Return of the Cube

[Jamesholt]

12x12x12 Deep Blue Cube.

Will be using the same frame work and light from the 8 inch cube I had up previously.

Still to do,
Either mod HOB filter to skim or make micro sump.
Mount light.
Level platform.
Monitor temp to see if heater is needed..

 

[Maritimer]

Looks like the beginnings of a sweet little ecosystem!

~Bruce

 

[Jorge Linares]

Looking forward to it.

 

[Jamesholt]

Was going to work on it today but ran out of time, there are a few snails, asteria, and bristle worms crawling around in it. The were in the bucket of old sand I used from my 40AIO...
Gonna look online for some tiny shrimp to put in it...

 

[Alpha Fishstick]

12x12x12 Deep Blue Cube.

Will be using the same frame work and light from the 8 inch cube I had up previously.

Still to do,
Either mod HOB filter to skim or make micro sump.
Mount light.
Level platform.
Monitor temp to see if heater is needed..

Modding a HOB to act like a skimmer is something I might like to try.

How is it done?

 

[Jamesholt]

There are kits to do it. Or you can glue/silicone a piece of PVC to the side of the tank, stick the suction side in it ...
You will have to pay close attention to the water level of course...

 

[Alpha Fishstick]

There are kits to do it. Or you can glue/silicone a piece of PVC to the side of the tank, stick the suction side in it ...
You will have to pay close attention to the water level of course...

Okay Thanks

 

[Jamesholt]

If you make a small acrylic or glass box and fasten it at your desired water level, you can trim the suction tube to that level...

 

[Jamesholt]

Fed some Elos sv.M2 pellets to the cube today, brought out all the snails and bristle worms....lol

 

[Jamesholt]

Got the timer for my light, I should have it lit up in the AM
and of course, I have one rock with aiptasia on it...Lol

 

[Jamesholt]

And we have light...

 

[Jamesholt]

Had to put a heater in it, room isn't staying warm enough.
Using the Finnex 100w with digital controller..

Equipment on the cube so far...
12x12x12 deep blue cube.
DIY extruded aluminum stand.
Aqua-Tech HOB filter
Kessil 160 light.
Finnex 100w heater...

 

[Jamesholt]

Moved one of my leathers over today, it looks mad.
Also shortened the siphon for the HOB filter...

 

[Jamesholt]

Had a flare up of dinos, looks like the tank has beaten them back on its own, doing a water change when I get off work, guess I will see then...
Getting two peppermint shrimp this payday to get rid of the aiptasia...

 

[Jamesholt]

Neon Cleaner Goby added today

picture from http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/thefishes/species/4152 mine is still hiding...

Also moved my smallest Blue Damselfish from the hex tank to this cube, the others were picking on him...

 

[Jamesholt]

Well the dinos returned, I moved livestock to a bucket for now, between that and the aiptasia I am bleaching it all and starting over....

 

[Jamesholt]

A few pics of the cube before the water change today...

 

[Katrina71]

Beautiful!

 

[Jamesholt]

So the cube has been cruising along for the most part hands free, a weekly waterchange, feed the fire shimp before the waterchange...
I have decided to up grade a little bit, going with a AquaMaxx 12 Gallon Long Low-Iron Rimless...
Picked up most of the plywood for the Aquamaxx's stand last night, going for a simple open table look, either a black or brown finish, whichever she decides matches the room...
Thinking of either suspending the sump underneath or making a smaller copy of the stand to sit it on...

 

[Jamesholt]

Dont think I posted it but I had crash after crash last year with power outages left and right, I wound up losing most everything in the 8 footer and got rid of it.
The cube got shut down for a bit only corals left are the large leather and the toadstool, moved them and the fire shrimp to a cheap 10 gallon and put it on top of the dresser.
Got the bug again and set the cube back up using the old rock, surprise surprise I got dinos right off the bat.
Did the blackout and fixed that, was taking care of the aiptasia one at a time, and decided to just buy new live rock and sand...
Had some shipped to the house from Salty Bottom Reef, and naturally with my luck UPS decided that it needed to sit on the truck overnight for an extra day so the rock could get down to 40 degrees...
Now if you want to experience an unforgettable smell, that is the way to go...
After a few days, I had to pull all the rock out and give it a good scrubbing, pull off all the dead stuff(Most notable was a 3" mantis tucked up in a hole), probably 10 100% WC...( not but like 5 gallons so no big deal there)
So all this bring us up to today...
I have my cube back up and running, rockscape that I can live with for now (planning on reordering some smaller pieces and more sand)...
I have the rest of the rock I bought sitting in a 10 gallon on the window sill for now...
I also have to Turkey wing clams that made it through all this alive and well...
Rock has been in the cube for 11 days now, thinking next week I should be good with getting some snails in it...
Planning on adding a pair of panda gobies and a fire shrimp or a cleaner shrimp, unless I find a really weird looking shrimp instead...
Anyway, enough typing here's a pic the arrows point to the clams...