28 gallon nano cube

[averagejoe]

a couple more and if anyone can tell me what the second picture is. believe it is a coral it opens and closes.

[averagejoe]

the condi anemone was a total surprise to me when i opened the box. i been reading that clownfish dont host and they move around alot but didnt want to just leave it and not put it in tank. now i am just going to sit back enjoy watch my water paramaters and enjoy. going to add a few corals and just a couple of fish. thinking of 2 clownfish and a dwarf angel. was also thinking of 2 Kaudern's Cardinal but not sure. hope u guys enjoy the pictures. i think i got a picture of my starfish hidding in one of the rocks

[CarmieJo]

Your tank looks nice and colorful. You will want to be keeping an eye on the Ca, alk and Mg.

I am not sure what the critter is, maybe a sponge of some sort? However, just above it is a piece of feather caulerpa and it is rather invasive. I'd try to remove it from the DT if I was you.

IMO three fish would be the maximum I'd put in the tank if it was mine. Nanos are unstable and the more fish you have in the tank the higher the probability of a crash.

[averagejoe]

thanks carmie for the info i will try to remove and put it in my refugium. i was thinking just 2 clownfish for the girls and a dwarf angelfish and that its. my 2 yrs old walks up to the tank all the time and keeps saying nemo, where nemo

[CarmieJo]

my 2 yrs old walks up to the tank all the time and keeps saying nemo, where nemo

How can you resist that?

[averagejoe]

so the condi that came with the package has moved from one side of the tank to the other hopefully this is not a habit. so the drawf angel i was thinking about is a coral beauty or a lemonpeel angel, love the color of the lemonpeel. just going with two clowns and a lemonpeel.

[averagejoe]

so i went out and got the jbj nano skimmer for my aquarium. it works great and fits right in the first chamber. after about 4 hours it started pulling this dark skim. i know people rave about the tunze skimmer but it just wasnt for me

[V]

good write up bud.

All bugging is well tolerated by this old man. You teach me so much.

Couple of things about RO/DI units. Even though you have a 28 gallon system you will want...

1. A 75 or 150 gpd (gallon per day) unit. The reason being, the cost between a 50, 75 and a 150 gpd is negligible. You will thank me later on for my wisdom. We do not recommend the 100 gpd membrane because it has a lower rejection rate (96% as opposed to 98%) than the 50, 75 and 150 units. The higher the rejection rate the better the end product, the 0 TDS water you require for your reef.

2. There’s no need to pay more than about $150 plus shipping. Don’t cheap out this purchase AND don’t pay much more than the $150. All RO/DI unit parts are made by the same manufacturer and companies assemble the parts, slap their label on them and price them as high as 3 or 4 hundred dollars, yes as much as $400 for the same unit you are going to buy for about $150 plus shipping.

3. You will want a 5 stage unit. Better pre-filtering = longer life of the membrane.

4. You will want to get a TDS meter with the unit.

5. Buy the unit from a company with a good reputation that will help you in time of need and is easily available to you.

With that said, we use the 5 stage unit from Air Water and Ice with the 150 gpd membrane in our aquaculture facility with complete satisfaction. The same unit comes with a 75 gpd membrane which I recommend for the average reefer. It’s cost is a little lower than the 150 gpd unit. Everything is the same with the exception of the membrane and the price.

Check out the Typhoon 5 Stage here - 5 Stage RO/DI Unit

Thanks,

Dick

[averagejoe]

here are a few new pictures

[CarmieJo]

Looking good. You have a nice mixture of shape and textures.

[Gobby]

Averagejoe,
Your tank is coming along so well...you are off to a wonderful start. After seeing your pictures, I think I'm going to give it all up and get a goldfish bowl ;-( I got my rock from Premiumaquatics and ended up with ZERO hitchikers and not alot of color. You can see whats been going on in my tank here: http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/me...n-cf-quad.html
Doesn't look as nice as yours believe me. Mostly Rock thought I had the Tunze, but it is the JBJ skimmer I bought. I don't think it does a very good job. I'm thinking of going with this one: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...5&pcatid=19865
or some other hang on the back. I like that Eshoppes one because of the adjustment knob on top. You should watch the little video of it at that link. Plus it shreds the water for some very fine bubbles. The JBJ one uses an airstone, which will need to be replaced alot. I even went with a bigger air pump, cause the one that comes with it is crappy. It has helped a little, but I think the other type will do a much better job.

