Hello everyone,

I've been lurking here for the past year or so. I've spent a lot of time researching salt/reef tanks with an eye on a 120 gallon soon.

In the mean time I thought it would be neat to have a little tank in the kitchen to keep me and my family company, since we spend a lot of time there.

My plans are to have a clown fish and a small goby, as well as a clean-up crew (snails hermit crabs and a brittle star). Also wouls like some ricordia, mushrooms and maybe a hammer coral.

So today I actually spent money @ the LFS that I've been loitering at for the past year. I purchased the tank, as well as live sand and salt. Also, i bought a refractometer, and Spectrapure DI unit to attach to my existing RO Drinking water system. (currently only makes 9 GPD, but will soon upgrade it to 35GPD). I hooked the in line to the line that goes to my ice maker, hope this is alright.

Hope to soon make some salty RO/DI water, add live sand and live rock, and get this party started!

BTW, This site is way cool, and I've learned a lot from the podcasts and forums. Thanks to Rob and everyone else!

Hmmm...How do you post pictures?

Another question. Has anyone been able to add an effective auto top off system to a tank like this without major breaking/cutting of plastic?

PJ, welcome to the mix.

auto-topoff can be achieved via dosing pumps. No drilling needed. however the float system has to be at the main water hight, ether that or in a sump. i dont know what your 14gal looks like, so i cant comment on the design, hence the best place to put it, but that would be my suggestion. On small tanks you can really get away with Ro top-off & manually add pre-mix salt or NSW when needed. If your talking large scale, a conductivity probe is needed so your dosing pumps can add both fresh water & salt to create your ideal parameters.

Hi Psychojam & :welcome: to TR.

I think a nano in the kitchen is a great idea! Please post some pix for us when you can.

Thanks for the auto top-off advice Veriann. We're still finalizing where in the kitchen we'll put the tank. I will post pix soon.

I'd like to throw another question out there. As stated above, i would like to put a clownfish in my BioCube, most likely an Ocellaris. I was thinking about an anemone. I'm considering a BTA because I've heard they are easier to keep and a wide variety of clowns will host in captivity.

My Questions:
1. First off, are the PC lights enough.

2. Is this tank (14g) too small.

3. What are the chances that the Ocellaris will host. I've heard that they are a bit fussy about who they host with.

4. If the Ocellaris is not a good choice, what other clowns would you recommend. I'm hopeing for small and hardy. (I also think the skunks are cool, but i'm not sure it will be Nemo enough for my two young girls.)

Thanks

Hmm...14g with a BTA. I can tell you it's not recommended.I have a Rose BTA in a 24g.An established,stable 24g.It was suggested the larger the tank,the better.
My ocellaris in my 55g won't go near an anemone,or at least haven't yet.
My Tomato clown took to an anemone in 1 day,but they get way to big for a 14g.
Tank raised or not seems to make no difference,since all my clowns are tank raised.
I'm afraid the deck is stacked against ya on this venture.Maybe someone,somewhere, had made it happen.I just know I wouldn't try it.:no:

Best of luck with your new tank!

Larry.

Well, After looking at the tangled mass of electrical cords stuffed behind the biocube as it sat on my kitchen counter, I envisioned fire and electrocution in my near future.

Thus, the tank goes in the office next to the computer. I'm now doing a 24 leak test. The trickely water sound I hear as i type this is actually quite soothing.

Also, I think I figured out how to attach pictures. Observe the proud owner and what I thought was a cool pic of my heater under the moon lights. (hopefully the contents of my tank will be much more interesting in the near future).

Cheers!
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I agree with Larry. My BTA started out about the size of a bagel and now it is bigger than a dinner plate. Lots of people's clowns host other things like frogspawn, mushrooms, xenia that might be better suited to your nano. I think that if a clown wants to host it will take what is available. My maroon clown was hosting a cleft in my LR before I got the BTA. :)

Thanks Larry and CarmieJo for the advice Re: the anemone. Looks like I'll have to wait until I get the larger tank.

Tonight put sand and RO/DI Saltwater in my tank. I heard about a method of circumventing the sandstorm, and I thought I'd try it. It involves putting the sand in a dry tank, then covering it with plastic bags, then a plate with a bowl on it. The water is poured slowly into the bowl. When the water rises, all of this can be removed slowly.

I'd say that it worked somewhat. I ended up with more of a "tropical sandstorm" than a "sand hurricane."


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Nice! I believe the plastic bag trick makes a difference. Unfortunately I didn't know it and it took almost a week until you could through my tank.

Tonight I put in 15 lbs of Tonga LR. The lady at the LFS was very helpful in helping me pick out some nice, colorful pieces. In fact she stayed 20 minutes after the store closed to help me. After puttting thr LR in, i saw a bristle worm poking his head out of a hole, but haven't seen him since.

A few hours after placing the LR, I checked my water parameters for the first time. In retrospect, I should have checked them before hand, because the Ammonia is already up. I'm using the Marineland (AKA Instant Ocean) test kits... (the jury is still out on whether I like them or not.)

Here are the results:

Ammonia 0.8 mg/l
Nitrite 0. 2 mg/l
Nitrate 0
Specific Gravity 1.024
pH 8.0
Calcium 375 mg/l
Phosphate 4.0 mg/l
Alkalinity 8.4 dKH
Temp 82

So here are my questions:

1. I'm used to using my freshwater test kits that read NH3/NH4, NO2, NO3 in ppm not mg/l. Does anyone know a conversion?

2. I'm surprised that I'm reading any NH3/NH4 and NO2 so soon. I guess i did add live sand yesterday, maybe that had some dead stuff in it.

3. I was also surprised by the high Phosphate reading. As stated before, we have an existing RO drinking water system to which added a DI unit. The TDS reading on the DI is 10 in and 0 out. Could I have brought some phosphate in on my LR?

Here's the new Aquascape...
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O.K. Silly me!

When I looked closer @ my Freshwater kit it says that mg/L and ppm are the same.

I wouldn't bother testing anything except SpG, NH3, NO2 and NO3 until after your tank has cycled. Just as a fail safe, retest the phosphate. That seems really high for a tank that has just been started with RO/DI. BTW, have you checked the phosphate of your RO/DI water? There shouldn't be any there but it is a place to start. No matter where it is coming from you will need to start bringing it down.

Thanks for the help Carmie. I just checked my RO/DI water, and it is phosphate free. Any other ideas about the source of my problem?

Also, will phosban work when the levels are that high?

Will the high Ammonia & Nitrates affect the phosphate levels? - I'm thinking that phosphates are found in all organic matter, and my tank is cycling because of the dying and decaying of things on my live rock. Maybe this die off is raising the level.

I hope I can figure this out and fix it before i have a monster algae bloom!

