I feel like a noob

[jeremai]

Except I wasn't dumb enough to start out with an Eclipse.

[clifford513]

That's not a bad price on those....hmmmm.

[xbwolfx]

my new tank:

 

[jeremai]

my new tank:

MINE'S BETTER, IT HAS MOONLIGHTS.

[xbwolfx]

yeah, but talented reefers retro everything instead of buying stock tanks that are fully functional. duh.

[jeremai]

Your mom.

[xbwolfx]

[clifford513]

Except I wasn't dumb enough to start out with an Eclipse.

I've been coddling the desire for a biocube lately

[jeremai]

 

 

So, I switched to oolitic sand (some random brand from Petco). I was expecting a month-long milky storm of sandy goodness, but the stuff almost refuses to become suspended. I used a Styrofoam plate to disperse the water as I was pouring it in, but even with digging around in the sand to get rid of any air bubbles, it still doesn't become suspended.

 

This is good, very good imo - but odd to me nonetheless. We'll see what happens when I dump in the mineral mud, though.

[Lalani]

How much water ended up on the floor?

 

Looks good, Jer, and neato about the sand. You don't remember the brand name?

[jeremai]

About a gallon.

 

 

And I have no idea about the brand - but it's the only oolitic sand at Petco, lol.

[OB1]

Did it come with a built in skimmer and fuge w/ light like it says? What is the height of the tank? Does that sand have any buffering ability?

[jeremai]

It did come with a skimmer and a fuge light (I won't be using either, though). The whole unit is 16" aquare and 14" high.

 

I've never put much stock in the buffering abilities of sand. If any of those properties really do exist, then this sand would be more efficient as it were than a sand with a larger grain size.

[OB1]

It's sooooooooooo-oolitic white though. Must really reflect the light. What's wrong with the skimmer? Was the skimmer pump seperate from the circulating pump? It shows 125gph for each.

So this thing is going skimmer and fuge-less but using the bioballz?? So old-skwell. I like it.

 

It did come with a skimmer and a fuge light (I won't be using either, though). The whole unit is 16" aquare and 14" high.

So my Biocube 14g is 15"x15.5" and 16.7" high (14" w/o the hood) and it's 14-gallons, Right

[S.I.C.]

What are you looking to achieve with the mud?

[jeremai]

I'm using the mud to tone down the whiteness of the sand. Other dark substrates have too large a grain size. The additional iron content will also be a factor later on.

 

The sandbed will (hopefully) soon be covered in Halophila ovalis. I'll have standard Caribbean polyps on the rock and a large gorgonian to fill out the height on the right (unsure of species yet). I'm hoping to add a few red macros as well. I'm still narrowing down fish and invert choices.

 

The Halophila is the reason I won't be using the skimmer. It's also the reason I left in the bioballs (I need elevated nitrates) and the reason I won't use the fuge light (no need for a fuge, the whole tank will be a fuge). I'll let the back of the tank develop into a cryptic zone on its own, with just a sponge for occasional polishing before photos.

[S.I.C.]

Sounds like a cool plan, I'll be tagging along....

[OB1]

Seahorse or pipefish

[jeremai]

I need something that poops more, lol.

[OB1]

I need something that poops more, lol.

Fuzzy dwarf lionfish. Can you say flame-on??

[jeremai]

I considered briefly a fu manchu lion...

[lakshwadeep]

possum wrasse

[OB1]

 

Well I decided to order one. Seems cheap enough. I need a new house for my purple lobster.

[jeremai]

possum wrasse

Wetmorella sp? Hadn't considered that. Interesting...

 

Well I decided to order one. Seems cheap enough. I need a new house for my purple lobster.

[OB1]

These guys are really cool and poop alot but they only eat live food. My LFS has one and said they actually do better in a small tank w/o a lot of live rock because their not to good at chasing down their food.