45gal craigslist cube upgrade

[dman612]

So i recently rekindled my saltwater addiction with a hammydown nano cube i acquired from a friend

But 5 gallons is limiting and i wanted to spend some money so searched and found this 45 cube on craigslist from a guy who bred clowns and seahorses. 150$ i got a 2year matured tank and sump packed with live rock corals mushrooms copepods and tons of extra life.

Purchased an AI Hydra 52 and have a mp10 on its way. Corals seem to love the light at the moment, except the nem who seems a bit sensitive.
Im loving the light and director- well see how this new acan (on floor) and mille acro frag react.
Got lots of green star polyp and it sure does look sweet.

 

[dman612]

Love that Gsp and cant believe how many polyps came in this tank-new things are emerging everyday. Tons of shrooms on the back wall and zoas/palys. not too colorful but i like how theyre fat and green.

Messing around with the director/AI combo Love the amount of customization possible from my computer or tablet-havent seen/been able to trigger a storm yet tho. The cloud sweeps are subtle yet noticeable-what i wanted. The added wavelengths really seem to make some corals pop.

 

[dman612]

my dude cloyster the conch is a straight vacuum

Top down lights on and off

 

[dman612]

green mille? acro frag-first sps except the unknown piece that came with the tank

goniopora frag

 

[dman612]

Acan zoa frag combo for $15

Two of these beautiful baby pink rose bubble tips came with the tank and survived the trip, unfortunately one is in the back overflow in a kind of inaccessible spot at the moment.

I have two Banggai cardinalfish in here too but they are shy at the moment, hopefully they will warm up.
Questions, comments, rants?
follow along for the ride ill be updating both the nano and 45 here. Mp10 and rail mounts for the AI are in there way

 

[revhtree]

Cool and congrats!

 

[dman612]

one banngai cardinal passed last week, one tonight, so thats both down after having them for a buncha weeks. All parameters are good, corals look great-even the sps are surviving and always have polyp extension. I hope my yellow tang doesnt fall to the same fate. He is in perfect shape atm so i will easily notice any odd behavior, but at the moment picks 247 at rocks and algae clip and loves swimming into the mp10.
Zoas are taking off, my rainbow acan looks perfect, mushrooms are fat and open. now if only these emeralds would get a move on this bubble.
Found a new frag spot that has tons of cheap clean rare corals so im sure ill be filling out in the next few weeks

 

[tntdsol]

Great looking tank and a steal for that price. Keep us posted.

 

[dman612]

Great looking tank and a steal for that price. Keep us posted.

thanks!

new update, everything is going smooth so far. Corals are exploding in growth and fish/inverts are thriving as well.
My tang is so fat, active and healthy, but may be out growing this tank, but my stock is real low so hes got room and dominance.
Grabbed a mandarin a few weeks ago and its doing quite well too, doesnt look like its starving, the tank has breeding pods and i supply extra. good colors too.
Cleaner skunk was picked up and is doing well, loves to manicure anything in the tank esp my hand.
SPS and LPS are doing well, lotsa growth tips and encrusting compared to old pics im seeing.
getting temped to up the tank size already

 

[dman612]

rainbow acan eating

grape juice, peach/blue encrusting nicely onto their glue and plug
2 unknown green/blue acros that i saved from this sand bed, tons of growth tips

Will be adding more sps at the end of the week when the paycheck comes in

 

[dman612]

a side shot of encrusting

that watchman goby was added to the nano

 

[dman612]

main tank has fully bloomed everything seems to be going along smoothly-cant say the same for the nano.

Added an ato and swithched to mainly just water changes with red sea salt and cut way back on the dosing. tank seems to really like switch so far, having a little issue with a monti cap that gets some white on it from time to time, but all other corals, sps and lps look fine in the main tank.