My JBJ Nanocube 28 gallon CF Quad

[Mostly Rock]

Yup, the bigger the tank, the easier it is to take care of. If you can find some local LR from somebodies tank, maybe on craigslist or something, that might work... just inspect it for Aiptasia and Majanos first. The only way I can think of to get rid of the issues and take up the skimming slack is a crap load of water changes... But doing water changes every other day gets really old really fast. Glad to hear everybody's doing well, and I'm sorry to hear that you had to go back to work. Speaking of work, I just got another call. The Crown Plaza Hotel has backed up restrooms... Anybody wanna trade careers?

[Gobby]

Hi Folks,
Thanks for the replies. Yeah Carmie... that's one thing I'd thought of doing. I already have a tub ready.

No thanks on the job swap Rock. I did my time in the plumbing shop. You can have it!

Sorry I'm so late getting back to you guys but I'm not getting notifications that I have replies. Its setup in the settings. Oh well.

Gobby

[Gobby]

I have a little update. I will post pictures when I get a chance. Let me just start by listing the critters in the tank:

Sixline Wrasse (had him since my first shipment from F&S. Lawnmower Blenny died from some kind of toxin or desease. He lasted 13 days.)

Lawnmower Blenny (just acquired from F&S about a week ago.)
Royal Gramma Basslet (same shipment as above.)
Tigertail Sea Cucumber ( Died in shipment)

Just acquired the following from a LFS I used to work at:

Skarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Sally Lightfoot Crab
Tiger Serpent Sea Star

Coral frags:

Neon Green Birdsnest
Neon Green Star Polyps
Palm Tree Polyps
Purple Mushrooms
Dendro (I don't think it is going to make it. Can't see the polyps.)
3 types of Zoanthids (One of which is from original CUC order.)

CUC:

1) Zebra Tip Hermit
2) Scarlet Leg Hermits
4 or 5) Blue leg Hermits
1 or 2) Thinline Hermits
4) Tonga Nassarius Snails
Can't count the rest- Nassarius Vibex, Dwarf Ceriths, Nerites.
1) Florida Cerith....I originally ordered a bunch of these and most of them ended up empty. Not sure if they were killed by Hermits or what.

Anyway, I still have a lot of GHA and some bubble algae too. After a couple of days the Lawnmower Blenny started eating the algae. He has cleaned one or two sections off the rock already. Hes got his work cut out for him. It is a lot of fun to watch him eat it too. He really bangs his head down on the rock when he bites at it. The Sally Lightfoot crab (Gordon...my daughter names everything...I named the crab after Gordon Lightfoot. She didn't get it),
tries to grab at the Gramma. Kind of funny to watch too. Hope he never succeeds....they can get up to 3 inches wide.

Now I want to get someones take on this. I was running a Eshopps HOB protein skimmer and a GFO reactor. I took them out for a week before the last shipment of fish to clean the pumps and haven't put them back on yet. The skimmer will not prime....hate the skimmer. Anyway, when I picked up the three critters at the LFS I picked up a Salifert phosphate test kit. The API one I've been using doesn't test low enough to tell what I actually have. All I know was it was less than 0.25. Well I figured I had a lot of phosphate but the Salifert test zero, nadda...zippo! Is that possible? It is supposed to be an excellent test kit from what I've read. Could it be that my liverock is saturated with phoshate and the water is fine? I do a 2 1/2 to 5 gallon water change once a week. Or maybe the Little Fishies GFO reactor did a good job and it hasn't had time to build back up. I also started running carbon again about a week ago in my media basket. I was just expecting to get some kind of reading of phosphate. Any comments?
I'm still thinking of changing out some rock for some that looks more alive. My live sand bed does have some kind of life in it. My daughter noticed it first. Looks like very thin blood worms or something. They leave trails against the glass. We saw them flowing through the trails.

