Another 50g Cube build/resurrection....

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Not much to report, running the t5 hybrid setup, need to check par numbers but In loving it overall. N&P definitely bottomed out so I may need to start dosing phosphates. I am planning to use either all for reef or switch to a salt with a higher dkh.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Just got in my 1st low buck order from aqua SD to try out some sps....

They made a believer out of me. Beautifully packed, not freezing, I'm more than ecstatic. Got from San Diego to the Long Beach area quick (as it should).

Hope they hold up! Thanks @TeamAquaSD !

 

[BryanS4]

Figured out real quick, I need MOAR light... Haven't even checked par, but it's gonna be a issue with trying sps. I went with a 4 bulb aquatic life t5 hybrid fixture, need to decide on bulb choices.

Also added one of two mp40's as one will be mailed off for repair of the wetside tomorrow.

I just started the same tank, with a 4 bulb ATI and went with 2 Blue + and 2 Coral +. Also plan on two Quanta Pro bars.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I just started the same tank, with a 4 bulb ATI and went with 2 Blue + and 2 Coral +. Also plan on two Quanta Pro bars.

I went with reefbrite bulbs as usual, two 50/50 (coral plus), one actinic and one blue plus. Also running an smat farm led fixture for ramping and some shimmer.

 

[bakbay]

Light looks good, esp with the latest pic! Keep up the great work!

 

[Northern Flicker]

Tank is looking fantastic.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Not much happening, sticks are slowly growing... Had some stylos bleach a bit so I needed to move them around and decided to pair up my single pink skunk, after a few minutes of submission the existing larger one has settled down.

Otherwise all is well

Parameters as of recently (last week):

Ill try to bring down the nitrates a few points but I'm overall happy where it is. Maybe a slight boost of alk.

Also lost the royal pencil wrasse (Pseudojuloides severnsi) it just didnt acclimate well @ all.

 

[bakbay]

Not much happening, sticks are slowly growing... Had some stylos bleach a bit so I needed to move them around and decided to pair up my single pink skunk, after a few minutes of submission the existing larger one has settled down.

Otherwise all is well

Parameters as of recently (last week):

Ill try to bring down the nitrates a few points but I'm overall happy where it is. Maybe a slight boost of alk.

Also lost the royal pencil wrasse (Pseudojuloides severnsi) it just didnt acclimate well @ all.

Nitrate ain’t bad — I’m running at 25 and things are fine. I think corals are picky with phosphate than nitrate. Agree on Alk - 8’ish give you some buffer and IME gives better coloration than higher Alk.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Nitrate ain’t bad — I’m running at 25 and things are fine. I think corals are picky with phosphate than nitrate. Agree on Alk - 8’ish give you some buffer and IME gives better coloration than higher Alk.

I've been dosing AFR currently, so I'm going to bump that up from 5ml a day to 7.5 and see what I get.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Still keeping this alive, between work, life, summertime fun, havent been much happening.

Lost one of my skunk clowns through the egg crate. It was the original one which was always skittish to everything, may try again to pair, may not.

Upside aiptasia eradication is working, either the new CBB (leaning towards it) or the filefish.

Not much else to report, glued some frags to the rock that's about it.

FTS:

Have I ever said how much I love low iron glass!

Top down:

 

[bakbay]

You got pretty good coralline algae growth in the back glass. I can’t seem to grow them to save my life, even on the 2.5yo tank!

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

You got pretty good coralline algae growth in the back glass. I can’t seem to grow them to save my life, even on the 2.5yo tank!

Man that coralline growth is fierce. It will be on the display glass in a week if I dont scrape. I was just pleased with the tank for a change, been a bit lazy with it for the past few weeks and decided to remove the eggcrate since the one fearful jumper (older female pink skunk), jumped, lol.

Also did my first wc with aquaforest, do we will see how that goes.

 

[Miami Reef]

Following! Looks great!

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Not much to report, stuff is growing! Also got a waaayyy underfed convict tang for the whopping price of a beer. That's right one beer. Also had a trochus try to escape.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Sigh... Not much to say besides I've been screwing up with the TM AFR dosing. End game is most of my sps frags croaked. Prolly switching down to the Aqua forest salt didn't help. Was running IORC for years and recently decided to dose at a miniscule scale.

Precipitation packed up the rigid doser tube and crapped out.

Once the AF is gone, back to IORC salt.

Atop of that, my wood stand is prolly on its last legs, so the cube tank will see a reboot.

I decided to order a aluminum stand, it's assembled! All in I will be less than 1/2 of the cost from the big boys since it was order via chinahut (Alibaba).

 

[bakbay]

Sorry to hear - that sucks. That’s why I don’t muck with my params, once things line up / within range, I’ll try to stick with it.

Stand: that is one sexy setup! I always wanted alum stands actually. Love the clean look and never have to work about warping

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Sorry to hear - that sucks. That’s why I don’t muck with my params, once things line up / within range, I’ll try to stick with it.

Stand: that is one sexy setup! I always wanted alum stands actually. Love the clean look and never have to work about warping

The salt swap was on me, should of stuck with what I know. Back to what I know now. Af's non reef params are ultra low. I was using IO & IORC with no issues.

The stand is legit, shipped to my door for under 150$. Bought some extra 3030 extrusion from Amazon for some xtra bracing top & bottom also to do a canopy. I'll never do another wooden stand again.

 

[bakbay]

The salt swap was on me, should of stuck with what I know. Back to what I know now. Af's non reef params are ultra low. I was using IO & IORC with no issues.

The stand is legit, shipped to my door for under 150$. Bought some extra 3030 extrusion from Amazon for some xtra bracing top & bottom also to do a canopy. I'll never do another wooden stand again.

If you’re around my ‘hood, stop by and I’ll hook you up with some sticks to recover.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

If you’re around my ‘hood, stop by and I’ll hook you up with some sticks to recover.

All ya gotta do is say when. I'm good at helping out with whatever you imbibe in or cash for the cause.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Not much to report but I did cut down some old HDF I had lying around for the top and bottom of the aquarium stand. I don't have access to a GOOD table saw outside of work, but my fellow coworkers allowed me into their domain to use what I needed.

Perfect 24" by 24" cuts. Also got my corners cut for the bottom shelving. I'm leaning towards black oil based paint to try and seal up the HDF or vinyl skinning, but I'm open to ideas. Also ordered 1" banding for the edges.

We have a cabinet maker in house, so may have a line on my skinning for the stand.

Random pics of metal & wood work shop:

Metal Side

Wood Side: