24G Nano Cube DX Startup, Setup, Manual for newbies, in the works

[steelhealr]

Agree with Burt about making sure your tank is cycled first. From the cleanup crew in my tank, my observations are:

--Nassarius are great substrate sifters

--Astrea are excellent LR cleaners; eating my cyano

--Margarita's are great wall cleaners

--Trochus great wall cleaners but, like Turbos, knock things over

--emerald crabs are the fine pickers, kick up a small dust storm while eating

--cleaner shrimp is great...grabs the leftovers

--hermits, very slow, a little disappointed with their work, but, they were eating my cyano ( a plus)

 

Diversify your crew for where you are having problems and where you need them.

 

If you are planning on having corals, Sally's get some 'thumbs down' here....they can pick at them.

 

As Burt said, never do anything with the tank until it is completely cycled. I don't necessarily think you have to wait a week after cycling to add crew, BUT, I wouldn't add them until your nitrates are down.They are pretty hardy, but better safe than sorry. Do your first big water change when nitrates spike and ammonia/nitrite hit zero. Add livestock in increments...better to keep running to the lfs than have snails and hermits die and add to the bioload. As posted above, I think my bout with cyano came from the death and lack of retrieval of my green clown goby, MIA. SH

[Cloudy]

Hey Steelhealr... tank is looking good. I like the rock work, so what's next? *cough*upgradelighting*cough*, you know you want to...

 

Haha, just kidding, but with the new Nano-customs ICA you shouldn't have too much trouble putting in a 70W halide, but I guess that's easy enough to say when you're not talking about your own tank.

-S

[steelhealr]

I'll tell ya Cloudy...I don't really have much time to tear off the hood and start rewiring....part of the reason why I'm challenging myself to come up with a tank as beautiful as possible with stock lighting. Funny thing is....using individual components and soldering equipment, I built an 8 LED moonlight for my 46G FW and it is on a timer and with a dimmer switch. Fortunately, I had an easy to read layout for that. I haven't seen a thread with good step by step directions on it on how to put in a metal halide and chiller. Another reason for me trying to do this thread is that NOTHING in this hobby comes with directions...LOLOL. Many threads show bits and pieces. It would open up doors for many people who can read and follow directions but lack the technical wiring skills to approach it on their own. You see, I wanted to help others. Yanking my hood off with a stocked tank right now ..well....it's uphill.

 

I'm sure that...after awhile...I'm gonna want to go SPS. When that day comes, I'm either going to change the hood alone to whatever JBJ comes out with (if a future redesign will fit my tank)...or go larger and do the regular marine tank....OR......go with the 'Cloudy DIY'. What's that you ask?????

 

Here it is Cloudy....sensing the ZING here, I'll set up the challenge SPECIFICALLY TO YOU tho'....here it is....if you have the technical skills to install a metal halide light to support SPS, connect that chiller if it needs it, take enough pix with step by step photos that makes it TOTALLY clear to the newbs following this thread (including me), compatible to the 24G, have it run successfully and have it post to this thread (with credit to you), I'll buy you a coral from liveaquaria.com up to $50 not including shipping. It's not gold, but, it's a challenege. If you can get a DIY post here simple enough for me and others to do it..INCLUDING PULLING OFF THE HOOD, the coral is yours. It's not much..but..it's the game. Good luck. SH

[revkev6]

SH that's just not fair. I have just about done that whole thing. I just did a short right up (without pics though) on how to install and wire up the 2x36 what PC lighting upgrade. if I had gone the MH route it would actually have been easier. just more expensive. I also installed my own external chiller setup that looks nice and goes into the first chamber below the filter element. I could type that up in an hour, add some pics and have myself a nice coral for my tank!

 

just as a tease, 144 watts in my 24g, after a ten hour cycle it was 80 degrees.

[steelhealr]

Hey Rev...sorry...I think Cloudy was doing a friendly raz hence the post/challenge. I know you did a great job...the only thing is...many of these upgrades posted here by technically adroit reefers show highlights of the steps, or describe it, but not enough for some to do it themselves, ie, nice directions well layed out (unless I've missed some). Eg...showing what wires go where..how to splice them...where and what holes need to be drilled. I tried to lay my thread out so someone could actually print it out like directions/plans. You've seen the insert that came with this tank..NADA there.

