Banasophia’s Biocube 32 - Return of the DragonReef 🐉

[A.m.P]

My wife really liked them, they're in the same family-as and very similar to the gudeon I recommended earlier. I haven't seen any colored-up as nicely as they are in Live-Aquaria's shot in person, but I haven't seen many, nor kept them so they could get even nicer-looking, in my experience live-aquaria's shots go both-ways some are overly-flattering and some totally miss-the-mark on how awesome a fish looks in person. 

One thing I will say, you'll need a tight-fitting lid.

[banasophia]

22 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

My wife really liked them, they're in the same family-as and very similar to the gudeon I recommended earlier. I haven't seen any colored-up as nicely as they are in Live-Aquaria's shot in person, but I haven't seen many, nor kept them so they could get even nicer-looking, in my experience live-aquaria's shots go both-ways some are overly-flattering and some totally miss-the-mark on how awesome a fish looks in person. 

One thing I will say, you'll need a tight-fitting lid.

Great thanks so much for the feedback! And ✅ we’ve got the lid. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in person, but I remember one really standing out to me in someone’s tank video on Facebook a while back so that’s why they caught my eye today when I saw them in Divers Den... may be a good contender, I’ll keep researching!! Good to consider the situation with live aquaria pics though!

 

[Jackal227]

I really like your aquascape in this tank.  Looks even better with the sand added.  I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

[banasophia]

On 12/5/2019 at 5:27 PM, Jackal227 said:

I really like your aquascape in this tank.  Looks even better with the sand added.  I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

Thanks, Jackal! Taking my sweet time getting started but hoping to get my clownfish this weekend. 🙂

[banasophia]

Got my first fish yesterday - a trio of scissortail dartfish from my LFS! I love them already!! My other LFS dropped the ball and forgot to order my black ice snowflake clownfish as they had promised, but I’m so glad it turned out that way and led to finding these guys... they are even prettier in person and I love the way they swim together in the water column.
 

They don’t seem to be shy at all and look extra cool when they flare their fins. They totally disappeared when the lights went out... I think they may be sand sleepers, but it’s possible they went into one of the caves/swim throughs; I will watch closely tonight. If they are sand sleepers I think I may need to add more sand... don’t want them to try to dive in and hit their head on the bottom. 
 

 

 

Oh and @Amphrites, they had a trio of blue gudgeons as well at the LFS, also very beautiful and cool looking fish with a similar appearance but very different swimming pattern. They also swam together, but looked more eel-like, and hung out closer to the bottom of their tank... if they hadn’t had the scissortails, I would’ve gone with the gudgeons. 🙂

[A.m.P]

I love both haha, they look stellar, can't wait for some videos of them enjoying their new space.
I'm glad you agree the scissortails look much better in person ^^

[Jerad81]

@banasophia, I just started following and I love your setup with the castle and dragon! I have been considering doing something similar except as a pirate theme since I've always been a huge Pirates of the Caribbean fan.

 

Also, I wanted to thank you for all the rock/aquascape info and pics you posted. I'm still an aspiring beginner (hopefully I'll be able to upgrade myself to a real beginner in the near future) and found it all very helpful. Thanks!

[banasophia]

40 minutes ago, Jerad81 said:

@banasophia, I just started following and I love your setup with the castle and dragon! I have been considering doing something similar except as a pirate theme since I've always been a huge Pirates of the Caribbean fan.

 

Also, I wanted to thank you for all the rock/aquascape info and pics you posted. I'm still an aspiring beginner (hopefully I'll be able to upgrade myself to a real beginner in the near future) and found it all very helpful. Thanks!

Ah nice! Thank you, and thanks for saying hello. A pirate theme would be awesome!! I love pirate stuff too. Some reefers seem to be opposed to decorations in a reef tank, but to me I think the most important thing is to create a tank you really love. Someone I follow on Instagram just added a pirate ship to his tank... you should check it out! His IG is @fresh.tankt.reefer. 
 

If you haven’t gotten your rock yet, I highly recommend considering the Liferock, and it looks like it’s still on sale on Amazon for only $83 for 40 lbs... of course that’s only for the regular pieces, not the arches or shapes, but you can do a ton with the regular pieces as well. I stacked up my leftover pieces to post on my local reefing group, here are a couple examples. They key though is to look at any potential scape from the top down to see how the light will hit it (and how it will look in top down shots in the future). 

 

 

 

 

[Jerad81]

26 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Ah nice! Thank you, and thanks for saying hello. A pirate theme would be awesome!! I love pirate stuff too. Some reefers seem to be opposed to decorations in a reef tank, but to me I think the most important thing is to create a tank you really love. Someone I follow on Instagram just added a pirate ship to his tank... you should check it out! His IG is @fresh.tankt.reefer. 
 

