ggNoRe's 29g Biocube HQI

[ggNoRe]

:mrgreen: I switched the return pump with a mj1200 and took out the blue sponge as well as the return nozel. I still would love a 90g just don't have the space or funds. Check out this guys tank, was my inspiration. Tank of the Month - April 2009 - Reefkeeping.com

 

[OmegaOmega]

:mrgreen: I switched the return pump with a mj1200 and took out the blue sponge as well as the return nozel. I still would love a 90g just don't have the space or funds. Check out this guys tank, was my inspiration. Tank of the Month - April 2009 - Reefkeeping.com

I just bookmarked that - that's impressive! I hope to get my 90 to that point.

 

[ggNoRe]

And then there was lights!

 

[BL1]

:bounce::bounce::bounce:
now you get get stuff going!!
:^::^::^::^:

 

[Bifferwine]

Oh wow! That's going to make a huge difference!

 

[ggNoRe]

:mrgreen: My params today came out to:

SALINITY: 1.027
PH: 7.9
AMMONIA: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 2
MAG: 1120
CA: 360

Would this be safe to add some snails and maybe even a fish or 2? Any ideas why my PH is low and if I should take action to raise it? Or any other opinions or suggestions considering my water chemistry would be appreciated.

 

[BL1]

I would drop the salinity a little to 1.025-1.026. I wouldn't worry too much about the pH, it's not that low. You should be good to add a little CUC and a fish now.

 

[reeffreak]

I say go for it.

You haven't had any lights so maybe that is why the pH could be low.It's not to bad,check in a few days to see if it hasn't gone up.

 

[ggNoRe]

w00t! Thanks for the replys. I'll do another water change today and lower the salinity a bit in the process. After that I'll test the params again and if everything looks stable I'll start browsing the LFS. :mrgreen:

 

[reeffreak]

Those look like LEDs.

What lights are those,again?

 

[ggNoRe]

It's a 150W Metal hallide and I also attached a little $15 lunar light.

 

[reeffreak]

Oops,it almost looked like an LED fixture.

 

[ggNoRe]

Whenever I do my weekly water changes the one piece of dry rock on the top right comes almost completely out of the water, the water line more/less drops to right above the piece of live rock. Will the life that is on the dry rock run to lower areas in the tank when I'm doing this? Should I just remove this rock as my tank is full and there is no where else to put it? I saw my stomatella snail on that rock before I did my water change and when I saw him recently he wasn't moving. :( think he may have come in contact with air and died? Any opions or suggestions on this dilemma would be aprreciated.

 

[mikewurtz]

I have the same problem. I almost lost my star the other day. My only advice would be to manually relocate any critters that are above that line before starting your water change.

 

[yote]

Just don't place any corals on that rock.But then some corals would fine out of the water for a few minutes.
This is one of my think of the wild reefs moments:D
In the wild,the tops of a lot of reefs get exposed to air and sun at every low tide.That where your heavy mucus producing corals come from.All the critters that can move,will find a small pocket of water to hold up in,and some of those can even be exposed to 100 degree water in those tiny pools.

 

[ggNoRe]

Saw stome today up and running! :) Any corals in paticular you would suggest?

 

[yote]

Most of the zoanthids can handle those kind of conditions.
We've got some at the LFS that are exposed every time we do a water change.But of course 10 minutes is nothing compared to a couple of hours.

 

[sen5241b]

Exposing rock to air will bleach the coralline. I baste the rock with water during the change out so it is always wet and this helps a lot.

That tank is looking very nice. You may want to think about adding some smaller piece of rock that will provide more hiding spaces for fish. In a small tank like a 29G this is important.

 

[sen5241b]

Also, the media rack while a nice idea does not really leave much room for cheato. I have all of chamber 2 packed with cheato and two strong lights --50 watts total-- outside the tank shining thru the glass. After I did this my 'trates dropped to zero.

 

[ggNoRe]

Thanks for the advice! :mrgreen: Did my tests today and came out with:

PH:8.0
AM: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
CA: 360
MAG: 1360
KH: 8.6

Since I have let my tank cycle for a month now and it seems quite stable I'm thinking of making my first live purchase tonight. I plan to order from bluezoo since they are one of the few stores that sells the fish I want (Green Banded Goby). I also plan to order a Peppermint Shrimp and a Cleaner Shrimp (I really wanted a coral banded but have managed to persuade myself not to after reading over and over what a nuissance they can be). And along with that a CUC of 3 Nerite Snails, 2 Nassaruis Snails, 1 Cerith Snail, and 1 Tonga Nassarius Snail. Now that I have my selection made out I'm having a hard time deciding which foods to buy. I want to buy food not only for my goby but also for my CUC which is listed plus the 2 brittle stars and 1 Stomatella Snail that hitchhicked on my live rock. These are the different foods they offer at bluezoo: Food

Any help on deciding which to get would be appreciated! :mrgreen:

If it helps any, in the future I plan to get 2 clownfish, LPS, SPS, and soft corals.

Thanks in advance!