48 Fiji Cube

[dangit]

So I was planning on getting a goby but after some more research I decided to hold off against it and instead got 2 royal grammas… I was worried about the one hiding in the pipe at first bc he was in a tank with some larger fish and wasn’t looking the best. I got home a week ago and he’s been looking great since so when I went to my other lfs I also got their royal gramma and they have been buds ever since. These will both be QT for about another week before being added to the DT.

 

[dangit]

So against my initial plans… I decided to get a coral with the second royal gramma. I went with a Duncan frag as they are a good beginner coral and it was also pretty cheap so it was worth the shot. This picture is about an hour after addition so the coral opened up pretty quickly and has been enjoying the flow.

 

[dangit]

So sadly one of the royal grammas didn’t make it out of QT. I think he was getting beat up by the other one which was probably my mistake bc I added him to the QT after the one had already been in there a while. The other royal gramma looked healthy and strong so I added him into the DT as he had been in QT long enough. I’ll get some updated pics soon.

 

[dangit]

Some updated tank pictures… fish have been eating well and found their safe space in the tank. The Duncan coral seems to be doing well. Ive been dealing with the uglies as expected but it hasn’t been to bad. As part of my weekly water changes I take a brush and clean off some of the green/hair algae off the rocks but it’s not been too bad. I plan to cut back on feeding to hopefully help slow the algae growth.

I’ve had the Duncan coral for about a month and it seems to be doing well… as this is my first reef tank I’m not really 100% sure of what doing bad would look like but since I got it I can see some growth so I assume it’s been doing well…

Whats next? Currently planning out the corals I plan to add next - thinking it will be a torch, hammer, and a goniopora. I’ve been holding off on these as I have expensive coral taste and would be very hurt if I killed a $100 coral (The Duncan was $15). Once I feel more prepared for the new additions I will post pictures of the new additions. Also trying to figure out what new fish I’d like to add…currently trying to find a red velvet wrasse but haven’t had much luck…

Thinking about adding in the corals in mid to late November. Planning to add a new fish as soon as I find one that will fit this tank… I was thinking about a diamond goby to keep the sand clean but I’ve heard those aren’t great if you have corals in the sand. I plan to add a few acans to the sand eventually so I probably won’t get a goby.

 

[dangit]

I got lawnmower blenny from my lfs few weeks back and after 2 weeks in QT I have added him to the DT. He just got added in on Friday so he’s still settling in but so far it looks like everyone is getting along. I normally just find him hiding in some of the rock work lol

I’ve also seen a lot of growth on the Duncan coral. Thinking some time after thanksgiving I’ll go get some more corals for tank.

Been doing regular water changes. At least 10 gallons every weekend have been working well for me. Still having minor algae issues but I still just brush it off every week during water changes. Im hoping the lawnmower Blenny will help out with algae on the rocks.

 

[dangit]

Got a few tank updates today….

Ive added two new corals to the DT tank… a Malaysian green joker torch and a pink n green acan. These corals are from Queen City Corals and are absolutely stunning… I added horrible pictures of them… ordered an orange filter to hopefully help with accurate coloring. Went ahead and got these guys as the Duncan is doing extremely well and wanted to start adding more to tank…. plan on holding off on more corals until I see growth in these. They were added last Friday and I’ve been monitoring alk and cal daily until I can figure out an average daily dose then I’ll move back to weekly testing. Plan on daily dosing to help with stability. Eventually this will be automated but I plan on holding off on that… maybe next year when Neptune systems are 20% off on BRS again.

Also went by the lfs today and picked up a yellow coris wrasse and a mandarin goby. These two will be in the QT for the next 2 weeks then they’ll get added to the DT.

Overall, very satisfied with the tank so far. The blenny has been doing great work of keeping algae tame to the point I don’t have to clean algae off the rocks weekly anymore. The torch and acan will be the next challenge. All fish are staying healthy. Once I get the orange filter I’ll add some better pictures!

 

[dangit]

Some updated pictures of the corals. Got a new yellow/orange filter for my phone so the pictures are looking much better. They are looking very colorful and looking forward to seeing the growth in these next few months. Got a white zombie coral from Queen city corals. It’s tiny and hard to see the colors. Hopefully better pics will come once it’s larger

 

[dangit]

Sadly the yellow Corrie wrasse did not make it out of QT. The mandarin did make it out and has been successfully added to the DT. I’ll add some pics soon.

Really debating on what kind of controller to get. Really intrigued by the CoralVue Hydros x10 with built in dosing pumps. Might be the way I go next year. Holding off on this rn but I will have to get one before summer next year (planning a week long vacation and no one will be here to care for the tanks).

I have a boys trip to CO for a ski trip in mid-January. As long as all the corals are doing well when I get back that is when I will go all out and fill the tank up. We are about 4 months up and running and I can’t wait to see what happens over the next 4!

 

[dangit]

Heres a picture of the mandarin. I’ll add some updated pictures of all the fish and corals before the new year!

Merry Christmas!

 

[kevgib67]

Heres a picture of the mandarin. I’ll add some updated pictures of all the fish and corals before the new year!

Merry Christmas!

It is really coming along nicely, I admire your patience. Sorry about the wrasse. Merry Christmas.

 

[dangit]

So I decided to finally work on a DIY controller board with some room to zip cables up and hide them away. Took a couple hours to build then had to wait for the cable grommets to come in from Amazon. Drilled some holes, sanded everything down nice and smooth, and painted it black to match the stand. I think it came out nicely and I still have room to work with for future additions! What do you think?

 

[dangit]

Some updated pictures of the corals. They all seem to be doing well, growing, and staying extremely colorful! Plan to add more corals next week… have some amazing corals picked out.

Fish have been doing great too! Everyone is happy and getting along with each other nicely. Trying to find a red velvet wrasse to add to the tank but other than that no further additions planned for now.

 

[dangit]

Got back from CO, did a 20 gal water change, tested phosphate, alk, and cal to make sure everything was looking and decided to run by Queen City Corals to pick up some new additions for the tank. Picked up a hammer, another acan, and a goniopora. There is definitely a noticeable difference between the coral colors in my tank vs my lfs. Debating on switching to some ecotech g6 as that is what they run. Any suggestions other than buy new lights?

I added the corals in on Saturday and they look to have acclimated well. I moved the coral down as it tipped over while I was gone and the tentacles looked injured. Can now say the torch looks fine and is back to normal - the picture below is from today.

I removed the Zoa frag from the frag plug and glued it to a small rock I had in the sump to create a little zoa rock.

 

[dangit]

Some updated pictures to come later today… Ran into a big headache last weekend when my goni frag fell and got stuck into one of the frag holes in my rock. I was able to get it out but had to take my rock out, broke It so I could reach the other side of the hole and popped the coral out. Did a water change after I got the rock back in and things have been doing fine since but was not ideal.

That resulted in my aquascape coming out a little differently but not a huge change and I think it looks better now.

Got some corals this week from QCC. They are currently chilling in the sand bed while I plan out where everything will go.

 

[dangit]

Recently began feeding my corals benereef instead of reef roids and have noticed that phosphate levels are dropping. I went from .2 to .1 just with one feeding. Trying to keep my phosphate below .1 so starting to get on track

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Recently began feeding my corals benereef instead of reef roids and have noticed that phosphate levels are dropping. I went from .2 to .1 just with one feeding. Trying to keep my phosphate below .1 so starting to get on track

Dude, everything is looking so awesome. I am so jealous, as I only have a 15 gallon tank currently in it's cycling phase. Keep up the good work. My hope one day is to have a nice tank like you!! Good luck!

 

[dangit]

Dude, everything is looking so awesome. I am so jealous, as I only have a 15 gallon tank currently in it's cycling phase. Keep up the good work. My hope one day is to have a nice tank like you!! Good luck!

Thanks for the kind words! The tank still has a long way to go but we are getting there!

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Thanks for the kind words! The tank still has a long way to go but we are getting there!

Glad to hear that it is going well!

 

[jp_75]

So I decided to finally work on a DIY controller board with some room to zip cables up and hide them away. Took a couple hours to build then had to wait for the cable grommets to come in from Amazon. Drilled some holes, sanded everything down nice and smooth, and painted it black to match the stand. I think it came out nicely and I still have room to work with for future additions! What do you
think?

Is that Cyber Power your backup? What did you connect to it? Is if better than Ecotech batteries ?

 

[dangit]

Is that Cyber Power your backup? What did you connect to it? Is if better than Ecotech batteries ?

Yea it’s a UPS I got off of Amazon. Both return pumps are on the backup so water flow never stops. It should work for up to 4 hours which should be good in most cases. I think it is sufficient to keep life support going and could add a heater to the backup power if needed.

If you want to power your vortech power head I saw a YouTube video where they tested the ecotech batteries vs a UPS and the eco tech batteries lasted longer as they lower the power usage during a power outage.