One more thing, to raise the geek factor up a bit :geef:

Earlier I was confused about ppm vs. mg/l, then i discovered they were the same. Turns out that this is not exactly true. To be completely accurate, you multiply the mg/l by the specific gravity to get ppm. Therefore, in a freshwater tank, they would be the same.

Decaying organic matter can release phosphates but that 4.0 is really high. I've never tested fot PO4 this early in the cycle so maybe it is not as startling as it seems. I've never had a phosphate level this high but I presume that a product like Phosban would still work to bring it down if it was inorganic. Hobbyist test kits are testing for inorganic. I don't think that these types of problems are effective in reducing organic phosphate. Water changes will reduce PO4 as well but I don't recommend water changes during the initial cycle. My gut reaction is to run Phosban and then do a 50% water change after your NH4 & NO2 hit zero. Since I've never had a PO4 level this high maybe someone who has will have more advice for you.

Thanks for your input Carmie. After further inquiry, I'm going to follow your suggestion. :up:

I've researched the net, posted on Reef central and talked with 3 people at the LFS about this issue, and here's what Ive gathered.

There are two schools of thought...1: Do something. 2: Do Nothing.

I'm siding with #1. Here's why. Phosphate is harmful to corals in high quantities, and food for nuisance algae, so generally, it should be kept low. While the tank is cycling, and the live rock curing, die off of organic matter will cause a rise in phosphates (PO4). PO4 will absorb into the rock and sand, which down the road erosion can cause it to leak back into the system. In fact, some would recommend not having sand in the tank at all until the rock is cured for this very reason.

Here are the main ways to reduce PO4:

1. Water changes (which I don't want to do while i'm cycling)

2. Use of Macroalgae/Refugium. (I don't want to put this in a cycling tank)

3. Kalkwasser will precipitate out PO4 (There isn't any demand in my tank for Calcium at this moment)

4. Polyfilters (I'm afraid that this will take out other things that my tank needs to cycle properly)

5. Using a product containing ferric oxide hydroxide (ie PhosBan) - this is the only real choice I have at this moment.

Therefore, I have a little bag of PhosBan in the back of my tank. I'll let you know how it's working.

Thanks to jer77 @ Reef Central for a lot of this info.

-James

(P.S. If it's impolite to aknowledge other saltwater/reef forums, please let me know. I'm just looking for info and want to give credit where it's do) :)

That's "due" not 'do'...:blush:

did you get a new water testing kit. becouse I head that some times fresh water testing will give bad readings.:fish:

Good point Blue, yes, I'm using the Instant Ocean Reef Master kit.

Cycle is going well.
NH3 peaked @ 1.2ppm and today is down to .4 ppm
NO2 is rising and is now @ 1.2
Showed NO3 for the first time today @ 10 ppm

Today @ the LFS I saw a pistol shrimp/Goby team that were really fun to watch. In a few weeks, I might get them.

Question: Will the pistol shrimp be safe with, say a peppermint shrimp?

James,

Good call on not running kalk. It will precipitate out PO4 but I think that in order to get to the supersaturated level that will cause precipitation you would set up a whole other set of problems

BTW, Regardless of your PO4 you will have an algae bloom, it is just part of a new tank.

Here are some interesting things I've seen while staring at my live rock for way too long;)

I Think this is a fan worm
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I had noticed some little white specks, then realized they were moving! Copepods?
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Also, there are lots of air bubbles and green threads on my rock. Is this the dreaded Hair Algae?:mad:
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Well, back to staring at my rocks!

Yep the green threads are probably HA. I'd leave the lights off for a while. The nutrients in the tank will feed it but leaving the lights off will help prevent photosynthesis.

your in a cycle. yea! starving the HA of light will do one of two things, cause it to die, thus polute more ( nothing major @ this point) or force it into a reproduction phaze being that it notices the squeeze. Ether way manual removal of some sorts would be the most logical solution, however, its going to get alot uglyer before it gets better. so id hold off till towards the end of cycle, then you can start your clean-up routine.

PO4, wow whats that, sounds impressive!
phosphates dart in & out of existance in every enviroment. food for some & waste of others. quite interesting when you look @ it from a building block stand point. personally, in your analogy, i would have stuck with choice 2. All you levels swing @ this time, PO4 no different, stuffs dieing, whilst others are reproducing. my test kit doesn't read very heigh in this regard, which is prob a good thing, cause we try to keep levels low as a matter of course.
To be honest, & this is my opinion. there is a 2 week buffer period that can be used after the inital cycle. I would turn my attention @ this time to clean the tank & base structures, perform some good quality water changes, fix aquascaping, top-up low areas, & use your nitrate sponges/ resins ect ect all those delightful products such as phosorb you were talking about @ that point! It may be just my opinion, but i feel your wasting money to early > believe me, plenty of time to waste you money latter..lol:huh:

interesting to see how you tube worms fare actually. Dont get to attached to em yet:unsure: they could recluse never to be seen again.

Thanks guys for all of your great advice.

I guess I just have to realize that my water is just going to be Gunky until my cycle ends. My Nitrites are alredy down to 0.2.

Should I do a 50% Water change when they hit zero?

It's funny, I've been researching this salt water thing for about a year (Notice my join date is July 2006) and I felt very confident that I knew exactly what to do, but yet when I'm actually setting up a tank, I still feel a lot of uncertainty. Having Y'all (I live in Ohio, but I grew up in Texas) to bounce things off of is amazingly helpful:agree:

BTW, Since switching to RO/DI, my 30 gal African Cichlid tank looks amazingly clear with quickly receding algae! RO/DI is great stuff:cool:

It's funny, I've been researching this salt water thing for about a year (Notice my join date is July 2006) and I felt very confident that I knew exactly what to do, but yet when I'm actually setting up a tank, I still feel a lot of uncertainty.It's kind of like having kids! :rotfl:

Great analogy Carmie!:up:

Well, there is definately hair algae in my tank. I think there are diatoms also, judging by the brown dusty gunk on my rocks and sand. Is it possible that it only took a week to cycle my tank? (I did use pre-cured live rock and live sand)

I have 7 gallons of water made and ready to go for a 50% water change.

Recent H2O Param's:

NH4 0.2
NO2 0
NO3 10
PO4 4 (No results yet from the phosban)

Interesting that there is still detectable Ammonia, but no Nitrites.

I'm hoping to do my first H2O change this weekend, then will get a clean-up crew sometime next week. (assuming NH4 & NO2 are 0)

Does 10 snails and 5 crabs sound about right for my 14 gallon tank?

Thanks,
James

Hello All,

Some updates, pictures and questions....

First off I did my 50% H2O change, and lo and behold, my po4 went from 4 to 2.

Second of all, my tank is becoming more and more hairy....

Therefore (Sound the calvary trumpet blast....) Bring in the Clean-Up Crew!!!!

First off, I've got 11 Blue Legged Hermit crabs, Here's one munching on some HA
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Next, There's 6 Astrea Snails. Here's one smiling for the camera...
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And then 3 Narrsarius (sp?)...Who were so shy that they burrowed in the sand so I couldn't take thier picture...

Along with these, we have 3 Cerith snails. One came with his own hitchiker...(a feather duster in his shell)
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And last, we have the zippiest, aptasia eaten-ist peppermint shrimp you ever did see...
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Well, that's the CUC....

I've also noticed more LR hitchikers, in addition to the Aptasia that prompted the purchase of the Peppermint shrimp...

Can anyone help ID?

I think these are Clove Polyps
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What's this green bubbly stuff??
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Thanks for watching, and I'm sure I'll post more soon!
James

James,

Very nice photos. I think that you may have some clove polyps and that the green stuff is bubble algae.

not so sure on tha BA carmie. the dome tops just dont look normal for bubbles. i expanded the pic, there is one black dome, however unless they are newly formed it looks more like a squirt collony
http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/attachments/nano-reefs/1687d1180920467t-new-14-gallon-biocube-img_3120.jpg (http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/attachments/nano-reefs/1687d1180920467-new-14-gallon-biocube-img_3120.jpg)

Just a quick update....

First off, Veriann...I think you're right about the Green bubbly thing being a sea squirt colony. I'll watch and post pictures if anything changes.

I've just been letting my new gastropod and crustacean pets tool around thier new home while everything stabilizes further.

Water parameters are about the same. NH3 & NO2 are zero, NO3 is 10. PO4 unfortunately is still high. It went down to 2 after the first water change, then right back up to 4. My LFS guy is trying to reassure me that all is well. Despite this, I bought a Salifert PO4 test kit to re-check.

Tap 4
R.O. 0
RO/DI 0
14g Biocube 4
30 g Cichlid tank 4 (Just started using RO/DI for watyer changes a few weeks ago)

Just for good measure, I put another bag of phosban in the back area of my cube.

Also, I realized that I need more flow in my tank to keeep corals. After posting and reading replies, I ultimately ended up replacing the stock pump in the return area (137 GPH) with a Maxi-Jet 1200 (295 GPH).

The flow is up, but unfortunatly, so is my temp (82 --> 84!). I may replace the Maxijet 1200 w/ a 900.

No fish or corals yet. Waiting patiently until I get this all straightened out.

Thanks for reading:thanks:
James

Well...

The whole increased flow thing is a bust for now. The temp almost hit 85 w/ the MaxiJet 1200...So I replaced it with the stock pump. Already down to 82 in just 3 hours.

Also, My aquascaping was very unstable, and needed re-doing. So i actually took all the rocks out and started from scratch. After laying them all neatly on a towel, I was horrified:o to see my little peppermint shrimp flopping around on the floor. I scooped him up quickly and plopped him right back into the tank. No harm, no foul (I hope)

As you can imagine, this process kicked up all kinds of crap into the water column. I took this oppurtunity to do an extra water change.

I'm happier with the new aquascape. It's more stable, and has lots of places to put all kinds of cool stuff. Here's a quick pic:
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Until next time...

James, I am not a nano person but I know that heat is one of the problems with the all-in-ones. Is there a way you can open the canopy to allow better airflow?

The new aquascape looks nice. And, your shrimp will probably be just fine.

Carmie....

Pepper the shrimp is doing well!

I think you can do some things to increase ventilation..but I've also seen some successful tanks on nano-reef.com just using the stock pump. I'm not brave enough at this point to drill holes in my tank...

I posted a question about getting a true vs. a false perc here (http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/clown-fish/4453-true-false.html#post53674) if anyone has an opinion.

Also, same ? on reef central...(for my own reference, and anyone else who's interested...here (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1141612)

I may get a fish this weekend...

James, I saw your clown question but I don't have an answer. :) Myself, I have a maroon clown which would be too big for your nano.

bannanajam, leaps & bounds my friend....i can almost feel your excitement from down here!

if you find you need more flow still, think about a small closed system of pvc thats surrounds your tank parimeter @ the top. Even a powerhead can feed to sucker.

Thanks for sharing in my excitement!

When I rearranged my LR, a new thing became visable. Some sort of polyp. Can anyone tell me what I've found?

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It looks like a zoanthid possibly from the genus protopalythoa. There is a picture near the bottom of this article. Sea Mat (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i1/blane-zoanthids/zoanthids.htm)

Nice tank, i really like the blue lighting. I think i am gonna get some of the moonlight lighting lights maby for my tank. Grats on gettin a fan worm already, let me know if you get too many, and if any are on a piece of rock or in the sand that could be picked up and shipped..i'd buy =p

dang, you got all sorts of things coming up. where the heck did you buyy your live rock? i'm gettin it there next time. ther most i got was some green algae, dead stuff, and red hard algae type stuff.....

Thanks S.F.

Purchased LR @ my LFS, but they do sell online as well. It's Called Phishy Business in Gahanna Ohio. Check them out here (http://phishybusiness.com/).

It's official...I now have a saltwater FISH tank.

Here's some quick pics....

A true perc...
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Also a ricordia...
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And a blue spotted mushroom
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Cute little guy you have swimming around there and nice looking softies. Please add your critters slowly, you need to give your bacteria time to catch up with the bio-load.

Clownfish is what i'm worki on too...

Thats a nice lookin one, what type is that?

Your tank is turning out nicer...maby live rock is the reason mine still looks like dead coral a snail and a hermit crab....because it sucks

i'll have to check out your lfs site.

Great tank!

Just an update:

Nothing too exciting. All my new friends are settling into their new home.

H2O Params:

NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 10
SpGR 1.024
Temp 80.4
PO4 0.6
Alk 8.4
pH 8.2
Ca 390

I've finally gotten the PO4 down. I was using PhoBan in a micron bag stuffed into the first chamber of the "sump" area of the BioCube. I was aggressive and put half the container in. I accomplished my goal of reducing the PO4, but at the cost of decreased alk and a rusty sand bed. (so that's why they recommend a PhosBan reactor:|)

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Tonight i pulled the PhosBan out. Hopefully my critters will stir it up. Also, notice the bubbles under the sand. Is this De-Nitrification? My bed is 3" deep @ most and has only been going in my tank 1 month. I'd be surprised if there's any DSB like anerobic activity going on.

Also, my ricordias look cool under the actinics
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And just for fun, here's a full tank shot.
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Until next time...

Your tank is looking nice. I think that your rusty sand may actually be diatoms, a normal stage that any new tank goes through.

A couple more additions to THE CUBE...

First off, some Blue Zoa's...
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And then some Green Candy Cane
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My wife said "So you have a peppermint shrimp and a candy cane coral..."
to which I replied "Yeah, it's like Santa's reef tank!":tongue2:

Later

Just the kind of Christmas candy I want in my stocking.
:gifts::santalove:

After some searchin' here and there, it seems that what I was calling a candy cane coral (Caulastrea furcata) is probably a trumpet coral (Caulastrea curvata) like this one (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=2139&N=0).

Oh well, a cool looking coral that really pops under the actinics by any other name... :)

That shroom and blue zoos are awesome. The ricoridia also looks great under the lighting, kinda like it has blue glow in the dark stuff :p


your tank is coming along nicely, and like carmie, i'd like that type of candy for my stocking too...it oculd replace the snickers, that, after all these years of telling my parents, i still don't like. if only... ;)

Yesterday morning, when I came down stairs to take my first look of the day at my tank, I was concerned that my clownfish was nowhere to be seen. After some searching and growing panic, I remembered a common problem with the BioCube that I had read about on other forums. Sure enough, this is where I found him...

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There is about an inch space between the canopy and the top of the back sump wall. He apparently dove overboard and into my return pump area. Luckily, the water level was sufficient to keep him happy until I could rescue him.

After some fumbling around with a fish net and a plastic serving spoon, I found that just scooping him out with my hand was the most effective way of getting him out. I need to figure out some kind of barrier to keep him from a repeat performance. Any suggestions.

BTW, he survived the experience unscathed!

Minor update,

Placed Poly Filter in the sump area. I've heard that this is good stuff. An aquaintence swears by it. As you may have read earlier, I've had high phosphates in my tank. Not from the water source, but likely from the live rock, and the general cycling of everything.

(an aside, I read an article by Eric Borneman where he described both a nitrogen cycle as well as an algae cycle in a new tank. This is where the blooming and receding of different types of algae serves the purpose of removing NO3 PO4 and a thousand other chemicals/compounds etc that we don't test for)

Anyway, i used PhosBan w/ some success, but it turned my water brown and lowered my alkalinity. When I removed it, my PO4 almost immediately went from 0.5ppm to 1.0ppm

We'll see how the Poly Filter works.

Happy 4th of July!

Here's the link for that E. Borneman article. Read Myth #15

Mything the point part 3 (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/eb/index.php)

Borneman is always great. Although I would have not described it as an "algae cycle" experienced hobbyists know that algae blooms, led by diatoms, are a part of every new tank.

Thanks for your insights Carmie. It's great to have an experienced hobbyist like your self as a resource for upstarts like myself.

"algae cycle" was my term, not Bornemans. After re-reading the article and thinking further about it, there really are not "cycle's" per say with anything in our tanks. If the nitrogen cycle were truly a cycle, then instead of nitrogen gas being released, we would have flakes of fish food being released, if you follow me.:huh:

It's really more of pendulum, or a series of shifting equilibriums. All these different life forms (bacteria, micro & macroalgae, copepods, amphipods etc. etc. etc.) go through phases of feast or famine in our tanks, with corresponding periods of flouishing and decomposing.

The thing that struck me about the Borneman article was that this back & forth goes on well after our test kits show "normal" readings. A true equilibrium is not established for quite a long time.

This is all very profound to me, but I'm sure very obvious to all the experienced hobbyists out there.

:thanks:

Actually James, I think that there are a lot of experienced hobbyists who have never thought of this. They may have received good advice when starting out and have never experienced a problem and just haven't taken the time to teally learn the chemistry an biology behind their tank. They may even know that certain critters belong in a mature tank without realizing the importance of that.

I really like Eric's tank stocking progression. That is what Mark http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/member-tank-projects/3074-my-50-gallon-reef.html has done. He has several corals but has just gotten his first fish and is about 6 months into his tank. He is a great example to everyone here.

Hello again fellow Reefers!

One update and two questions:

Update....

After Nemo's repeat performance of exploring the back sump area of my tank, I came up with a solution. I got the plastic strip from a 10 gallon glass canopy and cut it to fit the back of my tank.

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Question #1:

My tank has been going for 71/2 weeks, and I was wondering when to expect growth of coralline algae. I noticed these spots on the back wall, but they are white. Is this coralline beginning to grow or is this something else? (BTW...I've finally begun to see a drop off of the diatoms :agree:)

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Question #2:

When I was doing my water change tonight i picked up one of my rocks and saw what looks like bubble algae. I took this rock out and flicked them off, being careful not to break them. (I heard that this was bad because they'll release spores into the water column) I'm sure there are more somewhere in my tank, even though I can't see them. Any suggestions on how to get rid of them? Will an emerald crab be helpful and friendly with my other critters?

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Thanks....

James. good idea on the plastic strip.:up:
I don't think that the white spots in the photo are coralline. IME it will show up first as a purple pinpoint size spot and you will be scraping it off of the glass in short order. If you want to turbocharge it get some scrapings from a fellow reefer or get a chunk of rock in that already has got corallin, and it will migrate pretty quickly.

I'm back for another post :)

Things seem to be going well with the CUBE. Water params have been good. The Diatom bloom is over (nice to hane white sand again) There is some nice growth of Coralline.

My second, and likely last fish addition is a Yasha Hase Goby. I passed on the pistol shrimp because I was afraid he would go after my hermit crabs and peppermint shrimp. ( I saw a cool video online of a pistol shrimp snapping his claw and stunning a cleaner shrimp here)

Anyway, Here's a (not well focused) picture of 'Yashi'

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Also, I think i see some flat worms. I know some are harmless and some aren't. Can you tell from this picture if I need to worry?

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Thanks

P.S. I saw the link to the pistol shrimp video a while back on a marine aquarium forum, and I don't remember if it was TR or not. If so and the person who first posted it reads this, sorry to steal your thunder

These are Convolutriloba retrogemma. They can be a pest if you get too many of them but are not harmful otherwise.

Greetings Reef Enthusiasts. Welcome to Biocube 14 Theater
(No time to post pics now, but hopefully will soon.)

Act 1: Greener Pastures

Since I last posted, I've generally just let the cube run with weekly water changes. My hair algae problems have persisted, to the point where I had a nice flowing meadow of green on some rocks. One day I just got aggressive, and took a toothbrush to some of my rocks (in a separate bucket of tank water, of course). This worked quite nicely actually. I also got more aggressive with the phosphate issue and added seachem phosphate remover. (PO4 still 0.3 :madmad:). I'm planning on doing the three day lights off routine over the Labor Day weekend (Going to Philly for a wedding). We'll see how that works.

Act 2: We Just Didn't Have the Right Chemistry

I was getting a bit lax in checking my water params, and was horrified when I found my pH had dropped from 8.2 to 7.8, Ca from 405 to 370 and Alk from 8.4 to 7.8. I thought I was geting by on just water changes since the only stony coral I have is my trumpet coral (the one in my signature). I've since been dosing Kent Marine 2 part solution, and after a week, they are back to normal. (Note to self:keep checking water parameters!)

Act 3: The Pitter-Patter of New Little Feet

Since I am now dosing Ca & Alk, I have gained the confidence I need to get more corals. Thanks to the LFS gift card I recieved for my birthday, I purchased a Trachyphillia (aka: open brain coral) very pretty green and red colors. Also I got some xenia - I've always thought they were cool, hope they don't spread and become a nuisance! On the rock that the Xenias came with were some bright blue green zoa polyps...Bonus! :up: I also got an emerald crab to help mow down the algae.

The End

hey guys, i just found this talkingreef website and i wanted to try it out,
ive had a freshwater tank for a few years and ive decided to look into a saltwater tank. i'm really interested in the 14 gallon bio cube, yet is it truly worth the price for such a small tank? ive been told that smaller tanks for saltwater are harder to maintain. is this true in the case of the bio cube? also, the biocube 14 tank is about 200 dollars. For this price, does anyone reccomend a better saltwater tank that would be easier to maintain? thanks alot,
aaron

Hi Aaron

I can only speak from my experience, but so far my BioCube has been very reliable and has met my expectations. Apart from the usual growing pains that a new tank (and a new salt water aquarist :)) go through, the maintenence and stability have been managable.

As for cost, you'd have to price out other all-in-one systems, and a similar sized tank w/ a la carte equipment. (my guess is it's probably about the same. I read somewhere that you should expect to pay $20 to $30 per gallon for a saltwater set-up)

HTH

First off my Trachyphillia:

1933

Next, my Xenia (with blue-green Zoanthid polyps along for the ride):

1934

It took a few tries, but here is a picture of my Emerald Crab (isn't he cute!)

1935

You can also get a feel for my algae problem here. All of my water parameters are good. (except Po4: 0.3) I'm changing the water weekly. Tank has been running for 3 months.

James, good progress! I love the Trachyphillia.

Very nice, im surprised i haven't seen this thread before.

Thanks Josh,

I like your Tank/Thread as well. My goal is to have a 120 gallon tank some day. For now the Cube is enough to keep me occupied and in the game.

That IS looking nice. I've been following closely as we started our nanos about the same time. Looking really nice.

Yupp james, i had a 12 gallon Nanocube to start out as well, small clown, small goby. That got me hoooked, and when that tank died, i had to have more :p

But yeah, definitely diggin what you're doing with the cube

Love the positive feedback...Thanks guys!

Nothing says I Love You quite like a Protein Skimmer. :love:

My wife gave me a Sapphire Aquatics BC 14 Protein Skimmer for my birthday. The bad news is that it hasn't arrived yet. When it does and I install it, I will be sure to post pics.

for a 14 gallon, wats the best type of ps for a small size

Aaron:

All I can tell you is that the Sapphire Aquatics Skimmer I'm getting is designed to fit in the 2nd Chamber of a BioCube 14. I have read lots of posts from those with experience with it on many different forums, and it has generally received good reviews.

Here's a link (http://www.tsunamiaquatic.com/catalog/item/4426365/4416344.htm) showing the Skimmer in question.

My research has led me to conclude that this is the best skimmer for my particular system. I'll let you know after i've set it up and let it run for a bit if I like it or not.

For other types of similarly sized set-ups (alliteration! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration) :)) I really don't know. Perhaps others could chime in.

... I also got more aggressive with the phosphate issue and added seachem phosphate remover. (PO4 still 0.3 :madmad:). I'm planning on doing the three day lights off routine over the Labor Day weekend (Going to Philly for a wedding). We'll see how that works.
...

I dont suggest reducing the photoperiod nor leaving the tank dark for a few days. This will not get rid of the algae.

I suggest you continue with the PO4 resins and mechanincal removal. If you can add some herbivorous snails that will help. It just takes time and patience.

'I also got more aggressive with the phosphate issue'

this seems to be a persistant problem. have you tested your new salt water and top off water for po4? are you rinsing your frozen food before adding it to the tank? just some ideas..

Thanks for the comments and ideas :thanks:

EMORA:

I'm basing my lights off for three days stategy on this thread (CLICK HERE (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1078532)) and the positive experiences of others on the forums. I don't really see a down side.

PORTHIOS:

Yes, Yes and Yes.

There are some Phosphates in my tap water (no surprise there)

RO/DI is negative
Mixed salt water is negative
All frozen food is rinsed and strained with RO/DI
In fact, I only feed small amouts of food 4 to 5 times per week.

I think my live rock is leeching out PO4. Thats the only explanation I can think of.

Quick update:

1) My camera was broken in Philadelphia this weekend, so no pictures for a while.

2) The three day lights out schtick worked great! Sand is white, hair algae diminished and white. All of my inhabitants seem none the worse for wear (except my Xenia is not pumping with as much enthusiasm as before)

3) My protein skimmer finally came in the mail (good thing we paid for 2 day shipping!) Will probably set it up in a few days.

O.K.

I installed the Sapphire Aquatics protein skimmer yesterday.

Since this is my first experience with a protein skimmer, here are my observations & questions:

1) I had some problems with the air line coming off, but I think I've got that fixed.

2) It fits into the second chamber, supposedly on top of the false bottom that was originally designed to hold the Bio Balls. This false bottom has been tricky. The suction cups on the bottom of the skimmer don't stick to it. When the main pump is on the water flow flips it over. This all made for some awkward moments in getting it in correctly.

3) This skimmer is really made for a nano cube 12, so the there are no instructions included specifically for the BC 14. I feel a little like i'm winging it.

4) It's been running since yesterday afternoon. The contents of the collection cup so far have been 2 - 3 ml of very slightly brown water with a small amount of white floaty stuff.

5) There are tons of microbubbles in my tank. I'm waiting patiently for 48 to 72 hours for it to break-in. Are microbubbles a problem with my inhabitants?

Iy you have room try running the effluent from the skimmer into a pop bottle. This will let the mico bubbles collect and join with each other.

My tank looks like seltzer water....bubble bubble, toil and trouble...:eek: he he he he he.... (O.K. ... Deep breath...hold it together now...)

48 hours of breaking in my skimmer with no relief. Maybe I'm imagining things, but the bubbles in the tube leading into the collection cup are getting bigger, but not sticking.

I'm trying to stay positive. If warranted please give me reassurance that the bubbles will pass and I'll get skimmate. If not, tell me that I should junk this thing. Or something in between. Either way, any feed back will be appreciated.

Carmie,
Interesting idea..I think. I guess I'm not following. The effluent is the "clean" water coming out of the skimmer right? Either way, there probably isn't enough room. Could you clarify?

Thanks

My research has led me to conclude that this is the best skimmer for my particular system. I'll let you know after i've set it up and let it run for a bit if I like it or not.

For other types of similarly sized set-ups (alliteration! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration) :)) I really don't know. Perhaps others could chime in.

For anything smaller than 50 gallons I personally wouldn't even look at a skimmer unless regular weekly water changes stopped being effective, and on a 14g tank the price of the salt to do a 5g change every week is less than the value of time spent (and lost) trying to tweak a "nano-sized" skimmer.

Curious to hear how the Sapphire ends up performing for you (I've never tried them).

PS. Microbubbles are totally harmless to reef organisms.

I'm basing my lights off for three days stategy on this thread (CLICK HERE (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1078532)) and the positive experiences of others on the forums. I don't really see a down side.

Down side is your tank isn't very well established or matured yet, and I've never seen nitrate/phosphate/algae/whatever decide to just tip-toe out of the tank while the lights are off. :)

Your algae will subside eventually. Have patience and maybe step up a bit on more manual removal and doing larger water changes.

I think my live rock is leeching out PO4. Thats the only explanation I can think of.

Could be. Food could be the source too, even though you're underfeeding your tank, it doesn't take much to affect 14g of water. Do you run any carbon right now? All activated carbon has some phosphate in it (even if the marketing hype for a particular brand says it doesn't).

This thread is so great! I have been following along and it has give me the courage to start a BC14 also. I pick up the tank and stand today. I am going to MACNA on Friday to look at the vendors and get some more ideas on setting up my tank. I am in no hurry. I am thinking of using mostly Marco Rock and some lr and dead sand. I have lots of time and want to do everything right but as cost effective as I can. LR here is $7-9 a lb :mad: I hope to see some of you Friday and James keep up the good work. You have helped me get a lot of good info from these great people. :p

Dr. T : Awsome feedback! thanks so much for taking the time to respond.

I'll admit that the main motivation for the skimmer was that I thought it would be cool to have one. But I also thought it might help with the aformentioned algae and phosphate problems. Thanks for reminding me to be patient. We'll see how it works.

wvfisher: Good luck with your tank and have fun @ MACNA (I'm jealous!) :)

BTW: I'm not currently running any carbon, but i was back when the PO4 was through the roof. Currently I'm using Polyfilter.

Hi WV,

A bunch of us are getting together at MACNA for supper Friday. http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/major-conference-events/4380-put-name-face-macna.html
We'd love to have you join us. Where in WV? I'll be in Charleston on Thursday and driving to Pitt on Friday. (Sorry for the hijack James.)

James,

My skimmer is a Berlin that sits outside my sump. It has 2 semi-rigid tubes that put the water back into the sump. I have those tubes going into a 2 liter bottle with the top cut off just enough to fit the tubes. My chaeto ball is in this bottle and I have cut a couple of slits in it about half way down to let the water flow out. The only way it could work in a nano would be with a 20 oz bottle.
Here is a picture of this in my sump. You can see the effluent tubes going into the pop bottle.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f198/CarmieJo/DSC_4341.jpg Yes, I know that I need to clean. :)
And here is a drawing of how I've cut the bottle up.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f198/CarmieJo/DSC_4343.jpg
Let me know if this is as clear as mud. :)

James

In looking through your thread I don't see any mention how you have your filter chambers set-up. I am curious how you have the various chambers set-up. I got my tank this afternoon but I don't think I am going to start setting it up until I get back from MACNA. I might find some good things there. Do you have lr in any of your chambers? Did you replace the bio-balls with something? Just curious?:huh:

WV,

I'm not James but I'll give you my 2 cents worth. :) Ditch the bio-balls. I have NanoCube. I have a sponge that I clean weekly in the first compartment, LR rubble in the second and my return and heater in the last.

CarmieJo

I live near Bridgeport, you will pass through on your way to Pittsburgh. I don't know how much time I will have, my son is coming up with me and we were only planning on going to the Vendors Area. I will have to check with him. Hope to see you there. Thanks for the info on the chambers. Do I have to do any mods to the first chamber so that there is more water going into the second chamber to cover the lr?

James

How much sand do you have in the bottom of your tank? I hope you don't mind all of these questions.

WV, I don't have any mods but it seems like the chamber stays full.

I'll chime in too I guess. I have a similar setup to CarmieJo. I have a filter pad and LR rubble in the 1st chamber, carbon/phosphate remover in the 2nd and my heater and pump in the 3rd. I have 1/2" of sand in the tank.

Thanks for all the info on your set-ups. I think I am going to start my own thread so I am not always stepping on James's thread. Hope to see some of you at MACNA. :cool:

James,

Did you do any mods to your BC? If so, what? I got my tank and stand up today. The lights work and the pump works. I have the sand to put in it but I think I will wait until I get back from MACNA.
You know that stand was hard to put together! Terrible instructions. Oh well what can we expect from China....

Hello Everyone,

Sorry that this post is a bit of a purge since I haven't posted in a while.

Carmie: Cool set up with the 2 -liter bottle! thanks for the pictures

WV : I don't really have any mods, other than the protein skimmer (more on that later)
I put in about 15 lbs of "live" sand.

Chamber 1: Poly-Filter and Heater

Chamber 2: Protien Skimmer and 1 bag Phos-Ban, one bag of Phos-guard (no bio-balls!)

Chamber 3: Stock pump

So, for a (lengthy :() update:

First off, I've had my protein skimmer going for a while now
It's alright, I guess.

I had microbubbles for a while that subsided after a few days. (I e-mailed the manufacturer and he suggested setting the pump on the lowest setting, which helped)

I think the problem with this skimmer in my situation is that it was designed for the nanocube 12. Sapphire aquatics started to see people with BioCube 14's post on the forums how they were using this skimmer successfully in their tanks with minor modifications, so he started marketing them as compatible.

Its supposed to sit on top of the false bottom of the second chamber. It's really too heavy. It bends the plastic and falls through. If you just sit it on the bottom of the chamber, you get too many microbubbles. My solution is to put a small mesh bag of phosphate remover under the false bottom so it doesn't fall all the way through. It works, but is awfully ghetto! :)

Also, you have to push the collection cup almost all of the way in, otherwise the hood doesn't shut all of the way. This results in a very wet skimmate.

Over all I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

Here's some pictures

2049

What do you think of this skimmate?

2050

All inhabitants are doing well, with some exceptions.

First off, my ricordia was kind of struggling, so i moved him closer to the lights. He seemed to be improving, but then one day...Poof...He was gone. My best guess is that when I moved him, he wasn't all that secure and he blew off behind the rocks. It just wasn't feasable to disassemble my aquascape to look for him.

Next, some polyps of my trumpet coral are thriving and some are dying.

Also, I have two new corals

First, some cool Zoa's

2051

And Acanthastrea lordhowensis

2052

Last issue...My Ca kept measuring low at 360 (with my Marineland kit)...so i started gradually adding more and more two part solution, but to no avail. Since the pH and Alk were fine, I bought a Salifert kit, and it measured 420. I think this is more of a test kit issue than a calcium issue!

