Banasophia’s Biocube 16 & IM Nuvo 10 ☀️

[banasophia]

Woke up yesterday morning to discover the power had been out during the night. Pumps had come back on, but lights were still out and I thought my firefish was dead at first... thankfully it was still just sleeping, and everyone was fine. Took a few pics as the lights ramped up after I reprogrammed... I was so relieved.

 

 

 

[banasophia]

So, I got those Berghia Nudibranchs last week, added them to the tank, then I never saw them again... it seemed like I was seeing less aiptasia but I really couldn’t say for sure if they were just retracting or if I was just imagining it. I was wondering if maybe the berghias just shriveled up and died due to the high nitrates and phosphates in my system.

 

But yesterday I got up early to get an early start to my day, the lights hadn’t quite come on yet, and I spotted one, in the act of munching on an aiptasia! I shined a flashlight on it right after I spotted it and that little bugger was fast... it made a beeline right for a crevice in the rock. I was barely able to snap a crummy pic, but here it is, proof they’re still in there! Haha 

 

[banasophia]

On 3/16/2019 at 8:41 PM, billygoat said:

Gosh what a gorgeous tank. Love the sea hare too! Do those have a reputation for getting sucked into filter grates and powerheads, or is that just nudis?

As if Waldo the sea hare heard your question the other day, he did a little demonstration yesterday afternoon. Luckily I work from home, so when I saw him climb on the powerhead I turned it off...not sure if he could have been harmed if I hadn’t turned it off. I’ve had snails clean it while running without a problem. He was definitely attracted by all the algae growing on it though, and he really cleaned it up nicely. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

[billygoat]

Oh goodness, I'm glad you caught it in time! 😄 Who knows what would have happened to the poor guy... although now that I look at it, he is pretty large; it's possible that he wouldn't care too much about the suction.

 

That powerhead is a OW-10 right? How do you like it? I like the small size and was thinking of getting one.

[Krish87]

5 minutes ago, banasophia said:

As if Waldo the sea hare heard your question the other day, he did a little demonstration yesterday afternoon. Luckily I work from home, so when I saw him climb on the powerhead I turned it off...not sure if he could have been harmed if I hadn’t turned it off. I’ve had snails clean it while running without a problem. He was definitely attracted by all the algae growing on it though, and he really cleaned it up nicely. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

This guy is really cool. Good timing to shut the pump off - always safe! But you are right, The snails I have also spent a lot of time on the pump (return nozzle also).

[banasophia]

And a couple other pics I liked. The sinularia has been wilted for a few weeks since some aiptasia started growing at its base, I had doused the aiptasia with aiptasia X to no avail, and also they Kenya tree had gotten so big it was really touching it a lot. One of the sinularia pieces fell off the rock while it was wilted, and it’s sitting in the sandbed waiting to be placed back on the rock if conditions seem to improve. The berghias haven’t touched that aiptasia site yet, but I trimmed the Kenya tree back. Once I added some extra carbon to the back chamber, the sinularia seemed to start perking back up, but it’s still not fully recovered. 

 

 

[banasophia]

11 minutes ago, billygoat said:

Oh goodness, I'm glad you caught it in time! 😄 Who knows what would have happened to the poor guy... although now that I look at it, he is pretty large; it's possible that he wouldn't care too much about the suction.

 

That powerhead is a OW-10 right? How do you like it? I like the small size and was thinking of getting one.

 

Yeah, maybe he would have been fine with it on, but I didn’t want to take the chance.

 

I really like that Jebao OW-10 powerhead. It’s compact, you can adjust the angle, and it has very adjustable flow patterns fairly similar to the Vortech MP10 at a small fraction of the price. I also have a Vortech MP10 that I paid a pretty penny for, but it’s now just sitting in its box in my cabinet because I prefer the OW-10 due to being able to angle it.

 

The one thing I liked better about the Vortech was that it was easier to clean because you don’t have to unplug it to remove/clean the wet side. Also, if you are going to house a BTA, the Vortech comes with a foam cover that can protect the inflow... you could probably sort out some kind of cover for the Jebao too, but it doesn’t come with it. But for someone with a Biocube with the lid still on it, I would probably recommend the Jebao plus investing in a Chill Solutions chiller rather than forking out the money for an MP10. 

 

8 minutes ago, Krish87 said:

This guy is really cool. Good timing to shut the pump off - always safe! But you are right, The snails I have also spent a lot of time on the pump (return nozzle also).

 

Yeah, I think sea hares are so cool... I have quite a bit of algae to feed him for the time being, but they are voracious eaters so he’ll probably need to be rehomed in the next week. I need to try nori sheets to see if he shows any interest; I’d love to keep him longer term. 

