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

[limulus]

Ouch! Man, that's bad news. When I was looking for a little desktop design your thread was my guideline. The little NCs just look so cool and my 12g sits on the corner of my desk. From my experience with big tanks, I always add a piece of styrofoam under the tank. W/my old 70g, I used a 2x4 piece of styrofoam insulation bought at Home Depot. That tank had 4 corners and it was just a good idea for that design. I also have a piece under the NC. Once there is water, it settles into the styrofoam and helps limit any twisting.

 

I really like the bowfront design, so I think the AGA would be a good choice. Have you already bought one to make the transfer? Also, on the positive side, w/o the restrictions of a hood, you can have more light. You can also add a protein skimmer.

[steelhealr]

Limulus...the Bowfront IS nice..that would be my choice pending what happens with JBJ. Anyway, I got enough headache with this crack stuff, so, I thought maybe some summary shots since I can't really add anything to my tank right now....and....needed some downtime.

 

For those of you out there WITHOUT a crack in their NC and with stock lighting, you can see that you CAN start to have a nice tank without metal halides. Lack of dremelling and wiring experience does not exclude you from having a beautiful attractive tank. Like any people who followed this thread, I couldn't have gotten here without help from others.

 

To anyone that followed in my footsteps and got the NC, I'm not sure if an apology is in order or not, but, consider it offered. If and when I get this crack stuff figured out..I will resume and post some ways out of this. I've already posted some alternative tanks based on other peoples recommendations and my own experience with AGA. I will retroedit my first page to warn others. SH

 

Ricordea florida, already splitting into two:

 

Yellow Fiji Leather (sarchophyton elegans) and second Ricordea polyp

 

Various zoanthids

 

Tubipora musica (Organ Pipe) and caulastrea (trumpet coral)

 

Cladiella sp

 

Discosomia (actinodiscus)

 

Parting shot

[burtbollinger]

again, this is the best thread I've ever seen for Nano Cube noobs...and its the thread that inspired me to buy a 24dx. It's been a fun ride, and mine has yet to crack, knock on wood. I am going to invest in a plexiglass replacement from nanocustoms when they become available, or perhaps even start a new 29G "quarantine tank"...with just some sand and liverock in it....it can't hurt to be prepared.

 

anyway, thanks for your dedication up to this point...and good luck with everything bro!

[steelhealr]

BurtB...thanks man. You're the best. I hope to continue this thread when the cracking issue is resolved. I can already see the first new post:

 

"How to Transfer your NC Contents to your New Tank"

 

The crack is stable btw...awaiting to see if JBJ returned my call today and see if anything has come up. SH

[steelhealr]

Update....JBJ contacted me after I sent them info on my tank. They are going to replace it. Whew. I'm willing to give everyone a second chance. I will probably resume this thread (? or a part 2?) with ....HOW TO TRANSFER YOUR NC TO ANOTHER....lololol. Off to Target. SH

[Sheepdog]

Steelhealr,

 

What a great thread! A friend told me about this site after I spoke to him about his reef tank. I have a 120 g FW tank and a 1400g Koi pond, but always wanted one of these.

 

My wife, bless her, got me a 24g dx for Father's day. I knew a little about where to start, but I stumbled across your thread. What a big help. Thanks for taking the time and effort to provide us real newbies with all of this great info.

 

BTW, what is with your tank cracking? Did it crack? I am setting mine up with water only first based on what I have read about them, but just wanted to know where to look.

 

Thanks again and good luck!

 

Eric

[Sheepdog]

Nevermind, I just found out about the cracking after reading above my post. This is probably the longest post I have ever started to read. Only on page 5 now, but wanted to get some thanks out!

 

Later,

 

Eric

[steelhealr]

Sheepdog..welcome aboard and thanks for your great comments. Fortunately, most of this thread can be used to setup a non nano cube system or at least assist in guidance. I was just as shocked as most people here when you open the Nano Cube box, take out the directions and the only insructions you get are to leave out the bioballs and ceramic beads if starting a reef tank.

