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

[steelhealr]

Life throws you curveballs. Like many people, our participation waxes and wanes as we travel through this thing we call nanoreefing (ah, you thought I was going to say life). Well...OK...yeah...the last 15 months of life have been hell both personally and professionally (no...I haven't been sued, shot, lost my license to practice, divorced, sick....etc). Just the beanballs we all get pegged with during the course of a lifetime.

 

Ahem.

 

Where was I?

 

Oh yes....nanoreefing. It is with great pleasure that I am still the proud owner of a 24G JBJ Nano Reef, with all the DIYS that it had from the start...all that I learned here. It's still alive, however, yeah..it took a beating over the past year, but, NOT from errors, incompatibility, coral wars, etc. Basically...the neglect that occurs when other matters take precedence. So.......

 

The Bad

 

I can personally attest that the lack of water changes is not a good thing. My tank became overrun with the worst green slag and slop that could creep into a tank. It looked like that crummy stuff on your local lake. Whether it was an algae or green cyano....who knows.

 

Next, a macroalgae took over...with rhizomes, etc. It looked like strings of lollipops, or, the fingertips on the aliens in War of the Worlds...growing up to the top of the tank. Diatoms came back. My outflows got clogged. My stock pump failed. My Banggai kicked the bucket and I think...I think..my pistol bit it too. My chaeto turned brown (as you know, chaeto needs good water flow).

 

My tank basically became a stagnant sewage plant. One or 2 times, I found my black longspine urchin floating...YES FLOATING upside down..on the surface. I think it was gasping for air.

 

My corals were decimated.

 

The Ugly

 

Yuck...aiptasia....at least a half dozen of them.

 

And...the slop......

 

The Good

 

Through this all, it amazes me at the tenaciousness of life. My clown survived. My sixline survived. My watchman survived. My urchin survived. One red hermit survived. Several corals survived. That strange rhodophta sp. appears to have been eliminated (it was taking over the tank).

 

My hairline crack hasn't budged.

 

Taking Back My Tank

 

OK...I couldn't let my little guys die (hum the The Superman Theme). Water changes DO make the difference. Over the last few weeks, I went back to work:

-weekly water changes

-changed my lights, THIS TIME...one bank at a time over a few weeks

-pulled out the grunge and macro with my trust tweezers....over and over and over again

-changed all media

-replaced my stock pump with the REPLACEMENT pump from the 24G replacement that JBJ had shipped me

-suctioned out the sandbed (yuck...clouds of greenish silt)

-took on the aiptasia with Joe's Juice

 

Yes my friends, water changes DO work.

 

Whew

 

My survivors:

-anchor coral (see below)

-yellow colony polyps

-brown button polyps

-red, blue and green mushrooms

-sinularia

-wellsophyllia (open brain)..beaten up pretty badly but moved to a better place on the substrate and coming back

-brown and orange zoos

 

I didn't take many photos in the 'decrepit' stage. Too ashamed of that, however, in tribute, I share a few pix of what a 'successful' nano tank can do:

 

Two years out....check out the growth on my euphyllia...look at the addition to the coral skeleton:

 

 

Hardy fellows:

 

 

And of course, thanks to the guys who held on:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty comes slowly. Disaster arrives quickly. Beauty only returns with patience and faith.

 

Make it so.

 

SH

[wtfe]

welcome back! it's good to get a followup. hope everything is well.

[RayWhisperer]

Holy Crapoly! Welcome back Steel!

[Nano#9]

YAY!! WELCOME BACK!

[fries852]

Hi there I actually just gave this thread to someone just starting up. I have read it a bunch of times, and it has helped me to get my 24 up and running in style. Good to see you are back. Your thread is awesome!!!

[Needreefunds]

WELCOME BACK SH!!!!

 

You did say you would come back when you could.

 

This thread has helped so many, so its great to have you around again!!

 

I hope all is well with you and yours.

[stoney waters]

wooohoooo

[steelhealr]

Wow...stoney..is still here...Ray...still here...and all the others.

 

I'm not worthy...not worthy.

 

SH

[tam]

Awesome thread SH. Because of this thread, I have already started ordering lighting and started planning for the NC6 I never got around to getting setup after I took down my 16g bowfront. This thread and one other has pulled me back in and the information within is priceless. I curse you and praise you sir. Welcome back.

 

 

Tam

[debbeach13]

Steel great to see your back. Yup water changes are the remedy for so many things, with out them I think most of us would fail.

Sorry for your loses but so glad so much is doing fine. How about a full tank shot for old time sake.

[steelhealr]

Steel great to see your back. Yup water changes are the remedy for so many things, with out them I think most of us would fail.

Sorry for your loses but so glad so much is doing fine. How about a full tank shot for old time sake.

 

Will try, but, when I get it cleaned up.

 

I wish I had some stuff to add here, but, much of the DIY's I've done are functioning without a problem. SH

[jubjubrsx]

this has been the most awesome thread i have EVER read....i joined this forum because of you SH....awesome!