I left a private message with Amphibious for some advice. Maybe I should have just posted a thread. If your out there Dick, I hope you have time to read my message :-)

Later, Gobby

[Gobby]

Put the GFO reactor back in service today. Anyone out there?

[Mostly Rock]

The low Phosphate reading makes sense, your GHA is sucking it up, it's hard to get accurate readings when something is taking up phosphates and nutrients so well... IMO anyway, Dick would be a much better source than me. I learned most of what I know from him, that doesn't mean I have the answers though. I'm thinking about trying bio pellets. It's a solid carbon source, like vodka dosing, or the Zeovit system, but not so pricey. Bulk Reef Supply had a special on a 1/2 gallon of bio pellets (I believe they recommend 236 ml per 50 gallons) with a reactor, everything but the pump, and it even comes with a quick connect for a maxijet all for 139.99, a 1/2 gal of pellets was originally 125.99, so that's a pretty good deal. I should only have to add new Bio pellets every 6-12 months depending on how things work out. That should manage both my Phosphates and Nitrates pretty well. I also got the Hanna Checker HI736 ULR, it reads traces of phosphorus to the parts-per-billion, or PPB. Yes, that’s 1/1,000th of a PPM, and it's only 40 bucks! The best part is, it gives me a number, not a color to match with a color chart that never has a color that looks like what's in the vial! It's in the mail, I'll tell you how it works later.

[Mostly Rock]

Oh yeah, You may want to get a couple of Emerald Crabs for that BA problem.

[CarmieJo]

I am here!

There are several reasons that you may have phosphate below the limits of your test kit. One is that the algae is locking it up. Another is that the reactor pulled a lot of it out of solution. There could be phosphate in the rock that will continue to leach out. Did you see any change when you weren't running the reactor?

The "live" part of LR is bacteria. As long as you are keep NH3 and NO2 at 0 and NO3 at <10 your rock is alive and functioning.

[Gobby]

Ahh...there you folks are. I was getting worried. It gets lonely on this forum ;-) Doesn't seem too active sometimes. Glad your here. Well thank you Mike and CarmieJo. I saw that Two Little Fishies has this polymer stuff that does the same things that you are talking about. "NPX BioPlastics are pelletized biodegradable polymers that provide a time-released source of food for bacteria that assimilate nitrate and phosphate". Thats what it says anyway. I guess I could try that since I have the reactor already. Instead of just pulling out the phosphates, I'd be adding something beneficial right? I have read about vodka dosing also. The bubble algae isn't as prevalent as the GHA but its there. The Blenny is having a ball. Hes gotten one rock mostly cleaned off. I was going to get the Hanna checker. I picked up the Salifert kit because they had it at the LFS. Let me know if you think it works well because the Salifert is $29.00 for 60 test! I decided on the Sallylightfoot crab at the store but I forgot that day that Emeralds liked bubble algae. They had them too.

CarmieJo,
I didn't notice any change while the reactor was running and the week or two that it has been off showed no change. I was thinking that the algae might have locked up the phosphate as you say, just as macro algae would when competing with GHA for it. I had read somewhere about it leaching out of the rock too. I read alot about this hobby these days :-) So do you think I should continue to run the Phosban reactor? Is there any down side to using it as far as corals go? I think I read that my Palm Tree Polyps thrive on phosphates. That may be why they don't look as nice as they did at the coral store. Do you two think I should try the stuff Mike is talking about instead? If it does the same thing as GFO, but adds something back that is beneficial, it might be a good idea.
My rock should be fine. Ammonia, nitrite & nitrate are all zero. I change 2 1/2 to 5 gallons of water every 7 to 10 days. I was also wondering if you all think a two part system would be a good idea? I have a shrimp now but water changes should keep iodine and iodide where he needs it shouldn't it? Isn't this fun....what else you want to talk about! Uploading some pictures in a minute

Gobby

[Gobby]

Here are some pictures. I'll have to do a few at a time. I think I can only put up six at a time.

Here is our Royal Gramma Basslet. He is harder than the Sixline to get a picture of:


The Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp:


The new Lawnmower Blenny:


Sally Lightfoot Crab:


Tiger Stripe Sea Star:


Featherduster:


I have some pics of the coral frags finally for yas.

Gobby

[Gobby]

Here we go!

Neon Green Birdsnest:


Neon Green Star Polyps:


This was my first Zoanthid. Go back in the thread and check out how much it has grown. It is tripled in size. I need to count the polyps:


New Zoanthids:


Palm Tree Polyps:


Dendro and Purple Mushrooms. The Dendro doesn't seem to be doing well at all. I'm not sure its not dead. I've only seen the tips of the polyps once or twice during daylight. Not sure whats up There are two Mushrooms on this frag plug. They love Mysis:


Gobby

[Gobby]

Almost done

There is another Zoo frag on the left my daughter picked out for $2.00 on the right. It has two small polyps:


Another shot of the Palm Tree polyps. I have pulled the algae off of the frags some, but it is coming back a little. There are 4 polyps on this one. The other picture of it shows the 4th small baby one that grew since I put it in the tank:


GHA....time to prune it back again. Get rid of some phosphate that it is thriving on:


FTS...I will never be happy with the rockscape in this tank with these rocks. I'm thinking of getting some nano sized rock soon. GHA is everywhere. I'm going to give the Blenny a while to enjoy it though. You can see the worm trails in the DSB against the glass. My daughter saw the worms moving through them. Pretty cool:


Close up of the Dendro. Do you guys think it will come back. I haven't seen the polyps in a while, and I only saw the tips briefly. I have never been able to hand feed it. I use Brightwell's Zooplankton stuff in a bottle and Kent's Phytoplex every three days with a long syringe:


Here is the Sea Star hooging up all the Mysis. The Shrimp is good at that too:


Gobby

[Mostly Rock]

When You were talking about Bubble Algae I thought you were talking about this http://www.melevsreef.com/id/valonia.html when I saw the pic of your Green Birdsnest all I saw was what looked like GHA emitting gasses that were getting caught in that algae slime gunk.
The Emerald crabs in my tank all get along with my sally lightfoot, they tend to ignore each other. I started out with 3 emeralds, one bigger, with far bigger claws. ...then I counted 7 one night, half large and half small... recently I have counted more than 20... most of them very small. My 2 Sally Lightfoots turned into 1 very quickly so I think the SL crabs are con specific on who they mow down. I traded my Lawnmower Blenny in and got a Starry Blenny, and she is just as neurotic about tasting every surface she can find as the LMB was, but she's bigger... a lot bigger. I also Finally got my BCS out! ...just wanted to put that out there... it's exciting.

I got the Hanna Checker because I was comparing the 8 bucks for 25 regent packets to the 60 tests for 30 bucks. The origional expenditure of about 50 bucks I feel is justified by the digital readout. I got the PPB over the PPM meter because it measures with a more finite scale so it should be more accurate.

That Two Little Fishies NPX Bioplastics looks like the exact same stuph as the Bio Pellets, I think BRS just sells bigger quantities or something. My theory is everything stays closer to zero with less maintenance. Water Changes will be kept up as a weekly fixture until my Ca, Alk and Mag levels start dropping, but currently they are staying constant, so I don't need to add a 2 part yet. I would post pics, but all of my camera's suck a lot... I think my cell phone has the best camera in the house, and it's really pathetic.

I have never had to dose Iodine or Iodide, I think my water changes take care of that, and I have five crustaceans not including the emerald crabs that all molt periodically. All of these blessings I've had with levels and the like could be a product of having a tank that's three times the size of your nano... so it's very likely that you'll have to micromanage more than me. OH...yeah, when I was pulling everything out to catch the BCS I also measured my tank for the first time and found out that it's a 90, not a 75... oops.

...Keep the subjects popping, my daughter loves hearing about your tank. She is becoming very capable when it comes to reef discussion. Personally, I think it's pretty impressive for a 2 year old. Speaking of daughters, have you ever noticed people staring at you in a funny manner, at work, a split second before you realized you were singing little mermaid songs?

[Mostly Rock]

Oh Yeah, the Dendro. I have never owned one. I do want one, but I have read that they need to be fed multiple times daily. I am a twice a day feeder (light about 6am for the fish, then the Corals at lights out) and it wouldn't take much for me to target feed them twice a day, but there's no way I could feed them 3 times a day. Being non photosynthetic coral, they tend to put a strain on small systems... or so the forums say. Again, I have no personal experience. There is a person in my Local Reef Club that keeps them, I could ask them.

[Gobby]

Thank you Mike,
......but what is BCS? I'm drawing a mental blank at the moment. As far as the Dendro goes...the guy at Mr Coral said it was non-photosythetic, but all I had to do was use the Brightwell's Zooplankton stuff and it wouid be fine. Could you ask your friend to look at the picture and see what he thinks. I would love to save it. I was thinking that that might not be bubble algae, but I haven't the experience. Good to know its not.

After this batch of GFO is expended, I will go with the biopellets and see how that fairs. Thats cool about your daughter. My youngest says "get a new camera and lets take a look at your tank"

It would be nice to hear from Dick on this. I hope he is doing well.

Gobby

[Mostly Rock]

BCS = Banded Coral Shrimp. He was the reigning Sith Lord in my tank, seconded by the lone Aiptasia from hell. The Aiptasia keeps coming back... all mutilated and horrific, but comes back nonetheless. I have a few pics from after I changed out my bulbs after the last Frag Event (I got the Aussie Green Hammer from Dick, most of the Frags I got that night are still on the substrate because I haven't glued them anywhere yet) and I'll post a couple if I can get home before my lights go out tomorrow. I also got the RBTA from Dick along with a couple of really "Live" Live Rocks.

[Gobby]

Very nice....how did you post the pictures that way?...lol

[Mostly Rock]

Go Advanced, Attachments, Add Files, Insert Attachments. I figured that out by poking around, I assume the way most people do it is with the Photobucket thing... I've never gotten around to doing that.

[CarmieJo]

Buddy, I don't dose vodka. However, I do dissolve my kalk in vinegar (for increased saturation) and of course vinegar is also a carbon source.

[Mostly Rock]

I've gotten a few different answers. Some say Feed them mysis once a day, some say 3 to 4 times a week. They all say target feed mysis shrimp and enriched brine. I would personally use a pair of curved tweezers (I got mine at a medical supply store, but I have seen them on sites like marine depot also) and place the food in their tentacles... when the tentacles come out. For now, you may want to try turning off the flow for a few minutes and placing the food on the mouth area... then guard it from fish and shrimp until it gets consumed.

[Gobby]

Hello Everyone,
Well its been a bit busy around here of late. Lucy was born on April 7th...take a look:



I have a new protein skimmer on the way from Reef Dynamics. I'll be doing away with the media basket. Skimmer goes in that section. Going to use the phosban reactor to run ROX8 carbon from Bulk Reef Supply. All my fish are doing well. Some of the corals aren't. The Birdsnest coral seems to be immune to algae....it doesn't grow on it like it does some of the others. So whats up you all?!

Buddy

[Mostly Rock]

She's Gorgeous! What a beautiful little frag! I understand, only the last time I was in a house with that many kids, I was one of them, and I didn't have to deal with quite as much responsibility as you. Props for doing as well as you are with the tank! CUC is your friend too, I have a bazillion hermit crabs and a masses of other algae eating inverts, Getting the params under control will help, but adding CUC critters will help with the looks till then. You given any more thought to a large fuge remotely hooked up to your nano? The extra volume will really reduce your maintenance needs.

[CarmieJo]

Buddy, congratulations to you and Mrs Buddy! Your little Lucy is beautiful!