[billygoat]

5 minutes ago, banasophia said:

I really like that Jebao OW-10 powerhead. It’s compact, you can adjust the angle, and it has very adjustable flow patterns fairly similar to the Vortech MP10 at a small fraction of the price. I also have a Vortech MP10 that I paid a pretty penny for, but it’s now just sitting in its box in my cabinet because I prefer the OW-10 due to being able to angle it.

Thanks for the info! I think I am pretty much sold on it, especially if you think it's a good buy. I was also considering the MP10, but if you have both and you actually prefer the OW-10, that's saying a lot!

 

Sea hares are one of those critters that you just don't get to see very often in home aquaria, but dang are they cool looking. I'm interested to hear about how it does with nori sheets, though I have a feeling that nothing will take the place of good old fashioned pest algae in the long term 😞

 

Sorry to hear that your Aiptasia continue to be a problem, but it's good news that the Berghia nudis are still around and active! Perhaps it just takes them awhile to do their job. It's unfortunate that Aiptasia X did not work out, though. My understanding is that it is effective for killing larger anemones, but the tiny, obnoxious ones often survive the treatment.

[banasophia]

New pics from this evening:

 

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[banasophia]

Well, sad news... I lost my cleaner shrimp last night. 😢 It molted on Thursday and then it was looking sluggish yesterday evening, and died last night. It’s probably not a bad thing for Waldo, because that shrimp did really like to clean the butthole of sea hares, and I can’t imagine it felt too good to them being poked and prodded like that. 😳  I actually really wanted to rehome the shrimp a few months back because it seriously perturbed some of my corals, and the fish always avoided it, but I wasn’t able to catch it, and then the shrimp started to grow on me and was a pretty awesome photobomber.

 

I checked my nitrates and phosphates after discovering the shrimp had died - nitrates were 12 (the usual), phosphates were 1.38. That’s the highest end of the spectrum for phosphates in my tank and would explain the recent increase in algae. It has been that high in the past. I was already due to change out my Chemipure Elite and Purigen this weekend, so I will stick with that plan.

 

Also, I used some Phosphate RX last night, in the amount designed to bring phosphates down by 0.5, and low and behold, the sinularia is looking much happier this morning. This is interesting to see.... it may seem like a no brainer, but I hadn’t identified high phosphates as the problem with the sinularia before because I have other sinularia pieces (from the same original colony) on rocks on my sandbed and they haven’t been wilted, so I was thinking the wilting was specific to something going on at that specific spot (the aiptasia at it’s base, the aiptasia X, or the proximity to the ever growing Kenya tree). So... good reason to monitor my phosphates more closely. The NOPOX dosing seems to do a good job keeping my nitrates in check, but not the phosphates. 

 

 

 

[yoshii]

Oh no 😞 Sorry to hear about the shrimp! As annoying as cleaner shrimp can be, they are still really cool little critters

 

😮 that's some high phosphates lol. Glad you were able to bring it down, what are your average phosphate levels at?

[banasophia]

4 hours ago, yoshii said:

Oh no 😞 Sorry to hear about the shrimp! As annoying as cleaner shrimp can be, they are still really cool little critters

 

😮 that's some high phosphates lol. Glad you were able to bring it down, what are your average phosphate levels at?

Yeah my phosphates usually run really high, 0.25 - 1.38, due to my heavy feeding. I’m thinking it may have been an issue for the shrimp since it had just molted. After losing the shrimp I plan to monitor the phosphates more closely, as they can be easily controlled with Phosphate RX (lanthanum chloride). 

[banasophia]

Well I think I just decided for sure that I won’t be getting a new cleaner shrimp... it was fun having him in many ways, but it was always really hard to get a nice top down shot of my tank cuz he would always run up and start trampling all over the corals as soon as I opened the lid and tried to take a pic.

 

I was able to take so many nice shots just now, the only downside is that there are so many good ones to choose from, but that’s a good problem to have, so I definitely can’t complain. Here are my faves:

 

 

 

 

 

[billygoat]

Very sad news about the shrimp 😞 They definitely add a certain touch to a tank... though they can certainly be a bit rowdy from time to time. Those previously-unobtainable-due-to-shrimp-interference top-down shots are strikingly beautiful, so that's a plus!

 

Also I didn't even realize RFAs could live in such close proximity to other inverts. Is their sting really that weak? 😮

[Krish87]

23 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Well I think I just decided for sure that I won’t be getting a new cleaner shrimp... it was fun having him in many ways, but it was always really hard to get a nice top down shot of my tank cuz he would always run up and start trampling all over the corals as soon as I opened the lid and tried to take a pic.

