Dannyk35s Marina Cubus .9 Gallon Pico Reef

[dannyk35]

Hello Everyone!

 

So just to start, it has been a few years since I've kept saltwater.  I saw that the Marina Cubus was on sale on Amazon for 17.79, and immediately jumped on it.

I've been wanting to do a pico reef for the last year, and finally pulled the trigger and did it.

Besides this tank, I currently have a Fluval Spec III with Red Cherry Shrimp and Least Killifish, as well as a Fluval Chi with a Pea Puffer.

 

Anyway, here's the specs for the Cubus.

Tank: Marina Cubus .9 Gallon

Light: Coralife 50/50 Mini Compact Fluorescent

Heater: Tetra 10W (I think)

Filter: Hagen Elite Mini

1.65 Lbs of Live Rock

1 pound(ish) of live sand.

 

I set the tank up last night, and was happy to see two Hermit Crabs that were Hitchhikers. 

 

So, now that I've bored you all to death, here's an FTS!

 

My plans for this tank coral wise is just going to be some Zoanthids and Green Star Polyps.

For inverts I'm planning a Sexy Shrimp or two.

 

I'm aware tanks this small are not easy to take care of, but I'm more than willing to take the challenge.

 

Please feel free to give me any advice, as I've been out of the reef game for a bit.

 

Thanks for reading!

[dannyk35]

Day 2

 

No changes for the Cubus today, just an FTS. I cannot wait to add some zoas to this tank.

[Electric Reef]

Just started a 1.5 gallon pico-reef thread.   Following yours.   Be interesting to see how yours pans out.  

[pmang6]

The sole thing holding me back from starting a pico is dealing with evaporation. My freshwater Spec V dropped probably half an inch or so in a day. Plenty to cause a salinity swing i would think. The spec v has a similar lid design as this, if you think about it, just a flat panel with a hole in the middle. How do you plan on dealing with that on this tiny volume? Obviously this is a problem that has been solved on other tanks, but on this particular tank id think you would have to top off multiple times a day to maintain salinity, right?

[dannyk35]

18 hours ago, pmang6 said:

The sole thing holding me back from starting a pico is dealing with evaporation. My freshwater Spec V dropped probably half an inch or so in a day. Plenty to cause a salinity swing i would think. The spec v has a similar lid design as this, if you think about it, just a flat panel with a hole in the middle. How do you plan on dealing with that on this tiny volume? Obviously this is a problem that has been solved on other tanks, but on this particular tank id think you would have to top off multiple times a day to maintain salinity, right?

As long as I'm able to keep an eye on it everyday, I'm not going to be too worried about evaporation. I may go get a plexi-glass lid cut by ace hardware, though. Just to get rid of the hole. But realistically, the evaporation isn't that bad as is. I only have to top off in the mornings!

On 9/2/2018 at 6:45 PM, Electric Reef said:

Just started a 1.5 gallon pico-reef thread.   Following yours.   Be interesting to see how yours pans out.  

I'll definitely be checking yours out as well! I added some Zoanthids yesterday and they're doing great. One of my hermit crabs just keeps knocking them down 🙄

[Christopher Marks]

Let me be the first to welcome you to the community @dannyk35! 👋

 

The Cubus is a bold move, so tiny! I'm looking forward to seeing what you create with it, zoanthids sound great. Keep a close eye on your water temperature this first week or two, sometimes those very small heaters still can overheat small volumes.

 

Do you have any photos of the crab hitchhikers? Maybe someone can help ID them, not all are reef friendly.

[dannyk35]

4 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

Let me be the first to welcome you to the community @dannyk35! 👋

 

The Cubus is a bold move, so tiny! I'm looking forward to seeing what you create with it, zoanthids sound great. Keep a close eye on your water temperature this first week or two, sometimes those very small heaters still can overheat small volumes.

 

Do you have any photos of the crab hitchhikers? Maybe someone can help ID them, not all are reef friendly.

Thank you, Sir!

 

I agree its a bold move, but I'm willing to take the challenge. The water temp has been right around 80, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for it!

 

The Zoas I got yesterday are doing great (besides getting harassed by my Hermits.) I'll be posting pictures of them soon.

 

My profile picture is the one that keeps messing with my Zoas. The other one seems to be a blue leg hermit. I may get rid of the big guy due to the issues I'm having with him.

 

I'm really looking forward to being part of the community!

 

-Danny

[Christopher Marks]

Yeah, getting rid of the big one is probably for the best, hermit crabs can be pretty disruptive. 

 

Keep us posted! 🙂 

[dannyk35]

Update!

 

So as I stated above, on Sunday I got some Zoanthids from an LFS for dirt cheap. If anyone could ID them for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

Today, I went and traded that large hermit crab for another blue leg hermit. Now my corals can live in peace!

 

I also grabbed a Green Star Polyp Frag for $5!

 

Now its time to sit back, and watch this tank for a few weeks.

 

More than likely I will not be adding my planned stock until after November/December, as I'm going to be moving back to Wisconsin.

 

But we'll see about that. 

 

Anyways, here's pictures!

 

FTS:

 

Zoa #1

 

Zoa #2

 

Zoa #3

 

Zoa #4

 

GREEN STAR POLYPS!! (I'm sorry, they're my favorite Coral..)

The store said they recently fragged this one, so thats why its not very green.

 

Thank you for reading! As always, please let me know what ya'll think!

[Daniel91]

I really like your setup.

Do you have any pictures of you setting it up?

[banasophia]

Nice, love it... looking forward to following. 

