JBJ Nano Cube 12 gallon DX

[TSwift]

Hello all! I used to have a 20 gallon long saltwater tank long ago when i was young and it crashed due to a cyno and algae take over. I have done tons of research over the years and learned what I did wrong (which was a lot). During the time i had the 20 gallon, i had a different account on here, but i decided to just start all over, so here I am!

 

I am now in college and got a used (but incredibly clean) 12 gallon JBJ from a guy who practically has a fish store in his basement. He was also nice enough to supply me with the live rock, live sand, and premixed saltwater. He had it cycling a couple weeks before i picked it up, so he said the cycle should not be long, if it cycles at all. Problem was the trip from my hometown to my college was 3 hours. By the time the tank was set up, another 2 hours or so went by. By that time (last night) the tank was about 4 gallons of water short and the LFS was closed. Additionally, i could not find my water thermometer and the water could have been too hot (maybe 80 or so), So today I filled the tank up, got a thermometer, and got everything plugged in correctly. Here is the set up so far:

 

JBJ Nano Cube 12 DX

Hardware:

Stock lighting: 2x24 PC 50/50

Upgraded stock power head- Maxi-Jet 400

Additional power head- Aqua-Tech 170gph

50 watt heater

Chambers (going left to right):

Chamber 1 - Sponges

Chamber 2 – Carbon and heater

Chamber 3 – Upgraded stock pump (The Maxi-Jet 400)

 

Fish:

Black Clownfish

 

Corals:

Green Zoo

Orange Zoo

Watermelon Mushroom

Red Mushroom (fell in a very deep hole )

Kenya Tree

Xenia

GSP

2 Frags of Pollys

 

Inverts:

Fancy Brittle Starfish

Cleaner Shrimp

7 Scarlet Hermit Crabs

2 Astria Snails

 

Test results (I know its too early to test but I'm so curious)

P.H. 7.8 (I will wait on this, but i have buffer just in case)

Ammonia: 0.50

Nitrite: 0.25

Nitrate: 40-80

Salinity: 1.020 (its low i think because i just recently added the water, going to wait a while to see)

 

The guy is really great, I can text or call him whenever and he answers all of my questions. I will probably buy frags and fish from him after i saw them when i picked up my tank.

 

I am worried that with the rough transition, I will have a longer, full on cycle. Any opinions?

Additionally, I have been reading here and most people leave their lights off until they see algae growth? I think thats what I'm going to do, at least for the first few days.

 

CURRENT FTS:

 

Setting up the tank:

 

 

[pyronus]

Looks like a good start back to NR. You know that patience is the key. Wait the cycle out, diatoms will come and go, an algae bloom may or may not happen. I never had an algae bloom but I recently had a re-cycle when I moved my tank. Remember the key is to not over react and just be patient. Congrats on the new set up, and enjoy it. Reef tanks are a beautiful slice of the ocean.

[everl0ng]

that scape looks good! what is the planned stocking list? it's nice to see fellow hobbyists help each other because this can be one expensive hobby! thats why i went with a 5.5g haha.

[TSwift]

Thank you pyronus I will definitely be more patient this time around. When it is time to introduce stock, it will be a very slow process since the guy i got my tank from will give really nice corals to me on discount and he is 3 hours away, plus my budget will like the breaks

 

Everl0ng: Thank you! Yeah he gave me a great deal: everything for $140.

Planned stock list:

Clean up crew:

3 Nassarius Snails

3 Astrea Snails

3 Cerith Snails

1 Turbo Snail

1 Margarita Snail

1 Fighting Conch

1 Emerald crab?

(later on a cleaner shrimp)

 

Fish:

For sure- a pair of clowns

Not sure yet on the other 1 or two fish. Possibly a small goby and/or royal gamma, but i have to do more research.

 

For corals, i am open to what ever the guy who gave me the tank (Brent) will have in stock, although he told me he will order something if he does not have it. I know i want a frogspawn, xenia, zoas, and mushrooms.

[TSwift]

Just did another test wondering if results would get worse (indicating a long cycle), but I was surprised with the results:

P.H.: 7.8 (Don't know how to quite higher this without doing a water change to mix the P.H. buffer, maybe mixing it in water i take out of the tank, mixing the buffer, and putting it back in?)

