Return To The Ocean! Aio 7.5G 12" Cube - New Pics! 05.06.2013

[ChouDawg]

Start Date: 10/12/2012

Hardware
7.5G Mr.Aqua 12" Rimless Cube
Hydor Theo 50W Heater
Hydor Pico Evolution 400 Pump (2x)
Reef Keeper Lite w/ SL1 Module
Digital Aquatics Dual ATO Float Setup
Tom's Aqualifter
DIM4/Inventronics Driven Full Spectrum LED
TwoLittleFishies NanoMag
SpectraPure MaxCap 90GPD RO/DI
HM Digital TDS-3
Glazer Pico Skimmer

Filtration
~8lb Live Rock
Purigen
Filter Floss
Chaeto (TBD)

CUC
1x Blue-Legged Hermit
3x Astrea Snail
1x Cerith Snail

Livestock
Pair of Ocellaris/Percula Hybrid Clownfish

Corals
Green Tip Octospawn
Green Tip Hammer
Misc Ricordea Yuma/Florida
ID Acan

Green Monti Cap
Green Encrusting Monti
Green Birdsnest
Bali Green Slimer
Blue Green Gomezi
Unknown Mini SPS Colony

Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoas
Armor of God Zoas
Biohazard? Zoas
Watermelon Zoas

So it's been a little over 3 years since my first reef tank and now I'm happily back at it! My first tank was an AquaPod 24G, this is a Mr.Aqua 7.5G 12" rimless cube. I built a custom false wall with 4.0" center overflow, dual Hydor Pico 400 pumps at different heights, and a center media chamber. This is my first time running a rimless, bare bottom tank not using Scripps and with LEDs. The lighting will be a GU10 fixture with 20W or so mixed RB/CW LEDs. It has about 8lb of Liverock in there now and I gotta say working with such a small footprint is a pain! Was going for the fruit stand type shelf but that proved difficult with limited depth. I'll be using IO salt with 1-2g weekly water changes and purigen/chemi pure elite. My first time having an RKL as well, excited for all the new gadgets. The tank sits on a 13"x13"x36" stand I built, also quite a pain, next time I'm buying one! 4 weeks later, I finally have the tank up and running with 5G of fresh mixed SW and some from an established tank. Since my lights aren't here yet I have a small 4w RB PAR38 bulb over it just so I can have something to look at. Since I don't have proper lighting I decided to get a bit artsy, more updates to come in the next few weeks.

Current FTS 05/06/2013:



Thanks for looking

[DCMarathoner]

I like the artsy look! Following.

 

So it's been a little over 3 years since my first reef tank and now I'm happily back at it! My first tank was an AquaPod 24G, this is a Mr.Aqua 7.5G 12" rimless cube. I built a custom false wall with 4.0" center overflow, dual Hydor Pico 400 pumps at different heights, and a center media chamber. This is my first time running a rimless, bare bottom tank not using Scripps and with LEDs. The lighting will be a GU10 fixture with 20W or so mixed RB/CW LEDs. It has about 9lb of Liverock in there now and I gotta say working with such a small footprint is a pain! Was going for the fruit stand type shelf but that proved difficult with limited depth. I'll be using IO salt with 1-2g weekly water changes and purigen/chemi pure elite. My first time having an RKL as well, excited for all the new gadgets. The tank sits on a 13"x13"x36" stand I built, also quite a pain, next time I'm buying one! 4 weeks later, I finally have the tank up and running with 5G of fresh mixed SW and some from an established tank. Since my lights aren't here yet I have a small 4w RB PAR38 bulb over it just so I can have something to look at. Since I don't have proper lighting I decided to get a bit artsy, more updates to come in the next few weeks.

 

 

Questions: What kind of cycle can I expect? CUC suggestions? I'm running about 160 gph combined hopefully that will be enough...Thanks for looking

[ChouDawg]

Alright so the tank has been up and running for about 4-days now. Still waiting for my LEDs to come in but I figured now is a good time to do a water test. I'm really not sure what to expect as far as cycle goes for this tank which is why I asked about it in my original post. The rock came from an established tank, and was sitting for a few days with heater/powerhead and then in my possession in similar conditions with a fresh batch of water before going into the tank. The rock has a few splotches of coraline algae and unfortunately what looks like lots of Aiptasia

 

I'm guessing it's a result of the lack of light but they are all clear, these things really are indestructible. I'm deciding between blasting them with an Aiptasia killer and siphoning out the remains or waiting to add a Peppermint Shrimp and hoping it has a fancy for them.

 

As far as I can tell, it looks like my my pH is 8.1, zero ammonia, zero nitrite and between 0-5 ppm nitrate? What do you guys think. I took a few shots with / without flash but the flash ones seemed easiest to tell. I did my comparison by eye in front of a window with natural sunlight.

