AIO Cube 40g peaceful Macroalgae & Softcoral build

saltybagel · Dec 9, 2023

A little story of the progress of my tank reboot.
I’m excited with how it's coming along so far, and who better to share with than fellow SW aquarium enthusiasts!

The Tech:

Aquatop Reclife ECO 40g AIO

Helio Smart Heater (1x 200W titanium single element) – was going to get the dual element but it wasn’t in stock at the time.

Mightyjet 538 GPH – set to pulse mode

2x Nero 3 wavemakers – both around 30-50% (still messing with it to find best position and GPH), alternate btw random and pulse modes

ATO – Reefbuilders Prism (used on old system for ~2 yrs and still going strong, but will probably replace soon to have peace of mind)

AI Prime 16HD on 18in gooseneck arm (a bit too long, but gives more room to move the light around)

3D Reefing AI Prime 16HD diffuser

The Cycling / Setup Process:

Dry rock and live sand setup (Caribsea Arag-alive, approx. 1 inch sand bed). Not pictured, but what I really like about the scape is from an angle it looks like there is a small canyon/valley between the left rock formation and the rightmost plateau rock.

I started out by cycling with Dr. Tim’s One and Only and dosed with Dr. Tim’s ammonia chloride to do a fishless cycle, lights off. To support faster bacterial growth, I went by the instructions and turned up the temperature (to around 82 F) and lowered the salinity (to around 1.020). It took a good 2-3 weeks, but that was probably due to user error since the nitrites got a bit high at one point (~5-6ppm) so a water change was needed to bring it down <5ppm nitrite.

Once the ammonia and nitrites were down to undetectable levels (reading zero) and I recorded ~20ppm Nitrate in the tank, I brought the salinity back up to 1.025 and temperature down to 78 F. pH has been reading consistently ~7.8, but I attribute that to using an API pH test kits and possibly higher CO2 levels in house. I will address this by increasing surface agitation and bringing up alkalinity/calcium levels once Alk and Calcium HANNA checkers arrive.

Light Configuration:

Once the tank was nitrogen cycled, I turned on the light to start messing with the lighting schedule. I also added a diffuser since the disco ball effect was strong and it was making it hard to look at the tank. I wanted to get as close as I could to an ideal PAR for soft coral/LPS setup while having a more intense green and red spectra for macroalgae growth.

After looking through the Ecotech CoralLab (2016?) PAR studies and BRS PAR level recommendations videos, I settled on the following….

Aiming for a 9 hour photoperiod, but I wanted more time with the lights on, so modified to 5 hour full light with 2 hour ramps.

Set up the moonlight function for funsies, it’s only bright enough so I can kind of see the tank when the room is dark.

Overall, aimed for high blues, a decent amount of reds/greens but not overbearing, and then increased white intensity until it looked decent. The percentages were adjusted up bit by bit until I was getting a PAR reading of about 100-135 at the top portions of my hardscape, and around 70-100ish mid to low in hardscape.

Let there be life!

Then after a few days (once the order came in) I added in a jar of Algaebarn copepods (5280 pods - Tigripous, Tisbe, Apocyclops). I started dosing small amounts of Oceanmagik to supplement the population, since the tank is still mostly sterile. A few days after that my macroalgae order arrived, and I added my 2 jars of Algaebarn red macroalgae Dragon’s breath (Halymenia durvillei) and Pom Pom (Gracilaria Hayi) to the rocks.

I monitored the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels every few days, and dosed in vendor recommendation of Oceanmagik (live phytoplankton) every few days to supplement growth of copepod population. I also dosed the vendor recommendation of ChaetoGro to help with macroalgae growth. To get some phosphates in the water, I added a few pinches of sinking & flake fish food.

Let there be [more] life!

Received my HANNA checkers in the mail and brought my Alkalinity up to around 8.0-8.1, and my Calcium up to ~420. This was done using AllforReef and Baking Soda (100% sodium bicarbonate).

Diatoms starting to become visible on rocks and portions of sand. I bet the silicates are coming from the new wavemakers since the tank is not new.

After consistent readings of pH 7.9-8.0, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate ~20ppm, Alkalinity 8-8.1, Calcium 400-420 for a few weeks, I added in 6x nassarius snails and 4x cerith snails. I was worried there wasn’t enough algae in there as a food source, so I put in an algae wafer for the cerith, and pinched in some sinking fish food for the nassarius.

Then, I added in 2 smallish Orange Spiny photosynthetic gorgonians from SeaHorse Savvy. I started them out on the sandbed, and once they looked less stressed a week later, I moved one onto a rock that had approx. the same PAR (just ~10 PAR higher) and more flow. Still deciding where to move the second one. I supplement their diet with a few mL live phytoplankton (Oceanmagik) every few days.

What's really cool is I noticed a couple tiny little brittle stars clinging on to one of the gorgonian branches (picture from when I first added them in):

Also unfortunately noticing a small bloom of hydroids / hydromedusae (maybe Staurocladia oahuensis?) on tank glass

The copepod population is now booming (tons all over the back wall). So a few days ago, I finally added in my first fish, a pre-quarantined Hector’s goby from TSM aquatics. He arrived with a full belly and colored up almost as soon as he became temperature and drip acclimated. It’s only been a few days and he is already out picking at the sand every once in a while, though he is still hiding a lot (to be expected). Lucky me, he picked out a burrow right at the front of the aquarium! I have been target feeding him a bit of frozen baby brine shrimp and TDO B2 Chroma Boost (TSM aquatics recommended, since that was what he was eating before). He will take one or two mouthfuls and then doesn't seem to care for it.

Here are some pictures of him out and about. Love this little fish!
I made sure to add a mesh lid to help prevent any potential jump escapes.