29g Biocube help/advise/critiques always needed
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Copingwithpods
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Pouring outside, heater inside the house at full blast, fans save the day.
I thought I'd never see them come on with how cold it's been in socal, glad to see them working as intended.
Also an interesting note. Since my Alkalinity debacle my coralline algae has not returned. Sps and everyone else is doing great but the algae has not come back. Kind of odd but I assumed it was going to take a while to start up again. I'm contemplating buying the bottled stuff to give it a boost. I'm going to be testing parameters a little later on and see where the tank stands. Thoughts?
I thought I'd never see them come on with how cold it's been in socal, glad to see them working as intended.
Also an interesting note. Since my Alkalinity debacle my coralline algae has not returned. Sps and everyone else is doing great but the algae has not come back. Kind of odd but I assumed it was going to take a while to start up again. I'm contemplating buying the bottled stuff to give it a boost. I'm going to be testing parameters a little later on and see where the tank stands. Thoughts?
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Copingwithpods
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Haven't checked parameters lately with everything that's been going on and man I'm glad I did.
ALK 10.1*
Mag 1200*
Cal. 430
PO4. 0.08
NO3. 1.0
Ph. 8.2
And just for fun ammonia
Amo. 0.25 (API
)
I'm guessing magnesium dropped and allowed alk and cal to swing out of my range ( 9.0dkh - 440ppm) no biggie. Calculator says I need 248ml of mag mix to get me back to 1350 so I just did 150ml and I'll do the rest tomorrow might aim for 1390 and give myself more buffer don't know yet. Will also help boost my Salinity that was a point low. I'm also decreasing my alk dose from 12ml/day to 11ml/day until things stabilize again. I'll leave calcium alone for now and test tomorrow.
I wasn't going to test today but one of my montiporas looked a bit off, glad I did.
BONUS UPDATE!
Found some pictures of my very first tank and my second, over a decade and a half old.
5gallon tank HOB filter with chemipure and a heater.
Shortly after upgraded to a biocube 14g,no fancy gadgets,no powerheads, no ato, dosing, dipping nothing lol jeez.
Sadly I don't have any pictures of the 14 in its last days, it filled out so nice.
Edit: that torch in the 14 was a whooping $5 lol how times have changed.
ALK 10.1*
Mag 1200*
Cal. 430
PO4. 0.08
NO3. 1.0
Ph. 8.2
And just for fun ammonia
Amo. 0.25 (API
) I'm guessing magnesium dropped and allowed alk and cal to swing out of my range ( 9.0dkh - 440ppm) no biggie. Calculator says I need 248ml of mag mix to get me back to 1350 so I just did 150ml and I'll do the rest tomorrow might aim for 1390 and give myself more buffer don't know yet. Will also help boost my Salinity that was a point low. I'm also decreasing my alk dose from 12ml/day to 11ml/day until things stabilize again. I'll leave calcium alone for now and test tomorrow.
I wasn't going to test today but one of my montiporas looked a bit off, glad I did.
BONUS UPDATE!
Found some pictures of my very first tank and my second, over a decade and a half old.
5gallon tank HOB filter with chemipure and a heater.
Shortly after upgraded to a biocube 14g,no fancy gadgets,no powerheads, no ato, dosing, dipping nothing lol jeez.
Sadly I don't have any pictures of the 14 in its last days, it filled out so nice.
Edit: that torch in the 14 was a whooping $5 lol how times have changed.
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Copingwithpods
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Disaster struck, glue gave way and the whole rock structure on the right side fell. Broke alot of corals and ticked off a whole lot more. Currently trying to reglue everything the way it was but I'm finding it impossible to do. I need alot of glue and stores are empty.
Not much to do now but stare at my tank and hope nothing dies.
Not much to do now but stare at my tank and hope nothing dies.
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Copingwithpods
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Today I found some glue thankfully. I guess I should look at the positive and take this as a chance to rescape and add more room for corals. I won't do it today as I want to give the corals today off to settle down.
Here's what I've implemented since the collapse (which I'm now blaming on the pistol shrimp and his tunnels), I expected a nutrient spike so I switched on the fuge prematurely which added 3 hours to the fuge schedual, it seams that worked as I didn't get a spike of NO3 or P04. Secondly I cut my dosing in half to 6mls of both alk and cal. I'll be testing daily and manually dosing the rest if needed until all corals are back in their place and settled in. I am assuming once settled in the tank will be back to the previous amounts (12mls of both) and I won't have to do the whole hunt for numbers thing.
