My BioCube 8

[stallen]

I used cured LR that was out of the water for about 20 minutes as well. I had a small spike of ammonia after about 3-4 days. Took another 3-4 days for the nititrites to come down. I used some bio-spira to speed things up after the ammonia spike. I still waited two (or three can't remember) before I added my first fish.

 

The only thing that has ever died on me since I got this tank was my scarlet crab. I don't know why. Maybe it was just his time. He was the least active out of the five hermits I started out with. I have heard others say that scarlets are kinda lazy. He was cool looking tho with those red legs.

 

I've considered getting an emerald before. I don't know a lot about them, but I think they can occasionally nip a corals sometimes. Can't tell you a lot about shrimp either other than they can be little pigs and steal food from the slow eating mouths of corals.

[GMan]

I'll take that advice ... thanks!

 

It is surprising to me. I would think that even if there was die off that there would be enough pre-existing bacteria to break it down to nitrate immediately.

 

Oh well ... better safe than sorry.

[stallen]

Back to the CUC topic... I could almost see myself going with a CUC without crabs and getting more snails. The hermits were fun at first and they do clean alot, but now that I have some corals they are starting to annoy me.

 

I was so excited to see one of my new red mushrooms had a mysis in its mouth. It was slowing sucking it in. Along comes one of my clumsy hermits. Walked right on top of the shroom and pulled it out and ate it! Snails seems to be a little more polite. They scoot along and when they bump into a shroom or ric, they put on the brakes and go around.

 

BTW, any cycle yet?

[GMan]

No cycle detected after 4+ days. I think I'm in the clear. Thinking of adding CUC Wednesday if all stays clear.

 

Hmmm ... no crabs? I really like crabs, so I think I'm gonna give it a go. I have heard only good things about scarlet reef hermit crabs, so I'm gonna stick to only those.

 

By the way ... absolutely no temperature issues. I was only able to get up to 74 without plugging in my heater.

 

pH (7.8) and calcium (330) are a little low, but not concerned quite yet as water changes should balance things out.

 

Thanks for following!

 

Ohh ... I forgot to mention ... "I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell!"

 

Seriously though ... I can't seem to find Nemo

 

Wow ... Sorry ... I need to go to bed!

[stallen]

That's right... there nothing like cowbell!

 

I don't know if it's been mentioned before, but I bought a bunch of stuff to dose that I don't need. Total waste of money for most products when you can just buy one. B-Ionic 2-part. It will raise your pH, your Alk, and your calcium. Very simple and safe to use. It contains many of the things you might be thinking about dosing (i.e. magnesium, iodide, potassium, and more.) all in safe amounts as long as you foloow the directions.

 

A pH of 7.8 is the bare minimum, but acceptable. The CUC would be fine in there. Fish too. Before you put any corals I'd get the pH up to 8.0 or higher and calcium to ~400. I'd just start dosing B-Ionic about 1-2 weeks before the corals go in. This stuff will also help with coralline algea growth.

 

Have a look...

http://www.esvco.com/prod6.html

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_searchitem.asp

[NYPRODJ]

Man, with your DIY savvy-ness I would have went out and purchased some starfire glass and some quality black silicone and DIY from SCRATCH! Heck I would have even made my own pumps! lol great job!

[GMan]

Can't say I never thought about it! Its fun, but drives my wife crazy. Buy something new and the first thing I do is take apart. Poor woman ...

[stallen]

Can't say I never thought about it! Its fun, but drives my wife crazy. Buy something new and the first thing I do is take apart. Poor woman ...

 

 

Same here. I bought a new computer about a year ago. I totally took it all apart and upraged everything a couple months later. My wife was scared when she walked into the room and I had it totally gutted out.

[GMan]

That cowbell upgrade must have been a b!tch ...

[stallen]

Got the CUC yet? Are your parameters still at zero. What is the plan for fish and corals?

[GMan]

Nope ... I was out of town last weekend.

 

Checking tank upon my return brought some surprises ...