 

I want to try and do a step by step auto-topoff post here so it could be done by anyone. Getting time is the only problem. I have a float switch and plans for a topoff built based on a timer. I'm just working on how to connect the float switch to the pump...I think it involves a relay...I haven't found this well-documented here unless I missed a good thread. I want people seriously interested in having a nice tank to have access to the stuff the big boys have. SH

[steelhealr]

Never heard from Cloudy. Anyway, everyone runs into problems at some point. I'm not immune. First off, look how nicely two of the corals have opened up. Very nice:

 

 

 

I don't want to beat up these pictures like a dead horse. My polyps, tho'...look at the pic below...only about 4 or so opened up on the right side of the frag. They spent 2 days on the bottom....then moved up to 2/3rds the height...then I redirected flow towards them. I'll probably lose most of the colony.

 

 

And..check this out....thought my cleaner died again.

 

But...NOOOOO...this is his SECOND MOLT. See him further back in the pic hiding? If molting is supposed to imply good water params, then, what's with my polyps, ay? Grrrr.

[limulus]

I've only read the first two pages and you've answered sooo many questions. Thirteen years ago, I had a 70-gal reef tank and I've wanted to replace it with something for a while now. I've just recently stumbled across the Nano forum and these small tanks are so cool. I just ordered a 12g DX for my basement office desk. For my old 70-gal, the maintenance was pretty easy and in those days I would have never considered a system this small. But after reading this forum and looking at all the photos of various 6-24gal nano systems, I'm ready to get started again.

 

You've managed to really put together a good how-to for total noobs and guys like me who are getting aquainted with the new ways. Now, I must read the rest of the thread.

[Cloudy]

haha... hadn't been by here in a while.

 

You know I would accept that challange, but the 24Gs arn't really on the market right now. I'm thinking of setting one up eventually, so what's the dead line on this challange? and what kind of coral are we talking about? hahahaha

 

Yea, totally just a friendly raz... I think you're doing a really great job. The tank looks wonderful and you're doing a service to the couminity. I just know that sooner or later you're going to get the urge to splurge, and that'll be that. Soon enough you'll have a 250gal bow-front and be lost to us here at NR...

 

How about this... If you post the dimensions of the back chambers of the NC, when I build the sump for my new tank, i'll also put togather a little skimmer to fit back there with my excess arclyic. Can't gurentee how well it will work, but we'll see...

 

haha

-S

[steelhealr]

To Limulus...welcome back to the trade and thanks for the kind post. Feel free to PM or post here if you need some thoughts.

 

To Cloudy...it's an open challenge to you. Take your time but hurry before JBJ comes out with an exchangeable hood with all the hot mods on it. I'll try and take some measurements of the back chambers for you.If you can build a skimmer for the back sump, you could sell a lot here. ...I'm sure at some point I'll probably want to go SPS..but..hey...let me figure out what's going on with the colony polyps first. These were supposed to be the 'beginners corals' and hardy. Yeah right. Now I'm paddling along with everyone else, "why aren't my polyps opening". LOL. I think I'll move them back to a lower level and see what happens and do a another water change.

 

ADD: someone here mentioned that 2 molts in 2 weeks is NOT a good thing, so, I have a lot of conflicting things: less algae, disasppearance of cyano, 3/4 thriving corals, 0 phos,etc....on the flip side, 2 molts, a slight increase in nitrates. SH

[icenine]

Have you looked for parasites on your polyps? Take a good look at them after the lights are out in your tank for a while and see if you find anyone snacking on them. Nudibrachs are a common culprit, but there are others as well. You can try a freshwater dip of the polyps to see if you can flush out any unwanted hitchhikers.

Even if you got your corals from a reputable source, they may have come with parasites of one sort or another.

[limulus]

My old protein skimmer in the 70-gal tank was a cylinder that was about 24" long. It was a counter-flow device: water flowed into the top along with an air hose. The air hose went to the bottom with a stone and bubbles flowed upward through the water as it moved downward. This created a protein foam that overflowed into a separate chamber. The downward flowing water exited into the wet/dry sump and was pumped out. In those days, I used an ozonizer along with the air pump. I think I actually still have that. Do people even use them anymore?

