Ramos' Rimless Oceanic Biocube 29: Feb 10 Photo Update and algae... (Help)

[reefaramos]

Hey Ramos, which mounting kit are you using with your AI Prime HD? I need to order that but wasn't sure which one to order.

Using the flex arm. With the tunze 9001 in there I had to move it ever so slightly off center. If youre planning on a skimmer in there, specifically the tunze I'd reccomend it. The rigid mount might end up being problematic.

 

You're gonna get a kick out of the light man. I was never able to afford stuff like this before for my tanks, and just having the connectivity and ease of use with this has really been a cool part of the reintroduction to the hobby for me.

[reefaramos]

So, I asked this in fish forum as well in hopes of more people with experience experience seeing it. I'll go ahead and quote myself to see if there are any bites here.

 

"Between The Dwarf Zebra Lion and the Fuzzy Dwarf, has anyone had experience with both and recommend one over the other? Based on my reading the fuzzy dwarf would probably be more likely to be comfortable in the tank, sizewise, as they are supposedly less active. But regarding ease of keeping, potential suitable tankmates, messiness, I'd like to hear peoples first hand experiences vs. speculation, if its out there."

[FLOPEZ83]

I can't wait to get the tank going, I'm waiting for the light and arm but they should be here by Tuesday.

[reefaramos]

I can't wait ti start seeing some more movement in this tank. I need to chill out on spending with this thing, I'm swaying my thoughts away from the lion, as cool as it would be. I'll maybe try and find some cheap, larger corals and get some clowns or neat nano/small fish.

[FLOPEZ83]

I just did the rimless mod and I'm digging it for sure. Imy having a hard time removing the hard water but I'm sure it'll take some good elbow grease to get it off. What are you running for your salinity?

[reefaramos]

I just did the rimless mod and I'm digging it for sure. Imy having a hard time removing the hard water but I'm sure it'll take some good elbow grease to get it off. What are you running for your salinity?

Last time I checked salinity was at about 1.024

[FLOPEZ83]

Okay, I wasn't sure what a good number to be at as far as salinity. I had heard that 1.022 is a good spot but then heard if I'm going to have coral I should run about 1.025

[reefaramos]

Coming back, the skimmer is really frustrating me. The rest of the stuff I got from inTank is working perfectly, but, with the media rack, the water level in the back chambers has to stay relatively low if I don't want it to sound like there is a river cascading down a mountain at my bedside. Besides that, even if I drop it almost all the way to the bottom of the 2nd compartment, it still is really loud and annoying. Im almost prepared to say screw it and put it in the tank itself, on the left side against my wall. That, or get another skimmer. I've had to mod the back so much, and it looks WAY easier than it is in those tutorial videos, especially if the tank is full already.

Also, for some mysterious reason, my salinity dropped to about 1.020 while I was gone, not sure how thats happening. The montipora seems to be having a rough time adjusting, but everything else coral wise looked alright. I toned down the CW LEDS to 25%, I like the blue look more and more.

 

Gonna head off to the pet store today to get some water for first water change, top off, and maybe a fish. One of my LFS has dwarf zebra lions in yesterday, no fuzzys. Initially I had wanted the zebra, but in doing so much research on the fuzzy's I had changed my mind. Still not sure if I want to go that route or have a small community. I'm constantly back and forth here.

[reefaramos]

So, went on a coral binge today and introduced the first fish, got a black ocellaris clownfish. (I checked my salinity at a few differnt LFS' and it consistently came back at 1.024, sooo... my crappy little hydrometer is most definitely off). There are alot of variants available here, but with all this line breeding on the clowns, alot of them have strange looking gill plates, upper jaws, and general body shape/finnage. Looking at what was available, I couldn't do it for the other variants available. I'll wait until I find a specimen I really want.

 

*That being said; I've definitely decided against the lionfish, I'll wait until I move and can get a bigger tank as a dedicated predator softie reef*

 

I also picked up a Blastomussa Wellsiwith 3 1/2 heads (one looks like it was cut for fraging, probably not gonna make it), a nice piece of neon green birdsnest, a small little frag of GSP, and a nice bright green duncan with 4 big heads and several small. Awesome, neon green color to it I didn't notice at the store but do in my tank. Also Bought some new tubing for my pump, and the noise it was making (which I don't know if I stated previously) is virtually gone. There's still a little humming to it, but its almost pleasant. Still no forward movement with the protein skimmer.

 

I'll have some new pictures thursday or friday when I have the time to take some and the corals acclimate a bit. I've got duty tomorrow and I've gotta be up early, so no-can-do.

 

Lastly, I moved my "coral wishlist" to the original post on this thread and notated which ones I have, and edited all of the current livestock in.

[uwharrie]

I found my biocube runs pretty quiet if I really fill the tank up. I run it so chamber 2 is just slightly lower ( maybe 2 inches) than chamber 1

I had no luck with the skimmer but need to try again

Coming back, the skimmer is really frustrating me. The rest of the stuff I got from inTank is working perfectly, but, with the media rack, the water level in the back chambers has to stay relatively low if I don't want it to sound like there is a river cascading down a mountain at my bedside. Besides that, even if I drop it almost all the way to the bottom of the 2nd compartment, it still is really loud and annoying. Im almost prepared to say screw it and put it in the tank itself, on the left side against my wall. That, or get another skimmer. I've had to mod the back so much, and it looks WAY easier than it is in those tutorial videos, especially if the tank is full already.