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 40

Salinity: 1.021 (still too low, might just go buy some salt instead of trying to take out water and replacing it with saltwater)

 

I am now running the lights 3-4 hours a day. I started to see feather dusters and an odd red colored hitchhiker on the rocks yesterday! Tried to take pictures, but my camera can't seem to focus well enough.

 

I am wondering that since ammonia and nitrite are 0 that the cycle is almost over, but it has only been 3 days. Is that possible? I know that my first major mistake on my 20 gallon tank was that I waited too long to add a clean up crew and I don't want to do that again. Should I add them if my parameters become perfect even if I have not had a diatom bloom or algae yet? My biggest fear is another algae takeover, but I don't want the clean up crew to starve. Any thoughts?

[knoxvegas]

I would wait a week or so, regardless, then check the params. Adjust the salinity up now. Don't get caught up on the pH right now, it will come up. Looks like your off to a goos start. You shouldn't have algae problems with this setup. Make sure to use RO/DI or distilled water for top offs and saltwater makeup. HTH

[pyronus]

Wait for the diatoms. If you have good rock, you wont even get GHA until you introduce it on a frag. Also algae problems can be mostly taken care of with good pruning, using high quality water and blackouts if it gets out of control. Just relax don't run to the LFS today and bring home the pretty.

[TSwift]

Sounds great! I will test again in another 5-7 days and see where the params are at.

 

I'm deciding weather i should use the 2 gallons or so of saltwater i have, take out the current water in the tank, and add the new saltwater to raise the salinity, but that would practically be doing a water change, which I don't want to do. So instead, I was thinking of just buying a small amount of salt and raise it that way.

 

I buy my saltwater and freshwater (RO/DI) at a small local fish store. It was a pain trying to carry it up to my dorm in 5 gallon buckets- water is surprisingly heavy! Thankfully a guy friend helped me. I have about 5 gallons of freshwater and 2 gallons of saltwater left on hand. Very convenient!

 

I know it's a long ways away, but I have been thinking about the fish I would like. I know I want a pair of clowns, but I would like a 3rd small fish for variety (like really small). I like the engineer goby a lot, but I have been reading and it sounds like 3 fish might be too much for a 12 gallon tank. Would that stay true even for a very small 3rd fish? Anyone have experience in keeping 3 in a similar size tank?

[saxoakos]

Sounds great! I will test again in another 5-7 days and see where the params are at.

 

I'm deciding weather i should use the 2 gallons or so of saltwater i have, take out the current water in the tank, and add the new saltwater to raise the salinity, but that would practically be doing a water change, which I don't want to do. So instead, I was thinking of just buying a small amount of salt and raise it that way.

 

I buy my saltwater and freshwater (RO/DI) at a small local fish store. It was a pain trying to carry it up to my dorm in 5 gallon buckets- water is surprisingly heavy! Thankfully a guy friend helped me. I have about 5 gallons of freshwater and 2 gallons of saltwater left on hand. Very convenient!

 

I know it's a long ways away, but I have been thinking about the fish I would like. I know I want a pair of clowns, but I would like a 3rd small fish for variety (like really small). I like the engineer goby a lot, but I have been reading and it sounds like 3 fish might be too much for a 12 gallon tank. Would that stay true even for a very small 3rd fish? Anyone have experience in keeping 3 in a similar size tank?

Just keep up with your weekly water change and you wont have problem with 4 fish thats my opinion

[knoxvegas]

At this point don't change the tank water to raise the salinity. Top off with the saltwater you have until you get your desired salinity level. Leave the feeding door open to increase evaporation to speed up the process.

[TSwift]

I always keep the lid propped open a tad in order so that water does not accumulate in the lights and let the CO2 out and such, but that's a great idea knoxvegas! Ill keep the feeder lid up to speed things up. Thank you

 

And I'm glad to hear that saxoakos, now I have to pick what I would like for my third fish haha. I'm looking for something really colorful, small, and very different from the clown, any suggestions? I'm looking at gobies right now (I know, thats pretty broad haha).