 

If you were using one of the pedestal stands, you could make a small cylinder or square skimmer and sump that sits inside the pedestal. The water could even be gravity fed into the skimmer. With a little creativity, the two hoses could be hidden for a clean look.

[steelhealr]

Hi Limulus....the posts here are sometimes split down the middle re: skim vs not skim. However, and it's only my opinion, I think the 'pro-protein skimmerers' have a few more numbers, ie, have a majority. Some people here DO use ozonizers, tho', I don't have experience with them. Why don't you do a DIY and start a thread on that project? SH

[steelhealr]

Hi Icenine..I have moonlight LEDS and haven't seen anything. I'll recheck tonite and will lookup a FW drip. Thanks for the input and I'll post back. SH

[limulus]

That sounds like a good project. When the 12g gets here, I'm going to start working on something that will be effective but unobtrusive. I hope I still have that Ozonizer. Not necessary, but it could be fun to play with again.

 

Originally posted by steelhealr

Hi Limulus....the posts here are sometimes split down the middle re: skim vs not skim. However, and it's only my opinion, I think the 'pro-protein skimmerers' have a few more numbers, ie, have a majority. Some people here DO use ozonizers, tho', I don't have experience with them. Why don't you do a DIY and start a thread on that project? SH

[steelhealr]

Update

 

1) I think my nitrates climbed out of overzealousness to feed the new sixline wrasse. Went from 0-10. Water change tonite brought it back down to 5. Decreasing my feeds to every other day.

2) I'm pretty sure that the colony polyps are shot. Liveaquaria guarantees them til Sunday, so, if there is no miracle opening, I'm going to declare them DOA. Interesting note: they consider a nitrate level up to 30 ppm within the guarantee. Since everything else seems to be doing OK, I wonder if it was the shipping and not necessarily the tank params (wishful thinking). Someone suggested a Lugol's sol'n dip....if I can get my hands on some, I"ll give it a try.

3) To others still following, I strongly suggest to vacuum out those back chambers EACH WEEK. I can't believe what comes out of there, especially from the LR rubble.

4) Thought my ocellaris was dead today. Couldn't find him. Lifted the hood and found him in the 2nd chamber and was able to swim into the 3rd thru that small slot. Don't ask me how he made it over the wall. Had to net him out. Keep an eye on your livestock.

5) After being up and running now over a month, I found something peeking out from the rocks today...any takers? I think I know what it is. It is only 2-4 mms across and it retracted when the cleaner walked across it:

 

 

SH

[VBAQUARIUM]

Hey SH,

 

Looks like a feather duster.

 

Some questions for you. There might be answers in your previous posts, but I would like some details to help me get my filtration in order. I've been keeping up with this post since the beginning, and has helped alot.

 

1. I cleaned out the sponge once (tank up for 1 month almost) and it was dirty! I didn't realize how long the sponge was... If I were to eliminate the sponge, what would be keeping all the dirt to from going back into the tank? I made a major newbie mistake by not turning off the filter... Some of the junk went right back into the tank. So, should I cut or get rid of it? If I get rid, what should I replace it with????

 

2. Bioballs and etc... I know you have been suggesting it, but is the live rock rubble better?? My nitrates are consistently at 40. I'm going to stop feeding the Damsels twice a day.

 

3. Is your Maxi Jet 1200 quiet?? I don't want to try to sleep with a loud pump! However, the stock pump is WEAK!

 

Thanks SH. Looking forward to your answers.... I'm not going to get my Clownfish or any coral until I hit 0 nitrates. I'm at 0 ammonia and nitrite.

[revkev6]

vba,

 

1. cut it and clean it very good weekly

 

2. Go for the LR rubble. people say the bio balls harber bacteria that promotes nitrates, while LR helps keep nitrates down.

 

3. maxijet 1200 will pump more AND be quieter than that darn stock pump! mine is LOUD. sounds like the cheap piece of crap it is.