 

[ChouDawg]

I was busy all weekend so I didn't get a chance to "feed" or pee into my tank to spike the ammonia but I have noticed a few more hitch hikers as the tank matures, saw a few stomatellas and some baby asterina stars that will be plucked as I see them. My LEDs are here at last! Took exactly 2 weeks from the day I bought them till they were at my door. They are 3x 1W GU10 based bulbs, 2x RB 1x W on each bulb with 60' optics. They will be in a 3x3 cube layout over my tank. Wired them up last night because I was far to excited to not see them lit up. The fixture will be made of black acrylic with a 120mm PC fan exhausting out the top and will be suspended by 1/2" conduit that's adjustable. Here are a few teasers, I'm hoping to have the full fixture done by tonight.

 

 

[JamieSheffield]

Where did you get the gu10s?

 

Jamie

[ChouDawg]

I got them from luckzdl2008 on eBay after reading through the GU10 thread on N-R

[giantmidget]

nice build! i'm planning to do a 12" cube too. this light setup looks interesting. let's see a shot with them over the tank!

[ChouDawg]

Added a small CUC a couple days ago, all are doing well and happy, did a 2g water change as well. My light setup is finally ready and mounted, I'm probably still going to tweak it a bit, I'm using 1/2" conduit to hang it, the fixture itself needs to be reworked a bit but I was impatient so that will happen in the near future. I'm running a 7 hour light cycle right now, today is the first full "day" of light. Going to go hunting with Aiptasia-X and hope for the best, if they come back, Nudis will be my next weapon of choice. The photos are a pretty good representation of the color, it's pretty much perfect for me, I'd say a little bluer than 14K for sure. Tank is very barren right now have a few spots of Coraline and lots of pods running around so it's maturing nicely.

 

 

[JR!]

looking sick man.

[ChouDawg]

Some shots of my new SPS dominated inhabitants, got a few small ricordea as well but they're in a small covered dish with some rubble so they can attach. Light is on from 1PM-10PM now, going to ramp it up an hour a day until I get to a 12 hour cycle, the fixture is 5" from the water's surface.

 

[Archaic37]

Added a small CUC a couple days ago, all are doing well and happy, did a 2g water change as well. My light setup is finally ready and mounted, I'm probably still going to tweak it a bit, I'm using 1/2" conduit to hang it, the fixture itself needs to be reworked a bit but I was impatient so that will happen in the near future. I'm running a 7 hour light cycle right now, today is the first full "day" of light. Going to go hunting with Aiptasia-X and hope for the best, if they come back, Nudis will be my next weapon of choice. The photos are a pretty good representation of the color, it's pretty much perfect for me, I'd say a little bluer than 14K for sure. Tank is very barren right now have a few spots of Coraline and lots of pods running around so it's maturing nicely.

 

 

 

That overflow looks sleek, can we get a picture of the filtration in back?

[giantmidget]

lookin good! love the clean setup.

[ChouDawg]

I got the idea from ccapasso's cube, his picture but mine is more or less the same except I dont have a cool media basket like his yet. After a bunch of reading I opted for a toothless overflow. It flows 10" down the center chamber, and then goes left/right under into the return chambers. Currently I have my ATO+Pump in one side, and Heater+Pump in other side. The returns are one high one low to decrease dead spots. The center chamber right now has my RKL iTemp Probe and a bag of Chemi Pure + Purigen. They're just tossed in there right now but I have plans to build a rack so they can be laid out flat.

 

[Archaic37]

I got the idea from ccapasso's cube, his picture but mine is more or less the same except I dont have a cool media basket like his yet. After a bunch of reading I opted for a toothless overflow. It flows 10" down the center chamber, and then goes left/right under into the return chambers. Currently I have my ATO+Pump in one side, and Heater+Pump in other side. The returns are one high one low to decrease dead spots. The center chamber right now has my RKL iTemp Probe and a bag of Chemi Pure + Purigen. They're just tossed in there right now but I have plans to build a rack so they can be laid out flat.

 

 

That is so awesome! Where did you get the overflow from?

[ChouDawg]

I built it out of 1/4" black acrylic, rear chambers are 2.5" from the back wall and about 3.8" wide. The overflow is about 4" across by 1" tall, I had it about 0.5" before and the water level in the display was much too high so I dremeled it down a bit. Best part about a toothless overflow is it's absolutely silent if it's cut smooth and level, plus it has a much higher skimming surface area than a toothed overflow.