If you haven’t gotten your rock yet, I highly recommend considering the Liferock, and it looks like it’s still on sale on Amazon for only $83 for 40 lbs... of course that’s only for the regular pieces, not the arches or shapes, but you can do a ton with the regular pieces as well. I stacked up my leftover pieces to post on my local reefing group, here are a couple examples. They key though is to look at any potential scape from the top down to see how the light will hit it (and how it will look in top down shots in the future). 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I've noticed that very few people add any decorations to their tanks. I think they help add a little extra personality imo. I will definitely check out that guy's tank, I would love to see what he did with it!

 

As of right now the only thing I have is a tank. I was putting everything else on hold until I could get a stand for it. Although now I will strongly consider taking advantage of that Liferock sale and start playing around with different aquascape ideas while I'm waiting. 🤔

[banasophia]

@FreshTanktReefer just told me he’s in here too, so I’m adding a tag. 🙂🙃

[FreshTanktReefer]

yeah... I don’t really know how to use this site. Which is why I don’t cone on very often. But I got a Pirate themed tank. Instagram is probably the best place to see it.  I don’t know how to put a video here. 

[banasophia]

5 hours ago, FreshTanktReefer said:

 yeah... I don’t really know how to use this site. Which is why I don’t cone on very often. But I got a Pirate themed tank. Instagram is probably the best place to see it.  I don’t know how to put a video here. 

 

Ya gotta get in here more! 🤗  It’s cool cuz you can keep a tank journal and get to know other nano reefers that are really knowledgeable and helpful if you ever run into any issues. To post a video in here, you upload it onto YouTube, copy it by hitting share, and paste it into your post.

[banasophia]

And the answer is ... they are cave sleepers! And some sleep in later than others haha... I was worried only one was out when I got up, then it apparently went back to the cave for a little more shuteye, then two came back out joined eventually the third. 😅🐟🐟🐟

[PaigeTX]

Following this new tank build. Your 16g is beautiful!

[banasophia]

2 minutes ago, PaigeTX said:

Following this new tank build. Your 16g is beautiful!

Thank you so much, and thanks for following along! 🤗

[banasophia]

My scissortail dartfish are doing well so far:

 

 

 

 

[Jerad81]

Nice! They seem to really like your dragon. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I might have missed it, but do you have a lid? These guys love to jump and get spooked easily. Nice to see them up and about as group though!

[banasophia]

5 hours ago, Jerad81 said:

Nice! They seem to really like your dragon. 

Thanks! Yes the swim together, mostly in the top third of the tank. Great little fish - not very colorful, but still pretty with their bright blue eyes, and I really wanted shoaling fish that would stay out throughout the day. 🐟🐟🐟

4 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I might have missed it, but do you have a lid? These guys love to jump and get spooked easily. Nice to see them up and about as group though!

Hi Snow! Yes, it’s a Biocube 32 - has a lid!! ✅  I need to look up your posts on Instagram (and here!) - I’m following so many people now, it’s hard to keep up with everyone!! 🤗 How are things going with your tank and the book? 

[Snow_Phoenix]

10 hours ago, banasophia said:

Hi Snow! Yes, it’s a Biocube 32 - has a lid!! ✅  I need to look up your posts on Instagram (and here!) - I’m following so many people now, it’s hard to keep up with everyone!! 🤗 How are things going with your tank and the book? 

Tank has a few issues with the LPS, but overall, it seems to be doing okay. 🙂

 

Book is coming along fine - currently finishing off Draft #5 of the manuscript - might need another round of drafts before a full edit, and then I should be able to start querying agents/publishers by the end of Jan next year. Hoping to hold a physical copy of the book in my hands by the end of 2020. 🙂 

[banasophia]

2 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Tank has a few issues with the LPS, but overall, it seems to be doing okay. 🙂

I checked it out, looks great, I love your new pipefish! 💛💛💛

 

2 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Book is coming along fine - currently finishing off Draft #5 of the manuscript - might need another round of drafts before a full edit, and then I should be able to start querying agents/publishers by the end of Jan next year. Hoping to hold a physical copy of the book in my hands by the end of 2020. 🙂 

I’d love to have a copy by the end of 2020 too!!! Can’t wait to read it!

[Snow_Phoenix]

51 minutes ago, banasophia said:

I checked it out, looks great, I love your new pipefish! 💛💛💛

 

I’d love to have a copy by the end of 2020 too!!! Can’t wait to read it!

Thank you! I'm worried about leaving them - will be gone for around 3 to 4 days for Christmas break, but hopefully they'll be okay after I seed the tank with some pods before I go. 

 

Thanks! Not sure if it's to your taste though - it's a Fantasy Romance, categorized somewhere between High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy. And it's also my very first book, so I'm nervous as heck. Turns out writing a book is a lot more difficult than I'd originally anticipated. Still relishing the challenge of doing so though! 🙂 

[tofer]

Tank is looking Awesome ! 

[banasophia]

4 hours ago, tofer said:

Tank is looking Awesome ! 

Thanks so much! It’s just going so slow with setting it up around the holidays... too busy doing other stuff... hopefully I’ll be able to devote more time to it soon. 

[banasophia]

Merry Christmas! 🎄🎄🎄