I'm going to get around to making the media basket into a fuge like you were talking about earlier (cheato & rubble with a light). The reverse photo period is a good idea. I have even read it doesn't hurt to run the fuge light 24/7. Reverse photo period helps with PH swings. As far as an RO/DI filter....everything Amphibious said is spot on. I also picked mine up at Air, Water & Ice. I wanted the Typhoon, but settled for the Mighty mite for now for $$$$ reasons. The Typhoon is the one I'm getting when I can. I have too many other things that I need to do before that. With the Mighty Mite, I make a total of about 15 gallons of filtered water a week. I have five 2 1/2 gallon food grade bottles something like this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UDE5JQ/...Q&linkCode=asn
The ones at Walmart are only $6.00. I do my water changes, then make RO/DI water into the jugs, mix salt with a heater & small powerhead right in the top of the jug. I like the little spigot on the jug because I can fill the tank without lifting a bucket and it doesn't stir up the water too much in the tank when I add it.
Got to get off a bit. Keep up the good work.

Gobby/Buddy

[averagejoe]

thanks gobby. the best rock i ever brought was from tampabaysaltwater. will never buy rock from anyboby but there. loads of life on my rock from sponges, crabs, snails, and so much more. so worth the extra money. tank cycled in ten days and everything is at zero.

[Gobby]

Very cool Jason...yeah, I was so disappointed that I didn't get anything on the rock. Well I think I'm lying, I did have a couple of pineapple sponges. They come and go as I am told....gone now. Makes me want to start over. I will wait it out though. I'm going to give the phosban reactor a try to get the algae out of there.

[Gobby]

Jason,
One thing I forgot to say yesterday was that I have not found a need for a chiller with the CF Quad lighting. When my tank first got here from Foster & Smith I had a faulty hood and my fans weren't running. They sent me a new one right away. Check to make sure the fans are runnning just to be sure. My tank has a heater in one of the chambers though. The tank has been running a steady 78 degrees since I set it up.

Buddy

[averagejoe]

santa is checking his list, he's checking it twice, he's gonna find out if my two little girl's are naughty or nice, santa claus is coming to town and bringing 2 clownfish with him.

[CarmieJo]

santa is checking his list, he's checking it twice, he's gonna find out if my two little girl's are naughty or nice, santa claus is coming to town and bringing 2 clownfish with him.

[averagejoe]

so santa brought the clownfish but there where three in the bag. they are still very young but will have to give one away sometime soon. will post pictures soon

[CarmieJo]

so santa brought the clownfish but there where three in the bag. they are still very young but will have to give one away sometime soon. will post pictures soon

Free fish are always a good way to make friends!

[saxman]

I am not sure what the critter is, maybe a sponge of some sort?

I admittedly skimmed this thread (I'm at work), so if this has been answered, please excuse me. The critter in question isn't a sponge, it's a tunicate.

[averagejoe]

thank you saxman still had no idea what it was

[averagejoe]

so it looks like my clownfish are going to try and host my condi. dont know if this is a good idea have to wait and see what happens, hopefully only good things

[averagejoe]

so i just ordered a shipment of corals from spikescorals.com which i saw on this web site. will take pictures when everything is in the tank. yesterday i saw a purple crab for the first time another hitchhiker. dont know if it is a good crab or a bad crab

[averagejoe]

so my condi has eaten two of my clownfish so i got rid of him and got two more clownfish thinking of getting a bubble tip

[CarmieJo]

That stinks!

What lights do you have?

[averagejoe]

so i have decided to have my third pump come on and off with my lights. did it for the first time yesterday seems to work good. heard the ocean is a little calmer at night. when my lights go out i still have the 2 filter pumps going. would like some input.