dfcn07 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 dfcn07's 12g Nano Cube DX 2/12/12 Finally decided add my tank to the NR! After tons of research and reading, I finally decided that I was ready to start my very first saltwater tank. It has been about 108 days since I first started it on 10/29/2011, and so far everything has been smooth! *knocks on wood* The most recent FTS that I have is from 63 days ago, so I will update this post as soon as I take a more recent one. For those with a pinterest.com account... Here is my site where I am storing my pictures and also picture blogging my tank... http://pinterest.com/7defcon/my-12-gallon-nano-cube-dx/ The pictures can be seen with an even greater magnification/size at this site, for those who want to see them. ... and for those wondering. These pictures were taken with my iPhone 4. I got some surprisingly good pictures with it. - Michael Tank: JBJ Nano Cube DX 12 gallon. Lighting: 2 x 50/50 (10k/Actinic) Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (9:30am - 6:30pm | 9hrs) 1 x 453nm Actinic LED (9:00am - 7:00pm | 10hrs) Rear Sump: Chamber 1: Oceanic BioCube Protein Skimmer Chamber 2: Chaetomorpha w/ JBJ Nano-Glo 4-LED Magnetic Refugium Light (reverse lighting cycle) Chamber 3: Chemi-Pure Elite + Purigen + Maxi-Jet 900 Pro (230gph) Heater: Fluval E Series 50 Watt Circulation: Marine Innovation Spin Stream Return Nozzle Hydor Koralia Nano 240gph Rock/Sand: 13-14lbs of Dry Aragonite Reef Sand 15-17lbs of Dry Rock Inverts: 1 x Trochus Snail 3 x Astrea Snails 4 x Nassarius Snails 2 x Emerald Crabs 2 x Electric Blue Legged Hermit Crabs 1 x Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp Fish: 2 x True Percula Clownfish (Mated Pair). Names = F: Belle / M: Beast (Getting rid of 1) 1 x Tail Spot Blenny. Name = Blenny Kravitz 1 x Helfrichi Firefish. Name = Valentine Coral: Coming soon... ------------------------------------- Day 1: Dry aragonite sand, dry rock, and aquascaping added. Let the cycle begin. Day 10-20?: Post-Nitrogen Cycle, Pre-Diatom/Algae Bloom. Updated aquascaping. Fish: 0 Inverts: 0 Day 20: Clean-up crew: Electric blue-legged hermit crab. A scavenger that eats diatoms, green hair algae, and uneaten food that falls on the ground. Day 20: Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp: A scavenger that cleans fish and inverts. Also eats unwanted parasites. Day 27: Diatom bloom/New tank syndrome: Clean-up crews buffet. Haha. Day 36: Post-diatom bloom: Clean-up crew did well. MVP cleaner = Jose the Trochus snail. He can be seen hanging on the glass on the left side of the tank. Day 38: Mated pair of True Percula clown fish have been added. The female is named Belle (Bigger of the 2) and the male is named Beast. The electric blue-legged crab that's photobombing the picture is Sheldon. =p Day 45: Full Tank Shot under Ecoxotic Par38 20k LEDs. Belle and Beast swimming around and Grendel the hermit crab on the bottom sifting the sand for food. Also in the picture, Doctor the shrimp. Day 47: 453nm Actinic Full Tank Shot! Day 86: Emerald Crab named Alfredo has been added. Added to help control the GHA(Green Hair Algae). Day 86: Added a Tail Spotted Blenny named Kravitz to help out with the GHA(Green Hair Algae) control. Get the name?... Blenny Kravitz? Haha! This is somewhat a bad picture. Day 106: Close-up picture of my female True Perc, Belle. Day 106: Kravitz the Blenny. My favorite in the tank. He's definitely the most innocent. And he most definitely has more color than when I first added him. He's always perching and grazing on the rocks for algae. Eat poop sleep. That's his cycle. Haha! Day 109: Added a Helfrichi Firefish. Naming her Val... short for Valentine. Day 110: Side view video of my Nano Cube. Featuring Belle and Beast (Percula pair), Kravitz (Tail Spot Blenny), and Valentine (Helfrichi Firefish). This video was taken because all the fish decided to come to this side as I was taking pictures of Val. My fish are attention whores. ... And here is the most recent and cleanest picture I can take of my newest addition, Val. She's really tiny, about 1.5 inches long. Link to comment
buddythelion Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Nice thread Michael! I see that you like to name your stuff too! Hahaha. Get some coral already! That is one clean (in terms of algae) tank! My blenny, Puppy, does the same thing! Eat poop and rest. Then repeat! Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Nice thread Michael! I see that you like to name your stuff too! Hahaha. Get some coral already! That is one clean (in terms of algae) tank! My blenny, Puppy, does the same thing! Eat poop and rest. Then repeat! Haha! Thanks Buddy. The pictures can be deceiving. My rocks are now turning green/brownish with small spots of purple coralline algae. I'm hoping the rocks will eventually be fully covered with purple. Link to comment
