My 28g Nanocube New Build

Discussion in 'Nano Reefs' started by NatalieMadison, Dec 2, 2016.

  1. image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg Sea squirts image.jpg image.jpg Here she is...my 28g nano cube. Nearly 2 months in. With all of this beautiful live rock from The Fish Tank, she cycled quickly. Current inhabitants include the standard cleanup crew and the frags from reef fest. Oh...and a little colony of sea squirts. ;)

    I have my eye on some tonga from The Bulk Reef Supply club purchase to carry the eye further upward and provide landing zone for more corals.

    I've decided I really prefer the soft and large polyp corals. I can't wait to start filling in the spaces. I'm going to hold out one more month before adding anything new. Patience is not one of my virtues though.
     
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  2. Kim

    Kim Secretary Staff Member

    Hiya,

    Nice! You're acan's look really happy! Can't wait to see what else you put in it. Any fish heading that way?

    Kim/Benton, AR
     
  3. graciesdad

    graciesdad Treasurer Staff Member

    As you continue to add corals make certain to monitor calcium. This type of algae on your rocks consume calcium. So you don't want to limit growth of corals by a lack of calcium etc . The tank looks awesome! Keep it up!
     
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  4. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Wow! The tank looks awesome! The rock makes it look like a tank that's been running for years!
     
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  5. Thank you! I'm testing and dosing every other day to 3 days right now. Took a bit of trial and error to get the right amount. Seems my alkalinity drops really fast.
     
  6. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Alkalinity will always drop much faster than Calcium. Some tanks up to 2 dKh per day. Before I broke my tank down it would drop from 9.0 to 7.5 in 24 hours if I didn't dose.
     
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  7. Thank you! I know the live rock comes with its share of pests, but I have really, really enjoyed watching it come to life. It cycled so fast! The growth has been amazing. I've seen so many things that I didn't expect to have with a reef aquarium. And I LOVED selecting my own favorite pieces of live rock from The Fish Tank here in Little Rock. Scott helped me visualize the tank space right on their showroom floor. Haha! I'm going to let it season another month and then hope to delve into more corals! But the bivalves, sea squirts, macro algaes, and the little creepy crawlies...I find them all fascinating!
     
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  8. I'm not sure Kim. I absolutely love the little dragonets and the scooter blennies. I know the dragonets are finicky eaters, and this tank is small, but I'm not opposed to learning how to breed plankton and shrimp in a plankton reactor to keep them happy. Reefer is selling his mandarin, but...I'm not sure it would be happy in this sized tank. The scooters though...they just make me grin from ear to ear and one male could be supported in this size tank! Maybe I need a ruby red scooter blenny. :) With one scooter...I'm not sure what else this small tank might support in the "peaceful" fish arena. Any suggestions?
     
  9. A picture of the mushroom coral in place. These are very pretty Kim! image.jpg
     
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  10. 4 months in and a nice selection of corals, and one starry blennie! Scott and Vanessa at The fish tank recommended Starry as a great blend of scooter personality without the risk of him starving to death in a 28g cube. He's adorable! He voraciously gobbled up the algae on the sand bed and on the Halimeda where the snails can't get. He also loves spiralina flakes.
    image.jpg

    During the bulk buy, tonga went out of stock. So, I made ledges and caves using combo rock from The Fish Tank. Starry loves his little cave system. He's the cutest when he sits in the clamshell though.
    image.jpg

    I've trimmed out a bunch of the Halimeda.

    The suncoral are a project of love. 2 days in But I'm hoping to coax them out daily for feeding. Little boogers waited until 11:30 last night to open up for feeding. I have a space reserved for them under the shadow of the rocks.

    I'm dosing alkalinity daily. Calcium levels have stabilized after removing a lot of the Halimeda. Now I dose calcium once a week to keep up.

    Phosphates still may be a problem. I haven't invested in a better test yet. In the meantime I've been adding the phosguard pouch to the filter a few days on a few days off. I noticed the corraline bleaching a bit when I leave it in the filtration for too long.

    And...I know I have a lot of mysis bits leftover after feedings right now. I'm kind of hoping that the detritus will keep my massive bristle worm satiated. I've tried catching him twice but that dude is fast. Bristle worm aside, I might need to reinvest in a bigger cleanup crew to take care of the mess from target feeding.

    I feel like I have filled this tank up, and I'm saving a little room for things to grow. ;). So now it's time for tank #2! image.jpg
    My diamond in the rough. 60g.
     

    Attached Files:

  11. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Can't wait to see the new tank fired up!

    The Starry Blenny is a great fish, so much personality. That live rock is awesome.

    I love the sun coral, I'm looking for a couple of heads of dendro since they will extend their polyps in day light.
     
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  12. graciesdad

    graciesdad Treasurer Staff Member

    with the sun coral you may want to feed it with a Coke bottle so other inhabitants don't eat is food. If you like nps corals check out chili cactus. I had one for years. It was my first coral.
     
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  13. Black sun coral extension! Yea!

    But my tank looks like a snow globe. image.jpg
     
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  14. I can't believe you chose suncoral as your first!! Today was my first day to get extension and feeding on all polyps of the black coral. The peach is still tricky. They're slow and they're tentacles are so short.
     
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  15. The mummy eye chalice reacted beautifully to oyster eggs. I've never seen it "reach" image.jpg this far before.

    My giant bristle worm came out to say hello too. image.jpg
     
  16. Is this the longest that the Orange suncoral tentacles extend? image.jpg
    I feel like the black coral tentacles reach out and snag food better. image.jpg
     
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  17. Great looking tank!! Though I've labeled myself a SPS guy, I love softy and LPS tanks. The sway of polyps and tentacles is mesmerizing! Looking forward to frequent updates!!
     
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  18. Thank you! I love the movement...very calming. This is such an addictive hobby! I now want a tank in every room. ;)
     
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  19. The chili cactus is beautiful!

    Last nights feeding consisted of moving both coral pieces into a big soda cup attached to the inside of my cube where I could add lots of food without completely polluting my tank. Both corals ate well. Yay!

    One of my biggest challenges right now is finding a shady corner with great flow for these guys to live...with easy access for feeding them.
     
  20. I'm thinking regarding the sun polyps on the bottom, probably close to max extension. Seeing those reminds me of Diving Bonaire. There is a well known (for Bonaire) dock completely covered in them.......it's like an underwater orange grove!
     
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