 

Anyway Sheepdog, make sure you test with FW and run it for several days if you can. Check the front seamless corners and most importantly, run a finger on the inside of the glass under the areas of the frame where the glass is hidden. Feel for stepoffs. If things look free and clear after the dry run, I'd go ahead and setup. Make sure you check the same areas with your weekly maintenance.

 

This thread will resume when my new tank arrives....just not sure if I should continue this make a part two....any thoughts? SH

[woobycat]

Hello SH, I have been away for awhile, sorry to here the news on your science project. Relieved to here that JBJ is doing the right thing. You know, I think that you had them over the barrel with this wonderful sounding board that you have created. I personally would like to think they did it for the right reasons though. My cube is chugging along without a hiccup. Thanks for laying the groundwork old friend. I would like to know the process in which you are able to post pictures without leaving a thread. Any takers on this subject?

 

Regards,

 

WDM

[steelhealr]

sure..here goes...you just need to have two browser windows open..the thread you are working on and the photo site. Go to www. photobucket.com..open a free account. Use their site to upload your photos. Open up your nano-reef thread. To add a pic, minimize and go to PB...cut and paste the third line under your photo...go back your nano-reef thread and paste the line where you want it. SH

[burtbollinger]

simply continue this existing thread....thats my vote.

 

any opinions on running chemi-pure in chamber 2 with the LR and cheato, as well as purigen and phosban in chamber 1?

 

is that total overkill?

[steelhealr]

Nah..not at all. I'm running chemipure, Purigen, SeaGel and temporarily as a test Algone. I also have a filter pad in there called PuraPad. Only added the last two recently because of the dead brain and cyano fiascos and plan on removing them soon. Advice noted. JBJ shipped my cube yesterday. I hope this one causes no problems. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, ............................. SH

[burtbollinger]

LOL....funny, I'm, running a Purapad as well in my 24DX. Born on 4/26/05. I didnt mention it as not to appear as a total filter freak.

 

In chamber one I have the Purapad sitting on top of a pack of purigen, followed by half a stock sponge...with the posban underneath that.

 

In chamber 2 I've got the 4 lbs of LR, some chaeto and a sack of chemipure. along with the heater. The fuge light that I'm going to use (an redsea aqua vase light I'm going to cannibalize) is backordered at the moment.

 

chamber 3 is a MJ1200 with the hydor flo...

 

With this set up, everything is runnning smooth.

 

I does a tiny bit of iodine each day (to help my xenia), change 2.5 gallons a week, add a bit of Marc Weiss Coral Vital...and test abd buffer PH as needed. My PH seems to be a touch below 8.0 when I test in in the morning.

 

I also add reef builder for the KH, a bit of calcium...

 

ANyway, for the time being, my tank is pristine, except for a tiny bit of cyano, that appears and dissapears on one small corner of the tank...??? ??? ???

[steelhealr]

Burt..have you seen any difference with the Pura Pad? I'm running similarly. Since I don't have a lot of corals in my tank right now, I am mixing together small amounts of CoralPlankton (half a spray) and ZooPlex and directly 'feeding' the corals, once a week. I do see a slight rise in nitrates after adding the coral feedings.

 

I started to use the B-Ionic, mostly for buffering purposes. Similar to you, my corals look very good..are all open and expanding as you can see in the pix on the other page. My cyano is gone and would ya believe it, my emerald crab starting eating the small amount of bubble algae I had. So...except for this crack thing, my tank is doing extremely well now and has suffered no adverse affects from the cyano treatment. It's so tempting not to change out the tank..but....it must be done. I'm not looking forward to it...it's gonna take several hours probably and I'll have to get up at the crack of dawn to do it.

 

Since I DO have to change the tank, this may be a good time to try and see if I can put in a bulkhead and switch out my 'bulkheadless'outflow. I have had no problems with that outflow tho' and I am very happy with having the second pump in chamber one. I'll also try and post the 'transfer protocol' in case others have to follow suit and change their tank.

 

As for your cyano, that happened to me also in the beginning. I had two 'accidents' that worsened it. I think the cyano in your tank is part of the maturation process and will probably completely go away soon. SH

 

SH

[burtbollinger]

I see no difference in running the Purapad, for all I know its a gimick product...I can't tell. I got it simply as something to sandwich my puragen in between.

 

I've got some xenia, green star polyps, and some zoos in my tank. Do you think I need to be adding CoralPlankton and/or ZooPlex? I'd rather not if its all the same.

 

Also, what do you think of that B-ionic?

[steelhealr]

I hate to say this....(gulp)..but I DO think the corals look better since starting to feed them. The corals are photosynthetic for the most part, however, they DO have mouths and in the wild would take in captured food. I recommend it but sparingly if you don't have a lot. It does seem to make my nitrates edge up and I'm not using a lot. As for B-Ionic, eh, brings it up a bit and it creeps down again. My tank may still be maturing. Look up CoralPlankton and BioPlankton. SH

[szesteve]

Try golden pearls and cyclo-peeze. I find my corals love it alot.

[steelhealr]

Cyclopeeze are very good for corals too. Some people blenderize a combination of phyto, zoo, cyclopeeze and mysid shrimp and spot feed. Some reefers use another product called Marine Snow and DT's phytoplankton. SH

 

http://www.thatpetplace.com/MainPro/Itemdy...1=F41+0460+0062

 

http://www.saltycritter.com/foods-dts.htm

 

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...457&N=2004+6135

[Jason64]

WOW,

I just read the ENTIRE 19 pgs on this thread! CRAZY Informative! I've had my 12g JBJ since November of 04' still haven't set it up.(a little crazy I know!) But I will now!

 

SH - I bought the same RO/DI unit on ebay. Does that automatic shut-off work well? How did you mount the unit? To the wall? Sitting on the ground? Does it have to be above the tubs? Lastily, What kind of containers are you filling? 5g buckets?

 

Sorry for all the questions, but this thread put all the pieces together for me. Some mods I've been working on I'm going to abort, others I'm going to take up! Thanks Again!

 

Jason64

[steelhealr]

Hi Jason, thanks for your kind comments....I didn't mount my unit at all. I keep it 'portable'. Since I only use it for the aquarium, it was too much hassle to plumb it into the sink, drill holes in countertops, etc. I bought two attacments, a faucet adapter and a garden hose adapter. If you use it in the house with a faucet adapter, I suggest you keep the bucket in the tub as it fills. ( I don't have an automatic shutoff...the one on the unit is for use with the undersink tank). I keep my unit in the garage, clean, and take it out for water use bimonthly.

 

I connect to my garden house and fill up one 5 gallon Home Depot red bucket (5 gallons SW, 2 weeks of changes) and two 2.5 gallon jugs. I change 2.5 SW, store 2.5 SW. If I get the energy, I make another 2.5 of SW and have two weeks of water changes stored. I also fill 2 more jugs, each 2.5 gallons for pure water topoff (just lighter to carry). Sounds like a lot, but, I fill the bucket, fill the 2 jugs and done. So, basically, make SW and topoff once every 2 weeks and store the unit in between in the garage.

 

I wanted to do an autotopoff, but, in retrospect, I don't have the guts to trust a float valve or timer in my house. Don't want water flooding the floor. So, as you saw in a previous page, I take the lighter jug in the house, fill my 'cheesey autotopoff' at night, fill it, turn it on and walk away. Very simple. Easy. SH

[Jason64]

This is the only real obstacle that seems to be hanging me up! I'm thinking in my furnace room connected to the main line going into the water heater. Only problem, the furnace room is under my stairs and access to it is a pain. My garage I think is a no-go....too small. I'd like to do all of my heating and circulation of the water in one place. I'm too lazy to break all that gear out every other week. :*(

 

I'm looking to do a one-stop shop. Somewhere I can fill a bucket mix another with salt, aerate/heat it, and have it ready and waiting. Ahhh, decisions, decisions.

