Hey all of you nano reefers out there
Most recent FTS: 4-22-11








Fish
Occ. clownfish (2)
Purple firefish goby

Inverts
cleaner shrimp
peppermint shrimp
tuxedo urchin
red starfish

Coral
Red Acan
Yellow Polyp
random zoas
green digita
christmas tree favia
green star polops
orange ricordia
purple montapora
Cali tort
Green slimmer
Lots of sps whoes names i dont remmber

Equipment
JBJ Nano Cube HQI
Radium 150 watt 14k Metal halide
200w heater
Stock Protien Skimmer
Two Stock Return Pumps
Coralife Digital Thermometer
vortech mp10
JBJ LED Nano-Glow
upgraded media basket
Two little fishies phosban reactor
Diy Auto top off

Filteration
Poly-Fill
Chetmorphia algea
BRS high quality carbon
BRS GFO


Original post starts here

I just got a nano cube hqi and have had it for about a week I have to say it is great. I wanted to share the experience with every one so I thought why not start a huge thread about the life of my tank.

To start it off heres a picture of it right after I got it when I was testing it for leaks.
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After this I emptied the water and filled it up with r/o water. It looked great. That night I went out and bought salt. After I put it in I tested it with my hydrometer it read 1.025. I left the light off until two days later when I bought cured live rock and live sand. I brought it home and put it in sand then rock. It was really foggy after I put in the sand so I left it alone with the rock just in a pile in the middle. The next day the water was clear so I thought I would aquascape. This was hard. I had small enough rock but I wanted it to look amazing in the small tank so I made this
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Not perfect but i liked all the holes and tunnels so I let it sit and got advise from my family. They told me that I should make it into a horseshoe shape in the corner. I didn't care for that because the rock has a great shape to it and I wanted to use that. So I decided to move it into the back corner and move the rock on the left side to the right side in order to make a nice sand bed. This looked awesome here let me show you.

Front shot
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After I tested the water (using API's salt water test kit) and got 8.4 PH, 0.25 ppm Ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, and 15 ppm nitrate I went to my LFS and bought two Green Chromis Damselfish thats what the guy (Andrew) at my LFS recommend. I got home and started to acclimate them to my tank. After about 45 minutes of that I put them into the tank. They immediately found a hole in the rock to hide. I couldn't get them out so I tried feeding them wow let me tell you they weren't scared once I did that. They loved the frozen brine shrimp that Andrew at my LFS sold me. That was yesterday. They are doing fine today and look great I will get more pics up tonight.

Thanks,
clownfish14

Ps: Any and all comments are appreciated and any ideas on how to change any thing will be useful.

Hey guys
Here are a couple of more pics of the tank


Here is a pic of one of the fish the other one is camera shy
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Here is a FTS
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Thanks,
clownfish14

I really like the rock-scape. It looks like you've got a wicked cave!

Thanks Militant Jurist ya the cave is very cool here is a better pic of it.


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Looks great so far!!

Hey guys
Well i just tested the water and there has been no change in the ammonia levels.
How long does it usually take to cycle a nano cube hqi 28 gallon?

Thanks,
clownfish14

Thanks got2envy for your reply

-clownfish14

Since you used fully cured live rock you will probably experience a soft cycle...be prepared to do a 10% water change when you see the diatoms on the sand (brown dusting) and add your clean up crew then. I would have waited on the fish, most don't use fish for the cycle any more ( stresses the fish out)
I would wait a few weeks before adding more bio load to the tank.

HTH clownfish14

M

Thanks got2envy so the tank wont go through the entire cycle with the high ammonia and nitrites.
Another question is how long should i wait and how do i know the cycle is done.

Thanks,
clownfish14

I did mine with fully cured LR, a lot of dry rock, and dirty WC water to jump start the cycle, and mine still took about three weeks. The ammonia didn't spike very high for me, but the nitrite did spike. You'll still see increases in ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, but it shouldn't be as bad. You'll know the cycle is done based upon having seen the spikes (or mini-spikes) and if it's a new tank, you'll see a LOT of diatoms (looks like brown dust over everything!). Once you've hit that point, it's a good sign your cycle is done. Also, if you've been using clean RO water throughout, you'll see a final increase in your nitrate, which is the last stage (other than denitrification) of the nitrogen cycle.

The biggest thing with fish and inverts is to take your time. If you add too much too early, you'll end up setting things back further. I made that mistake with my first tank.

Thanks for the reply that is great info I will watch for the diatoms.
Also should I give the fish back to the store or let them go through the cycle since it wont be that big?
And do I do water changes at all during the cycle or just let it go?


Thanks,
clownfish14

If you wanted the fish anyways, I think you'll be fine with it as long as you do actually have a soft cycle. If you got it just for the cycle, you could probably take it back.

There's a bit of a debate about whether partial WCs help with a soft cycle. There's a good thread actually attempting to test it, which is somewhere in the General Discussion forum. It's an individual choice, because you'll hear positives and negatives from both sides! Personally, I go with no WCs, but I use a lot of dry rock so I want a good and thorough cycle. Plus, it lets me be lazy for a while!

Hey guys
Thanks for that last reply and i agree i dont think i should do water changes.

I got some bad news one of my fish died it was the one that was camra shy.
I dont know why he died so if any one has any ideas let me know he was over by a rock in the corner upsidedown. I will put up a couple of pictures and my water test results a little later.

Thanks,
clownfish14

ok i just did my water tests my
ph 7.8
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 15
let me know what you think


Thanks,
clownfish14

I wanted to show you guys some more pics


corner view
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moonlights
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fish (scooby doo) shaggy was the one that died
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Thanks,
clownfish14

What are you testing with?
The fact that you're cycling with these fish can add stress.