 

I was able to take so many nice shots just now, the only downside is that there are so many good ones to choose from, but that’s a good problem to have, so I definitely can’t complain. Here are my faves:

 

 

 

 

 

What a wonderful colony of Cloves! Mine just withered away over time . . . Now I might have a max of 5 very little polyps in between the rock crevices trying to hold up and thrive! 😞

[yoshii]

Wow beautiful top down pics!

[banasophia]

10 hours ago, billygoat said:

Very sad news about the shrimp 😞 They definitely add a certain touch to a tank... though they can certainly be a bit rowdy from time to time. Those previously-unobtainable-due-to-shrimp-interference top-down shots are strikingly beautiful, so that's a plus!

 

Also I didn't even realize RFAs could live in such close proximity to other inverts. Is their sting really that weak? 😮

Haha love it - the “previously-unobtainable-due-to-shrimp-interference top-down shots” ... and thanks! 🙂

 

Yeah, it’s so interesting to see how close different things can get without stinging/fighting each other. The cloves grew in and the RFAs got bigger...everything seems happy for the time being... not sure that means it will stay that way though... 

10 hours ago, Krish87 said:

What a wonderful colony of Cloves! Mine just withered away over time . . . Now I might have a max of 5 very little polyps in between the rock crevices trying to hold up and thrive! 😞

Thanks! Yeah, that’s how my cloves are in my Nuvo 10... thinking they like a higher nutrient system to thrive... but they also get stung by the BTAs in the Nuvo 10... 

1 hour ago, yoshii said:

Wow beautiful top down pics!

Thanks so much, yoshii. 🤗

[banasophia]

Good morning 🙂

 

 

[billygoat]

Man I never get tired of looking at this tank.

[banasophia]

2 hours ago, billygoat said:

Man I never get tired of looking at this tank.

Aww thanks, so nice of you to say. 🤗

[Krish87]

3 hours ago, billygoat said:

Man I never get tired of looking at this tank.

@banasophia - I agree with @billygoat 🙂 

[banasophia]

1 hour ago, Krish87 said:

@banasophia - I agree 🙂

Thank you so much, Krish! Glad you guys don’t seem to mind all the pics I post... I feel like I enjoy the tank the most when I’m photographing it since it gives me the opportunity to look at everything so closely.

[Krish87]

8 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Thank you so much, Krish! Glad you guys don’t seem to mind all the pics I post... I feel like I enjoy the tank the most when I’m photographing it since it gives me the opportunity to look at everything so closely.

Absolutely! It is so amazing to look at what you've accomplished vs. what I have considering we have the same tank. It is really amazing to see the corals performing so well in the stock LED. I still feel that the BioCube LEDs are indeed a great addition to the AIO system, how I wish they were a little stronger and we could control the intensity. Maybe the next version of the BioCube may have it, who knows!!!

[banasophia]

5 minutes ago, Krish87 said:

Absolutely! It is so amazing to look at what you've accomplished vs. what I have considering we have the same tank. It is really amazing to see the corals performing so well in the stock LED. I still feel that the BioCube LEDs are indeed a great addition to the AIO system, how I wish they were a little stronger and we could control the intensity. Maybe the next version of the BioCube may have it, who knows!!!

Yes, it’s a bit surprising they didn’t make them strong enough for all coral types... I’d be curious to talk with the company about the reason for that. But the programmability, the three phases, and ramp up/ramp down make these lights pretty amazing. 

 

Okay done with the water changes... time to call it a night. 🙂

[banasophia]

Well, it’s been a rough couple weeks. I’m very sad to say I lost my purple firefish Trinket last week... he was my first fish loss in either of my tanks. He had sustained damage to his fins during the power outage a couple weeks ago and I returned home from Aquashella to discover that he had been further injured. At first I wasn’t sure what had happened, but on my second night back home I witnessed the clownfish attacking him... he was seriously injured and he didn’t make it. 😢 

 

I haven’t seen any aggression toward Finnick, my mandarin, but if I observe any such behavior I plan to rehome the clownfish. 

 

In addition to the loss of my firefish, my pump stopped working after the power outage so I switched out my non-functioning sicce 0.5 pump for a new sicce 1.0 pump and observed a decline in my spider sponge, with the tips of the sponge turning translucent within one week of the pump change to a stronger pump. I switched back to a 0.5 over the weekend and I’m hoping the sponge will recover. 

 

On a positive note, the berghia nudibranchs have eradicated most of the aiptasia in the tank. I know there’s still at least one nudibranch in the tank because I discovered one on the filter floss tonight and placed it back in the tank and it appeared to be alive and well.

 

Two of my nems recently split in my Nuvo 10. I rehomed them with members from my local reefing group. Here are a couple pics I took before rehoming the second split today. 

 

 

 

And here are a few pics of the Biocube and a brief video I took yesterday of the top down view with no tank lights, just ambient lighting: