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

[steelhealr]

Before you spend all that, would it be worth just getting an AquaC? Check on Ebay? SH

[steelhealr]

Before you spend all that, would it be worth just getting an AquaC? Check on Ebay? SH

[trekbear]

Yep, thats a copy for sure, as is the one for sale at Aquatraders. www.aquatraders.com .

 

SH is correct here they are styled more like a CPR Backpac than AquaC Remora. CPR is a good brand but does not have the water fall return, they have a piped return. It's all preference here on this, but the Powerhead is what puts the 'SKIMMER' in skimmer on either of these skimmers.

 

BTW, You are gonna have a ricordia garden before too long SH! I love those blue rics you have there, and splitting already, WOW!

[steelhealr]

You know...the blue is doing some upward splitting now. I'll have to take a pic. U know something...of all the corals I have in my tank, my ricordeas are pretty up there for favorites. I was not expecting that when I bought them, but, they really do have good color...especially the orange ones. The hammer is a good one took and I'm taking hankering to the new plate coral. Slowest growing is the acan. Most frustrating/disappointing are the sun corals. SH

[debbeach13]

I thought my computer was going to have a heart attack.

[doublea]

SH --

 

I've spent the past few nights reading over this thread and taking notes...Wow, there is SO MUCH great info here.

 

I set up a 12G DX last week...so far so good. I went with some cured LR from the LFS, and 10lbs of LS. So far my NH4 is at < .5 (whatever units salfert uses...), Nitrates and Nitrites are less than 10 PPM each...Did I just really luck out with cycling? It hasn't even been a week. Obviously I'm just gunna sit tight for now and wait for some alge I think...

 

Anyways, Just another new reefer who owes you for all the info..Thanks!

 

 

P.s. what camera do you have? Your pictures are amazing! I hope mine can look half as good once I get everything set up...

[steelhealr]

No problem. Your LR may have been mostly or partially cycled. My rock cycled in less than a week. When ammonia and nitrite hit zero, and nitrates are present, time to do your first 25% water change. I'd wait a little bit to allow diatoms to start, then go ahead and add your cleanup crew. Then, it's probably safe to add your first fish....go with something unaggressive and hardy....common firefish, percula, etc. Believe it or not, I have the Costco special...I purchased a Pentax Optio S a year or 2 ago..seems to do very well for my needs. Also takes video clips if I am out with the family and don't have my video cam with me. It has two macro settings which are good for getting the corals. It's very compact, another plus I was looking for..fits in a pocket. SH

[RP Beesh]

keep up the great work. tank look very great. do you have the full picture of the tank and the stand?

[steelhealr]

No...I can take one tho'....full tank pic tho' is a page back or so. SH

[hotnix]

I believe you are no longer a newb, but an actual reefkeeper steal!! Congratulations on a wonderful feat. Me, being an actual newb, have some questions that you may be able to answer with your ever-growing knowledge base.

 

I started cycling my tank 3 days ago, and it has been cloudy ever since. last night i added some seachem clarity in hopes of being able to see into my tank with no luck. i checked the ammonia last night and the reading was off the chart(8+). i checked the nitrate today and i got a reading of 5ppm. i understand that the ammonia level is deadly high, and i was wondering if i should do a small 10 -15 % water change to get the ammonia down or if i should just ride it out?

my setup is as follows:

24g nano cube

live sand, 20lbs live rock

1st chamber - stock carbon, 1 sponge

2nd chamber - 1/3 full rubble (thinking bout addin more rubble and a small pump here)

3rd chamber - stock pump, heater

you did an AWESOME job with this thread...I've learned so much from it... Thanx

[steelhealr]

Hi Hotnix..and thanks for the nice comments. I'll try and help here. If this were my tank:

 

1) if the ammonia is sky high, I'd consider a well placed 10% change

2) after you are cycled and done a few water changes and turkey basted off the rocks (from the settling after setup), I'd consider losing the sponge in chamber one. If you add another pump, also, I'd put it in one. Consider changing the stock carbon over to ChemiPure and adding a phosphate binder in 1.

3)In the long run, you are probably going to find yourself a little light on LR. You have plenty of time, but, you'll probably want to add a few pieces to bring the weight up. I started with 20lbs...have added an additional 3lbs so far.There is probably room for more. Erring on the 'heavier' side may help add to any denitrification that may go on in the rocks.

 

Welcome aboard and feel free to post a pic here. SH

[steelhealr]

Add for those following:

 

1) The purple gorgonian has collected a little bit of debris on the end of two branches. I cut those ends off. Probably algae, despite the gorgonian being under high flow

 

2) Hawaiian feather duster is growing back both it's tube and it's crown. Amazing sometimes how tough and resilient life is

 

3)Added three small greens rics.....I love those corals.

 

4) My spaghetti leather/ colt has gotten so big, the tentacles are now brushing against the yellow fiji leather and stinging it. I had to lop off two arms since I don't have a frag tank ....YET. lol

 

SH

[hotnix]

thanx for the quick response. considering i'm still a newb, i have no idea what i'd be doin with a turkey baster =P. is there a reason that you suggest the extra pump be placed in chamber one? i remember in an earlier post you were commenting on the detritus that might settle on the rubble and i was thinking about putting the pump in the second chamber to maybe get away with not siphoning that area very much. Seems like it would be a pain. If i do put the pump in the 1st, do you think above or below the carbon and phosphate? the new rock that you added, did you cure it in another tank or purchase already cured rock. wouldn't mind seeing an update of your beautiful tank...thanks for the shared knowledge...it truly is wonderful work you're doin here

peace

[doublea]

pump in chamber 1, because chamber 1 has a grate that you can direct your powerhead out of (i.e. creating flow). If you put it in chamber 2 or below the grate, where would the water go? It wouldnt really increase flow, but just stir stuff up in the chamber.

 

-A

[hotnix]

thanx for the respones doub, but would havin the pump in chamber 2 keep flow goin through my rubble? that was my main concern, also, if i had the pump facin out of chamber 1 through the grate, wouldn't that nullify the ingenious invention of the tape casette skimmer that i have attatched?

[steelhealr]

Putting the pump in chamber one gives it 'access' to the inflow grate. Having 2 pumps pull behind the small openings between 1/2, 2/3 will drop your water levels in the back chambers. Been there, done that. IMO, by having my stock pump in the bottom of chamber one beneath my filter media, it pulls the water down thru the inserts, ie, chemical filtration. The MJ in chamber 3 still pulls a constant 295 GPH across the back.

 

If you don't do a 'bulkheadless' outflow, like I did, or, drilled a bulkhead prior to setup, then, the only way to use the pump in one is to wedge it behind the outflow grate and, yes, this would render the cassette tape cover useless. It isn't hard to rig the outflow from a pump in the bottom of one to run over the wall. You can use the outflow flange from the unused parts of the MJ PH. All it takes is piecing together tubing and elbows. I have a pic of it on an earlier page. I had so much trouble wedging it behind the grate..which led me to running a line over the wall.

 

If you keep LR rubble in chamber 2, no matter what you do, SOME detritus will collect there. It is not difficult to gravel vac back there. EG, I pull 3 gallons of water out during a water change. One week I give myself a break and just pull out SW. Next week, I start the vac in the middle chamber and rummage around the LR. Maybe once a month or if needed more, I'll lightly vac the substrate.

 

The new rock I added were singular pieces and 'fully cured'. LOL..made the lfs guy swear to me that it didn't arrive yesterday. Put both pieces right in and didn't have a problem (had no odor either..smell the rock..don't laugh). SH

[steelhealr]

OK..some interesting shots:

 

1) My recovering Hawaiian feather duster. As some recall, it had dropped it's crown and disappeared. Here it is regrowing it's crown and rebuilding it's tube...in the same place it was earlier.

 

 

2) Any 'newbies' following behind me will see below why careful planning and researching your corals is important. Here is a pic of what happens when two corals will 'battle it out' for space. Below..my two leathers, a sarcophyton elegans and cladiella come into contact. They had been placed far apart, however, the two have grown so much that, one tentacle of the cladiella is contacting the yellow fiji leather. You can almost perfectly see the 'imprint'. This is when you enter the next phase of reefkeeping...FRAGGING. LOLOL. SH

 

[hotnix]

where is your outflow directed from the pump at the bottom of chamber 1 underneath your media? straight up? seems like if the pump is at the bottom of chamber 1, the surface skimmer would still work. are there grates between the bottoms of chambers 1/2?

