24G Nano Cube DX Nano Reef Setup

[steelhealr]

Hi JD.....many people switch the SW mix if they are not happy. I use Oceanic...dissolves quickly. If I was going to change tho', I would probably phase out the old stuff by serially increasing the mix of the new one with the other. Interesting note tho'...if you go back to page 1 of this thread, I put a link to an ariticle written by an R Shimek (writes excellent stuff) showing a study comparing Crystal Marinemix, Instant Ocean and Corallife salt mix. The findings are very interesting...compelling enough that I was looking for where they sell it. Gonna hang with Oceanic for now.

Similar to your Ca2+ problem, I am having a 'pH problem' in that my pH is 8.2 at mixing and 7.8 after adding. I'm comfortable for now that it may be a new tank/cycling thing (?organic acids) as others have posted similarly. I'm not going to adjust it. Despite this, everyone looks happy in the tank for now. SH

 

[Salt Freak]

I have always dosed my tank with calcium iodine strontium molybdium and coral-vite all by kent marine never had a problem actually had benefits, you could really tell that adding those additives to the water made my corals and inverts much more happier.

 

[chkltcow]

I use the B-ionic 2 part system, and yeah... you can tell a difference before and after. It's supposed to be one of these all-in-one things that has all the iodine, strontium, calcium, and other trace elements that one needs.

 

[steelhealr]

Update

First pest arrived....I think I see one area of bubble algae arising on the back rock. Bubble algae is not normally a sign of bad water conditions, but, is a hitchhiker on LR. It can take over your tank. I'm going to have to try and pull it off tomorrow.

I have some nice areas of coralline algae coming up. Most of that chalkiness is gone.

All tank inhabitants are alive and doing well. The firefish is less shy, but, doesn't seem to be eating. The ocellaris is eating the cyclopeeze and also took slow sinking pellet type food. The clown goby has been invisible. Pic:

Newbie DIY

For those following along..as you know, topping off is a constant thing now. Now I know why people have invented auto-topoff systems. Well....holding a 2.5 gallon jug of RO water at shoulder level and spending 10-15 minutes pouring water in ....well..let's just say I'm tired of getting my shoes wet. LOL. Besides, now that I have livestock and inverts, you can see the disturbance in the water as you pour RO water in. So....I just quickly put together a quick cheapo timesaver until I figure out whether or not I have the time to get an automatic system (I'll have to research the float valve thing).

Here is my temporizing DIY:
I have access to medical stuff, so, I grabbed some IV tubing and a canister. Aquarium tubing, any plastic jug and a gang valve would do the same thing.

I drilled a small hole in the bottom side of the canister, fit the tubing in and siliconed it together. Voila...fill it and adjust it to a drip. Now..this is not aesthetic to the eye, but, I'll put it up at night and take it down in the morning and back in the stand. Now, I don't have to hold anything, topping off is gradual with less risk of a temp change or floating gobs of pure water past the animals. I think it's time to start thinking about corals and researching it. SH

 

[pipatic]

good idea that !!!

 

[Riley]

Yeah that is a good Idea

 

[Navarre]

Sorry for the late comment but i would urge you to reconsider the lawnmowwer blenny for a tank of this size. 2 reasons really.. Firstly, they are extrem,ly difficult yo ween onto anything other than algae tht grows naturally. My algae blenny could just about keep up with my 100 gallon system. A small er system may find that the algae blenny will be too efficient and it will then later starve to death. 2nd Algae blennys are not the tiny lovable little fish you see hopin garound the tanks in your lfs. They get big.. (very big for a blenny) I had one last year that was 5 inches nose to tail and still had more grwoing to do IMO.
They are otherwise very peacefuland great additions to any tank but be aware that the 2 points i raised may not be an issue immediately but 12 months from now you may have problems.

 

[steelhealr]

Noted Navarre...I absolutely agree with you. I was doing more reading and what you say is true...the blenny can grow up to 5 inches..that in itself is too large for this system and puts a risk on taxing the bioload as well. He looks really cool tho'. Perhaps a watchman would be better? SH

 

[Navarre]

Watchman goby is good
Perhaps adding a pistol shrimp as its partner will also make an interesting addition.

 

[steelhealr]

Update

Hi...experience is the best teacher. I lurked and read in nano stuff for more than a month before setting up my 24G Nano Cube. So, who knew that a bulkhead wasn't just a partition in a ship or submarine (doh!). So...I can only dream of one of those gorgeous tanks with only 10X flow...but......wait, hmmmmm.