[steelhealr]

VB...I ditched my sponge. Whatever is in the tank either stays in suspension for removal with water changes or gets trapped in the LR rubble...or eaten by the cleanup crew. My sponge was getting filthy like yours and when I pulled it, my nitrates went to zero. Just my opinion. My water is crystal clear. If you keep it, cut it in half. If you ditch it, just put your media in chamber one. Everything needs to be vac'd/rinsed, IMO, if you really want to keep the tank clean. My nitrates always seem to fall when I vac the LR rubble...don't forget..it is a mechanical obstacle and still traps and holds onto any particulate matter that flows past it..a point that I think is UNDER stated in all the posts recommending to put LR in the back.

 

2)Twice a day feeding is too much. 40 ppm is too high. I freak out when I hit 10 and that supposedly, is not too bad, although everyone wants a zero. I would definitely ditch the bioballs.

 

3)I find the Maxijet to be very quiet. I think the FANS are louder. Take my advice....GO SLOW and don't add anything until you can prove to yourself that you can get your nitrates to a target level below 5...better to 0 to start. You'll always meander a bit in the beginning.

 

And RevKev...didn't you post that you had a red macro hitchhiker at one point? What happened to that? SH

[revkev6]

that was in my brother's tank. I don't believe he has made his own screen name yet :. He has a 15 gallon tank that has been running for about 3 years. He just recently put a 10 gallon sump and a protien skimmer on it.

 

oh and my chaeto is still doing pretty good with no supplemental lighting!

[emoutz]

My nitrates vary between 0-10. I have not done ANY water changes or siphoning of the back chambers in the month my tank has been set up. But everything in my tank (fish, corals (shrooms, zoos, hitchhiker polyps, and GSP), and inverts (including shrimp) are doing fine). My only losses have been feather dusters that something (I suspect my 6-line or emerald crab) is eating.

 

I think it is all about finding balance. After years of keeping discus/cichlids and never doing water changes, that was my conclusion. If you do a lot of water changes/siphoning then the bacteria in your tank wont grow well enough to support the bioload of the system.

 

Naturally, I've been careful to test my water frequently to be sure I'm not endangering or stressing my animals.

 

PS I've had cheato in the back chambers for 2 weeks with no supplemental lighting and it is doing great. I may even have to prune it soon.

[steelhealr]

See...keeping a tank is an art. What works for some, doesn't for others and vice versa. And..Emoutz..if you kept discus, then you MUST be pretty good. They are super hard to keep.

 

My polyps are KIA. After only one phonecall yesterday merely describing my problem and not asking for a replacement, a package arrived today...LA, without waiting for me to call back with an update, sent me a new frag with colony polyps on it. It's acclimating now. Now THAT was great service. If it doesn't make it a second time, I'm going to hold adding new editions and let the tank 'settle'. I wonder if the nitrate spike was actually the dying polyps. SH

[steelhealr]

When I played lacrosse from JHS thru professional school, one of the most embarrassing situations to be in was to make that fast break pass to the running attackman and see it sail over his head and go out of bounds. The entire crowd can fix their eyes entirely on you. Well...I posted earlier that I would post my 'turnovers'. You have to own up to it and can't blame anyone else.

 

I thought a brain coral would be a good addition. They are reported to do OK under moderate lighting and usually sit on the substrate. I don't have a good lfs near me, so, like many here, I'm on my own. I found a brain on Ebay that looked good to me....thought the dealer had a good rep/feedback and bought it. This is how it looked pre-purchase:

 

 

It shipped Fedex and arrived early and was opened immediately. When I opened it for acclimation, it smelled rank, like rotten eggs and the water looked a bit cloudy. I started a very slow acclimation, warming, etc. Here is what it looks like:

 

 

 

What would you do?

A) Toss it in the garbage and b@@##$%tch to the seller?

B ) Put it emergently straight into your tank to save it?

C) Continue acclimation and do water changes and put it in and observe?

D) Start up a separate holding tank with heater, powerhead, light and quarantine it and observe?

 

For the answer (is there one?) scroll down.

 

I also received new polyps and THESE OPENED!!! It now makes me feel that the other polyps were DOA or darn well near it. We'll see. Here they are on the bottom after acclimating:

 

 

I have to buy some epoxy for that one...it is on a 'branch' and will need support.