[dannyk35]

10 hours ago, Daniel91 said:

I really like your setup.

Do you have any pictures of you setting it up?

Thank you! 

 

I do not have any pictures of the setup progress, as it was all very quick. 

6 hours ago, banasophia said:

Nice, love it... looking forward to following. 

Thank you! Looking forward to hearing your feedback!

[dannyk35]

Last night my Green Star Polyps were poppin!

[dannyk35]

Alright, the one week anniversary of this tank being setup!

 

So far so good. This tank has been a treat. Daily top offs keeps the salinity right at 1.026. Temps are right around 78. Life's good.

 

If someone could please tell me what types of Zoas these are, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

Here's some pictures!

 

FTS

 

 

 

[dannyk35]

Does anybody have any advice for dealing with Salt Creep? Its kind of starting to get on my nerves since its building up on my piece of black paper..

[banasophia]

33 minutes ago, dannyk35 said:

Does anybody have any advice for dealing with Salt Creep? Its kind of starting to get on my nerves since its building up on my piece of black paper..

Oh did you use black paper for the back? I think you can get stuff that is static cling type material that you can stick on the outside that does not get affected by salt creep. In fact, I should get some to put on my side glass that acts as back glass, to hide the salt creep that happens when water drips down and I can’t access it to dry it.

 

[dannyk35]

53 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Oh did you use black paper for the back? I think you can get stuff that is static cling type material that you can stick on the outside that does not get affected by salt creep. In fact, I should get some to put on my side glass that acts as back glass, to hide the salt creep that happens when water drips down and I can’t access it to dry it.

 

Do you have a link to it? I've never seen that type of stuff.

[banasophia]

35 minutes ago, dannyk35 said:

Do you have a link to it? I've never seen that type of stuff.

SPORN Aquarium Background, Static Cling, Classic Black, 24" x 12" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GCEDNU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_wHFLBbM97D5WS

[MrObscura]

Nice. Picos fascinate me. For the same reason Nanos do. It's one thing to have a huge tank, but there's something about the idea of capturing a part of something as massive as the ocean in a tiny glass box/jar. 

 

As for the challenge of keeping such a small tank, I'm a noob and just started stocking a ten. But on another site there's a couple guys in a long thread documenting the one guys Pico. The thread started actually modeled his after the other guys. They never neven tests water parameters or bother worrying about them. They claim in that regard a tiny tank is easier because to keep everything in line they just feeds heavy once a week right before a 100%WC and that's that. And the one guys Pico is a packed mixed reef running for some time. It's pretty awesome. 

 

I don't even remember which site. Found it googling Picos one day. 

[dannyk35]

On 9/9/2018 at 11:53 PM, banasophia said:

SPORN Aquarium Background, Static Cling, Classic Black, 24" x 12" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GCEDNU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_wHFLBbM97D5WS

Thank you! I'll be ordering some on payday!

On 9/9/2018 at 11:57 PM, MrObscura said:

Nice. Picos fascinate me. For the same reason Nanos do. It's one thing to have a huge tank, but there's something about the idea of capturing a part of something as massive as the ocean in a tiny glass box/jar. 

 

As for the challenge of keeping such a small tank, I'm a noob and just started stocking a ten. But on another site there's a couple guys in a long thread documenting the one guys Pico. The thread started actually modeled his after the other guys. They never neven tests water parameters or bother worrying about them. They claim in that regard a tiny tank is easier because to keep everything in line they just feeds heavy once a week right before a 100%WC and that's that. And the one guys Pico is a packed mixed reef running for some time. It's pretty awesome. 

 

I don't even remember which site. Found it googling Picos one day. 

I honestly can't wait until this tank progresses. I'm not going too crazy with it until I'm moved back to Wisconsin, but I am planning on transporting my corals and such.

Thanks for commenting!

[dannyk35]

9.11.18

 

Just a quick update. I'm going to try to do a minimum of weekly updates.

 

No changes this week. I scrubbed the walls and cleaned salt creep on Sunday. Thats about it for this week.

 

I may try to get more zoas this weekend who knows. All of my corals seem happy, so I'm not complaining.

 

Enjoy!

[Christopher Marks]

It looks nice and tidy! The frag plug really puts the scale into perspective, haha! You should take a photo of the tank with a water bottle or can next to it for scale 😄

[dannyk35]

On 9/11/2018 at 10:44 PM, Christopher Marks said:

It looks nice and tidy! The frag plug really puts the scale into perspective, haha! You should take a photo of the tank with a water bottle or can next to it for scale 😄

I can do that! I appreciate it! Thats my goal. Clean and Tidy.

[dannyk35]

On 9/11/2018 at 10:44 PM, Christopher Marks said:

It looks nice and tidy! The frag plug really puts the scale into perspective, haha! You should take a photo of the tank with a water bottle or can next to it for scale 😄

Alright! 

 

First, a picture of my desk overall.

 

Second is my Xbox One Controller in front of the tank for a size comparison.

[dannyk35]

Question! 

 

I've been getting a decent amount of algae on the glass, so I think I'm going to look into getting a snail or two this weekend. 

What kind would ya'll recommend for this size tank?

Another question! 

This weekend I'm also thinking about getting one of my three sexy shrimp I'm planning for this tank.

What would you guys recommend I feed the Sexy Shrimp? I've read miscellaneous things people feed them, but I'd like to hear directly from ya'll. I'm currently thinking frozen brine through a pipette will work, but any other ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Stay tuned this weekend!