24g nano - day by day log

[HkySk8r187]

sun coral at the bottom in a darker area. I haven't seen it open up yet, but it's only been in there one night.

[HkySk8r187]

Here's the hammer

[HkySk8r187]

Full tank shot from the side showing my hammer and colt. Rocks are starting to color up nicely I think. Parts of rock closest to the lights are starting to get a neon green color on them which is making me a little nervous of a bad algea break. Can anyone advise me on this?

[HkySk8r187]

Front shot of the tank. Notice I moved the torch down lower in the tank from where it was in the original picture I posted when I got it.

[HkySk8r187]

I also noticed that one of my evil hermits decided he needed a bigger shell so he took one of the snails. Picture is kind of bad and hard to see, but it's a red legged hermit in there! Poor snail :*(

 

He's one cool lookin hermit now though

[HkySk8r187]

I'll also note, before I get harrased...that I did get my PH back to 8.2 before adding these new corals. I added buffer and it came right back up within 12 hours or so. I got the corals the next day. I haven't verified yet, but I assume that the RO water I use for water changes has a much lower PH than 8.2. I might have to buffer the RO water before a water change if that's what people think is right.

 

That's all the updates for now! Comments/Suggestions welcome. Thanks.

[shao-lin nano]

RO water has ph of 7 point something I think. RODI has higher PH.

[HkySk8r187]

Even after it's been mixed with salt it has a ph of 7? So should I add buffer to the water before adding it to the tank for water change? How do most people deal with this?

[shao-lin nano]

I'm not sure what it's at after you mix salt into RO. Have you tried testing the ph of RO and then RO w/ salt?

[HkySk8r187]

Not yet, I'll do that when I get some time. I buy RO salt water from the LFS for water changes, and fresh RO water for topoff, so I'll compare them and post results. I'll have to do this tomorrow though since my girlfriend is wanting to go to dinner haha.

[nanoskimguy]

Why do people put so many powerheads/pumps in their nanocubes? I've always just used the stock pumps and I have plenty of flow, my cubes thrive! You only need 4 to 5 times your tanks volume in GPH for smaller systems...

 

nanoskimguy

[Kogut]

Define plenty of flow and for what corals. I'll wager you don't have acropora growing in your cube. Most of us who try to keep SPS and Acros, especially, tend to over-do the flow part just to be safe. I have well over 1000gph in my 20Long... The corals grow like nuts. I admit that water-flow isn't my only trick, but it is a major contributor. Keep up the good work on the tank!

 

I'd add the buffer to the water first. Get it right, then add it to the tank. That's what I do w/ my water (if I bother to really check)... That's what you'd do with salinity, isn't it?

[HkySk8r187]

New updates...

 

Got my pH back to normal within a day by adding buffer. No biggie...just need to get my RO water to the correct pH before a water change from now on.

 

Last weekend I went to a new LFS that I heard about and got a red firefish. He was swimming around in the display tank with no problems, but when I brought him home all he does is hide in the back of the tank under the rocks. I've had him for a week now, and he only comes out maybe once a day for about 2 minutes, and then goes back to his rocks and you never see him! lol. Is this normal? He seems healthy...I try to feed him but everytime I put the turkey baster with a misis near him he freaks out. I usually just leave the food on the sand near his hiding spots and he seems to take them after a couple minutes.

 

Anyhow, when I was feeding I was also able to get the sun coral to open by squirting some misis juice over them. First time i've seen them open!

 

Here are some pictures...

[HkySk8r187]

sun coral opened up durring feeding...

[HkySk8r187]

Red Firefish...hiding in the back of the tank behind all the rocks where I can hardly see! If anyone knows why they do this, or how I can make it come out more please let me know :|

[Pet-Lover]

how long have u had your torch for?

[HkySk8r187]

Oh and I for got to mention! I'm excited because I got the ugly powerheads out of tank! I used to have 2 powerheads in the front display side of the tank, so I got rid of the weaker one, and moved the more powerful one to the second chamber in the back, and got a bent tube go over the false back and into the display side...looks MUCH cleaner now and I'm happy with the results.

 

 

Here is the bent pipe I got. I had to cut a small notch in the false back to allow the pipe to sit low enough that the lid would fully close. Since there was water in the tank and I needed to be careful not to get anything in the water, I just used bolt cutters to cut a slit on each side, then I used plyers to bend/break off the peice.

[HkySk8r187]

Full tank shot. You can see no more powerheads!

 

Also my rock is starting to get more colorful in cetain areas.

[HkySk8r187]

My firefish still hides in the back of the tank all the time, and has jumped into the back compartments 3 times now. I'm considering taking it back this weekend and getting a different fish. The fact that I never see it, plus the hassle of having to try to catch it in the back chamber (after taking all equipment out of there) has become annoying to me.

 

How come the firefish in the nano at the store was swimming in the front of the tank, yet mine is the most scared fish ever and hides all day? Does anyone else have the problem of fish jumping into back compartments?

[Doriftu]

my firefish only does what yours does later in the day, when the lights first come on in the afternoon he comes out and stays in the front all day long, once the first set goes out he goes back behind the rocks, where he stays until the next day. He's never tried to jump out of the tank, or into the back compartments, but i also blocked them off soon after getting him. i simply covered the chambers with plexi.

[HkySk8r187]

Doriftu, how did covering the back chambers with plexi affect your temperature? Also what did you do with all the wires for heaters, pumps etc? Did you put a slit in the glass?

[ReefWreak]

I've also got the same question for Doritofu, because I have had my clowns jump back there as well as my yellow/golden wrasse once. Boy was that a PITA, cause the wrasse is a fast sucker. It took 3.5 days of waiting and patience to get him out. The easiest way is to let them swim to the top, which they usually do as soon as you open the lid to check on them, and then net them really quickly. If anyone has made, or feels like selling a plexi piece to put on the back wall to block the fish from jumping, one for a 24g JBJ NanoCube DX (does not have splashguard going to fans, so it would need to be vented).

[HkySk8r187]

Ok, so I noticed some brown algea starting to grow on the right back side of the tank. There is little flow back there so I went and got a Hydor FLO Rotating Water Deflector and replaced the stock nozzle with the new one. So far it's working great, rotating around and giving more flow to some spots that were still.

 

Here is a link to the Hydor FLO Rotating Water Deflector. I didn't order from this site, I got it at the LFS but it's the same one...

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp...product=HD01401

[HkySk8r187]

While I was at the LFS getting the rotating deflector (and water for a water change) I purchased a type of cup coral, although I'm not sure the exact name. Please let me know if you know what type it is. They said it should do fine with my lighting.

[HkySk8r187]

My hammer is doing well I think. When I first got it I only saw each tenticle coming out, where as now I see more of it's "insides" bulging out, which the tentacles are attached to. You like that wording eh? lol you can tell I'm a partial newb. Basically, it seems to be coming out more and I can see some of the parts where it branches off of each other.