7of9’s 32g Borgcube Biocube

[StatelineReefer]

Maybe you’ll make it to the bus tour in October?

If all goes well I'll be out of state in October. Got the time off already.

 

[7of9]

If all goes well I'll be out of state in October. Got the time off already.

I can’t blame you for that. I’m already planning for a long weekend in Florida in early December!

 

[tbrown]

I'm planning a long weekend in Arizona.

 

[7of9]

Do these look like vermatid snails?

 

[cwerner]

Sure do. I had them all over my 50 AIO at one point. They went away on their own eventually.

 

[7of9]

Sure do. I had them all over my 50 AIO at one point. They went away on their own eventually.

At least I have time to deal with them.

 

[StatelineReefer]

 

[7of9]

I wanted bumblebee snails in there at some point anyway, so hopefully they’ll do the work for me!

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

Great looking start keep up the posts the price points spreadsheet is awesome gives a nice breakdown of everything that you're looking at spending and also a list for any backup equipment you might need all I can say is here is some Reef schlammm only fitting that I give you a few pictures as well hope you have a good evening

 

[7of9]

Saaaaand!!!! It’s snowing!

And in other super cool news…

I’m SO close to having everything from my startup list. I did have to order something different to check my salinity. My gimpy eyes just could not read the tiny print on my refractometer. Even my 17 year old daughter with good vision had a tough time reading it. I upgraded to a Hanna digital salinity meter because it’s such a critical thing to keep close track of in a nano tank with weekly water changes. It should come today.

 

[7of9]

Tonight’s adventures…

After picking up my 19 year old son from the airport, I took a dremel to the back lid of my tank. I have a backup heater now and the power cables don’t detach from the controller or brick, so there was no good way to get the heater in the tank without the lid crimping the power cable.

A dremel with a cutting blade cut a perfect size hole like going through butter and now I can run my heater with the lid closed. Tomorrow I’ll sand down any rough edges.

Pretty slick!

I contacted one of the LFS and unfortunately they won’t have any black and white clownfish for a few weeks unless I want to pay the crazy price for mocha storms, which I don’t. I wouldn’t want to rush that expensive of a fish on a young tank. I’ve got time to shop around as the tank cycles and I’m planning to visit @StatelineReefer this weekend anyway.

I’m excited to see this starting to take shape!!!

 

[7of9]

How’s my sandbed looking? Eventually I’d like a yellow watchman goby up in there.

 

[StatelineReefer]

MOAR ROCK!!!

@Nate Chalk can attest.

 

[7of9]

MOAR ROCK!!!

@Nate Chalk can attest.

Hopefully after this weekend, the rock will be MOAR!

 

[7of9]

My Hanna salinity tester came today and I’m in LOVE!!! It cost around $80 and I went back and forth on it because the reviews were mixed, but I found it simple to calibrate and now I feel like I have more clarity on my readings. It’s costly, but this is something I measure daily, so I’m glad I sprang for it rather than be stuck with a refractometer I can’t read or a hydrometer I’m not sure I trust.

 

[MaxTremors]

Some stuff arrived!

Backup heater!

Refractometer…which I need even stronger reading glasses to read. I feel old!

I also went to my first event with the local reef club, a BBQ. I scored some loot in the raffle and got to check out the hosts’ setup, which was basically a whole basement of insane frag tanks. I got some good advice and encouragement.

And I moved my aquascape a little bit. Sand arrives in a few days!

Make sure to get some calibration fluid for your refractometer. Some people use RODI, but it’s not as accurate.

Edit: nevermind, you went with the Hanna checker. Also, there is really no need to check salinity daily, especially with a lid, just pay attention to where the water level is in the return chamber and you’ll be fine, I check my salinity maybe once every couple weeks, and it’s always spot on.

 

[cwerner]

Just remember that it will slowly drift out of accuracy. I would make sure you have plenty of calibration kits for it to recalibrate every few months and wash it thoroughly with RODI or distilled once you're done.

 

[kevgib67]

I wanted bumblebee snails in there at some point anyway, so hopefully they’ll do the work for me!

As you know I have the same tank. I don’t know why but anything that can irritate coral’s always ends up on my zoa garden. Any way I had a lot of vermatid snails and threw in 6 bumble bee snails and haven’t seen a vermatid snail in over a year and a half. You have a good plan.

 

[7of9]

Make sure to get some calibration fluid for your refractometer. Some people use RODI, but it’s not as accurate.

Edit: nevermind, you went with the Hanna checker. Also, there is really no need to check salinity daily, especially with a lid, just pay attention to where the water level is in the return chamber and you’ll be fine, I check my salinity maybe once every couple weeks, and it’s always spot on.

I tend to over-test with a new tank since I'm getting to know it. Hopefully once everything is stable I can back off. Plus...I wasn't confident in what I was using to test. Even though I calibrated my refractometer, I really couldn't read it. The print was just too tiny!

 

[Nate Chalk]

Indeed MOAR rock. Get something from a healthy system that's been wet for awhile.

Night and day difference