Dave_uk Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Hi, Im not sure if the tank is small enough for the pico forum so Mods, please move if neccesary. This is my new xcube 26 that Im setting up on my desk at work. After displacement it holds aroud 5.5gal(UK)/6.5gal(US). empty tank - all new and shiney Hood shot. Unfortunately, its only got a 13w 50/50 pc but I will only be keeping softies so hopefully it will do. On my desk, filled with RO and waiting for salt to mix. Other equipment: I have upgraded the stock pump to a MJ606 and split the flow between the outpit nozzle and a spraybar. I was worried that not much flow would get to the spray bar but because the nozzle is small it resricts the flow through it nicely so the flow is split about 50/50. There is also a 100w Tronic heater in the chamber on the right. I will be using the middle 2 chambers for a fuge. The sand and rock is in. Im not sure about the aquascaping but it will change when I start to add corals anyway so it will do for now. I havent spotted anything too interesting on the rock yet other than a couple of small Aipatsia (I'll be killing them tommorow), some feather dusters and an unidentified brown/orange thing on the plate rock. I thought I saw something scuttle under the rock earlier but it could have been my imagination. All too small for photos at the moment. I cant wait to add the CUC and some corals... got at least a few weeks of rock-watching first though. Dave. Link to comment
Jamo Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Dude this is the english version of the pico. Its what i am doing atm. I wish i could get one of the jbj's that everybody uses but...alas my Aquaone 320 has had to do. What you got planned for your tank? Check my thread. I'm currently trying to devise a plan for a sump. Link to comment
d'Espresso Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Looks good for starting out. looks like a mini aquapod 12 and 24.. haha.. where u buy it at? Link to comment
Dave_uk Posted March 11, 2009 Author Share Posted March 11, 2009 Looks good for starting out. looks like a mini aquapod 12 and 24.. haha.. where u buy it at? I got it from a LFS called STM (in the UK). I dont think they are available in the US. I wanted a 6g jbj nano cube but the smallest model available in the UK is the 12g which is too big for my desk so the xcube is a good alternative. Link to comment
Jamo Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I got it from a LFS called STM (in the UK). I dont think they are available in the US. I wanted a 6g jbj nano cube but the smallest model available in the UK is the 12g which is too big for my desk so the xcube is a good alternative. I think because we are out of the tropics we've been forgotton in this hobby, everything available comes from germany and costs the same as the cars they make! Link to comment
Dave_uk Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 The tank cycled very fast (8 days) and the parameters were fine this morning so the first member of the CUC went in... an Electric Blue Hermit. He seems happy and is already cleaning the sand for me He was one of the smallest hermits in my 75G but now he's king of the castle. Link to comment
Jamo Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Nice hermit. Do blues tend to eat from sand more than other species of hermits? I may get a blue on the weekend. Link to comment
Dave_uk Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 Nice hermit. Do blues tend to eat from sand more than other species of hermits? I may get a blue on the weekend. They are good at sand sifting... in my 75 they tend to be in the sand whilst my reds seem to prefer the live rock. The only downside I have noticed is that they tend to be a bit more agressive towards turbo's than my reds or zebra's. Link to comment
Dave_uk Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 The first coral went in today. Its only a green/brown zoa frag but its a start. Link to comment
Gerber77 Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Looks good. Has your diatom bloom come and gone? Link to comment
Dave_uk Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 Looks good. Has your diatom bloom come and gone? I only got a light sprinkle on the sand and the hermit has taken care of that already... Looks like I got off lightly this time. I dont think there was alot of die off from the LR. Link to comment
Gerber77 Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Thats good to hear, is everything from the 75? Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 At first I was a bit conflicted with having this tank in the pico section. It's a little bigger than most of the pico tanks on this site but will most likely run into the same challenges and limitations as a pico so it gets honorary pico status. It's also cute and British so I'll allow it. Link to comment
