Larnie's Nano-Cube DX 92w

My Nano-Cube DX has been set up in my home office since October of this year. I chose the Nano-Cube (NC) because of its compact size and integrated design. I wanted a tank that wouldn’t dominate my office nor have the appearance of a science project. The NC is the perfect size for its location and since I work from home, I get to enjoy it all day.

Rock and Substrate

When I set up my cube I was heavily influenced by Uchiha's Via Aqua, which I think is a beautiful tank. Check out his thread elsewhere on this forum.

I tried to arrange my live rock to produce a similar look to Uchiha's in the more limited space of my NC. The rock was positioned to allow space for future coral additions and to provide appropriate water flow and sheltered areas. I chose to use a shallow sand bed of aragonite, about 1.5", since I don't like the "ant farm" look of a dsb. Overall I have 13 lbs of Fiji live rock and 10 lbs of Arag-Alive substrate.

Filtration

After studying other Nan-Cube threads on this forum I decided to make a few adjustments to my cube's filtration. In the first compartment I use one sponge and a bag of Chemi-Pure. I change out the sponge weekly with a clean sponge and I replace the Chemi-Pure each month. I placed live rock rubble and a clump of chaeto in the second compartment along with a temperature probe for my remote thermometer. An Ebo-Jager 75w heater and a MJ606 pump are housed in the third compartment. I replaced the stock flare nozzle on the water return with a Y fitting and a round nozzle to provide bi-directional flow. One nozzle is pointed at the top of the tank to break up the surface tension and the other at the live rock to facilitate water circulation. With the MJ606 set at its maximum rate of 153 gph this provides adequate water flow.

Lighting

I stayed with the stock NC lighting while my tank was cycling. In December I contacted Nanocustoms.com and ordered my new hood. It’s their 3.24 mod with 2 additional T-5’s and a R2 Solution Moonlight. The specific lamp configuration follows:

2 x 24w JBJ 5050

1 x 24w Jalli Actinic

2 x 10w Helios T-5 Actinic 03

1 x R2 Solution 5 LED Moonlight

I bought the upgraded lighting for several reasons:

1. Enhanced lighting for the health of my corals

2. Actinic supplementation for color enhancement

3. Independent Actinic Lamp control for sunrise, sunset simulation

4. Broad coverage LED Moonlight for nightime viewing

Here’s my lighting schedule:

8am - 10pm 20w Hellios T-5 Actinic 03 (14 hrs)

10am - 8pm 24w Jalli Actinic + 24w JBJ 5050 (10 hrs)

I plan on trying a 24w 10k lamp here instead of the 24w 5050

11am - 7pm 24w JBJ 5050 (8 hrs)

12am - 12am 5 LED R2 Solution Moonlight (24/7)

The following images illustrate the lighting schedule of my NC:

That’s it for now, I’ll post info and pictures of my critters and corals in the next few days.

Here's an evening picture of my Sun Coral waiting to be fed. I am trying to acclimate it to opening earlier in the day. I've been target feeding it daily with cyclopeeze.

First let me say your rock work and lighting is very nice, really good colors in your rock and lighting. I have an original NANO CUBE with 96 watts on CSL pc. I have to tell you having had the standard LED nightlighting, you should think about a cold cathod ray tube....it gives an awesome shimmer that you dont get from LED's, very cool light source, runs cool, and is a very cool (lighter blue color) really makes the corals pop.

Thanks Ditch

I appreciate the heads-up on using the ccrt for moonlighting. I'll check it out.

I have already posted this pic on another thread, but I want to make this thread inclusive of all issues related to my NC. This is an aquacultured candy cane. Its kind of a fluorescent lime green color. Being very compact and bright, its perfect for a nano-reef.

This small frag of about two inches is covered with dozens of blue zoanthid polyps. There are also a few polyps that have an inner red circle giving them a purple appearance. You can see one of these in the upper left center of the frag.

WOW, amazing coloring. I love the rockwork. Your blue zoo's are very nice as a matter of fact all your corals are nice.

Thanks Cesar.

These next two pics are of a couple of Ricordea in my tank. Now I'm not trying to start a debate or anything, however, I believe that they are both Yumas...

First my orange ric,

and then my bright green ric.

Very nice YUMAS. =)

nice how much did the upgrade cost?

where did you get the t5?

No those are not yumas, they are.....oh wait they are yumas.

Nice tank setup btw. I like the lighting sequence pics. Beautiful corals, I like the green yuma. So when are you gonna post a pic of the blasto? :-*

Maniac

Check out Nanocustoms.com for prices on Nano-Cube lighting upgrade options. I have the 3.24 + 2 T5 actinics and the R2 moonlight.

Ninh

I purchased the T5's with my lighting upgrade from Nanocustoms.com.

Josh

I give, the ricordea are whatever you want them to be... haha. I'll shoot a picture of my blasto tomorrow and post it.

Very nice set up and aquascaping. You're on the right track!

Very nice work larnie! The tank's looking great!

As promised, here's a close-up of my Blastomussa Wellsi. It has four good sized polyps and few smaller ones. This blasto has somewhat of a turquoise color to it, adding an interesting shade to my tank. Hopefully it will continue to grow in size...

Very nice!!! I want one that color. My LFS hasn't been getting any in lately because the importer is charging an arm and a leg for them.

Nice corals are probably as hard to find in Oregon as they are in Colorado... What is your lfs situation like where you live Josh?

All of my blastos came from this LFS that I go to. http://www.advanced-aquarium.com/ He has a really good selection of corals that are not posted on the web site. The importer jumped on the blasto/acan bandwagon and is charging obsene amounts for them. The LFS owner doesn't want to spend ~$100 for a coral, his price. We don't get the really nice corals that the cali guys get but, still there are some nice ones that do come this way.

Larnie those are looking awsome. Do you have a current full tank shot for us?

As I look at other Nano-Reef members tank pics, I notice that nano-reefs are set up all over their homes and offices. Anywhere from the kitchen counter to the living room or laundry room. On their desks or in their cubicles... They are everywhere! I am fortunate enough to work from home. So my NC is in my and office... and in my home. As you can see, I can keep pretty close eye on it throughout the day.

This picture was taken in the evening with just the actinics on.

Nice tank, thats a nice hood

Happy new year

Happy New Year to you too ac.

Happy New Year Larnie.. Seeing her(NC3240001) in the background makes me tear up...

Chris