The Evolution of a NanoCube

[Symbiotic]

I started my JBJ 24G DX a little over a year ago and never really put together a thread documenting its history so I will share it with you pictorially. I started the tank on February 23, 2008 (previously only having ever owned a fish only salt tank with crushed coral base and undergravel filters - yes, I am that old), with about 25 lbs of live rock and 20 lbs of live sand. About a month into the tank, I found "TheReefTank" and "Nano-Reef" websites and spent a lot of time there reading and learning.

 

And before I go off into the show, I would like to thank Tony and Matt of Bob's and Star respectively as well as all the staff of both shops as they have been immensely helpful and supplied me with some sweet corals!

 

Here we are at week 3. What I learned, don't start your tank with tap water; I had a beautiful diatom bloom. But the tank had cycled and I added a cleanup crew (CUC) and two fish (later I would regret adding the bicolor).

 

Here we are at week 5; I finally added my first corals, two zoanthids, xenia, green and red montipora. I was off, running, and nervous - how could anyone keep live coral?

 

Here we are at week 8, lots more corals and the tank was looking good and one of these days I will learn to take my shots at night to avoid glare! What was I to learn later? GSP is a weed! Someday I need to get my flathead screw driver out!

 

Here we are at week 11, some minor rearranging, look how much the pink zoas have grown in three weeks!

 

Here we are at week 22, everything is growing and happy!

 

Here we are at week 38, see that killer in the middle (the bicolor), well he has killed a cleaner and two peppermint shrimp, six-line and green clown goby! Ack, don't buy one!

 

Killer Apprehended - Trail at Noon! Actually Jorge was kind enough to give him a home!

 

Anyway, it's finally Happy 1st Birthday and I love this Sport! (Unfortunately the 6-line died for some unknown reason and later the firefish would go carpet surfing )

 

And finally, I decided I needed to diversify and ripped the top off my JBJ and added a Nova Pro Extreme that seemed to be gathering dust at one of the LFS and my colors are starting to pop! I'll add some more shots later when the effects of the new light are even more noticeable. But here is the full tank shot, sitting next to our bed; picture dated April 5, 2009.

 

What I have........

 

JBJ 24G DX stock system plus one nano-Kroalia well hidden in the caves

 

Fish 1-Ocellaris, 1-Yellow Clown Goby, 1-Pygmy Angel

 

CUC - 4 Nassarious, 4 Astrea (which has multiplied to 20ish), 2 Bumble Bee and 1 Margarita Snail; 4 Blue and 4 Red Leg Hermits; 1 Emerald Crabs

 

Coral - Pink/Green Birds Nest; Red/Green Montipora Capricornus; Galaxia; Green Star Polyp; 7 palythoa/zoanthids of various colors; Yellow Button Polyps; Pulsing Xenia; Mushroom Rock 3 varieties; Sun Coral; Candy Cane; Acan Echinata; Frogspawn; and a Fox Coral

[veshman]

I love tanks where everything is just covered in zoas!

 

I can't believe how much growth you're getting! Do you dose anything?

[addicted2reefer]

That is AWESOME , wow, you see alot of growth. congrats on a awesome tank. I have a 24g NANO and was thinkin about the HQI upgrade, can ya tell us more about that light? PC and what was the wattage upgrade.

and how bad is the evap without a lid?

[Symbiotic]

I love this sport!

 

I love tanks where everything is just covered in zoas!

 

I can't believe how much growth you're getting! Do you dose anything?

I am dosing with 5 mls of Kent A/B every other day. I'm trying to convince the LFS to sell me some whammin watermelons (?), he has a fottball sized rock and I am offering 10-20 for just a wee bit of a frag :-). I don't think he has it figured out yet that he can parse that rock out into about $400 worth of frags.

 

That is AWESOME , wow, you see alot of growth. congrats on a awesome tank. I have a 24g NANO and was thinkin about the HQI upgrade, can ya tell us more about that light? PC and what was the wattage upgrade.

and how bad is the evap without a lid?

Everything was grwon under the stock PC's (2 PC bulbs, 72 watts total). The Nova Pro Extreme is 6 bulbs, 108 watts total and my colors are starting to pop! Some hydnophora that I assumed dead under PC's is now showing polyp extension! Evaporation, what evaporation (hah), I don't have a heat issue any more, just a loss of about 1 gallon per week whereas I lost only a quart with the stock hood if I kept the lid open. So yes, evaporation is now an issue but I welcome the drop in tank temperature with the summer coming.

 

As Always,

 

I am Symbiotic