Gerber77 Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 At first I was a bit conflicted with having this tank in the pico section. It's a little bigger than most of the pico tanks on this site but will most likely run into the same challenges and limitations as a pico so it gets honorary pico status. It's also cute and British so I'll allow it. Link to comment
Jamo Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 With fabs approval your set for glory! What are you plans for lighting? Link to comment
Dave_uk Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 At first I was a bit conflicted with having this tank in the pico section. It's a little bigger than most of the pico tanks on this site but will most likely run into the same challenges and limitations as a pico so it gets honorary pico status. It's also cute and British so I'll allow it. lol.. thanks. its difficult to know where pico ends and nano begins as everyone seems to have a different opinion. I suppose in open space terms its no bigger than a 5gal though. Thats good to hear, is everything from the 75? The LR was new but the Hermit and zoas are from the 75. Ive got a few other softie frags waiting in the 75 too, including some GSP, a leather and some R.S. xenia. When I go the my LFS to buy a coral for my 75, I always try to go for ones that can be easily fragged for the xcube. Link to comment
Dave_uk Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 With fabs approval your set for glory! What are you plans for lighting? I hope so! I would realy like to upgrade the lighting but I have decided to run with the stock 13w fixture for now. This is mainly because the office gets quite warm in the summer months and I dont want to make this worse with an additional PC fixture. Ive seen alot of chatter lately about new LED lights that may be available soon and If someone releases an LED fixture suitable for the xcube I will probably upgrade then. I will probably be putting the fuge light in tommorow which is an Aquawave LED fixture from ebay. hopefully it will be bright enough for the cheato. Link to comment
Jamo Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I want to upgrade my lighting but i have heard that somebody put an 18w lamp in the 11w space that i have and that it melted the lid. So to add anything larger i will have to add fans to the lid too. As this is a bedroom tank i don't really want to do that as i am a really bad sleeper unless i need to stay awake, in which case i am out as soon as i can be. I am thinking of LEDs too but they seem to be pretty expensive to make yourself and pretty space consuming if you want to do anything with them other than on off due to the modules you need. Link to comment
Dave_uk Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 GSP's now in. They are sulking a bit at the moment. FTS. Sorry about the crappy photo quality. Still got a couple more frags waiting in my 75. Link to comment
Jamo Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 How big are the zoas? The look pretty big. Like i said on my thread i just moved my tank downstairs, i'm pretty sure i won't see my gsp for a few days now, they sulk alot with me, they get mardy if i open the lid for too long meaning the lose direct light. Link to comment
Dave_uk Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 The zoas are quite big.. around 2 cm, maybe a little bigger. Im going to add some more colourful ones at some point. Also got some amazing looking neon gsp in the 75 that I will be fragging for the xcube when i get time. The more I add, the more I want to upgrade the ligting. Link to comment
Jamo Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 The zoas are quite big.. around 2 cm, maybe a little bigger. Im going to add some more colourful ones at some point. Also got some amazing looking neon gsp in the 75 that I will be fragging for the xcube when i get time. The more I add, the more I want to upgrade the ligting. Same here. My gsp seems to be fine after i moved it last night, i am noticing maybe one or two polyps appearing a day, i want more light to try increase that, i want the gsp to grow across the rock its on to have a slab of the stuff. Habe you any ideas on how to upgrade? Link to comment
Dave_uk Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 Habe you any ideas on how to upgrade? Well.. the obvious way is to remove the stock PC bulb and ballast and replace with 2 PC's and a remote ballast but I dont want the extra heat. The plastic iner cover get pretty hot with just the 1 fixture. Im really hoping someone brings out a small LED fixture with good output. Someting like the TMC aquaray would be ideal if they did a 1/2 size version. I bought an aquawave LED fixture for the fuge and I had hoped that I could suppliment the PC with a couple of these but now I was dissapointed with the output and dont think its worth adding any to the main tank. Link to comment
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