[jdl]

sweet tank!! im considering this as my next tank good luck

[saxoakos]

Personaly i would go for a royal gramma or a banggai cardinalfish i know the 2nd one is not very colorful but its an amazing fish to watch

[TSwift]

It's Day 4 and when I turned on my fish tank i noticed that one of the hitchikers grew a lot and looked sort of like aiptasia. Looking at images of them, I am 80% sure that's what it is. I also have an unidentified red spiky hitchiker that looks similar. I will upload photos of it later so i can maybe get a identification, but I am thinking about burning it off with a lighter just in case because they multiply so fast. Any other suggestions? Its brown tentacles kind of in a circle waving around.

 

EDIT: Here's the pictures. You can see the tentacles In the crevice kind of in the middle, above the purple stuff.

The red spiky thing is a little lower and to the right, kind of has a stem that you cant see in the picture. I am also seeing a TON of red things similar to the one on the lower right on a different rock... I'm getting kind of worried.

 

 

[TSwift]

I went to the identification forums and it is in fact aiptasia. I went to the LFS and was about to buy a 15 dollar Aiptasia X when the store manager said I can just dump salt into the crevices they are in and it turns them into goo. After that I'm not sure if i should scoop them up or leave them in the tank. I don't want any tissue to spread and it might be too deep in the crevices to reach. Any thoughts?

Anyway, I bought a small bag of Oceanic Natural Sea Salt Mix to use. This will also safely rise my salinity, so I'm pretty optimistic.

[knoxvegas]

For the aiptasia, I have used Joe's Juice in the past. However, a much cheaper alternative is Mrs Wages Pickling Lime (Calcium Hydroxide). It's whats used to make Kalkwasser. 1 lb bag at WalMart cost me less than $3 and will last me forever. Make a small bit of paste about the consistency of toothpaste and smear that on the aiptasia and crevice. Same thing and good to go for cheap.

[TSwift]

Here is the topic i started in the Identification forum:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry3057947

Well I was setting the salt on the rock where the aiptasia was and got the crap scared out of me. A grey rolly-polly looking type bug ran out of the rock and back in and i got so scared i almost dropped the rock... I think its good but I will go research to see what exactly it was. I also spent another 30 minutes trying to rearrange the rock the way it was and make sure everything is stable again.

 

So far it looks like everything turned into goo... and i made sure not to touch any of the tissue so it doesn't spread. I found a white sponge and lots of tube worms in the process. Funny how much stuff you see when you really inspect the rock! Additionally, my salinity is now around 1.023-1.024. I will wait to see if it comes back and try knoxxvegas' idea (thanks! ) I'm sure i will have to do a little bit more spot treatment for any spots i missed.

[TSwift]

Looked in the tank again today to see if I could spot any more aiptasia and I couldn't! Although I'm happy about that, I will still make sure to keep on the lookout. Maybe instead of a cleaner shrimp, ill get the shrimp that eats aiptasia (don't remember the name off the top of my head).

 

Here's the test results for today to see if i did any damage in moving the rock and everything I did yesterday:

P.H.: 8.0

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 40-80

Salinity: 1.023

So the Nitrate did go up because of it, but the P.H. and salinity are rising which is good. I keep staring at the tank as if the cycle will finish and I will get my diatom bloom if I do haha.

 

There is a film on the top of the water... my last 20 gallon had a skimmer, so I have never seen this before. I'm not too worried about it though, doesn't bother me if the water is topped off.

[TSwift]

Just found more tiny aiptasia... I don't know how i can treat all of them at once!! Kind of getting overwhelmed... such a pain.

 

But i do have good news. I am starting to see other little critters that are neat. I saw a red worm that looks to me like a bristleworm, two yellow/white sponges, and a very small snail! Yay!!

 

Also, starting to see some brown spots? Diatom bloom??? Hopefully!

[TSwift]

I'm successfully keeping the aiptasia down by using the salt! I think it will be reasonable until I get my peppermint shrimp.

Test Results:

P.H.: 8.0

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 40

Salinity: 1.023

 

I have a small diatom bloom and I am starting to see some green, so I decided to do a 3 gallon water change to get the nitrates down and I will most likely add my cleaning crew tomorrow. Anyone know when I should add the Peppermint shrimp? Do nitrates have to be 0?

[TSwift]

Just added my clean up crew yesterday! I will make sure to post pictures soon.

