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My BioCube 8


GMan

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Going to try to leave the submersible fuge light on 24 hours and see if I can still maintain reasonab le tank temps.

 

On a sad note ... out of no where I spotted 2 brittle worms out and about tonight. I could only see about 1/4" of one and the other was almost 2 inches. Rats and I was just about to get some corals. Off to do some research on how to catch/trap these little ba$tards.

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Not all Bristleworms are bad.

 

I have one in my setup that is probably 2 or 3 inches long that hasn't bothered a thing. I only see him late at night, or when I haven't fed in more than a couple of days.

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Keep the bristol worms! They've got a bad rap. People always think they kill stuff, but they just eat things that are dead or are almost dead. I wish I had some.

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Agreed ... my research turned up the same results. They seem to have a bad reputation.

 

Really creepy looking though :scarry:

 

Here is a nice little hitchhiker reference:

http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

 

I'm serious about wishing I had some. When I happen to wake up in the middle of the night I sometimes look at my tank and hope I'll catch some creeper critter crawling around. No such luck. I'm OK with getting creeped out as long as it is a safe creepy critter.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry it has been awhile ...

 

Not much change over the last few weeks. BUT ... I do have a new addition of a Rose Buble Tip Anemone. Its about 3in in diameter and seems to be doing great. It took about 24hrs for my clown to start hosting ... :D ... The clown hasn't left the anemone since.

 

I took some pictures, but they are very poor and do not do the RBTA any justice. I will try to get better pictures.

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After 2 months I'm still battleing low pH issue. 7.6 to 7.7 in the morning and 8.0 to 8.1 in the evening. I'd appreciate any help on the cause and tips to keep a more stable pH.

 

My makeup water is 8.0. I'm concerning adding some aeration ... thoughts?

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Gman,

I didn't read all of this thread, so someone may have already mentioned this to you. Anyway, I had the same problem with my 30 gallon cube with low ph when the lights were off. My problem was solved by increasing gas exchange. Specifically, I added an air pump with a single small airstone on a timer. It comes on when the lights go out and turns off when the lights come back on. Worked for me...

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Salt = Instant Ocean

Substrate = 2" Live Sand ... fine grain

 

I agree that my buffering capablity must be low. I don't want to change substrate and wanted to avoid dosing, but looks like I'll get dosing up and running.

 

I also agree that gas exchange is low ... this is a cronic problem with closed system nanos, especially with the bioballs removed and increasing the water height in chambers 2 and 3. Adding a small air pump and stone is a good solution and based on mallred's response should work. My only concern with this solution is the salt spray/buildup is could cause in the closed nano system. Is this an issue for you mallred?

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I'm sure you already had a look at my thread. I'm dosing b-ionic 2 part 24/7. My pH stays between 8.5 and 8.15 ever since I started. Since I have a pinpoint pH monitor I frequently check it throughout the day. Very stable. I'd like to have my pH a little higher. Maybe 8.2 - 8.3. Maybe when the weather getss a little warmer and I can open the windows every once and awhile that will help.

 

Since I only have an 8 gallon, I dilute the b-ionic with RO/DI to make it half strength. Then I run it on my Nautilus II (actually just a modded Kangaroo 324 feeding pump) with the 2-channel tubing at the slowest rate. I dilute the b-ionic because my pump will deliver 7ml in a 24 hr period at its slowest rate and I only want to deliver about half that much. My tank is actually getting about 7cc diluted (or 3.5cc if it were undiluted) of each solution. Not only do I have a stable pH, but there is really not any sense in dosing anything else when using b-ionic 2-part.

 

Until you can set something like this up. I would dose with b-ionic 2 part a couple times a day. Once very early in the morning and again late evening after the lights go out.

 

I considered an airstone. I had the same concerns about salt spray build-up under the hood.

 

Lets see some pics, gman!!!

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Oh I almost forgot to mention ... working with a local reefer to obtain some corals ...

 

- Blue Hammer coral

- Purple Candy Cane

- Green Ricordea

 

Still hunting for just the right zoo's ... and Salty ... yes I will post some pics when they get added!

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- Blue Hammer coral

- Purple Candy Cane

- Green Ricordea

 

Still hunting for just the right zoo's ... and Salty ... yes I will post some pics when they get added!

 

Those are really nice corals you have coming. I have Zombie Eyes, Eagle Eyes, AoG's, RPE, and rics if you are interested in those zoas.

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Thanks for the offer and I really like Eagle Eye's, but I'm looking to add something in orange, yellow, red to compliment the pink, blue, purple, and green of my other corals.

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Gman,

Yeah, salt creep is increased quite a bit with the airstone. It isn't unmanageable, but it is a pain sometimes. If it is more than you can tolerate, you may try adding one of those micro-fans in the hood and have it run when the lights are out.

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Well my anemone/clown experience has been nothing short of fantastic. My RBTA and Maroon Clown paired very quickly and have been best buddies ever since. I had specifically scape my rock with a special spot front and center for an RBTA. I placed the RBTA in the spot at introduction and he hasn't moved a lick.

 

It hasn't been without some minor challenges ...

- He appears to be growing very quickly ... my damn clown takes every piece of food during feeding and shoves into the RBTA mouth. The RBTA started at about 3" diameter with a max spread of about 4" and I would guess he is already 4" average and 5+" max. I hope he splits soon as he is getting close to some of my other corals.

- I received a awesome blasto frag from a local reefer on a frag disk. I had just left the frag on the rock to let him adjust a little prior to removing him from the disk and securing to a rock. One of my hermots or snails pushed the disk off the rock and right into the RBTA. Needless to say it was badly stung and probably will not survive.

 

I did add some inhabitants and will post some pic tonight ...

- 8-12 polyp Purple Candy Cane coral.

- The afforementioned Neon Green 4-5 polyp Blasto

- 4-6 polyp Pink Zoa

- Two headed green/pink tip frogspawn

- Small Randalli Pistol Shrimp ... hopefully to pair with my watchman goby. No such luck so far. Funny story ... it is very small (maybe 1"). I put him in the tank. He was attacked by my clown and hid. I saw him yesterday for the first time in 5 days and he is missing one of his claws.

 

Pic to come tonight ...

 

Later, G

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Great to hear your anemone experience is going great.

 

I had a (green) BTA and a Gold Stripe Maroon, and it split at one point. It was funny to watch the clown go between both anemones. But, both grew, and grew, and .... grew :) And yes they started stinging corals. They killed a Candy Cane and Mushroom.

 

I eventually took both anemones to the LFS and got credit for them, as I wanted corals and not just two huge anemones.

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