[GolfPlayer]

Wow, what a thread. I just spent a couple of hours reading the first 25 pages. I just skipped to the last page here to see how many more I have to go. Looks like 54 pages total so far. I have to say thanks, as I a have my first SW tank (AquaPod 24g) on the way, and this thread has taught me so much in a short time. More than if I had spent hours with the search function. Can't wait to read the next 29 pages...... I am not sure what happens from when I left off at page 25 ( mid 2005) until now (mid 2007), but I hope you are still in the game Steelhair...... but I will finish the next 2 years when my daughter goes to bed tonight and I have some time. Hope all is well!

[ontheDL]

Wow, what he said^^^This is an amazing thread. So far it has answered almost all of the qeustions I'm not sure of...I'm a newb to nano reefs, so that's just about everything... I don't even know how long its gonna take me to read everything, but I'm sure it'll be worth it. You deserve some kind of award for this. Awesome thread! Thanks for all your effort!

[icenine]

Just noticed that you're back... nice to see you again.

 

Nice to see the tank still hangin in there too.

 

If you want to start some halimeda in there to keep some of the bad nasties at bay I'd be happy to ship some your way.

[vike50brian]

Hello, just wanted to share my thanks. Back in late March of 06 I visited nano-reef.com for the first time and found my way to this thread. It convinced me to start my tank, something I had been considering for some time. I'm thankful I did for I have truly found a hobby I love, I would even go as far as calling it a passion. Anyway, I started my tank on April 17, 2006 and thanks to your time and consideration of others steelhealr the tank has stayed very healthy using the knowledge I've gained from this thread. I'm taking it very slow with things and haven't got the multiple colors of life just yet but the foundation has been laid. Thanks again steelhealr.

 

P.S. Heres a pic of my tank taken about a month ago. Still completely stock, nano-cube DX 24g, except for a max-jet 1200.

 

Edited October 29, 2007 by vike50brian

[funkimunki1001]

hey vike50brian, qusetion, how do you keep your sand so clean??

[vike50brian]

I have two conchs, a fighting and a tiger conch. They do a pretty good job at keeping that brown algae in check but they aren't perfect. Every three days are so I'll have to lightly dust off the brown spots of the sand with my marine tweezers. Nothing to rough just enough to disrupt its growth. Also, in addition to my weekly water changes, I do a large water change once a month were I also vacuum the sand bed. This seems to keep the sand pretty clean most of the time. I would say that weekly water changes are the best thing you can do for your sand or for everything in your tank for that matter.

[klarion]

Really nice thread... reads like a science fair project!

...

Water changes are a good way of exporting dops... but the peroidic nature of such changes is why having a protein skimmer on a tank is "always" (there i said it) better then not.

With continual protein removal, not to mention efficent water oxygenition, the skimmer will enhance water quality and livestock health... also gives you some margin of error in terms of feeding, which I would argue adds, not detracts, from keeping various creatures well fed...

heh, or not... just my thoughts.

...

A valid point here. In fact both theories pro and con for use of protein skimmers have valid arguments.

I just don't see people mentioning one fact, that with all the best intentions of manufacturers to provide clean and usable suplements and various other products we put in our aquariums (gravel, additives, etc.), there are bound to be things in those that are not good for the tank (a thought I got after reading the substrate test article referred to by Stealhealr http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/...ature/index.php .

 

My point is that, personally, I would rather remove as much as possible out of the tank (good and bad) and that way have control of what actually goes back in. Thus by a process of elimination we can all hope to achieve perfect harmony in our tanks.

 

keep on reefing,

b

[mdwilligolf]

Great info! I'm just getting started and this has been very helpful.

[awjn]

sh where did you get the submersible light for the 2nd chamber from? what kind is it? and how often do you gotta trim your cheato? Did you just put it on of your LR rubble?

[awjn]

also how often do you add your top off water? i am having a hard time recognizing when i should.

I am getting a MJ-900, but i was wondering if i could just put this in chamber one, and if i do how should i position it? would i have to buy tubing or anything? thanks for the help!

[steelhealr]

Just adding the link for completeness...replaced my dead fans with 60mm fans purchased at a computer center. My clown is still alive after almost 3 years. WOW.

 

Fan Replacement

[Meth]

Just adding the link for completeness...replaced my dead fans with 60mm fans purchased at a computer center. My clown is still alive after almost 3 years. WOW.

 

Fan Replacement

Wow what great reading thanks to everyone. My 12g nano is now 1 month old and doing fine. Once again thanks to everyone I will keep reading and learning and taking things slowly.

[bdare]

Just adding the link for completeness...replaced my dead fans with 60mm fans purchased at a computer center. My clown is still alive after almost 3 years. WOW.

 

Fan Replacement

 

Holy Smokes man! I thought you were a gonner! I just want to say thanks. This thread inspired me to start reef tanks after doing fish only tanks.

 

Ben