BioCube 16: Schitt’s Reef

[ZzyzxRiver]

Sure wish I took a photo of that sand sifting star I bought on impulse—it dove under in thirty seconds, and who knows if I’ll ever see it again!

 

[goody]

I just set up my 14g Biocube in my classroom for this school year, so I've enjoyed reading and watching the progress of your tank.

The macros were great additions. I have a planted tank and will probably add some to our tank.

Gonis need iron and manganese, so if you buy more, you might want to dose those supplements. Or maybe dose Chaetogro which your macro will also benefit from.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

I just set up my 14g Biocube in my classroom for this school year, so I've enjoyed reading and watching the progress of your tank.

The macros were great additions. I have a planted tank and will probably add some to our tank.

Gonis need iron and manganese, so if you buy more, you might want to dose those supplements. Or maybe dose Chaetogro which your macro will also benefit from.

That sounds like a great project! Do you have a build thread? I love watching tanks progress.

I recommend string of pearls for decorative macro- they are set-and-forget easy and also easy to keep under control. Blue hypnea is gorgeous but if you want to trim you’re in trouble- any bit that gets away will land somewhere else and start a new little bush. Red hex was great but the emerald crab took a liking to it. They also all suffered during the worst of my GHA phase—but I also think they prevented me from having as bad of one as I could have.

I’ll probably skip trying goniapora again- I would be open to dosing a bigger tank but for a 16 it seems like overkill.

 

[goody]

That sounds like a great project! Do you have a build thread? I love watching tanks progress.

I recommend string of pearls for decorative macro- they are set-and-forget easy and also easy to keep under control. Blue hypnea is gorgeous but if you want to trim you’re in trouble- any bit that gets away will land somewhere else and start a new little bush. Red hex was great but the emerald crab took a liking to it. They also all suffered during the worst of my GHA phase—but I also think they prevented me from having as bad of one as I could have.

I’ll probably skip trying goniapora again- I would be open to dosing a bigger tank but for a 16 it seems like overkill.

I like both of those macros you mention and have them in my refugium for my display tank, along with several others. About a year ago I just started appreciating them for more than their nutrient export. There are so many beautiful macros. I highly recommend you get the one that Mosaic Macros calls Orange Galaxy. I've also seen it listed as Atomic Broccoli. Included a pic of my refugium . My planted tank has had an outbreak of bubble algae and aptaisia. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/classroom-tank-14g-biocube.1072152/

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

I’ve seen it listed as atomic broccoli- super beautiful, but I’m out of room for macros at this point. I’m only almost to four months and I’m already feeling like I need a bigger reef haha

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Quite the buffet: sexy shrimp making a meal out of the cleaner shrimp’s molt. Peppermint shrimp molt also hanging out in the tank dead zone. (Rhodactis frag fell to the ground after a snail quake last night)

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Oh. He wasn’t hanging out, he died. Why would two shrimp molt and one die all on the same day? Could this be related to the water change I did a few days ago?

Now I have zero sexy shrimp.

 

[Fishy Guy]

Oh. He wasn’t hanging out, he died. Why would two shrimp molt and one die all on the same day? Could this be related to the water change I did a few days ago?

Now I have zero sexy shrimp.

Dang, sorry to hear. I have more experience with freshwater shrimp than saltwater but my first thought was a failed molt.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

First, the FTS:

Not a ton to add. The sea whip polyps are approaching full size again, and it’s in the midst of its first shed since the polyps came back.

I have been over feeding, because I love watching the fish eat, but I’m seeing the first signs of GHA looking like it wants to come back, so I have to reel myself back in. The CUC gets the rocks fine but once it takes hold of the string of pearls macro I have no choice but to prune it back.

I do want to prune my blue hypnea back a bit. It seems like a waste to toss it, but I don’t want to go to the hassle of trying to sell chunks on FB groups for what, 15 bucks? Then again, I am wanting to upgrade to a bigger tank, LOL.

Firework cloves look great and are growing quickly on their rock.

Pink zipper zoas arent visible, they fell from my desired spot onto the substrate- behind the clove rock. They seem fine for now so I’m letting them relax before I try to find them a more secure location.

My closed-up AOIs are beginning to reopen after a shed. They still look like crap, not sure why.

Cyphastrea and Echinophyllia (thought it was a favite, turns out it’s a kind of chalice?) both still on deaths door, I’ve given up on trying to save them and will just wait and see what happens.

I miss my sexy shrimp! I am going to wait a while and then try to get whatever that shrimp is called that yellow watchmen gobies like to hang out with.

Hope everyone’s doing well with their tanks! Oh, here’s a pic I made for another thread, LOL:

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Nothing satisfies like GSP rolling out its own welcome mat, I tell ya. This is going about a ml per day or two? Simultaneously feels slow but also very fast. Taking this pic to compare later!

 

[wjm6449]

Paint me impressed. I ran a 16 biocube and it got me hooked. Went to a 125 but what ended my run with the biocube was two factors. The light failed after a year (really failed) and a massive aptasia outbreak. Now I’m a little wiser and a little more experienced and still have training wheels on for the big tank but it made a big difference.

TLDR. You’re gonna need to really consider upgrading your light in the near future.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Wedged my pink zippers into this crack— it WAS a tunnel my YWG could get through but he had enough tunnels, sorry David!
Weirdly, though lower down in the tank, the bodies are significantly less stretched out than they were when they were placed on the cliff. Probably because they’re smack in the middle? Anyway, up to 12 polyps from the original 3!


The Rasta above it started with 4 and has popped out two new ones just in the few weeks it’s been in the tank.

Plucked out a big chunk of hypnea that didn’t like it when I turned the rock upside down during a remodel. It grows somewhat slowly so the fireworks will probably advance quite a ways before it returns to any size. I think they might look really beautiful mixed up together!


(Note the goniapora skeleton on the frag next to the fireworks- the skeleton is getting filled in with coralline! I’ll try to get a closeup later)

Finally, a toadstool/duncan/pipe organ update:

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Omg I can’t believe I forgot to mention a hitchhiker I discovered! My very first spaghetti worm:



Unfortunately, he will surely die at the hands of my sand sifting star, soon.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Paint me impressed. I ran a 16 biocube and it got me hooked. Went to a 125 but what ended my run with the biocube was two factors. The light failed after a year (really failed) and a massive aptasia outbreak. Now I’m a little wiser and a little more experienced and still have training wheels on for the big tank but it made a big difference.

TLDR. You’re gonna need to really consider upgrading your light in the near future.

My upgrade tank is already in the planning stages, so this biocube won’t even be around long enough to expire haha!

 

[aztoza]

My upgrade tank is already in the planning stages, so this biocube won’t even be around long enough to expire haha!

What are you thinking of doing with the 16? Sell, or keep as a QT or frag tank or anything? Will you transfer livestock or start over?

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

What are you thinking of doing with the 16? Sell, or keep as a QT or frag tank or anything? Will you transfer livestock or start over?

Probably sell, I don’t have the bandwidth for two systems at once. Definitely transferring everything over, though I am thinking I want to redesign the aquascape. The rock structure looks cool but it’s too much cliff and not enough surface. I want to glue together some kind of fancy structure with the additional rock I’ll have room for. It’ll be interesting to see how new rock develops in a tank with existing (somewhat) established rock.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Also: happy 4-month birthday to Schitt’s Reef! I added my first clowns and an ill-fated BTA on June 4th and have come so far since. The best part has been watching my baby become a toddler and grow his interest in the tank and its critters as they develop. He even points to the Xenia and says ‘gol’ (the word in Farsi for flowers). Truly thankful for this hobby for being a great upgrade to my life and this community for being such a great place to hang out online!

 

[chaewon]

Also: happy 4-month birthday to Schitt’s Reef! I added my first clowns and an ill-fated BTA on June 4th and have come so far since. The best part has been watching my baby become a toddler and grow his interest in the tank and its critters as they develop. He even points to the Xenia and says ‘gol’ (the word in Farsi for flowers). Truly thankful for this hobby for being a great upgrade to my life and this community for being such a great place to hang out online!

Loved following along and seeing the progession of your tank! Excited to see what the upgrade looks like

Funnily enough, my first ever tank had a similar scape to yours and mounting frags was tricky.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Loved following along and seeing the progession of your tank! Excited to see what the upgrade looks like

Funnily enough, my first ever tank had a similar scape to yours and mounting frags was tricky.

I’ve learned that plugs are my enemy—i need to learn how to break plugs and discs so I can lodge the frags anywhere I want them to go.
Super cool scape- I love arches!

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

This is the kind of stuff that is probably only interesting to me, but whatever. I moved and rotated this rock ten days ago, revealing a side that has been under the substrate since the tank’s inception- perfectly white. Ten days on, it looks like this! It’s like a very pale yellowish green I almost want to say biofilm but I dunno if that’s the right word. It looks like it’s wrapped around it more than actually *on* the rock.

Interested to see what happens next- if GHA makes its move, or corraline, or what!