[ChouDawg]

So the tank has been up and running for 21 days now, parameters have all stayed at zero with < 0.2 ppm Nitrates. Clean up crew is all alive and happy. I found out Bumblebee snails do nothing for algae and I have no sand bed so I think I'll be swapping him out for more Astreas, they are by far the best!

 

Tank is being lit 9 hours a day with full 27W of 60 degree optic LEDs, 5" from the water's surface. So far everything I've added has responded well to the lighting and conditions. I'm getting good polyp extension and the SPS are coloring up nicely. Aside from some rics/zoas on the bare bottom my tank is packed, I'll need to keep the hammer and frogspawn in check so they dont get too big.

 

Photos from before my 2 gallon water change today, running Chemi Pure and Purigen now. Just added the Frog, Monti and Hammer today so not fully open yet in the photos but already looking great! Bright orange Ricordeas in the shot glass of rubble; patiently waiting for them to grab hold.

 

Blue Green Gomezi (I think?): compared to shot from 6 days ago

 

SPS Right Row:

 

MIxed Left Row:

 

Green Monti Cap:

 

Corner Shot Update:

 

FTS:

[ChouDawg]

Did another 2G water change today because I needed to drip acclimate 2 Astrea and a Peppermint Shrimp to battle some Aiptasia. Shrimp went straight to work ripping at the rocks and the Astreas happily scooted away. Took out the Chemi-Pure because the 1/2 unit was blocking way too much flow in the media rack, I'll have to look into the CPE Nano size. Running filter floss and Purigen in my media basket now, skimmer coming soon Nitrates at zero as expected, getting a little bit of mixed algae that the Astreas will hopefully get to work on. I'll be leaving the tank on Thursday for two weeks, will do another larger water change on that day, make sure the top off will last and hope for the best! Look for a positive update in a couple weeks. No FTS updates but just some random macros.

 

Green Tip Frogspawn

 

Unknown SPS Mini Colony

 

Bali "Pink" Slimer lol, getting greener everyday

 

PE Close-Up

[Godsmack00]

I have read that adding SPS to a new tank so soon could lead to disaster, however yours are looking pretty good. I only mention this because I was going to wait 6 months or so before I add my birdsnest and others to a pico I started 2 months ago. Seeing this, I might add them sooner! Was your live rock from another mature tank? Any thoughts on adding SPS so soon? Thx

[ChouDawg]

My LR came from a tank that had been established for 2+ years, they are sump pieces so minimal coraline but well cured for sure. I then cured it additionally in a dark bucket w/ heater + PH for about a week before finally adding it to my tank. There was definitely some die off still as I am getting a bit of mixed algae but so far nothing too crazy. I've been doing water changes like a mad man as well just in case as well. The SPS will have been in the tank for two weeks come this Friday. The Frogspawn/Hammer I added last Friday and the Frogspawn was almost fully inflated a few hours after being added to my tank. My glass is crawling with moving salt aka pods so I'm pretty confident in my tank. As far as adding SPS early, it is a bit of gamble but most of the SPS I got are considered "hardy" ones so that helps as well I'm sure but all seem happy, growing and encrusting.

[Godsmack00]

Thanks for the reply. Tank looks very nice...nice clear pics too!

[ChouDawg]

Thanks, I picked up a DSLR a few months ago so I'm still learning, the tank is great practice.

[filippo]

Nice work!

 

What ballast did you buy for your LED lights? Thanks

[ChouDawg]

No ballast, these GU10 bulbs are power supply, driver and LED all in one unit!

[ChouDawg]

So I came back from a 2 week vacation to a happy and healthy tank, a bit of algae on the glass but all CUC members alive and happy and coral growth was significant. I did a 5G water change the day I left. I now have to frag my Frogspawn in fear of it terrorizing the SPS corals. Did a 2G water change the day after I got back, and another one tonight, going to do another one in a few days, removing algae each time. Blue green gomezi is getting a lot of nice green hue and the Bali Green is coloring up nicely. They were all pissed off post water change so here are a few actinic shots of my Frogspawn and Hammer. Got a Glazer Pico Skimmer in before I left but haven't had a chance to install it, I'll have to modify my overflow media rack to accommodate the skimmer, filter floss and Purigen. Tank is 46 days old today! Still young but doing well and maturing nicely. Oh ya, peppermint shrimp molted and is happy, bonus all my Aiptasia I saw before I left are gone

 

[ChouDawg]

Here are some growth/comparison shots, roughly just under a month between shots. Green Birdsnest grew a bit but lost all its color. All the other SPS higher up don't seem to be having any issues but it might be because it's a very small 1" frag, we'll see if it colors back up. Starting to want a fishy buddy swimming around. I'm considering either a single clown or a goby or two. Are gobies jumpers? Do any of them swim or do they all just "hop"?