 

Params all still 0 (maybe a little trate)

A few more hitchhikers ... a couple very small snails, lots of small dusters, a small unknown worm, and a cluster of small mushroom like thingy

Glass Anemone ... any suggestions?

 

Planning on obtaining CUC on Tuesday or Wednesday. Stay tuned!

[stallen]

Glass Anemone ... any suggestions?

 

Planning on obtaining CUC on Tuesday or Wednesday. Stay tuned!

 

Just get it out ASAP.

 

I had a few and was lucky enough get them out manually. One popped up in the sandbed. I was able to scoop that one out. Another was picked out of my cheato when I first bought it. That ###ed me off! You can try this if it's not attached to rock or if it's on a piece of rubble , you can just toss that piece of rubble. Other methods are using Joe's Juice (I think vinegar or kalk can also be used). I've even heard to use very hot, almost boiling, water.

 

The problems some people have using "injection" method with things like Joe's Juice is they don't use it properly. You don't want to stab the aptasia. This will cause it to break apart and spread. You just want to hold the syringe tip very close and slowly feed the aptasia. It should just fall off and you can scoop them out. I haven't had to use the Joe's jUice yet, but I've got a bottle standing by.

 

Good Luck!

[trob]

I used some Joe's Juice the other day on some aptasia. After about 10 minutes my little shrimp cleaned up the leftovers. It appears to be shrimp safe. The stuff works good and fast.

[flyingjeff]

I agree. Joes Juice worked 100% on the two I found.

[rev138]

I've had good luck with vinegar myself.

[GMan]

Thanks for the help ... upon further examination ... I think it might be some type of tube worm. I would take a picture, but he tucked into the rock work. I'm guessing it is some type of tube worm because checking this morning he was no where to be found. This evening he was out in the same spot, and just now I checked again and he is gone. I don't have a good viewing angle. Would a glassy be able to hide like that? Do they move around, because this one always appears in the same spot?

[satnu]

Hey Gman and pic's to share? Love the see your tank.

 

BTW where does the Mpls. reef club meet? Any contact info would be appreciated.

[stallen]

Thanks for the help ... upon further examination ... I think it might be some type of tube worm. I would take a picture, but he tucked into the rock work. I'm guessing it is some type of tube worm because checking this morning he was no where to be found. This evening he was out in the same spot, and just now I checked again and he is gone. I don't have a good viewing angle. Would a glassy be able to hide like that? Do they move around, because this one always appears in the same spot?

 

I don't know if aptasia can move around the tank. I think they stay put, but they can definately quickly suck themselves into a crevice when they get startled.

[GMan]

Well CUC went in Wednesday. Obtained the following from LFS ...

 

5 - Red legged hermit crabs

2 - Astrea snails

5 - Nassarius snails

 

Unfortunately the LFS didn't have Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs ... I'll keep hunting locally and hopefully I'll find some before the RL's eat my snails. I'll transfer the RL to my FO tank.

 

The CUC went straight to work and cleaned almost all the algae from the LR and most from the glass in about 2 days.

 

I also finally got my submersible fuge light and got it up and running. It may have been too late, as I had my cheato in the fuge with no light for about 5 days with no light. It is still a nice bright green color, but there are small pieces of chaeto all over my display tank. I have a 10w submersible halogen light. I attempted to run the fuge light 24 hours, and came home from work to find my tank at 84 degrees ... switched to run opposite my main lights and have settled to a consistent 78-79 degree.

 

Made a couple other adjustments ... moved the heater from chamber 2 to chamber 1 with the purigen /chemipure. Added more rubble LR to chamber 2.

 

Sorry no pics ... still have some nasty on the glass waiting for CUC to clean and waiting for the arrival of my "nimble".

 

Stats all look good ... well calcium a little low.

 

pH - 8.2

Ammonia - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 0-10mg/l

Phosphate - 0

Calcium - 375mg/l

Alkanity - 200ppm

 

Might get some more inhabitants this weekend.

[GMan]

Well started my stocking ...

 

Added a small maroon clown and a small yellow watchman goby. The clown is doing well and has eaten. He doesn't seem to fond of the wild multi-direction current in the tank. He will certainly require transfer to my larger tank once he grows up. The goby has been hiding since he was added and I have yet to see him feed.

 

Also picked up 2 scarlet hermits and moved my previously purchased red legs to my other tank. I would consider this a major upgrade ... the scarlets are much cooler looking and they won't eat snails.

 

Also noticed and identified several hitchhikers. At least 3 different mini brittle stars, 4 cream color button polyps, dusters all over .. at least 30-40, a small cluster of foraminiferans, a few amphipods, a couple asterina stars, 3-4 collonista snails. I also found a small spot of two bubbles of bubble algae. I'm going to try to remove tomorrow.

 

That's all for now

[GMan]

Well I've been battling temperature changes ... 76 in morning 82 in evening. I have eliminated every cause except the lighting. The upgraded fans simply are not enough to handle the heat of the upgraded lighting.

 

I have determined that I'm going to need to modify the hood to cut additional ventilation like stallen and Robster.

 

At this point I'm open to suggestions on location and amount of venting, as well as tools and process to get the job done and looking as nice as possible.

 

Thanks in advance ...

[NYPRODJ]

STALLEN - that is the sweetest shark ever!

[stallen]

@ NYPRODJ - pretty cool huh!

 

 

One thing you could do until you get the chance to cut some new vents is to reduce the temperature swing. You can't keep the temp below 82 until you get better ventilation, but you can heat the tank to prevent the temp from dropping clear to 76. I would adjust your heater until you have a minimum temp of about 79. This shouldn't increase your max temp. You should then only have a temp swing from 79-82. A 3 degree temp swing is much kinder to your fish and corals than a 6 degree swing.

 

I believe it was robster that posted the best pics of the vent mod on the hood. Check out his thread. Also, look at my pics of the mod.

 

I tried to clamp a board to the hood to cut straight lines for the vents. It's too hard to clamp a straight board to the curved surface of the hood. In retrospect I think I should have used a thin peice a plastic clamped to the hood as a guide. The plastic will bend and form better to the hood.

 

Use a dremel to cut the vents. Start off by just scratching the surface then make gradual deeper and deeper cuts until you have cut all the way through. When you are finished you can use some sand paper to smooth out the vent holes.

 

If you have balls of steel, you could use a compound miter saw and do the job in about two minutes. I actually was going to do it this way, but my saw doesn't extend out far enough to reach the location where the vents need to go. If you have access to a large compound miter saw, you might be able to do it. Of course this could be a complete disaster and I don't recommend it, but I've cut a fair amount of plastic with my saw and it always makes nice clean cuts.

 

The location of my vent is perfect I think. I have both fans blowing out. So when I place my hand over the new vent I can feel cool air being drawn in.

 

Also, I you haven't opened up the stock vents you should do that as well. I used a dremel for that as well, but it might be less messy to just use some wire cutters and snip the vents. If you have the hood upside down you can see that there is molded plastic covering the vents from the inside. The purpose of this is to prevent light from coming out of the vents. After clipping this plastic out, you'll have better flow through the stock vents and the increased light coming out of those vents isn't really bothersome at all.

 

Good Luck

[GMan]

Thanks for the info ... Just completed the project.

 

- Opened up the stock vents

- Switched both fans to blow out

- Cut the metal plate that covered the fans and wiring so that it just covers the wiring.

- Cut five vent slots in the center above the access door

 

I used the some 3/4 inch plywood as a guide to cut slots, and it bent nicely. Everything went great until I made a major slip while cutting the top slots ... ... all in all it turned out OK and will be worth it if the temps stay down.

 

One of my fans started making noise on startup ... after a couple knocks on the side it quit ... hope it won't become a problem.

 

Regarding temps ... I was shooting for a range of 77-79. Therefore my heater was set at 77. However, one day I got home from work and the tank was 84.5 degrees! . I turned my heater down to 76 and at least range was holding between 76-82.

[GMan]

77 degrees this morning ... 79 degrees tonight.