24g Dx - Setup Question

[Koraal]

The pic is my new 24 G Nano DX. Setup this morning - still a bit clowdy. My question is what to do with the smaller pieces up front in the pic. Do most of you epoxy them together and make some arches or just stack them up. If the latter what about the pieces falling when corals have been placed? I already have placed the rubble - or the very small pieces - in the middle chamber in the back - yes I read the SH thread and will make that a refugium.

 

[crazyelece]

personally I use superglue gel instead of epoxy because it can be freed later on if needed. And I only use that where the rocks don't seem stable on there own.

 

[SkiFletch]

Agreed, you can place them in whatever orientation you like with some super glue gel. It even cures underwater, so you can just slap the tube in there.

 

[steelhealr]

Looks light on LR and looks like too much ? tonga branch??? SH

 

[Koraal]

I already have some putty - but I'll find the glue since I like the idea of taking the rock apart if ever necessary.
The live rock is from Liveaquaria.com - The Fuji Premium select package. 22 lbs. It came as one huge piece and some small pieces - plus the shipping rubble. I've read it is a little low for the 20 gallons - that's all I could get into the Nanocube not 24 gallon - but I will keep the stock low. This is more like a test setup to find out if I like having a reef tank as much as I admire the beauty of the reef aquaria. The live rock arrived with some with red and green algae on the rock and a substantial soft coral (green - and not identified - look like a polyp).

I have another question about the cycling. After reading the wait time is variable - but usually around 6-8 weeks or so - I wonder why I am not seeing any ammonia increase after 8 days of the tank running. Below are the measurement taken with the "Aquarium Pharmaceuticals) test kit. You can see the PH is rising and hopefully stabalizing. The strange thing I don't get is why are there Nitrates but no Ammonia or Nitrite. here sure is some die-off from the live rock being swirled around.

Date of measurements: 16-Jul-06 ; 20-Jul-06 ; 23-Jul-06
Temperature (F): 81.9 ; 80 ; 80.2
Specific Gravity: 1.0235 ; 1.0235 ; 1.0235
pH (Alkalinity) : 7.8 ; 8 ; 8.2
Ammonia (NH3/NH4+): 0; 0 ; 0
Nitrite (NO2-): 0.25 ; 0 ; 0
Nitrate (NO3-): 40 ; 40 ; 40

 

[SkiFletch]

Actually, there's not always enough dieoff to produce an ammonia spike. Sometimesyou only see nitrite, sometimes you dont see anything... depends

 

[crazyelece]

I agree, sometimes you can get little to no spike. I would give it a little time (a couple of weeks or so) just to see if it stays stable. If it does continue on to the next stage, but do so cautiously. Slowly stock the tank and monitor the levels

 

[Koraal]

That's what I will be doing. The nitrates levels stay high for now.

Rearranged the rock slightly and have a new shot. I'm starting the see some new live forms. I think it must be aiptasia or maybe if I'm lucky some kind of tube worm. It seems to grow fast (all relative of course).

I've also added a mini protein skimmer to see what it produces. It's so small it fits into the first chamber of the Nanocube. I do notice some microbubbles in the main tank now. Is that a problem?