Also, Chromi's are typically schooling fish, and keeping less than 3 is stressful to them (not that keeping more fish for cycling is good, just noting).
I would leave the one chromis in until you're completly cycled, then either get rid of him or add a few friends.

I like your cave btw!

thanks asting for the reply it has great info now should i get rid of him if i want clownfish gobies and jawfish and lots of coral or will he be alright because i dont want more than 2 of them in my tank the just dont have much personality.

Quick question do my pumps need to break the surface of the water or does the filter in the back do enough?


Thanks,
clownfish14

clownfish 14,
love the tank rock work looks great
sorry to hear your loss on fish they are lovely fish too!
keep pic`s coming everyone loves pic`s

Thanks for the reply here are some more pics .
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Thanks,
clownfish14

Hey guys

Well my tank is looking great there are lots of diatoms. They are making lots of bubbles on top of my rocks and sand also my fish is doing great. Here is a question for all of you experts out there, if the diatoms or dusty brown things all over my tank are making bubbles does that mean my cycle is done I did my water tests and this is what I got
PH 8.2
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0
Ntrate 20
Saltinity 1.025
Temp 82-83F

Thanks and let me know,
clownfish14

Hey guys
Here are some pictures of what I think are diatoms.


This one is of them on the sand
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In this one you can see the bubbles on the rock
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Hey guys how long can i leave the lights on for?

Thanks,
clownfish14

Hey all of you experts out there
I need some help this brownish stuff is spreading all over my tank i was told they are called diatoms. I need to know should I add my cleanup crew now or wait until I am sure my cycle is over. My water test is the same as a cupple of posts ago.

Thanks,
clownfish14

New pics


just took some new pics of the diatomes and the rest of my tank so here they are

diatoms
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Fish
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More pics

FTS
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More diatoms
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top view with hood up
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more diatoms
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Still need help with this

Thanks,
clownfish14

Could be caused by silicates in the sand. At any rate, a good CuC will take care of it. Nothing you need to worry too much about it.
snails and hermits are typical CuC material. Reefcleaners.org is supposedly great, although I haven't used them (yet).
As far as fish, take it slow. Add one fish at a time with plenty of time to adjust for the increased bioload.
I don't have a BC14, but when the overflow occurs does the water fall enough to take on oxygen? It dosen't need that much, although breaking the surface tension is never a bad idea.

thanks for the info yes the water in the back does fall a little i think its enough. but should i add my clean up crew now or later? and are the diatoms a sign that the cycle is done? what type of stuff is a good clean up crew and how many of each would i need? the sand does not have any silicant in it i checked before i bought it.

thanks,
clownfish14

Holy big blue letters. I would say go ahead and add your CUC. Check out Reef Cleaners, John could set you up with a CUC.

ok thanks what type of things would you sugest for my CuC

Personally, I'm a fan of all types of snails. I've got crabs in my 40g but they can be a PITA sometimes.

ok what about limpets and chitons and hermit crabs and what does pita mean

Thanks,
clownfish14

Limpets and chitons would be fine I'd think. My new CUC (arriving hopefully tomorrow from John at ReefCleaners) will be an all snail CUC consisting of cerith, nerite, and nassarius snails. I'd seriously avoid hermit crabs, as they are snail killers.

PITA = pain in the arse

thanks for the info
man that was close i almost bought 5 hermit crabs and 5 snails today

No problem. Glad to help! Keep the questions coming, and keep us updated as well!

k no prob

do the diatoms make bubbles?

OK... great rockscape! It looks wonderful.
Diatoms are natural thing that happens when you cycle. You should ride it out.

Don't add cleanup crew now.

Let diatom overtake your tank. in a week or two it will die away on its own. then you do waterchage and begin stocking your tank.

ok great info i will cancel my order

about how long should i leave my lights on for and is iy better to mix up how long they are on or keep it steady

Still need help with this

Thanks,
clownfish14

Hey guys

Well i haven't posted in a while so i thought i would update you guys a little.\

My tank looks great it is now over run by diatoms but the are not making as many bubbles as they were at the start. Scooby my fish is doing great he sure is hyper he's swimming around alot and he loves the brine shrimp that i feed him. The next thing i am going to do once i get some more money is get rid of the filter and put in live rock sand and cheto this is the diagram that i am going by:
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Let me know what you think

I also need help with picking out a light for the cheto in the back it cant be to expensive because i want to have money left over to buy fish and corals.

Thanks for the help and here are some more pics
clownfish14

FTS
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This is a pic of the return pumps is this a good position?
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Fish
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PS: How do you make the pics so they don't get reduced? and how do you put the link to your tank sight in your sign signature?

Still need help

Check out inTank (a NR sponsor run by StevieT). They have a very good cheato light that I don't think is very expensive, if I recall correctly.

ok thanks i will go look at it

Hey guys

My tank is looking awsome the diatomes are going away or they are at least not creating as many bubbles.
When do you think i should put in my CuC? i will get some water tests later today.

For now here are some pics


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sorry guys didnt get to the water tests tonight to tired from the halloween party i put on I will do them tommrow evening

Hey

Well I now have enough money for a CuC any ideas on what to get? I want it to look good in the tank.


Any help will be great

Thanks,
clownfish14

Awesome! I would suggest nerite, cerith and nassarius snails for the CUC. Nerite are good for cleaning the glass, cerith are good for stirring the sand and cleaning the rock, and nassarius are good scavengers and they look like zombies when food hits the water! I would avoid all forms of hermit crabs, as they are the devil. I would also avoid astrea snails, because they can't flip themselves over if they get stuck.

I would talk to John Maloney of Reef Cleaners. He will hook you up!

Thanks Militant Jurist for the reply

My test results are
PH 8.2
Ammonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 10

Do you think its ok to get a CuC?