer as well as photosynthetic rate of zooxanthelle.