Thanks for reading...

Any comments / criticisms / insights / questions / bad puns would be very much appreciated...:up:

James, I use a cut up 2L bottle for a bubble trap and you think a bag of phosphate remover under the false bottom is ghetto! Ha!

Touché Carmie! :)

I had microbubbles for a while that subsided after a few days. (I e-mailed the manufacturer and he suggested setting the pump on the lowest setting, which helped)

Unless the microbubbles are really annoying to you from an aesthetic point of view, they're not bad or dangerous to anything in your tank.


Also, you have to push the collection cup almost all of the way in, otherwise the hood doesn't shut all of the way. This results in a very wet skimmate.
...
What do you think of this skimmate?
(picture removed)


Looks weak or perhaps a little too wet, but that might be just the angle of the photo. I'm not saying weak because of the light color, either. Wet skimmate is (typically) always lighter in color, but "good" wet skimmate will tend to have a lot of solids and "floaties" in it -- wet skimmate is a good way to combat excess/uneaten food and remove larger particles from the water. How does it smell?

Is there any way to adjust the air intake on that skimmer? The air intake might need to be reduced with the pump throttled back. I have an old Prism that has performed very well (yes, a Prism) since adding a simple airline valve to the intake tube.


Next, some polyps of my trumpet coral are thriving and some are dying.


Caulastrea are usually quite prompt with producing feeder tentacles as soon as the tank goes dark -- which isn't surprising when you see how much they'll eat and how fast they can grow when fed regularly. Try feeding each polyp a frozen mysis or two after the lights go out. I prefer using long tweezers rather than a baster or pipet for mine because they tend to retract their tentacles quite easily.


Last issue...My Ca kept measuring low at 360 (with my Marineland kit)...so i started gradually adding more and more two part solution, but to no avail. Since the pH and Alk were fine, I bought a Salifert kit, and it measured 420. I think this is more of a test kit issue than a calcium issue!


Test kit issue. Did it have dust on it when you bought it? I've had this problem with a few brands and I'm pretty sure it was because they were "not Salifert kits". Literally. My LFS is very reef-centric and tends to cater to the high-end stony coral keepers, so the Salifert kits are often sold out while the other brands may sit on the shelf for months. An old test kit is usually a bad/inaccurate test kit. I've honestly never had an issue with a Marineland or Aquarium Pharm. (or even Hagen*!!) test kit if it was purchased from a high-volume place like Petsmart.

That A. lordhowensis is gorgeous!

* I know Rob loves those Hagen Calcium test kits :tongue2:!

Hello again everyone...

I haven't posted on my CUBE thread in a while, but I'm starting to once again.

Quick update:

My tank is doing pretty well, except still battling algae, and now cyano. My parameters are all actually good (probably because all the nitrates and phosphates are sequestered in the algae!) Continuing the routine of water changes and manual removal.

My fish are fine

I originally put I think 11 hermit crabs in when I first introduced the CUC, along with a bunch of snails. I'm down now to only 2 hermits, and they are little terrors. They have killed off all my Narssarius snails, the two cute little hitchhiker snails, and just tonight i see that one is now claiming the shell of one of my cerith snails as its new home. They haven't bothered the astrea's (yet?)

Also, for Hannukah, my wife bought me a torch coral. She gave it to me in a sealed bag that was put in a box and wrapped up. I had no idea what it was. Luckily, I didn't shake it!

No pictures now, but I'll post some soon. :)

I didn't read the entire thread, so if you have answered this....sorry.


Have you added any other flow to the tank other than the built in? Are you using the Biocubes built in filtration? You might want to consider using a pouch of GFO to absorb some of the phosphate and starve out the algae.

Hey poppin_fresh (love that painter dude, remember when he had little squirrels in his pocket...what's his name?)

A Quick re-cap of my tank:
Still have the stock pump. I'm using Polyfilter instead of the carbon cartridge. No bioballs. I have a Sapphire Aquatics protein skimmer in the 2nd chamber. Also have a small bag of Phosban and a small bag of Phosguard in the 2nd chamber. 15 lbs of live rock. 2 to 3 gallon water change weekly. Dose daily with Kent NanoReef Part A & B daily. Livestock: Have a True Perc and a Yasha Hasi Goby. Also have a peppermint shrimp, an emerald crab. Some Zoas, Mushroom's, Trumpet coral, Euphyllia, Xenia, & Torch coral. Several species of nuisance algae and cyanobacteria :)

Funny you should mention increased flow. A while back, I switched out the stock pump with a MJ 1200. My temp went up to 84, so I took it out right away. I then just decided to stick with the stock pump.

Now, several months later, I have a MJ 900 that I'm considering putting in. I'm worried about the Temp issue, (but it likely won't go up as much). Do you think that increasing the flow will help? As is my temp usually stays constant @ 80.

Thanks!

Are you changing the polyfilter regularly? It could be trapping crud and causing NO3. Instead of swapping the stock pump you could add a pico pump on the other side to provide a colliding flow.

What do you feed and how often? Overfeeding is often the culprit of NO3 and PO4 problems.

Glad to see an update from ya. Congrats on the torch. I love the way those long flowing LPS look in a nano.

I've only had a bit of algae here and there so far. I added 2 phosban reactors today. The first with carbon, the second with phosban, so we'll see if that helps it go away altogether.

ohhh and Bob Ross is the man, Are are you using RO/Di for top off/ new salt water?

Your wife gives good presents! I have a torch in my big tank and a frog spawn in my nano and I like them both. Your hermits may be killing the snails or just moving into new homes that they find lying around. I am wondering if it may be that they are dying first since you are also losing hermits.

poppin_fresh: I change the polyfilter when it gets dark brown (every 4 to 6 weeks or so) and rinse it out in the removed tank water at each water change. I feed 3 to 4 times per week. Ideally i give either cyclopeez, mysis or brine shrimp (all strained and rinsed and in modest portions) . About 1/2 the time though I get lazy and give Formula One flakes.

Which pico pump would you recommend?

Phurst: I like the long flowing tentacles as well. My wife really likes the pulsing xenia because they move around. I think this is why she wanted the torch. I'm wondering if my perc will ever notice it?

CarmieJo: That could be the case with the snails dying off. I've never actually actually seen a wild kingdom type hostile take-over of a snails shell by a hermit crab. I'm thinking about adding some more narssarius snails to help stir up the sand bed. Can you keep a brittle star in a nano?

You can keep mini brittles in a nano but I don't think I would do a full size one.

I've had my tank running since May 2007 (~8 Months). Is it time to change out the lights. They are the original PC bulbs.

Hello, just thought that I'd put up a few pictures since i've not done so in a while...

First off....EERIE picture of a molted shrimp exoskeleton...

2191

Next...My mushroom sprouted a buddy!

2190

My Hannukah present...

2192

And now a bit of nostalgia...

~ 8 months ago

2193

Today

2189

Thanks for following along!

James, I love :love!: the before and after pix!

I've had my tank running since May 2007 (~8 Months). Is it time to change out the lights. They are the original PC bulbs.

I change my non-actinic PC bulbs every 6 months, especially any in the 6500K-6700K range since the slow spectrum shift towards red tends to make them less effective for coral growth a lot faster than what you'd see in a 10K or 14K bulb over time. For actinics I always make sure I have spares on hand but I'll usually run them until they die and burn out ... the spectrum shift in the actinic bulbs, while quite noticeable in any coral with fluorescing pigments, isn't really going to hurt (or help) anything. I've been avoiding the uber-blue spectrums lately, personally. You just don't see the kind of growth under an actinic/10K combo that you get when you replace them with a pair of 6700K high-PAR horticultural bulbs. ;)

Hello Again

Well today was a big day in the history of my Cube...

My wife wanted to re-arrange our office, which meant moving my tank from the desk. I had been dreading having to do this, but today I finally did it. I bought the BioCube 14 stand, and we moved it into the family room. Here it is in its new home:

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj31/Psychojam/IMG_5242NewLocation.jpg

Also, my new nano powerhead from Fraggle Reef came today. (Click Here (http://www.fragglereef.com/zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2874&zenid=226436d78451afc84600b43e38fad746) for details) It's supposed to be 250 GPH. The power supply is external so it should add minimal heat to the tank.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj31/Psychojam/IMG_5232FragglePump.jpg

I have recently noticed two creatures in my tank that hitchiked in. Can anyone help me identify and let me know if they are a problem?

First is this worm. It comes out mainly at night, and seems to tug at and eat the surrounding hair algae. He also leaves a pile of worm poo piled up around his hole that I periodically blow off with a turkey baster.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj31/Psychojam/IMG_5216Worm.jpg

Next is a slug thats actually about 1 1/2 inches long. Its rarely seen and out only at night. This is the most exposed he's been, and I still can't get a good shot at him.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj31/Psychojam/IMG_5218Slugbelly.jpg

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj31/Psychojam/IMG_5227Slugtop.jpg

Thanks Again :)

The 2nd/3rd pic is a chiton. They're safe, and pretty neat. Not sure on the worm.

The Fraggle Reef nano pump is a powerful little sucker! I've dialed it back some using the gate valve. Since I've put it in, I'm getting some shifting in the sand bed in the front of the tank. It's not a DSB, only 1 -2 inches.

Should I worry about nasty stuff being released up into the water column? (just to be safe, I temporariliy put in a stock BC 14 filter cartridge - it has carbon in it to absorb said nasty stuff if it's there)

Phurst: Thanks for the ID on the Chiton

The worm might be a peanut worm (http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/eco/taxalab/bio2002/phascolosomaa.htm).

The Fraggle Reef nano pump is a powerful little sucker! I've dialed it back some using the gate valve. Since I've put it in, I'm getting some shifting in the sand bed in the front of the tank. It's not a DSB, only 1 -2 inches.

Unless this is aesthetically displeasing to you, I wouldn't worry about it. If it IS aesthetically displeasing... um... change your aesthetics I guess, you'd have better luck herding cats than forcing your substrate to remain fixed in place =)

Should I worry about nasty stuff being released up into the water column? (just to be safe, I temporariliy put in a stock BC 14 filter cartridge - it has carbon in it to absorb said nasty stuff if it's there)

I doubt there's any nasty stuff in bed that shallow that isn't already in the water column to some extent. As long as the current isn't shifting more than a few millimetres of depth at a time. If the the substrate got blasted really hard and shifted the surrounding depths by inches at a time it might release some hydrogen sulfide, not enough to harm anything but enough for sensitive noses to avoid being in the same room as the tank for an hour or two.

The worm might be a peanut worm (http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/eco/taxalab/bio2002/phascolosomaa.htm).

That was my first guess as well but it's hard to make a positive ID from that photo (or any photo for that matter). It's obviously a sedentary worm -- one that doesn't move much once it finds a burrow. Most sedentary annelids stick to a diet of detritus or algae and aren't as opportunistic as roaming varieties of worms (fireworms, etc...). Since you've already seen it eating algae, it's a "keeper".

Alright, you get what you pay for.

The fraggle reef pump ($4.99) kept falling apart. Also, the electrical supply kept getting really hot. It was nice having the increased flow in the tank. I think I'll check out the korallia nano. BTW, I replaced the stock pump a few weeks ago with an MJ 900. Works well, no temperature issues at all!

Doc a few times now you have said that micro bubbles are not harmful, & no-one has made a peep in contrast to those statements. We have had years of this hobby telling us micro bubbles are bad, you should really strive to ensure there is minimal ...... ect etc , so quite frankly, im stunned no-one has said "hang on, whats happening here?"

In principle bud i agree with you 100%, nature rolls the punches & if reefs or any other convergence spot doesn't see their fair share of bubbles then you can shave my @ss & teach me to walk backwards. :unsure:

Problem with that statement is its not always true when it comes to our closed system & even more so when you factor in some of your typical dimensions.

The oceans have some pretty strong forces applied upon it, current paths & the shear volumes your talking about in nature make even the most violent snow storms dislodge almost entirely with every set. Add to that the changing lunar cycles & chaotic nature of both currents & geography & you can see where this definitely differs from our tanks.

Animals in our systems, firstly fish, besides the odd or freaky nitrogen concentration levels exceed in the circulation system, honestly i dont see much problem besides blurry vision..lol
Corals in our systems - your talking predominately shear aggravation & possible oxidization. I dont know about you, but the culmination of a charged viscus body stopping my polyp extensions would annoy the heck out of me.

Also like anything, Oxidization takes place at the atomic level, with elements in abundance & plenty of stray detectable conductivity to speak of it, it doesn't take a scientist to realize the ocean & our little cubes can't be both classified as apples if you catch my drift.

Last & final point, & Doc, please correct me if im wrong.

Bacteria is both the Saviour & the root of all evil concurrently, without it we would fail to exist. We have stood the test of time on this planet & can brave most attacks naturally. however there is always the exception that doesn't play by the rules & when certain criteria's line up we are taken down by this once simple bacteria.

Take all the above mentioned text, Agitation component leading to stressed appenditures, leading to possible oxidization leading to bacterial manifestation feeding off a bounty of fuel from the cellular decomposition of the host & the gasses that make up the micro bubble & you now have a situation that would not be deem "harmless"

Hey you have a slim probability factor, but then again i never thought that chopping board i used 2 weeks ago would give me food poisioning ether!

Just food for thought anyways bud.