Coolaid's 28g Nano Cube

[Coolaid]

This is my Nano Cube after cycle and first frags.. This was about 4 months ago.

Mods done
nanotuners CREE LED lighting
2nd chamber turned into a refugium
added a bio cube nano skimmer (pretty useless)
hydor flo return nozzle
nano 425 powerhead
maxijet 900 return pump
cassette surface skimmer

Live stock

Fish
6 line wrasse
Fire Fish
Goby / Pistol pair
pair black O. Clowns

(Yes it's over stocked.. they are eventually all moving to a 90)

Corals
Frog spawn
Indo Torch
Various acans
pagoda cup
various zoas
duncan
goni
scoly
GSP

I'm sure I am forgetting some.

Here is a semi current shot. I've changed a couple things since this.. I also gave the orange clowns to a friend when I got the black pair.

 

[Coolaid]

View attachment 557251_3724577466032_632242962_n.jpg

I need to get a full tank current shot. I've traded out or gave some things since these shots.

 

[Coolaid]

Can anyone ID this bristle worm as the "good" kind?

 

[greybolt03]

Def a bristle worm. I've heard so many different opinions most say they are great scavengers just don't let them get too big....

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

I'm not sure but I think the brown or tan ones are ok. The red ones are the corallivores.

 

[Coolaid]

Thanks guys... better safe then sorry.. I actually pulled 2 out last night.. I don't mind them, but the two I got there getting a little too big for my peace of mind.

 

[mnat]

We do the same, they are great scavengers but as they get bigger and if I can catch them I will pull them.

 

[Coolaid]

Well,

I woke up this morning to a crash... I come out to the living room and the tank is on the floor smashed.. I think the cat or something knocked it over.. I honestly don't know..

My wife and I managed to QUICKLY set up a 20 long and get all the fish rock and corals into it.. We so far only lost one Green Cromis, and a a head of torch, and one head of frog spawn.. I know we are not yet in the clear because I am sure this will cause a cycle and the stress of this will cause other issues, but for now, everything looks to be open and out.. fish are swimming, crabs are.. crabs.. pistol is bull dozing goby is staring at me like i stole his bike.. all is normal as can be.

I have feelers out to a couple of people in hopes of getting a new nano up and running.. I am also searching for the stuff to get the 90 up if I can't get a decent replacement nano..
If anyone has any of the following they may be looking to let go (and can accept paypal payments) these are the items I would need to get the 90 fuctionable.

Sump (the 20 long I have was meant to be the sump when I got around to getting the glass and building it) I'm not looking for anything super fancy.. just a 3 "stage" enough for a skimmer / heater a fuge and a return. must be able to fit into the 90's oak stand so say 16 x 40 footprint max.

a skimmer able to handle a 90 with a decent bio load.

48" light capable of at least LPS corals.. would prefer no PC's.

If anyone knows of a place that drills glass in the toms river area that would help.. I do not have the tools to do it yet.. This wasn't something I planned of starting for a while, and I really didn't want to do it as a rush job.. I wanted to do a proper rock scape and really take my time with it, but at this point saving my pets is more important then eye candy.

 

[Classklown90]

dont wanna advertise but check the for sale section. I have a nano up for sale. keep up on those water changes and u might be able to save the rest. did u use the rock from the nano?

 

[mnat]

What equipment do you have running on the 20l? We have kept stuff in temp tanks for a while with no problem as long as we had a skimmer or HOB filter, lights, powerhead and a heater. We are in point if you need anything.

 

[Coolaid]

Well, I bought the 28 LED pro off from the deals section, and have it up and running. now.

Thanks for the offers of help here and in PM's.

I did save the live rock, and about half a cup of the sand (still have the rest in the 20 with water on it to see if I can salvage some pods. I didn't want to use too much of the old sand because there are glass shards in it and I do not want to hurt my goby.

I added new dry sand, seeded with the 1/2 cup of the old stuff that I was sure was glass free. I used the live rock and a bunch of rinsed dry rock that DS4x4 was generous enough to give me with my purchase.

I am using a small bio cube skimmer for now, but will be looking into a HOB at some point.

Good news... All of the corals are open and seem ok for now. The lobo brain is iffy.. it looks like there was some receding of tissue, but it might bounce back with some care. My Scoly was in pretty bad shape this AM.. shriveled, and mouth open.. I gave it some oyster feast and mysis and it's now slightly puffed, mouth closed, and feelers are out. the damaged head of frogspawn seems to be ok for now.. I the section of it that cracked fell off and is open as well.. hmm. I'm keeping a close eye on it and if needed will just chop that head off.

The tank overall looks like it needs a trip or 2 to zoanuts to fill it in. lol

I am having a slight issue with the actinics on this tank coming on for a while and then shutting off.. DS told me about it before I made the purchase, and I have 2 theories. One it's the ballast, or two it's the thermal protection chip they put in.. but it doesn't do it with the moons, or daylights.. So, ballast is more likely.

I'm going to add a few more Royal Blue Cree's to supplement the white daylights.. I changed out the stock pumps already to NJ900's put in my nano powerhead which looks really small now.. and I'll be upgrading the fans in the hood over the weekend. I'm also going to rewire them to their own power supply.. It is strange that they wired them to run on the same plug as the daylights.. I feel they should be always on..

Oh, I also ordered some grunge from GARF to help with the tank seeding.

I'm going to continue this thread with the new tank. I'll get some pics up soon.

 

[Coolaid]

 

[Coolaid]

Shot of the new tank in the last post, and a shot of the disaster area.. The new tank shot is a quick snap shot, I'll get some more details shots up..

Good news is I think we might be in the clear... The head of frogspawn is healing well, the candycane coral did lose one head, but the other two are good.. I did lose a citron clown goby, but everything seems to be on the mend, and the mini cycle I did expect happened, and we are not back to normal. Still going to wait a few of weeks before adding anything and keep an eye on everything. My little 2.5g "fuge" is spitting out new pods like crazy to get all this extra rock seeded asap.

 

[Coolaid]

Well, here we are 2 weeks into the new tank..

Good news is I didn't lose very much at all.. Total body count was a couple polyps of zoas, the candy cane didn't make it, clown goby, and a green cromis didn't make it due to a cut he got in the crash.

The lobo has healed up, and seems very happy and puffs up nicely when he's all full from his feedings. The tank looks great. I did have a small hair algea bloom, but adding a "shower caddy in tank fuge and packing it with cheato has cleared it up for the most part.. with the help of my trusty Emeralds, and scarlet hermits.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the current set up.

 

[ZoaNut]

Some of that stuff looks soooo familiar! LOL. Nice looking tank!

 

[Coolaid]

Some??? more like 99% of it lol.

 

[Coolaid]

Some shots of the "Soap Dish" Fuge.

Basics for those that aren't sure what it is..

I got the medium sized shower caddy from amazon. I took a dremmel and cut extra slots in the side to increase flow (the ones on the front come like that. Then I took off the suction cups and cut a square out so that it fit around the overflow.

I used some coral glue and glued it to the back wall.. It's easy enough to remove if needed but sturdy enough that I won't have to worry about it falling off, and sitting on something for hours if I am not there.

Now, I know some people have done this and just suction cupped it to the side of the tank, or they turn the back chambers in the nano cubes.. I diidn't want to do the media basket slot because I wanted to keep my chemical filtration and I thought hanging it on the side just didn't fit into what I wanted looks wise.. plus I wanted a larger area.

This way it also gets a nice amount of flow into the fuge area as all water entering the filters passes through the macro.

Anyway, here are some shots.

Full shot to give an idea of how it looks.. really not too noticeable when looking at the tank.. with some time it will be coraline encrusted, and other coral frags may be used to cover it a bit.

For lighting I have ordered a small waterproof led strip that will fit directly over the fuge area and will not bleed too much light into the display area.

Also.. LOOK WHO CAME OUT OF HIDING!!

I haven't seen him since the day after I put the stuff in the new tank except for a couple of times his bubble was spotted deep in the rock.. been out all day eating and being happy!

After last nights feeding my lobo is showing his appreciation.

 

[mnat]

Love the fuge setup, really nice DIY. That mckoskers is really nice too, the flashers tend to be a bit shy when they are first introduced. I was watching my tank like a hawk when I got my Bell's flasher in, he was hiding in the rocks and not really coming out. Now he zooms around like a torpedo picking off food and swimming with the other fish.

 

[Coolaid]

Thank, I really like the fuge.. having some issues finding a light to use for it.. I need something submersible, or at least "waterproof" because it will need to sit under the canopy.

The wrasse was always very active, and when the tank broke he got spooked.. I can't blame him. He's been out since.. He also loves the slats I dremmeled into the fuge.. He has a nice pillowy spot on the right side that he sleeps in.. plus I'm sure he enjoys the tons of pods swimming around in there..

 

[mnat]

Ask and you shall recieve:

http://shop.mediabaskets.com/Fuge-Lighting_c55.htm