Nano upgrade

[scubacane]

After 8 months w/ my 14G biocube I have done some upgrades, adding a nano pump- an extra 17x flow plus the 10x standard and last night installed a nanocustoms fixture upgrade to the existing canopy to give me a whopping 5 watts/ gallon with compact flourescents. Wow - unbelievable how much light is being generated now- I put 3 frags a friend gave me in the tank last week-small frogspawn, a green finger coral and a cotton candy frag- they seem very happy with the extra light. Trying to keep the apitasia (sp?) at bay with Mrs. Wages Lime- works wonders. Went diving yesterday and picked up 2 snails to join my cleanup crew, algae groth is minimal but I have seen a bump in temp with increased lighting approaching 80 degrees- will have to watch - any thoughts about placing a chiller ? I also added oceanics biocube skimmer- not very impressive but I suppose its better than nothing - Pics to follow

[Bifferwine]

80 degrees is fine, no chiller is needed for that. Anywhere up to 82 is safe, as long as you try to minimize temperature swings.

As for the snails, I would strongly discourage using any wild caught snails in your tank. They will probably die, as ones off of NC are not accustomed to reef lighting and temperature. They will probably end up boiling in your tank, not to mention any types of diseases you may have introduced into your tank with them.

You might want to pick up a pair of peppermint shrimp for the aiptasia. It's a natural way of controlling it, and the shrimp are cool.