Alex's Biocube 29

[Weetabix7]

5 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Sounds like a good attack plan!  I think your tank looks pretty, a little cyano is nothing. Your coral looks happy and that's what really matters. 

 

I was about to say this exact thing!!

 

Sure, I see cyano, but I also see several Corals that look healthy and happy and that says a lot!!

I think it's important to keep the whole picture in perspective and not beat up on ourselves cause one or two things aren't picture perfect, especially (and this is important) if we are taking action to change the the things that are "off". 

Real life Reefing FTW!!!

[xAyanex]

So, I emailed Red Sea Reefer because I love the look of the Reefer tanks, but want something large enough for a blue tang (at least 180 gallons). They emailed me back the next day with a link to the Reefer XXL and Peninsula tanks coming out. I really hope to someday have a Reefer XXL 750! Maybe in a few years after we move and save up some more money and stuff.

[tinyforest]

56 minutes ago, xAyanex said:

So, I emailed Red Sea Reefer because I love the look of the Reefer tanks, but want something large enough for a blue tang (at least 180 gallons). They emailed me back the next day with a link to the Reefer XXL and Peninsula tanks coming out. I really hope to someday have a Reefer XXL 750! Maybe in a few years after we move and save up some more money and stuff.

That would be so much fun to plan and setup. I love seeing those huge tanks with schools of yellow and blue tangs. I consider 100+ gallon tanks the big leagues.

[xAyanex]

2 minutes ago, tinyforest said:

That would be so much fun to plan and setup. I love seeing those huge tanks with schools of yellow and blue tangs. I consider 100+ gallon tanks the big leagues.

I was so overwhelmed initially starting this tank, but I feel I've done a good enough job I could be successful on a larger scale. I have had a blast planning as it is, the hardest part is picking fish/corals/etc that all get along! I really want yellow and blue tangs, but I have no idea how many I could have. The DT is still only like 160 gallons (with like a 200gallon total system) so maybe it's still technically not big enough for a blue tang, but I am getting them anyway. I'll get small ones. Lol.

[xAyanex]

So, the cyano is being kept somewhat at bay but it's definitely still there. It's a PITA.

 

Also, I moved the blenny to the DT two weeks early. So he was only in QT for 2 weeks. I did this for three reasons:

1. My boyfriend and I are both tired of buying tons and tons of gallons of distilled water every time we go to the store. Since I don't have an RO/DI filter and won't be getting one so long as I live at this house (because of well water), I use exclusively distilled water for top off and mixing up saltwater.

2. I am tired of doing water changes every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. I had to do this in order to keep the ammonia down to a safe level for the blenny in my uncycled QT, even with Prime. This is the main reason we were having to buy a ridiculous amount of gallons of distilled water.

3. The blenny has been doing well, and I am not concerned that he is sick. Even if he is carrying ich or anything, it is likely he won't break out even after 4 weeks in QT and could break out in the DT. So the risk in QT vs. DT is negligible, and the QT tank is more dangerous due to the amount of ammonia he produces.

 

Catching him in the QT tank was extremely stressful at first, because when I tried to get him in my net, he jumped! A LOT!!! So I made my boyfriend catch him. After a couple tries he got the bright idea to drain 2/3 of the water out of the QT tank, and then he couldn't jump that high and he was easier to catch. We finally caught him and put him in the DT about an hour before we went to bed.

 

Bob and Dot noticed him almost immediately, and when they approached him he swam into a hole in the rocks (that I left open for him because I thought he might like that spot). He stayed there for a while, so I just went to bed. The hole was dark so I didn't catch a picture of him in there.

 

When I woke up this morning, I looked for him, but couldn't find him. I gave up and decided to take a shower and then come back and try again. As I walked away, I thought I saw a flash of yellow out of the corner of my eye. I turned around and looked at the tank again-and sure enough, there he was! Perched right on the toadstool! He seemed happy and liked it there, but the toadstool was definitely not happy and didn't like him. The toadstool let off slimy stuff. Here he is in the moonlights:

 

 

He looks like he's laughing at me! I went to work, and a few hours later my boyfriend sent me this pic:

 

 

I'm glad he seems content for now, and I am surprised the toadstool is sticking out any of its polyps at all!

[fishfreak0114]

That pic is too cute! . That's too bad you've had to do so many water changes, in my uncycled Qt I've been doing 20-40% wc's twice a week, mind you I'm only feeding twice a week right before wc's. I also don't test ammonia, I just assume it's ok if the fish are happy.  Glad to hear the cyano is being beaten back!  I'm sure you'll have it all gone in no time  

[xAyanex]

I fed the blenny every day, sometimes multiple times a day, although I tried to save any heavy feedings for water changes. I tested ammonia religiously every day.

[teenyreef]

That picture is adorable 

[xAyanex]

He is so super cute!!! Thank you!!

[RIP Sebastian]

Such happy little feesh.

[Mkus]

On ‎3‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 9:03 PM, tinyforest said:

Looking forward to seeing the new additions. Would be really cool if the clowns host the BTA.

lol you mean BTA hosts the clowns

[xAyanex]

On ‎3‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 8:20 AM, Mkus said:

lol you mean BTA hosts the clowns

I think people commonly switch that around. It's like using improper grammar or incorrect spelling-to me sometimes it's just not worth correcting, because I don't want to come across as rude, and especially online it's sometimes hard to tell.

 

I know you weren't being rude though.

[LbulletM]

Yea, the BTA hosting Clowns or Clowns hosting BTA people are worse than grammar natzis.   

[xAyanex]

Update time! So I have some big news and some pictures I'll get up here soon.

 

Thursday, in the middle of the night, I ordered my Nanobox Retro Large Plus M LED kit!!! I am super excited to upgrade my lighting and can't WAIT for it to arrive!!! I think it will be worth every penny. I messaged Dave through his website, and he got back to me almost immediately! Great customer service so far.

 

Aside from that, we did pick up the 55 gallon aquarium. It is like a 55 long, because it is about 48.25 by 12.75 inches or something like that. The tank seems to be in good shape with only a minor chip on one edge that doesn't concern me. It came with a metal bar stand that is open, and I don't like that, so we bought a nice wooden enclosed stand from Uncle Bill's yesterday. It came with a Fluval protein sea skimmer that I probably won't use, a Fluval c4 power filter that was like new but cracked in two places (so, unusable), and 5 or 6 heaters (one was new in the box). We selected a random heater from the bunch and so far it has heated the water from 61 to 75 degrees in just a few hours, so it's nice to know it works. The aquarium also came with a crappy glass top cover that I hate, so I'll probably be buying a canopy/hood. It also came a new bottle of Fluval biological enhancer and some lights that I junked.

 

We plan to set it up as a freshwater aquarium, because we weren't going to use it at all after I researched some setups-I've decided already my next reef tank will be a Red Sea Reefer XXL 750, and I won't be setting it up or buying it until we move in an undetermined number of years. I think I'll hunt around and see if there is a good place to record a journal of that tank since I have had so much fun writing about this one, but I know because it is freshwater it is not really Nano-Reef material.

 

Okay, enough about that. I did a water change and started Chemi-clean on the tank last night (3/18/17) at about 2am, so 3/20/17 at 2am I need to do another water change. Before I added the Chemi-clean, I siphoned out as much cyano as I could, siphoning the sand and using a turkey baster on the corals/rocks affected. I also added an airstone in back Chamber 1 (where my heater is located) to keep the water oxygenated. The bubbles do not escape into the display area or even Chamber 2 (where my media rack is located), so no corals or fish are in harm's way of the bubbles. The fish/corals/inverts all acted normal and happy this morning and ate appropriately, so they seem to be handling the treatment just fine. I should also mention I followed all the Chemi-clean instructions, including removing my Chemi-Pure Elite prior to starting treatment.

 

I am in the process of uploading pictures now, and will post them as soon as I am finished.

[xAyanex]

Alright, pictures. Newest Nighttime FTS, taken 3/11/17:

 

 

Left side view:

 

 

Right side view:

 

 

Blurry Midas Blenny picture, because he doesn't like to stay still for the camera. We named him Earl because he looks like a tiny eel. Earl the Midas Blenny:

 

 

Overnight one day the RBTA appeared on the left side of the tank (previously in the back of the tank, hiding):

 

 

Another picture of the RBTA, happily irritating the green polyp toadstool and Yuma mushroom. I may need to move them soon:

 

 

Newest FTS, taken 3/18/17 (today!) about 10 hours after the thorough water change and administration of Chemi-clean:

 

 

Right side view:

 

 

Left side view:

 

 

That's all for now!

[fishfreak0114]

Earl

Make sure to post the occasional pic of that 55g!  I wanna see it!

[J-Ranko]

On 3/14/2017 at 5:29 PM, xAyanex said:

I think people commonly switch that around. It's like using improper grammar or incorrect spelling-to me sometimes it's just not worth correcting, because I don't want to come across as rude, and especially online it's sometimes hard to tell.

 

I know you weren't being rude though.

From the clowns' perspective the 'nem is their guest, whom they feed and shelter as the gracious hosts that they are. So the clowns are indeed the hosts. ;-) 

[xAyanex]

3 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Earl

Make sure to post the occasional pic of that 55g!  I wanna see it!

Will do!

[tinyforest]

Everything looks happy and healthy. Every tank I've ever set up always seemed to have an algae issue in the beginning and eventually cleared up on its own. Hopefully the chemiclean knocks it out for you!

[Weetabix7]

Those corals look SO happy and healthy and I really like the Blenny!!!

I'm gonna get one of those one of these days. 

[xAyanex]

9 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Those corals look SO happy and healthy and I really like the Blenny!!!

I'm gonna get one of those one of these days. 

I would definitely recommend a blenny any day. He has so much personality!!! You seem like such a fun and upbeat person all the time, Weetie.

 

So I took some pictures, about 36 hours post-Chemiclean administration. I would say the tank looks considerably better than it did previously. Taken 3/19/17 (today) FTS:

 

 

Another FTS:

 

 

Right Side View:

 

 

Left Side View:

 

[xAyanex]

22 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Earl

Make sure to post the occasional pic of that 55g!  I wanna see it!

I made a separate tank thread for it. I will put the link in my signature. There isn't much to see right now though! =)

[xAyanex]

Newest FTS, taken 3/20/17, about 58 hours post Chemiclean administration, and about 10 hours after a 25% water change. The cyano appears to be completely gone. I have my beautiful reef tank back. =) We moved the Yuma mushroom (which came off of its frag plug) to the top rock, and the green polyp toadstool is in the sand for now.

 

[fishfreak0114]

The tank looks so clean!  Earl sure is a pop of color!

[xAyanex]

7 minutes ago, fishfreak0114 said:

The tank looks so clean!  Earl sure is a pop of color!

He is fantastic!

 

What lighting do you have on your BC29?