Also, for some mysterious reason, my salinity dropped to about 1.020 while I was gone, not sure how thats happening. The montipora seems to be having a rough time adjusting, but everything else coral wise looked alright. I toned down the CW LEDS to 25%, I like the blue look more and more.

 

Gonna head off to the pet store today to get some water for first water change, top off, and maybe a fish. One of my LFS has dwarf zebra lions in yesterday, no fuzzys. Initially I had wanted the zebra, but in doing so much research on the fuzzy's I had changed my mind. Still not sure if I want to go that route or have a small community. I'm constantly back and forth here.

[FLOPEZ83]

How do you adjust how much water is in each chamber? My third chamber started off well but now it slowly starts to drop water level so that the pump is sucking air and I get a bunch of micro bubbles in the display portion.

[reefaramos]

How do you adjust how much water is in each chamber? My third chamber started off well but now it slowly starts to drop water level so that the pump is sucking air and I get a bunch of micro bubbles in the display portion.

thats just evaporation; you need to add freshwater top off.

 

I figured out a way to make this work. What was happening, was the chemipure bag was so large, it was plugging most of the holes on the media rack. I cut a piece of eggcrate and angled it in the media rack, and the back chamber is filing up adequately now. So much so, I put the skimmer back in and it seems to actually be working. I agree, uwharrie, filling the water level up more is providing more circulation and less noise. All seems to be well.

 

Also, checked out the 3 pet stores on the other side of town I hadnt been to yet (these were in chesapeake, vs, virginia beach, if anyone is local).I got my last additions for a while; I really need to cut back and just budget myself every couple of weeks. Picked up a 6" mini-maxi anemone, it was under some inadequate kessils for its depth in the tank and not really showing the colors I know it has. This sucker was 30 bucks, and I found a sexy anemone shrimp with a belly full of eggs at the same place. Got a $10 Kryptonite Candy Cane (single head) and some bird of paradise birsnest. Really excited, everything else in the tank is doing phenomenal with the exception of the strawberry fields monti. I think I added that guy too soon.

 

The duncan and acan are readily accepting bits of chopped up krill, so I'm especially happy that the skimmer seems to be responding better at the moment.

 

Photo updates this weekend, promise. I'm excited to show everything off.

[reefaramos]

How do you adjust how much water is in each chamber? My third chamber started off well but now it slowly starts to drop water level so that the pump is sucking air and I get a bunch of micro bubbles in the display portion.

BTW Flopez, you need to hurry up and get a tank build thread started. I keep checking in to see if you have, with everything you've been asking haha. Eager to see what you're working with.

[reefaramos]

Tank is quiet and skimmer is skimming! All is right in the world.

Looks like I may have a little bit of brown stringy algae, hopefully not dinoflagellates.

[reefaramos]

Small photo update; my mini-maxi definitely underwent some stress upon being taken out of its old tank and being placed in mine, I drip acclmiated him for an hour but it wasn't enough to keep him happy. Either way, I wasn't aware these guys split, but it looks like he is in the process.

 

Also, the sexy shtimp decided to try hosting in my duncan. He has since moved to my euphyllia, but I cought her while she was feeling photogenic.

 

Hope to have a better quality update soon. I've been messing around in the tank too much to justify a good photoshoot, fluctuations in water temperature to heater shutting off for whatever reason, various work with that and trying to get the anemone to a spot where it would plant itself, water changes.... so much stuff. My goal is to get some good pics tomorrow.

[uwharrie]

You can't really control each chamber ( from what I have seen) You just keep adding water until you get the level you want in the back

How do you adjust how much water is in each chamber? My third chamber started off well but now it slowly starts to drop water level so that the pump is sucking air and I get a bunch of micro bubbles in the display portion.

[reefaramos]

Tank is finally looking better, good enough for me to snap some pictures in a day or two. I had quite a bit of diatom algae, but its going away, almost done. Just didn't feel right photographing the tank with all the diatoms. Copepods swarm the walls even after I clean the glass every day. Corals were never really doing terrible (with the exception of the montipora) but they're definitely coloring up, growing, and are getting better polyp extension. I turned down the lights a bit, made them primarily blue/violet spectrum, and reduced flow a little bit. I suppose I got a little overzealous with what all of the stuff I got could do and kept the settings too high. Looks like I've found some happy settings to dial in.

[FLOPEZ83]

So I have been battling some type of brownish algae, I think I've been running to much light. I'm having a hard time setting up the light schedule, is it best just to use the easy mode and what color and how much percentage of each are you running? I know it will be different with every tank but I was just running everything at 100% and I think that's what caused the algae.

[reefaramos]

So I have been battling some type of brownish algae, I think I've been running to much light. I'm having a hard time setting up the light schedule, is it best just to use the easy mode and what color and how much percentage of each are you running? I know it will be different with every tank but I was just running everything at 100% and I think that's what caused the algae.

