Pak's 7.5g Rimless Cube

[SnakPak]

Yesterday after getting home I noticed that my tank had 1 inhabitant missing. Budapest, my clownfish, was no-where to be found. I sadly found him on the ground next to the tank. Not sure whether he jumped or one of the cats managed to pull him out, but either way I was extremely disappointed. He was a very cool fish with a ton of personality. Every time my fingers got in that tank he was zipping up to me and taking nibbles. He'll be missed.

 

I'm not even sure what number fish this is for me that has died. My wife has dubbed it the tank of horrors.

 

Now I'm trying to contemplate what my next fish should be. Any suggestions? I'm really interested in the symbiotic relationships and have been considering a goby/pistol shrimp combo. But if anyone else has any ideas, I'm game.

[SnakPak]

Die nudi-branches, die!!!

[Mr. Microscope]

Wow! Beautiful tank! That's the prettiest aiptasia I've even seen. Nice pic! It's a shame they are so agressive and dangerous to other corals. Same thing with nudibranches. I say try to keep it if you can find it and keep it contained. Feed it some cheap zoas or whatever it has a taste for. Sucks about the eggs though. (BTW, I know very little about keeping nudi's and am a noob. This might be ill advice.)

Also, sorry to hear about your clownfish. That sure is sad. I really like six-lines, but I think they need more space. Perhaps, a purple psudo or fire fish would be fun. Everyone that I've seen with a tailspot blenny says that have the best personalities and are a lot of fun.

Good luck!

[.Newman.]

Though it has started to sting my monti cap that's next to it.

 

GSP can sting? I thought it doesnt sting anything but just encrusts stuff with its mat...have you ever tried touching your GSP to find out if it really stings lol?

[Rehype]

Yep Gsp does sting. I doubt the cells are strong enough to penetrate human skin. Beautiful tank BTW.

[.Newman.]

thanks, thats something important to know

[cadre]

Wow! Beautiful tank! That's the prettiest aiptasia I've even seen. Nice pic! It's a shame they are so agressive and dangerous to other corals. Same thing with nudibranches. I say try to keep it if you can find it and keep it contained. Feed it some cheap zoas or whatever it has a taste for. Sucks about the eggs though. (BTW, I know very little about keeping nudi's and am a noob. This might be ill advice.)

Also, sorry to hear about your clownfish. That sure is sad. I really like six-lines, but I think they need more space. Perhaps, a purple psudo or fire fish would be fun. Everyone that I've seen with a tailspot blenny says that have the best personalities and are a lot of fun.

Good luck!

A sixline wrasse will probably need more room than 7.5g IMO. They are very active little fish, cool though.

 

I would get a cool goby like a yasha and maybe pair it with a pistol shrimp. Always nice to see symbiosis in smaller tanks

<-see my avatar thinger

 

Great tank, I would take care of that aiptasia before it gets out of control. It's a pain but it will only get worse. What do you think of the purple star polyp thing? I dunno the name but I picked up a frag. Does it spread pretty fast like gsp?

[SnakPak]

Thanks for the comments everyone! I sucked out about 12 nudi-branches yesterday. The large one pictured above, and then the rest were little babies on the glass. I'm positive there are more in the tank. This very well may be the demise of my monti's. I hope not though.

 

I picked up a peppermint shrimp to hopefully take care of the aiptasia problem and also to see if he'd pick on the nudi's. So far I haven't noticed any change, but he's only been in the tank for a few days.

 

I love 6-line wrasses, but agree that it would get too large for this tank. They are a lot of fun to watch though. I'm going to check out some stuff tomorrow though. See if I find anything interesting.

[SnakPak]

Haven't posted an update in a while. I don't have any really new photos, just some from the day before my beloved clownfish, Budapest, made the jump out of the tank. The only coral I've added since then is a Superman Monti frag. It's really small and unfortunately I lost about half of it when I introduced it to the tank. It did manage to hold on though and the color has come back and looks incredible for the small piece there is. I'm hoping it will spread like wildfire across the small live rock I have in front of the tank.

 

I know my green encrusting monti is growing like a weed. Even after having a large portion of it stung and killed off by my hammer coral, it's coming back with a vengeance. It's now reaching out and touching my brown monti-cap. So those two are going to have to fight for survival.

 

Right now the tank has 1 inhabitant, Mr. Wonka, the coral-banded shrimp. There are of course various snails and hermits, but I don't really count them. I haven't had luck with fish. I really don't want to tarnish the look of the tank with a top on it, so I suppose it'll have to stay fish-less. My wife has banned me from adding more fish unless I get a top for it. And I prefer topless.

 

I do need a new bulb though. My 14k Phoenix is at the end of it's life. Anyone have any recommendations? I have a 150W DE MH setup. I'm open to anything really.

 

[.Newman.]

very clean tank

what's your secret to keeping it so clean haha?

[bananahands]

Nice tank! I may have missed it but what color temp/brand is your 150w MH bulb?

[SnakPak]

very clean tank

what's your secret to keeping it so clean haha?

 

Thank you! I do weekly water changes using distilled water and change out the filter floss (aka pillow stuffing) as well. Other then that, just scrub the walls down every few days when they start to get a little grimey looking and that's it.

 

Nice tank! I may have missed it but what color temp/brand is your 150w MH bulb?

 

I'm using a 14k Phoenix bulb right now. It's about 9 months old though, so the blue tint is really starting to fade from it.

[.Newman.]

thats everything I do lol, maybe your tank is made of special glass

[SnakPak]

Perhaps! A long time has passed since I've even logged in here. Work has kept me swamped. Not to mention I'm in the middle of finishing my basement, so that's taken me away from my other beloved hobbies.

 

So the last few days I've noticed my ballast for my MH is starting to go. It'll kick on for a few seconds, then shut down. After about 5 times of me turning it on and off, it'll stay on. Awesome. I guess that's what happens when you buy a $150 MH setup. So with that, anyone have any suggestions on a new ballast, or perhaps now might be the time that I pursue LEDs. Any thoughts? I can find the Par38 locally, but I'm honestly worried about having that spotlight effect. I like the look of a completely lit tank.

 

If I can do a LED setup for the cost of a new ballast, then perhaps I'll pursue that road. It'd help me get rid of the rising tank temps during the summer and I wouldn't have to worry about buying new bulbs.

 

Let me know your thoughts!

[Chrismck97]

i will post a pic of my 7.5 aqua. Its lit by a diy led light

[JBM]

if you hang the par 38 high enough above the tank you will get complete coverage. Be fore warned that it will need to be somewhere in the range of 12" above the tank (or more) however color & growth will be epic

[SnakPak]

if you hang the par 38 high enough above the tank you will get complete coverage. Be fore warned that it will need to be somewhere in the range of 12" above the tank (or more) however color & growth will be epic

 

When you say epic, do you mean it will be amazing and everything will grow out like crazy? Or will I lose growth and color due to mounting it higher?

 

I'm already at the point where I need to start fragging several of my colonies due to over-growth. Not that I mind that, but I don't want to lose the color. Growth rate is something I'm not too concerned about though.

[clownfish14]

no he means it will grow faster and add more color. i dont have the par38s but i hear they work great i also think its cool that they plug strait into a regular socket.

[SnakPak]

no he means it will grow faster and add more color. i dont have the par38s but i hear they work great i also think its cool that they plug strait into a regular socket.

 

I've read mixed opinions on the use of LEDs. I'm all for using them as they are an energy savings, cost savings, and obviously don't put additional heat into the tank like my MH would. I've currently got my 150W hanging about 4" above the surface, which is quite close, but unfortunately that's what the tank mounting bracket gives me.

 

I'm just concerned about the coloration of my corals. I've seen a lot of fantastic LED setups, but I'm worried about using the Par38 as a LED solution due to spotlighting and potential color loss if I mount it up higher for more uniform light coverage.

[SnakPak]

Something that I've been thinking about as I research doing a Par38 setup is coral growth and coral coloration. I know a lot of people say that their zoas/palys practically melt away under a Par38, but I haven't noticed any growth of mine under my MH. My monti-caps, frogspawn, and hammer on the other hand are outrageous in growth. I'm just really worried about investing in the Par38 setup and then losing the color of my corals.

[JBM]

so go with a diy led light.

 

i threw the par 38 out there as a cheap option,

 

the people that claim there zoas melted, also did light acclimate them to the much higher powered leds.

[SnakPak]

so go with a diy led light.

 

i threw the par 38 out there as a cheap option,

 

the people that claim there zoas melted, also did light acclimate them to the much higher powered leds.

 

Well I'd definitely do a Par38 as it would be an easy option. I've tossed around the idea of DIY, but I don't have the time to invest in something like that right now. So I'll play with a Par38 and if I like it and see good results, I'll look into a DIY LED project next year.

[JBM]

i ment to say "did not" not "did"

 

 

it's all up to you & what YOU want.

[SnakPak]

i ment to say "did not" not "did"

 

 

it's all up to you & what YOU want.

 

 

Haha, thanks for the correction. I actually read it the other way the first time, but then after you responded with the correction I went back up to look at it.

 

I went ahead and ordered the Par38 20k. I'm thinking of going an entirely new direction with my tank. I want to frag out almost all of the GSP, take a major portion of my green encrusting monti out as well as frag my frogspawn and hammer. Then build up a decent sized SPS collection as well as a few other corals that I've been lusting after. Might even re-scape, who knows! The possibilities are endless!

[lizardfish]

a par38 should fill your tank but why not have a par38 PC combo light? maybe even get a 50/50 blue/red pc it really makes colors PoP!!