buddythelion Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Haha! Thanks Buddy. The pictures can be deceiving. My rocks are now turning green/brownish with small spots of purple coralline algae. I'm hoping the rocks will eventually be fully covered with purple. Purple and stuff is a good sign! Hmm, what's your maintenance schedule like? Mine turn purple after I decided to change water once a week. My rocks still aren't fully purple yet though. I bet it's cuz I'm not dosing. Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Purple and stuff is a good sign! Hmm, what's your maintenance schedule like? Mine turn purple after I decided to change water once a week. My rocks still aren't fully purple yet though. I bet it's cuz I'm not dosing. I make my own saltwater mix with Red Sea Coral Pro and RODI water at 1.026sg mixture. I do a 20-30% water change every 2 weeks. But I did dose Purple Tech maybe 2-3 times in a span of 1 week about 50 days ago. The only change I saw back then was an increase in GHA growth. I'm not fully sure if it's related though. Eventually purple spots started forming everywhere about 20 days ago. The growth seemed exponential. Growing on the rocks, the glass, the black plastic back wall, snail and hermit crab shells. But all just spots. So I started dosing again to make sure I maintained pH of 8.3, Ca of around 440, and Alk of between 8-10. I'm really trying to encourage its growth. Now, I can't claim that Kent Purple Tech is helping it, but I think the biggest change was when I took a small piece of live rock with purple coralline on it and scraped the purple into dust particals into the tank. Link to comment
gena Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yay...a tank thread It looks awesome!!!! Did you get your rock from Mark's in Studio City? I ask because it reminds me a lot of Danielle's (surgicalsense). Love the shelves, a lot!!!!!! Fish are so pretty too. Did you get the percs from Mark's as well? You definitely need to start adding some coral Link to comment
Deckoz2302 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Nice tank. Excellent choice on the salt, RSCP is awesome. Link to comment
ScubaEthan Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Belle and Beast are hot! And Kravitz has some nice war paint. The rockscape makes for some good crab hiding places. Have any coral plans? Link to comment
buddythelion Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I make my own saltwater mix with Red Sea Coral Pro and RODI water at 1.026sg mixture. I do a 20-30% water change every 2 weeks. But I did dose Purple Tech maybe 2-3 times in a span of 1 week about 50 days ago. The only change I saw back then was an increase in GHA growth. I'm not fully sure if it's related though. Eventually purple spots started forming everywhere about 20 days ago. The growth seemed exponential. Growing on the rocks, the glass, the black plastic back wall, snail and hermit crab shells. But all just spots. So I started dosing again to make sure I maintained pH of 8.3, Ca of around 440, and Alk of between 8-10. I'm really trying to encourage its growth. Now, I can't claim that Kent Purple Tech is helping it, but I think the biggest change was when I took a small piece of live rock with purple coralline on it and scraped the purple into dust particals into the tank. I hear you on the GHA. When I started to put in Purple Up all I noticed was more hair algae growing! How's the biocube protein skimmer going for you? I was told that it wasn't as effective compared to other skimmers. Also just noticed... we have almost the exact same fish livestock! All you need is a pair of yashas and we'll be nanocube twins! You should totally do it! Link to comment
Deckoz2302 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 And one more thing - with rscp you shouldn't need/use purpleup Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yay...a tank thread It looks awesome!!!! Did you get your rock from Mark's in Studio City? I ask because it reminds me a lot of Danielle's (surgicalsense). Love the shelves, a lot!!!!!! Fish are so pretty too. Did you get the percs from Mark's as well? You definitely need to start adding some coral Most of the rocks I got were from Rainbow, it was the only place I really knew because all my friends kept talking about it. Yeah, the shelves were planned for a variety of zoas/palys. But I'm sort of swaying away from that because I really don't like the way they look when they're closed. And I'm scared that they might be closed pretty often. The percs are from Rainbow as well. I was originally planning on getting a pair from Vivid, but my cousin saw this pair, texted me a picture, and I instantly fell in love with them, plus they were completely healthy. Yeah, I can't wait to start adding coral, maybe in a couple of weeks. Nice tank. Excellent choice on the salt, RSCP is awesome. Thanks! RSCP is awesome! I was thinking about switching to Reef Crystals, though. Not sure yet. Link to comment
gena Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I really need to make my way over to Rainbow. Not that I need anything, but it would be fun to look Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 And one more thing - with rscp you shouldn't need/use purpleup Yeah. After water changes, I really don't. But after a few days, I noticed a drop in pH, Ca, and Alk. So I start dosing just to bring them back to normal. Belle and Beast are hot! And Kravitz has some nice war paint. The rockscape makes for some good crab hiding places. Have any coral plans? Thanks! Yeah! The crabs are always hiding in there or in between rocks. Kravitz loves hiding on the 2nd floor cave, but always pops out to the front of the glass when he sees me. He just started eating the mysis that I put in the tank, so he definitely knows I'm the food god. Link to comment
gena Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Your avatar is really cute too Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 I hear you on the GHA. When I started to put in Purple Up all I noticed was more hair algae growing! How's the biocube protein skimmer going for you? I was told that it wasn't as effective compared to other skimmers. Also just noticed... we have almost the exact same fish livestock! All you need is a pair of yashas and we'll be nanocube twins! You should totally do it! Haha! Yeah! We can be! I actually wanted to get a Hi-Fin Red Banded Goby. Did you get your Yashas with a paired pistol shrimp? I really need to make my way over to Rainbow. Not that I need anything, but it would be fun to look It's a pretty nice place. Rainbow and Scales n Tales are the closest ones to me, but I think I go to Vivid the most. Definitely buying my corals there. Your avatar is really cute too Haha! Yeah! Kravitz is so cute! I'll let him know he has an admirer! Belle and Beast are hot! And Kravitz has some nice war paint. The rockscape makes for some good crab hiding places. Have any coral plans? Ooops forgot to answer your question. I'm planning on adding a Neon Green Toadstool in the middle of the 2nd floor. A variety of Ricordeas or Zoas/Palys on the bottom 2 shelves. Xenias, GSP, or more Zoas on the left and right shelves of the 2nd floor. And maybe GSP or Atomic Sympodium on the 3rd and highest floor. GSP might be a bad idea since it might consume all the excess rockspace as it grows. Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Day 108: Small video of my pair of Percula and TSB after feeding them mysis shrimp. I'm not sure why it looks so pixelated. Video was taken and uploaded with my iPhone4. Maybe I should transfer it to my computer first and then upload it. Link to comment
gena Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Cute video! Really makes me miss my tailspot blenny Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Cute video! Really makes me miss my tailspot blenny Sorry Gena. In all honesty it was you and your blenny that encouraged me to get one. It was too cute to pass up. Link to comment
gena Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Sorry Gena. In all honesty it was you and your blenny that encouraged me to get one. It was too cute to pass up. Awe...just be sure to have lots of photos and videos of him here. I know I'll get another in the future. They are one of my favorite fish. So much personality. Way better than clowns My clown is so blah. Pretty...but boring when it comes to personality. Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Awe...just be sure to have lots of photos and videos of him here. I know I'll get another in the future. They are one of my favorite fish. So much personality. Way better than clowns My clown is so blah. Pretty...but boring when it comes to personality. Yeah!!! I totally agree with you! At first I loved my clowns... but since I got the TSB, I worry more about his safety than the pair. My day always gets happier when I walk towards my tank and my TSB comes swimming to the front. Kind of like in the video I linked. Usually he stays on the rocks and grazes, but when I'm there he's swimming in the front. I think he's fallen in love with the mysis and wants more. lol. Link to comment
gena Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Yep....my clown could take me or leave me. The TSBs....they want to be your best friend Happy Valentine's Day! Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Happy Valentine's Day! Yeah. I'm about to head over to Rainbow and buy a Helfrichi firefish. If I do, I might get rid of 1 or both clowns. Good or bad idea? Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Day 109: Added a Helfrichi Firefish. Naming her Val... short for Valentine. Link to comment
buddythelion Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Ah, I love my clowns! Can't imagine my tank without Poseidon. Nice Helfrichi! Tank's starting to get full. Ruhh rohs! Link to comment
dfcn07 Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Ah, I love my clowns! Can't imagine my tank without Poseidon. Nice Helfrichi! Tank's starting to get full. Ruhh rohs! lol! Yeah! I'm going to get rid of a clown or 2. Link to comment
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