Clean up crew:

6 Astria

3 Nassarius

2 Red-legged hermits

1 Turbo

1 Peppermint shrimp (hoping he will eat my aitphasia, although there is a very small amount left)

 

The snails went to work right away, but the peppermint shrimp is always hiding it seems! I read that they are shy and nocturnal, so I guess thats why. I should have taken a picture of him when i could! Also, I'm setting a 10 hour light period a day now and the film on top of the water is gone.

 

I have been trying to rearrange the rocks so that they aren't laying against the back wall because they were pretty unstable. I am getting really annoyed at the pump that is laying on the ground facing up (its what was advised by the guy i bought the tank from). Does anyone have luck just placing it on the glass? If so, where? I think the tank would look a lot better if it wasn't laying there.

 

What do you think about the scape? Like it better than before? Need to do a complete turn around? I'm very open to opinions!

 

FTS

 

Peppermint shrimp:

[TSwift]

I had a full diatom bloom and it seems to be over. Seeing a bunch of small patches of light green (doesn't look like algae, but more like pods i hope?) And i have a BUNCH of small little white bugs (amphipods?) on the glass. Peppermint shrimp isn't really doing his job with the aiptasia and every time i look for him he is just hanging in his little cave in the back of the tank...

 

Just tested the tank and heres the results:

P.H.: 8.0

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 40

Salinity: 1.023

 

Kind of bothered by the nitrates. I saw it go down to 20 just a few days ago and now its back up to 40. Its been three weeks and I would have thought the nitrates would start going down by now. Anything I'm doing wrong? By the way, anyone know what is the black stuff on the lower left rock in the FTS??

 

Red Worm Hitchhiker

 

Small white bugs (amaphipods?)

 

FTS (cloudy because i took it right after WC)

 

Attempted close-up of the green pods (or algae?)

[TSwift]

Decided to go to the LFS to have them test my water after I did a 50% water change and it turns out all my parameters check out fine! My test kit is too old (at least 5 years!) and was messing up my readings.

 

So I decided to get fish! Got a firefish (boyfriend really wanted it haha), black clown fish (he was on sale for $40 since they were sold out of ocelleris), and even a cleaner shrimp (I plan on taking out the peppermint shrimp because of people's complaints about them, any suggestions?). Got dried flakes and frozen mysis shrimp for food. Planning on adding some sort of goby later on. Little coepods are running rampent all over the glass and I think my clown fish and the cleaner shrimp are eating them haha.

 

The clown fish is doing great- hes a cute little thing. He stays in the middle-front of the tank and loves to swim in the current. My firefish is not so great. When i put him in, he kind of swam too close to the filter and got stuck to the crate cover. I immediately helped him off, but he was breathing pretty hard and stressed out. Last time I checked he was a little better, but still resting on the bottom in the back of the tank. I hope he will be ok!

 

Sorry the pictures are blurry.... I have to take them from my phone (which sadly has a better camera on it than my other camera ... yay HTC EVOs haha). I'm going to try to get a better one of the clownfish, the picture just doesn't give him justice!

 

Clownfish:

 

Firefish:

 

Cleaner Shrimp:

[TSwift]

I am starting to see really annoying small particles clouding my water and a film on the top of the water. Ive been reading around and I put some filter floss on the intake of the lower power head. Is this a good placement?

 

I need to upgrade my filtration. All i have right now is 3 sponges in the 1st chamber, A bag of carbon (took out the bioballs) and a heater and pump in the 3rd chamber. I'm not sure how old the carbon is or how often you should change it. Think that might be the culprit?

Thinking about putting live rock rubble in the 2nd chamber. I want to put some cheato in there too, but there is no light back there. Any other suggestions?

 

Also, I added another turbo snail to help attack the short green algae I am seeing.

[TSwift]

My firefish died today I was starting to get worried about him because his tailfin seemed like it was rotting and he almost seemed like he had ich. I took him right out when i saw that he died (both shrimp got out and starting picking at him on the bottom of the tank).

 

Although I'm really sad about the firefish, I am almost positive he had a disease. I worry now that the clownfish (which was much more expensive) is going to get sick!! I'm doing a 2.5 gallon water change right now to eliminate any ammonia spike this might have caused. Any other advice??