Definitely will cause algae growth with them all at 100%. I keep my blue/violet/royal at like 70-80 range. White stays at 13%, all others in the 25-35 range. keeping everything at 100 will definitely bleach your corals, cause algae growth... don't do that, man. haha.

 

Since I've turned mine down, my monti cap is finally bouncing back! I moved it back up to where I would like it to start encrusting.

 

Also, I picked up a canary blenny. Heavily considering a mandarin, one of my LFS' is training theirs on bloodworms, awesome specimens, seems like a decent prospect. I won't get one that isn't trained on frozen, that's a nightmare waiting to happen. Pods are exploding right now but they definitely wont be with him grazing all day.

[FLOPEZ83]

Can't wait to see some more pics of your tank and the livestock. Getting ready to order a pair of DaVinci clowns or Fancy Snowflake clowns, I can't decide on which ones but need to make my decision cause the guy is placing the order by the end of the week.

[FLOPEZ83]

Reefaramos, how's the tank coming along? My tank is doing well just battling some algae still but I think I have the upper hand on it now. I picked up some livestock, a fancy clown and a davinci clownfish I also got a six line wrasse and a decent clean up crew. I joined a group on facebook and found branching hammers from a guy for 2.50 a head.....SCORE so now I have some movement and color in the tank. I also picked up some Zoas, Bam bams, fire and ice, radioactive greens, and some kind I'm not sure of purple with a bright green Center.

 

So far the tank is doing great, I still need to get an ato but for now I just top it off manually. I go through about half a gallon a day, is that normal? Well hope all is well and look forward to seeing some more of your tank progress.

[reefaramos]

Reefaramos, how's the tank coming along? My tank is doing well just battling some algae still but I think I have the upper hand on it now. I picked up some livestock, a fancy clown and a davinci clownfish I also got a six line wrasse and a decent clean up crew. I joined a group on facebook and found branching hammers from a guy for 2.50 a head.....SCORE so now I have some movement and color in the tank. I also picked up some Zoas, Bam bams, fire and ice, radioactive greens, and some kind I'm not sure of purple with a bright green Center.

 

So far the tank is doing great, I still need to get an ato but for now I just top it off manually. I go through about half a gallon a day, is that normal? Well hope all is well and look forward to seeing some more of your tank progress.

My LPS have been sad lately, frogspawn, duncan, and blastos (basically, everything in the front left side of my tank). I haven't wanted to photograph the tank with it loooking how it does. Diatoms come and go, I've still been messing with the light setting. Im kind of worried some chemical has been introduced to the tank somehow. All the zoas are doing great and the SPS are doing well. Not sure whats going on.

 

Happy to hear your tank is doing well man. Do you have a thread up for it yet?

[reefaramos]

Several updates, as well as some crappy photos.... I'm gonna do a large water change today and hopefully get some higher quality images up soon.... I know I keep saying that.

 

Anyways, the canary blenny kept sleeping up against the filter intake, and eventually damaged his fins and gill plates to the point of no return. After a few days of not being able to swim correctly, he passed. With this, I returned the clownfish; I'm going to end up going with the fuzzy dwarf whenever I can find one. I also picked up a mandarin goby, he eats frozen bloodworms and live brine. Watched him at the LFS for a few weeks and had them feed him when I was there to ensure that.

 

Ive picked up some new euphylia, a couple more zoas/palys since my last posts, and some dragons breath. Dragons breath was pure red when I got it but is developing nice orange tips on new growth.

 

I am having some coral/algae problems and I'm not sure whats going on. I run my skimmer all the time and its noticably skimming some nasty stuff. Not feeding any more than what the mandarin will eat and chopped up krill for the corals every few days. I've also been adding some aquavitro "fuel" I won at a local LFS raffle twice a week as recommended. Basically, 2 of my euphylia are pissed, true frogspawn and one that is either a torch or a frogspawn, but one torch/frogspawn and my hammer are out and super happy. They are virtually all in the same area, and I've moved them to different spots in the tank based on flow and lighting. Doesn't make sense.. Basically all of my LPS are being finicky, all SPS are perfectly fine, exhibiting great color and healthy growth, as well as zoas and palys. They are spreading pretty fast, actually, some have moved onto the rock I have them on.

 

The algae goes through spurts, but its pretty bad right now. I'm not sure what it is, looks like brown hair algae, or possibly (hpefully not) dinoflagellates. Any input here would be awesome. I'm running chemipure elite, carbon, purigen, and changing filter floss out every week or more. Water changes, 5 gal every week. I've also added some seachem pH buffer 8.3 to my top off water as my pH was sitting relatively low at 7.8.

 

Tank Pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then the algae... any help or recommendations as to what to do about this stuff that I'm not already doing would be awesome.

 

 

 

 

[reefaramos]

Moved stuff around a little bit to more permanent positions, managed to get a decent picture in there as well.

 

[reefaramos]

Side FTS: Made some lighting/flow adjustments and started doing bigger water changes. Got rid of the black clown and got two standard occies.