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CSalt's 20" Cube MH life


Csalt

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1-26-20 FTS

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9-9-18

not a frontal.

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12-28-17 FTS

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old 20l setup

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3-5-17 FTS

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8-16-16 FTS

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6/10/16 FTS
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4/9/16 FTS

 

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3/30/16 FTS

 

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Equipment

 


20l
Jager 75w heater
Jabao pp4
NanoBox Duo M
21lb Rock
40lb Aragonite

 

10g Sump

Glassholes overflow.



Livestock

 

Semi Picasso Clownfish

Orange spotted goby

Candy cane shrimp

Skunk shrimp

 

Zoas (don't know the name)
Green button polyps
GSP
Xenia
Duncans
Green Pocillapora
Birds nest Ponepe
Kenya Trees
Hammerhead
Rock flower nem

RBTA
Some kind of Green hair mushroom

green/bluish paly

Purple pocillapra

Green Staghorn Acro.




Been wanting a Reef aquarium for a long time and lurked on here since before I even joined. Finally got my tank wet.
Trying to keep this as a budget build but it never works out that way.
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Homemade stand, Not the prettiest but it was free.


Still need to get lights. I used some BioSpira but don't think that stuff really works. Going to go to the LFS to get a small piece of liverock to seed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 1
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I like the rock work. What are you using for filtration? And what lights are you thinking about getting?

 

Plan on keeping the biology as low as possible. Will probably just use a hob skimmer or get a ac110 and run whatever. Didn't have any plans on growing anything too demanding so I was looking at the Orbit Marine led fixture. Ended up finding a place that has the Aquatic life t5ho with moonlights for maybe $30 more so I may go that route. That way I'm not limiting myself. Still undecided I guess.
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Boring update. Moved the power heads to eliminate the dead spots I had in the back corner. Rock is starting to darken. Has 2ppm ammonia, I think from the brs dry rock.

20160318_153135_zpsjihxkrjp.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Rearranged the rocks after adding another 20lbs of sand. There's another arch behind the big left rock just cant see it from strait on. Got rid of the 2 Hydor nanos and replaced it with a Jabao PP4. This was all done a week ago.

DSC_0005_zps3qa7beho.jpg

 

Finally got some corals! I feel an addiction coming on.

They opened up the same day I put them into the tank yesterday.

I just have to work on white balance in editing and maybe invest in a macro lens.... Only have a prime atm.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Added a misbar black clown, frag of green sinularia and duncan coral since last update.

Lots of pods on the glass. Got a free tiny mushroom but not sure he's going to make it. His guts came out when attaching him to the rock and I kinda picked at it, not knowing what it was at the time. Thought it was glue.

I'm not going to say I should have sumped it buuut it may get done in a few months.

20160409_133224_zpstkulyhgd.jpg20160409_133211_zpsvuklimwb.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Updated FTS. Clown got ich, found him sucked into the ac70 after I got off work. No idea how long he as back there, didn't make it. Picked up a couple more corals. Ordered clean up crew from reefcleaners. Bought an elegance coral a couple days ago, hasn't opened up all the way and tentacles stay short. It does eat though. Kinda afraid to keep it after reading all the bad stuff about them but we'll see. Ended up putting the ac70 back on, made an overflow for it. Need to cut the teeth a little bigger. Got tired of the film on top. Papertowel trick wasnt working for me.

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Skunk shrimp died. Tested water showed

0 Ammonia

0 Phosphate

5-10 Nitrate

1.025 SG

Got him from the same place I got the fish that had ich from. Can a small hermit kill a cleaner shrimp?

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Pinner Reef

Hermit was not the cause of death. Just an opportunistic scavenger. How did you acclimate the Shrimp... It should have bee drip acclimated as the are super sensitive to salinity changes. Otherwise I'd wonder if there was a major Ph flux

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Cencalfishguy56

Hermit was not the cause of death. Just an opportunistic scavenger. How did you acclimate the Shrimp... It should have bee drip acclimated as the are super sensitive to salinity changes. Otherwise I'd wonder if there was a major Ph flux

well if he checked his salinity comparable to the LFS then he can just dump it in like I did lol but yes invertebrates are very sensitive to changes so drip is the way to go, he may not have survived a molt?

Skunk shrimp died. Tested water showed

0 Ammonia

0 Phosphate

5-10 Nitrate

1.025 SG

Got him from the same place I got the fish that had ich from. Can a small hermit kill a cleaner shrimp?

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well if he checked his salinity comparable to the LFS then he can just dump it in like I did lol but yes invertebrates are very sensitive to changes so drip is the way to go, he may not have survived a molt?