[lewistg]

SH,

Been following your thread. Thanks for all the info and help. I started a 12g Nano. Using about 12-15 lbs LS and 12-15 lbs LR I got from premium aquatics. I purchased the cured Fiji LR. Its been in my tank now about 6 days and my ammonia went from .5 now to 0 and steady for 2 days. My nitrites which were never above 0.25 are also at 0. Nitrates never detectable, so far. Starting to have what may be diatoms on the sand, most noticable in the back corner. Tomorrow will be my first day at a full 12 hour light cycle with stock 12g DX. Starting to see what I imagine are copepods scattering around on the glass and black plastic and what looks like miniture fan worms. Everything else looks pretty much the same over the last 2-3 days. What do you think about starting to add the clean up crew? Was just going to start with a few snails, then add a couple of hermits, may even a emerald crab, but was waiting on at least some noticable algae. I've been compiling advice on crew and to start was thinking about 3-5 astrea, 2-3 bumble bee, and a couple of nassarius snails. I've heard 1-2 snails per gallon may add a couple of more later as I need them.

 

I just surprised things seem to have happened rather quickly. I was thinking it would take at least a couple of weeks to cycle, but everything seems to be going OK.

 

Again, thanks for all your and everyone elses advice on this thread.

Tom

[steelhealr]

To Hotnix...the pump sits flat on the bottom of one with the tubing coming straight up and over the wall. Here is an older pic of both this mod and the skimmer mod:

 

 

There are slots between the walls of 1/2, 2/3.

 

To lewistg...sounds like it's time for the cleanup crew. My PA stuff cycled quickly too. I'm not a big fan of bumble bee snails, but, I don't have experience with them. I think hermits are overrated, although I have them in the tank. I think astreas are the best and the workhorses in my tank. Margaritas are excellent. I have nassarius too. I have two trochus snails....batten down the hatches with the turbo types. Some don't like emeralds, but I have two (added one when I thought the other was dead). Both not a problem to date. SH

[steelhealr]

Oh...someone here requested a full stand shot. Sorry that I am not the expert photographer to great balance pic, but, here it is. SH

 

[Mizer67]

SH, I am in the research phase for a future reef and have just finished this thread, great job! Beautiful tank. My question to you, after your experience with the cracking problems, what would you recommend as a good starter nano tank? I was leaning toward a cube for the look and simplicity, but since I got to the part about the crack, I'm in the undecided catagory again. I am thinking 20+ gallons to buffer my boo-boos. Thanks for your input.

[steelhealr]

Hey Mizer...thank you for your kind words. Here is my recommendation or my take on it:

 

1) If you are not in a rush, wait to see what CurrentUSA is releasing in October, called an AquaPod. If you like what you see, Chris at nanocustoms.com is going to take orders for them or you can ask your lfs if they are going to get them in

 

2) Can't wait? I think Oceanic's 30G cube is a solid tank, not too small...thick glass....solid. Like an AGA, you are free to design it the way you like.

 

3) Still like the Nano Cube?...you could go with the 12G..but the smaller volume will make it a bit more work and restrict what you want to put in it. If you want to go with the 24G, DO NOT ORDER IT OVER THE INTERNET OR SHIP IT. I would only buy it from an lfs and inspect it OUT OF THE BOX at the store and make sure you have in writing what the return policy is.

 

4) After that, you can't go wrong with a 20G AGA...take the shallow over the deep (long over the high). There ARE some nice acrylic's out there...just depends on whether the 'scratching thing' turns you off. SH

[Mizer67]

I can wait until October. I still like the idea of an all-in-one solution to begin with. I can mod it later as I learn what works and what doesn't. Thanks for your input.

[steelhealr]

No problem....we'll never know what this new tank is until it comes out, but, the potential exists. Heck..if it's good, you may see me pick one up too. My 24G is a love hate thing, ie, love the looks and have dealt with the mods, hate the 'unknown' of a nonpredictable failure. If cracking was not an issue, I' d still be a big supporter of the tank despite it's weaknesses (since they can be overcome). I think it's a good choice at your stage to hang a few weeks more. Besides, gives ya more time to read up on setup and start a bangup tank. You might want to PM Chris Jung at nanocustoms or here if you are thinking to go with it if it comes out and looks hot. He, if anyone, will probably have early previews. SH