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Noobcube 12 gallon


rolyat113

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Hello all, this is my first reef and one of my first posts on this forum! I have done an unreasonable amount of reading and started this tank on 2/21/14.

 

It is a 12 gallon Nanocube, in which I plan to keep some corals (unsure what type yet) a pair of clowns, a goby, pistol and cleaner shrimp. The tank was started with mostly live rock from a buddies tank, new dry sand, all water was from my buddies tank as well.

 

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Currently it is equipped with the stock hood, stock pump, a heater and a sponge in the back to filter out some particulates. I have a Nano Box Mini Tide on order, and am going to upgrade the stock pump with an MJ900, as well as a Hydor Flo deflector. Once the nano box arrives I plan to make the 2nd section in the back into a mini fuge containing LR rubble and chaeto.

 

Day 4

 

Beginning to see the first signs of algae, as well as a lot of tiny feather dusters.

 

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Day 6

 

Noticed 5 or 6 tiny brittle stars, they're hard to photograph! I need a macro lense for my D40. I should have taken a picture before I wiped down the inside of the acrylic. It had a ton of algae built up on it. This Saturday I plan to take a sample of my water to a LFS to have it tested. I'm not going to rush anything, but I imagine the cycle will be cut down a little due to the live rock and water from my friend's 1.5ish year old tank.

 

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Added a MJ900 today as well as a Hydor Flo to help the flow of the tank. Also checked parameters for the first time.

 

Sal:1.028

Temp:78

Ammonia:0

Nitrates:10

Phosphates: 0.14

 

Added some Ro/di water to bring down the salinity. The next thing I add will be the Nano Box.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Alright haven't updated in a couple weeks...

 

Parameters for 3/16/14

 

Salinity: 1.027

Temp: 78-79

Ammonia: 0

Nitrites: 0

Nitrates: 0

PH: 8.0

 

Apparently on my next water change I should mix in a little less saltwater to lower that salinity a tiny bit.

 

I had a nice bloom of cyano which luckily mostly melted off, and then came the GHA. It got fairly thick and I ordered a CUC from reef cleaners.com. I ordered the smallest quick crew he offers due to hearing about his counting skills... I still received a TON of snails! Plus, one tiny hermit! I already added a few hermits myself from a lfs. The cuc has been in there for about five days and their work is definitely showing. Since my parameters have been staying pretty stable I added a few small frags, two of which came from a local reefer and another from the lfs. Added a green Acan, which my camera refuses to focus on for a decent picture... A blasto and a tiny zoa frag. Still waiting on the Nanobox tide, but was advised by Dave he will be finishing it this week. Can't wait for it's arrival! I feel like the old bulbs in my hood are partially what's causing my gha. I added some chaeto, and am hoping that will also help with it. And now the photos!

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/DSC_1845.jpg.html'>DSC_1845.jpg

Taken right as the GHA began

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/DSC_1847.jpg.html'>DSC_1847.jpg

GHA getting thicker...

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/DSC_1849.jpg.html'>DSC_1849.jpg

Did a little night time viewing and found this guy

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/DSC_1852.jpg.html'>DSC_1852.jpg

Clean up crew working hard, and I scrubbed the front rocks with a tooth brush...

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/DSC_1853.jpg.html'>DSC_1853.jpg

Some of those are empty shells that need to be removed. The hermits are having a hay day trying them on though

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/DSC_1854.jpg.html'>DSC_1854.jpg

Blasto not quite as open as usual, but that may be because I was just messing around in the tank

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/DSC_1855.jpg.html'>DSC_1855.jpg

Side view showing the chaeto which is currently on display but will be moved to the back once I ditch the hood. Hopefully the nano box's light reaches back there. I also hope to put some dragon's breath macro in that spot to help a little more with nutrients.

 

I think in two more weeks I will add my first fish. I'm planning either a pistol goby pair, or a pair of spotted gobies, with a pair of clowns. I'm sort of shying away from the pistol because I don't want the sand moved around too much. But, it may be difficult to locate the spotted gobies. Also, do you guys think I'd be ok to add a small frog spawn, or should I wait another week or so?

 

Any other advice or critique is welcomed!!

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Just mixed two gallons of salt water using reef crystals. It's going to be very nice when my ro/di system comes in. I'll have greater access to clean water so I can keep a lot more on hand!

 

Another question.. I am planning on putting the dragon's breath macro on the same side, and pretty close to where the frog spawn will be. Does frog spawn only sting coral, or will it sting macro algae as well?

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My thread and tank must be way too boring! I guess I should add some drama to my posting. I just added 4 dragonets, a Dory and an awesome eel!

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Steensj2004

I might be off, but the one picture makes it look like Briopsis and not GHA, maybe I am seeign things. Good start, but I would manually remove as much of the algae as possible.

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I might be off, but the one picture makes it look like Briopsis and not GHA, maybe I am seeign things. Good start, but I would manually remove as much of the algae as possible.

I was thinking the same thing.