 

ANSWER

 

First off....I shouldn't have bought that coral. According to one nano-reefer here, " the skeleton is exposed and I would have never bought it". Well, fellow threaders, I would NEVER have picked up on that one. Experience is the best teacher. That's how you learn

 

The most correct answer is 3 and I had to go to the board for that one. What I WAS going to do was almost 4....fill a bucket with SW, add my extra heater and powerhead and watch it, then add to the tank. But...it is still getting some water changes and I'm going to add it back to my tank. Here are the replies:

 

Do you run a skimmer? It should be fine to put in if you do.

 

I wouldn't have bought that brain, you can see the skeleton even in the last picture.

 

coral exude mucus/slime when stressed. some exuuuude a lot.  

 

i'd swap out some of the water in the bag before putting it in. acclimate, drip/add water, take out half, repeat a couple of times. just give it a little more time.

 

it looks ok for the 2nd pic, considering it just arrived. give it a chance. you'll see it deteriorate fast if it's dead but injured corals can also make a comeback.

 

i've had brains gaping and tattered make recoveries. otoh, i've had healthy ones crash while their brother/clone next to them is fine. give it a little flow and time when you put it in.

 

lps can be pretty buff. don't give up

 

Hope this helps anyone at the same point I'm at. SH

[Billio]

Originally posted by steelhealr

Billio...you don't have to risk the well being of the damsels...you can cycle that uncured rock separate from your tank in a cheap plastic bin from Target and just find a cheapie heater and powerhead. Otherwise, you could consider either returning the Damsels or asking the lfs to hold them for you while you cycle the LR. Truly uncured LR may have a really high ammonia spike which could be lethal to the Damsels, although, they are supposed to be super hardy fish. SH

 

After a few days with the damsels in the tank with the LR, I was finally able to get them out of the tank and returned them to the LFS for a credit towards more LR. The tank is now fully cycled with 21# of LR.

 

One interesting note, I had 4 astrea snails and 3 red legged hermit crabs in the tank and did not lose any of them during the cycle process. This may be because the tank had fully cycled before I added the LR and had a headstart.

 

I added a few nassarius snails, 3 margarettas, an emerald crab and a horseshoe crab. The horseshoe crab was free as part of a nano-reef cleaner group at the LFS. The thing kept flipping on his back and had a tough time righting himself. I haven't seen him in the past couple of days, so he's either hidden in the rocks or sand or didn't make it past the first day. If I see him again, I plan to take him out of the tank and return him.

 

Each day we play Where's the Emerald Crab. He blends in very well with my LR. Also, I love the nassarius snails. They pop out of the sand during feeding time and start roaming the tank.

 

My amonia and nitrites were at 0 and my nitrates at 5 ppm. I plan on getting some macro algae to see if I can get the nitrates down to 0.

 

Any recommended waiting time before adding some corals? I plan on adding another pump to the 1st chamber, probably a max-jet 900, to increase circulation at the bottom of the tank.

[limulus]

Horseshoe Crabs will bury themselves in the sand. But I'd say he probably died. They don't live long in aquariums. Some things are still not known about Horseshoe Crabs. One neat fact is they are only found on the east coast mainly from SC to Maine. Most are concentrated in the Mid Atlantic and some are occasionally found in the Gulf. It probably has something to do with the moon or the sun. Another species of them can be found in Asia. This is interesting that I've now replied to two separate posts about Limulus Polyphemus, the Horseshoe Crab. I could bore you with more info, but won't.

[steelhealr]

Great answer from 'Limulus'. I live and grew up near the ocean and we'd see horseshoe crabs on the beach all the time. Didn't know that they came in 'nano-size'.

 

Billio..sounds like you handled your cycle problem very well. If that horseshoe is dead, it may make your nitrates climb as it decays. Funny thing about the emerald crab...under the LEDs you can sometimes find him at night if you look for a cloud of 'dust' kicking up. My guy picks and eats and kicks ups a mini dust cloud.

 

As for adding corals, you'd be better off to let your tank mature before adding them. I wouldn't put anything in straight off after cycling, but, I know others who have been doing this longer than I have that added them right away.. One recommendation is to wait until your params are stable and you've gone thru the algae blooms (diatoms or cyano or hair). Are you going to add fish? If you are, you may want to do that first and see if you can keep your nitrates down, ie, maintain good feeding technique. If you are stock lighting like me, leathers, ricordea, mushrooms and polyps are good starters. I wouldn't do the $150 purple blastomussa yet. LOL . SH