You know, I tried that famous mod of putting the stock pump in my first chamber since I swapped it our for a Maxijet 1200 in chamber 3 (see..I did my reading). Didn't fit well behind that grate....shot water upward...pulled debris out of the sponge (which I have since gotten rid of)....those guys must know something that I don't. LOL. It still made more sense to me tho', that, flow should continue in a progression from chamber 1 --> 3. So...I had a Maxijet 400 that I had purchased for mixing salt..decided to use that instead of the stock pump...and tried to see what I could do with it. Here it goes:

Parts:
1) 1/2 elbows, Home Depot, sprinkler area
2) black tubing
3) ratchet ties

I apologize for the slightly cloudy pic as I stirred up some stuff while putting the mod in. The outflow nozzle actually doesn't have a big profile at all and I feel much better that I didn't have to put the entire powerhead in the chamber. The clearance between the splash guard and the tubing is close but the hood closes completely and securely. The water level in all three chambers hasn't fallen. The only thing I have to watch now is water temp. By my calculations, I should have 17X flow.

So...this certainly is not the greatest mod compared to those who have the technical skill and time and forethought to drill a bulkhead ( a what?? lol), but, I'm posting this, to help out other starters like myself. I hope this helped. Thanks for your time. SH

 

[steelhealr]

Just adding some info:

--having a small second algae bloom..you can see some of it in the pix here next. I added three margarita snails today. Total cleanup crew to date:
1) 5 astrea snails
2) 5 Nassarius snails
3) 3 margarita snails
4) 2 mithrax (emerald ) crabs
5) 4 hermits, 2 scarlet and 2 blue legged
6) 1 skunk cleaner shrimp.

I'm starting to get some nice areas of coralline algae:

SH

 

[steelhealr]

Nano Cube Animals to Avoid (or Where Did My Fish Go?)

OK...some thoughts about what NOT to put in our cube. Remember how great the iridescent sharks looked in the tank at the lfs?? Who knew as a newly cycled FW tank owner that it would grow to 30 inches and overload the tank? Well...same here. It's very important to research your livestock before adding them to this system: compatibility with other fish, eating requirements. size, difficulty in care and aggressiveness. Here are just a few animals that should probably be avoided until some experience is gained:

Fish

1) Fish that will overload your system: This includes any fish that will grow larger than 'nano' size. Angels, puffers, tangs, lionfish, morays, etc

2) Mandarin Goby (Dragonette): I saw one at the lfs the other day..it's just an incredibly beautiful fish. Very tempting to buy. They eat the copepods and other small crustaceans in the tank. However, a nano cube is very small and the possibility of the fish starving to death is high. Posts say that they do not take other food readily.

Invertebrates

1) Certain starfish
2) Nudibranchs
3) Some snails....many posts say bumble bee snails are aggressive; Turbo snails can get very large and knock over things
4) Sally Lightfoots and Arrow Crabs if you are going to have corals

Corals

1) Frogspawn...can sting other corals
2) Galaxia...same
3) Gonipora..don't do well in captivity

Anemones, Special Mention

Just one note...there are many disaster posts about keeping an anemone in a nano cube. These animals can live for many years and require extremely high lighting setups and also nearly perfect water conditions. They should not be in a nano cube for starters if at all. The animal, when it notes conditions are not right, will begin to move in an attempt to find a better 'spot'. When the anemone dies, it pollutes and poisons the entire tank. One person posted that when it died it got pulled into the suction grate and was shot into hundreds of pieces into the tank. Food for thought. AND..yes..'Nemo' can exist in a tank without an anemone. SH

 

[SHELL]

Hi SH

We have just bought a mandarin fish for our nano, we talked to the guy at our LFS, they are very knowledgeable and specialise in Marine and the mandarin fish that they have are all eating frozen food, live brine and flake food, i was a bit wary at first but he fed them in front of us with frozen brine and she readily accepted this so we took her home . We have also fed tonight and she again took this readily and is grazing around the tank as we speak, she is small - about 2inches but has a great charcter, we will monitor the feeding situation to see how she goes and i will keep you updated!

Cheers
Shell

 

[steelhealr]

Shell..that's excellent!!! Keep us posted here and if you have good success, people who see this thread may learn how to overcome the difficulties. I'm reading a new book that was just published (see the link on the first page)..the author is very upbeat on renewing the interest in this fish. Come back and post a pic here and give us some pointers on to care for them the adjustment period is over. SH

 

[steelhealr]

Hi...back to the above response, I found another article on mandarin gobys. I recommend reading it before buying one. SH

http/www.reefcentral.com/modules.php?s=&...=showpage&pid=3