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I might be off, but the one picture makes it look like Briopsis and not GHA, maybe I am seeign things. Good start, but I would manually remove as much of the algae as possible.

Yea I just decided that's what it is last night... Made me sad lol. Tomorrow I will have my hands wet removing as much as possible. Should I go ahead and get some of that Kent Tech M stuff? Or can it go away if I remove enough by hand? I also have some chaeto and now dragon's breath...

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Steensj2004

Yea I just decided that's what it is last night... Made me sad lol. Tomorrow I will have my hands wet removing as much as possible. Should I go ahead and get some of that Kent Tech M stuff? Or can it go away if I remove enough by hand? I also have some chaeto and now dragon's breath...

Well, from my understanding that stuff is a total b!+ch to get rid of. Unsure exactly how to combat it except with H202(peroxide) dips etc..... it is in your sand, so since you dont have much in your tank you might wanna dose. There is a guy on here who is like, the peroxide expert...there is a GIANT thread on the stuff....

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/268706-peroxide-saves-my-tank-with-pics-to-prove-it/

 

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/341585-bryopsis-and-hydrogen-peroxide-h2o2-experts-get-in-this-thread/

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Ok, my plan for this evening is to pull out the affected rock, scrub as much off as possible and then dip it in peroxide. After the dip I'll rinse the rock in salt water, while I scrub the back of the tank and remove as much as I can from the gravel. I then plan to dose about 1mL of hydrogen peroxide to the tank and do a water change the next day.

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So I just finished my peroxide mission. Disassembled tank and removed the affected rock which I soaked in peroxide/water for about 5 minutes. I then scrubbed it to death with a toothbrush and also scraped the back wall of the tank with a razor blade. It was a pain but is now put back together and some filter floss is hopefully pulling whatever is flying around the tank out.

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/233B3783-2142-4855-9FB5-525C835EA61F.jpg.html'>233B3783-2142-4855-9FB5-525C835EA61F.jpg

After removing the affected rock

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/9940BFEE-CA18-42F3-BE48-46C216203E87.jpg.html'>9940BFEE-CA18-42F3-BE48-46C216203E87.jpg

Hard to tell, but this is the affected rock bubbling in the solution

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/29C0C81D-9EFD-47AB-BD98-329EBBF5EAEF.jpg.html'>29C0C81D-9EFD-47AB-BD98-329EBBF5EAEF.jpg

Tank is back together. Blasto frag is starting to open back up as well as my acan. My tiny zoa frag is still closed up and mad at me.

 

I plan to do a good 2ish gallon water change tomorrow evening, and then see if anything reappears. If it does, I will spot treat it. I will be setting up my ro/di unit tomorrow, so I'll finally be able to keep a larger amount of water on hand.

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Tank is looking good today. Corals are opened up as well. I went ahead and target dosed the remaining pieces of bryopsis. I set up my ro/di today as well.

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After a few days there are still small pieces of bryopsis in the sand. I purchased some 35% peroxide I might try, but will this definitely get rid of the problem? I don't want to have this battle continuously throughout the tank's life...

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Ok, so I ended up dosing the whole tank with 35% peroxide. It angered all my coral, but killed all the bryopsis (or so I thought). Yesterday I began noticing more small sprigs coming back up in the gravel :angry: . I guess from now on I'll just manually remove those small pieces to keep it from getting out of control. May also spot dose with peroxide as well. I added another acan as well as 2 ricordia frags, and just placed an order for several more rics, a couple more acans and a hammer. I took advantage of saltcritters 50% off sale and feel like I got a good deal. Yesterday I also added a high fin goby/shrimp pair, and a cleaner shrimp. I will try to get some pictures tonight, and post them up.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I need to post some tank shots! Got a few more frags placed and a new goby after the high fin took his own life in my filtration... Got my nanobox Tide installed, so the LEDs make my photographing difficult. Going to find my tripod and attempt to adjust the white balance on my camera. We will see how it turns out.

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Have you tried tech m? I had issues removing byropsis but in the end the tech m killed it all. I raised my mag to almost 2000ppm and it was all gone within a week. It's been months now and it has not returned.

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Have you tried tech m? I had issues removing byropsis but in the end the tech m killed it all. I raised my mag to almost 2000ppm and it was all gone within a week. It's been months now and it has not returned.

That is the one thing I haven't tried yet. I'm sampling the nualgi stuff though and it has slowed any new growth I think. We will see how it goes in the coming weeks. If that doesn't finish it, I will research tech m.

 

Here are a few new photos. I'm practicing with my Nikon D40. This was freehand, as I need to get a tripod. Used Fotor to edit and I think they turned out ok. Better than my iPhone shots...

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/AFTS41314.jpg.html'>AFTS41314.jpg

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/Tank41314.jpg.html'>Tank41314.jpg

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/Pedro.jpg.html'>Pedro.jpg

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/Cyphastria.jpg.html'>Cyphastria.jpg

 

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/rolyat150/media/Goby.jpg.html'>Goby.jpg

 

 

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