I picked him up thursday of last week. I drip acclimated for 1.5 hrs. The SG of the store water was 1.03x so it took awhile. He molted the following friday night. He ate well too. Stole a bunch of food from the Elegance coral. It could have been ph, I need to get a tester for that.

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Cencalfishguy56

I picked him up thursday of last week. I drip acclimated for 1.5 hrs. The SG of the store water was 1.03x so it took awhile. He molted the following friday night. He ate well too. Stole a bunch of food from the Elegance coral. It could have been ph, I need to get a tester for that.

i don't understand how it could have dropped so fast? Did you add anything chemically to the tank? Did you have a lot of surface scum prior to installing that overflow box?
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Elizabeth94

I thought I read somewhere that drip accumulating can has major negative effects as well, if the shipping water has ammonia in it. Something to do with opening the bag and letting new air in. It effects the ph and makes ammonia even more toxic. I am not sure though. Never really looked it up more than that.

 

I used to drip all my fish, corals, and inverts. Now I just temp acclimate them and put them in the tank. Haven't had any loses so far. Not trying to say the drip method is bad, I am just curious why it is pushed so hard.

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Cencalfishguy56

I thought I read somewhere that drip accumulating can has major negative effects as well, if the shipping water has ammonia in it. Something to do with opening the bag and letting new air in. It effects the ph and makes ammonia even more toxic. I am not sure though. Never really looked it up more than that.

 

I used to drip all my fish, corals, and inverts. Now I just temp acclimate them and put them in the tank. Haven't had any loses so far. Not trying to say the drip method is bad, I am just curious why it is pushed so hard.

in shipping then yes you should temp acclimate and put them in but he got it from the store so the accumulation of ammonia is minimal, however the only thing I will ever truly drip acclimate are anemones
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i don't understand how it could have dropped so fast? Did you add anything chemically to the tank? Did you have a lot of surface scum prior to installing that overflow box?

Not really, The box was put in about the same time as the shrimp. Now I did add that Elegance to the tank 3 days ago, not sure that would have anything to do with it though. I've also been slowely losing nassarius snails. All other snails and hermits are fine though.

 

I thought I read somewhere that drip accumulating can has major negative effects as well, if the shipping water has ammonia in it. Something to do with opening the bag and letting new air in. It effects the ph and makes ammonia even more toxic. I am not sure though. Never really looked it up more than that.

 

I used to drip all my fish, corals, and inverts. Now I just temp acclimate them and put them in the tank. Haven't had any loses so far. Not trying to say the drip method is bad, I am just curious why it is pushed so hard.

I know reefcleaners recommends only temp acclimating their snails because of that reason, but this shrimp was bought locally.

  • Like 1
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Elizabeth94

You are right, I think I remember reading it one there as well.

 

 

I know reefcleaners recommends only temp acclimating their snails because of that reason, but this shrimp was bought locally.

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Cencalfishguy56

Not really, The box was put in about the same time as the shrimp. Now I did add that Elegance to the tank 3 days ago, not sure that would have anything to do with it though. I've also been slowely losing nassarius snails. All other snails and hermits are fine though.

 

I know reefcleaners recommends only temp acclimating their snails because of that reason, but this shrimp was bought locally.

i wonder if somehow a chemical got in? Idk I lost a shrimp in my last tank after 3 months of going solid and like 3 molts
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I wonder if something leached from one of bottles I use to hold my top off water. I used a pop bottle a day or two before the shrimp died. I thought I cleaned it out good enough with hot water and vinegar.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally have 0 Nitrate but my gsp, xenia and toadstool aren't too happy about it. Haven't really opened for a couple weeks now. The CPE might have stripped the water too fast. Did a couple large water changes and switched to Red Sea Pro salt last week too.

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Trying to take some pics with the moonlights. I still need to work on balance and a macro lens. Maybe one day.

 

The group of zoas in the center grew 4 heads in the 7 weeks I've had them. Duncan is growing and sprouting a 5th head. Not really in the pic but the green pallies have 4 small ones growing, so doubled. DSC_0051_zpsq156st5y.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Rock is nowhere near as green as it used to be. Upgraded to ATI bulbs. Switched to RedSea black bucket salt. Been fishless for 7 weeks so ich should be gone completely, may wait one more week just to be safe. Traded the nem the first week I had it. Was a bad move on my part, I should wait until my tank is more mature.

DSC_0066_zpsibpcoeyb.jpgDSC_0064_zpsmflhrv2n.jpg

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Kinda want to go all macro now. Does macro irritate corals if they touch?

20160612_155955_zpsvye4wgqo.jpgAlso what's the best way to attach it? Right now it's rubber banded to a rock.

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  • 1 month later...
  • Csalt changed the title to CSalt's 20" Cube MH life

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