HS Biology 32g Biocube build

[Miamialum620]

Interesting circulation pump placement. Make sure that isn't kicking up sand on your gsp as well.

I actually had it in a different spot on the right hand side of the tank about halfway down. My LFS mentioned attaching it to the back wall and pointing it straight to the front glass which will cause the water to flow around front to back and keep the glass clean as well. I had to readjust it during my last period because I noticed a little crater in the sand close to where the green star was sitting.

 

[Vivid Creative Aquatics]

Thank you to Vivid Creative Aquatics for the variable flow adapter. Super easy to install and still has the maneuverability of the stock adapter. Wasn’t able to attach a video file on the Tapatalk app but when I put my hand in front of it you can feel the variable flow.

Looks great!
Sorry it took so long to check in on this build - had a pretty busy schedule that last few months. The tank looks like it''s coming along nicely.

 

[Miamialum620]

I forgot to thank @BadPanda for the tunze 9001 skimmer. I’ve actually never had or seen a protein skimmer in use and a lot of the YouTube videos are more reviews than straight up tutorials of what to to expect. So I’m not entirely sure if everything is working the way it’s supposed to.

I’m pretty sure I installed everything correctly and some foam started generating after a few days.

 

[Miamialum620]

Feel like a proud papa now that the green star is opening up.

Explaining coral to the kids will be fun because most just see a new piece of rock in the tank and focus on the fish.

 

[Miamialum620]

Any recommendations for an auto feeder to fit with the biocube?

With Thanksgiving and Christmas break coming up, I won’t be able to come in and feed the fish.

The teacher next door to me has one of the small JBJ nanocubes and mentioned a hydor auto feeder that he has but his lid configuration is different than mine and he also said that when he got back from break the feeder had dumped out too much food.

 

[Algaewarrior]

Any recommendations for an auto feeder to fit with the biocube?

With Thanksgiving and Christmas break coming up, I won’t be able to come in and feed the fish.

The teacher next door to me has one of the small JBJ nanocubes and mentioned a hydor auto feeder that he has but his lid configuration is different than mine and he also said that when he got back from break the feeder had dumped out too much food.

I use londafish auto feeder. $28 on Amazon. You can schedule it with your phone. I would recommend feeding every other day. Pellets are packed with nutrition so a little goes a long way. I had some algae issues when I got back from my vacation and I was feeding once a day. It comes with velcro so you can open the food hole and set it there.

 

[Miamialum620]

Just got back to my classroom from thanksgiving break and luckily all of the fish survived. The same can’t be said for my green star though.

Is it beyond saving or even possible to save?

 

[cmcoker]

Green star polyps are pretty hardy. I wouldnt toss them as long as there is tissue present

 

[Miamialum620]

Green star polyps are pretty hardy. I wouldnt toss them as long as there is tissue present

Is there anything I could do or should be doing to salvage it?

 

[cmcoker]

Anything change over the holiday? Light schedule, feeding routine, was it being topped off for evap?

 

[cmcoker]

Double post

 

[norfolkgarden]

Parameters?

My long tentacle GSP hates nitrate.

But don't throw it away. It should come back just fine in a few weeks.

 

[Katrina71]

Your GSP will come back. Wait 6 weeks and see...

 

[Miamialum620]

I made my last post a few weeks ago after getting back from thanksgiving break and finding my GSP eaten. A few days later it got a little worse and here is a current picture.

There really isn’t much left as you can see. I moved the rock it’s on to the top of the tank so it can get more flow, light, and out of the way of the emerald crabs until it starts making a recovery. I do see one of the tentacles of the GSP extending itself every once in a while which gives me hope that’s it not fully dead yet. Any other suggestions would be helpful.

 

[Algaewarrior]

Update?

 

[Miamialum620]

I’ve been in New York for the last 2 weeks and even if I were still in sunny south Florida I wouldn’t have access to the tank over break. I’m really hoping everything is in one piece when I get back on Monday.

I made sure to do a water change and check parameters right before I left. I also purchased a small auto feeder. I’ll make sure to post some pics when I get back.

 

[Miamialum620]

Here are a couple of pictures of what I came back to today. Seems like all of my fish are still alive or at least the ones I can see. The GSP is very much still dead. I’m going to be doing a partial water change and testing the water parameters before heading to my LFS. Good news is my protein skimmer finally started producing some nice skim.

 

[Miamialum620]

Is there an amount of time I should be running my lights?

I currently have it running for about 12 hours total. I’d have to check the exact settings tomorrow when I get back to my classroom.

I found this schedule I believe on this forum and made some slight adjustments to fit the school day.

 

[Miamialum620]

Stopped by my LFS (@Exoticaquatic) in Ft. Lauderdale yesterday and got some new additions to the tank.

2 fire fish
2 nassarius snails
1 gsp
1 fire and ice zoanthid (I think)

The fire fish may be the kids’ new favorite. I was impressed by its color in the store but it really pops in this tank. Can’t imagine if I had an AI Prime or Kessil.

The zoanthids opened up really quick which I’m happy about considering how my last coral purchase went. The gsp I bought this time was a very large piece and hoping it does better than the last one.

Have any of you run into an issue of inverts eating your coral?

 

[Miamialum620]

Just a pic of the nassarius snail who decided to come out of hiding