On a positive note all sps look good including the acros. Only one showing signs of stress is a montipora. Not going to try and figure out why. The whole the needs of the many ploy. Clam is doing good and seams unaffected by it all (jumping up and down about this) had I lost the clam I think I would have lost all hope. In the picture of the 14g above a rock came loose and broke the hinge on that clam killing it (cue Vietnam flashback montage) thankfully this time that didn't happen. Softies all look good with the only lps unhappy being the frammer but I suspect it just doesn't like it's new spot which will be changed tomorrow anyway.
So guys any advice is appreciated. Anything you guys see that I might be doing wrong? Anything I could be doing better?
Here's what I've implemented since the collapse (which I'm now blaming on the pistol shrimp and his tunnels), I expected a nutrient spike so I switched on the fuge prematurely which added 3 hours to the fuge schedual, it seams that worked as I didn't get a spike of NO3 or P04. Secondly I cut my dosing in half to 6mls of both alk and cal. I'll be testing daily and manually dosing the rest if needed until all corals are back in their place and settled in. I am assuming once settled in the tank will be back to the previous amounts (12mls of both) and I won't have to do the whole hunt for numbers thing.
On a positive note all sps look good including the acros. Only one showing signs of stress is a montipora. Not going to try and figure out why. The whole the needs of the many ploy. Clam is doing good and seams unaffected by it all (jumping up and down about this) had I lost the clam I think I would have lost all hope. In the picture of the 14g above a rock came loose and broke the hinge on that clam killing it (cue Vietnam flashback montage) thankfully this time that didn't happen. Softies all look good with the only lps unhappy being the frammer but I suspect it just doesn't like it's new spot which will be changed tomorrow anyway.
So guys any advice is appreciated. Anything you guys see that I might be doing wrong? Anything I could be doing better?
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Copingwithpods
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This little guy went through alot, fell face first onto the rock below.
Alot of new growth on this guy hoping it stays healthy
All this guys were snapped off the rockwork, hoping I can put them all back where they were.
The sick Monti next to the clam
The frammer, not too happy with its current light and flow
Alot of new growth on this guy hoping it stays healthy
All this guys were snapped off the rockwork, hoping I can put them all back where they were.
The sick Monti next to the clam
The frammer, not too happy with its current light and flow
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Copingwithpods
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Not perfect but it will have to do for now. Still need to move some corals as everything got moved around but for now I'll leave it be.
I ended up adding about another 3 lbs of dry rock and did my best to glue it all in while I was constantly attacked by the clown. Not digging the look of the bleached white hair algae magnet rocks but it is what it is.
I ended up adding about another 3 lbs of dry rock and did my best to glue it all in while I was constantly attacked by the clown. Not digging the look of the bleached white hair algae magnet rocks but it is what it is.
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Copingwithpods
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Nothing like a wrench in your gears to remind you that anything is possible.
Currently found these cool little guys
Monti eating nudibranchs
What I thought was damage from a fallen frag turned out to be something far far worse
I pulled about 20 out and I'm sure there is more.
Going to dip often and see if I can bring this guy back to health.
Currently found these cool little guys
Monti eating nudibranchs
What I thought was damage from a fallen frag turned out to be something far far worse
I pulled about 20 out and I'm sure there is more.
Going to dip often and see if I can bring this guy back to health.
Okinawa_reefer
Active Member
jerks! Dipping them will help, but won't kill their eggs unfortunately. I had these in my biocube and I dipped my corals and also got a 6 line wrasse. Zero nudibranchs exist in my tank today.
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Copingwithpods
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Thank you
Posted over at hitchhikers section and with the help of alot of people was able to come up with a game plan. Today the Monti doesn't look good and not sure if it's going to make it.
With my current fish I can't have a sixline but I think I'll pick up a cryptic first chance I get.
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Copingwithpods
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So I'm going to have to rethink my cooling strategy.
Today the ambient air temperature was 96 degrees. Which in an old house with no insulation means the interior air temperature wasn't far from that.
Tank fans kicked on at 11:30 am and stayed on until 5:30 pm. Water temperature stayed below 80 the whole time although not by much, 79.8 on average which tells me I found my fans limits. It's going to get much hotter here so.... Yeah, problem.
Now, i don't mind the tank getting to 80 or even 81 if it happens slowly but I'd much rather have a setup that keeps it under 80 for safety sake.
The way I have controller set up, my target t... I'll simplify
Target temp. 79
Heater kicks on at 78
Cooling kicks on at 80
When either the heater or cooling kick on they will stay on until they reach the target temperature. Through a normal day the tank selfregulates between 78.5 and 79.5. Now I know that in the room where my tank currently sits (where the 14g was) water temperature with no cooling can reach 86 degrees mid summer when it's in the triple digits outside (no bueno) which in the 14 with softies was arguably doable but now with sps and acros is a big no no.
So where to go from here. One avenue is just upgrade the fans. The ones on the tank now are junk, low cfm computer fans with the exception of the red one hanging from the light fixture which is actually the highest cfm 80mm fan I've found (43cfm@5v). The other 2 fans on the other hand are junk and could definitely use an upgrade. From my other hobby I know of a few very high rpm fans in the 25mm-40mm range that are rediculously powerful but incredibly noisy.
Apart from upgrading fans and the very expensive and off the table chiller options I'm curious to see if you guys have any suggestions as to what can be done here.
Today the ambient air temperature was 96 degrees. Which in an old house with no insulation means the interior air temperature wasn't far from that.
Tank fans kicked on at 11:30 am and stayed on until 5:30 pm. Water temperature stayed below 80 the whole time although not by much, 79.8 on average which tells me I found my fans limits. It's going to get much hotter here so.... Yeah, problem.
Now, i don't mind the tank getting to 80 or even 81 if it happens slowly but I'd much rather have a setup that keeps it under 80 for safety sake.
The way I have controller set up, my target t... I'll simplify
Target temp. 79
Heater kicks on at 78
Cooling kicks on at 80
When either the heater or cooling kick on they will stay on until they reach the target temperature. Through a normal day the tank selfregulates between 78.5 and 79.5. Now I know that in the room where my tank currently sits (where the 14g was) water temperature with no cooling can reach 86 degrees mid summer when it's in the triple digits outside (no bueno) which in the 14 with softies was arguably doable but now with sps and acros is a big no no.
So where to go from here. One avenue is just upgrade the fans. The ones on the tank now are junk, low cfm computer fans with the exception of the red one hanging from the light fixture which is actually the highest cfm 80mm fan I've found (43cfm@5v). The other 2 fans on the other hand are junk and could definitely use an upgrade. From my other hobby I know of a few very high rpm fans in the 25mm-40mm range that are rediculously powerful but incredibly noisy.
Apart from upgrading fans and the very expensive and off the table chiller options I'm curious to see if you guys have any suggestions as to what can be done here.
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Copingwithpods
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It appears that last night there was a dispute for territory, didn't even think my horn coral was that aggressive yikes lol
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Copingwithpods
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Enough downers time for some good news
Finally caught all 3 hanging out
One of the new guys is a tad confused about who he is supposed to pair with
The pom pom started digging a burrow *facepalm*
Bicolor blenny
Finally caught all 3 hanging out
One of the new guys is a tad confused about who he is supposed to pair with
The pom pom started digging a burrow *facepalm*
Bicolor blenny
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Copingwithpods
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This guy so far has been a riot
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Copingwithpods
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Finally got a good look at this little guy
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Copingwithpods
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Well after a few days of the Yasha gobies confusion and frankly borderline harassment of the pom pom he finally found the pistol shrimp and they are both happily living in a burrow. Huge relief as I thought it had become cuc food since I didn't see it for a couple days.
The slight bummer is they been throwing a 3 day rager in their cave and I haven't seen much of either since they partnered up. I'm hoping with time they become less shy and I will start seeing them more and more.
New addition
Not the brightest fish as I have come to learn in the last few days but it sure is pretty. BTW worst sleeping behavior ever! This thing sleeps on its side and drifts with the current, indifferent to bumping into rocks and crabs, just a fishy corpse in the wind not a care in the world.
@35ppt I wonder if yours do this as well.
The slight bummer is they been throwing a 3 day rager in their cave and I haven't seen much of either since they partnered up. I'm hoping with time they become less shy and I will start seeing them more and more.
New addition
Not the brightest fish as I have come to learn in the last few days but it sure is pretty. BTW worst sleeping behavior ever! This thing sleeps on its side and drifts with the current, indifferent to bumping into rocks and crabs, just a fishy corpse in the wind not a care in the world.
@35ppt I wonder if yours do this as well.
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Copingwithpods
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Lol yeah 3 nights now, this dude just KOs at night in a low flow corner and just drifts with the current. First night I thought I'd lost it so I grabbed my flashlight and net and as soon as I hit it with the light it perked right up and swam away. Now almost a week in I can see its just a normal nightly thing and it is hilarious to watch it go limp at night. Sleeps almost like my clown that completely lays down on the zoas. Super cool little dude.
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