 

J64

[steelhealr]

Well....you can always install it under the sink in a bathroom and hijack a tub from time to time or use the faucet adapter(my wife wouldn't be too happy with that tho', LOLOL). It's not too much of a hassle lugging the filter out at a bimonthly pace. Although many people like buying premade/ lfs stuff, I think it's more of a pain lugging that stuff home in a car. JMO. I think it's one of those chores that comes under the "I heard keeping a marine tank is much more work than keeping a FW tank" heading. SH

[steelhealr]

The AquaC Remora Protein Skimmer, Anatomy Lesson for Us Newbs

 

I was able to get my hands on a used AquaC Remora protein skimmer, and,having never seen or handled one, thought that others might be curious to understand how it works. We all know that our Nano Cubes don't come supplied with a protein skimmer, nor is there one made specifically to fit in our back sumps (yet). So, after a previous poll, AquaC Remora and CPR BakPak came up as the most popular protein skimmers. Let's take a look at the AquaC Remora.

 

What is a Protein Skimmer, etc

 

Here is a link previously posted trying to summarize protein skimmers, thoughts on decision making on whether or not to use one and a poll on which types are popular here in this forum:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=57064

 

The Remora

 

 

In general,with the AquaC Remora, a powerhead head forces water thru a port that creates an air induction spray. Bubbles are formed and various proteins and waste 'adhere' to the bubble secondary to hydrophilic attachments.This column of bubbles works it way upwards to the surface of the skimmer where they are trapped in a cup. The cup is then emptied.

 

Basic Anatomy

 

On intial 'examination', the Remora was much larger than I expected and has a homemade type of appearance. It's pretty hefty. The skimmer has:

1) a removable cup/tank to empty skimmate

 

 

2) plastic screws to adjust the leveling against the tank and one to adjust the height of the cup for a 'wet' skim or 'dry' skim.

3) a Maxijet 1200 pump; some come with a Rio 800

 

 

4) an internal sufrace skimmer (I think this sells separately) which hides the pump but is too large, IMO, for our nano's

 

Positioning

 

The skimmer is large and fits best on the side of the tank.

 

Although the tubing that comes with the skimmer is tough and durable, I substituted some green Eheim filter tubing to shorten it or the pump would be hitting the LR. In fact, it could be shortened more.

 

The tank hood has to be left open, and, therefore, skimming is obviously going to be done overnight.

 

Throw the Switch Igor

 

When you turn on the skimmer, the pump fills the tank and skimming starts. The pump is not loud at all. The tank fills, aeration starts, and the water cascades out of the side of the Remora back out into the tank. With regards to our nano cubes:

 

1) it lowers the water level and I had to turn off the powerhead in chamber 1

2) you have to be careful about the depth of the pump when putting in the skimmer so it doesn't hit LR and coral

3) there is some strong water movement near the pump, so, again, needs to keep clear of corals

 

Within minutes after cranking this baby up, foam starts forming in the cup:

 

 

The height of the cup can be adjusted up, for a 'dry' skim or lower for a 'wet' skim. My first try with it I used the lowest level and after about 8 hours overnight, there was about 30-50ccs of greenish turbid fluid in there but nothing as horrible or foul smelling as some of the pix I've seen posted here. At present, it seems more of a PITA than it's worth, but, I have yet to see how this works over the long term. An experiment in progress. SH

[gjones]

Hey SH, I've been out camping, and some people are probably going to hate me for this, but fishing for the last week, and just caught up. Good to hear JBJ is replacing your cube, that's good news.

[steelhealr]

Hey..my dad took me fishing all the time as a kid. Very relaxing. Species encountered (LOL):

1) weakfish

2) bluefish

3) sea robins

4) spider crabs

5) blue crabs

6) flounder

7) fluke

8) puffers (blowfish)

 

At the local pond:

1) sunnies

2) small mouth bass

 

The largest animal I encountered on a scuba trip was a nurse shark in Belize, a sea turtle that was bigger than me in Ambergris Caye and some great spotted eagle rays off of Turneffe Island. Sorry...gjones got me reminiscing with the fishing stuff. SH