30g half cube

[m88a2]

I'm finally getting back in the game after a year and a half off or so. My old tank was a 75g standard but i fell in love with cubes while going threw this thread. Im not sure if mine qualifies as a real cube as it is only 24x24x12 (deep blue). It was labeled as a frag tank but its going to be my display. I suppose it will be a shallow cube if there is such a think. This is my first tank that I will be building pretty much everything except the led lights and tank. Hopefully I will have water in it by Thursday but thats only if I get the internal shelf and electrical set up. Anyway here's what I have for it.

30g deep blue tank
external overflow box that has bean/animal style overflow
most of the coast internal overflow box w/ a 3/4" return on either side
20g standard w/ baffels for sump
aquamaxx coneS co-1 skimmer
1 hydra led w/ controler (i have a 2nd if i need to add more light)
2x 24w t5 (2 blue+ bulbs)
2x MP10
Eheim 1262 900gph return pump that also feeds the cheato tumbler
aquamedic 3 pump doser (assuming it still works)
ATO (assuming it still works)
reefkeeper lite
mesh top

I have some other stuff that Im forgetting but here's a quick pic

 

[m88a2]

the chains arent really as messy as that looks and I will be adding removable sides later on...I just want to start the cycle as soon as i can. Also i have marco dry rocks that I will be using if i can stop my self from adding more rocks...

 

[m88a2]

Its been a long while since I set up a tank and cant remember if micro bubbles and new systems/skimmers are normal. Can anyone chime in? I've only had about 3-4 days of water circulating ghost feeding 2 medium sized pinches of food a day and microbacter7 at the seeding dose

 

[usctrack]

Yes they are. I took my skimmer of my 29 jbj for a couple weeks during a move and it's been back on for a few days and took a while to settle back down.

 

[m88a2]

Thats good to hear. I guess I'll wait about a week and a half to two weeks before I freak out. Anyway heres some picks of the rock scape I went with. Any suggestions?

Front


Left side

 

[Cleo642]

Thats good to hear. I guess I'll wait about a week and a half to two weeks before I freak out. Anyway heres some picks of the rock scape I went with. Any suggestions?

Front


Left side

Is that enough rock for a biological filter?

 

[m88a2]

I've been toying with the idea of putting some rubble in the chaeto chamber but i have seen some other tanks here with similar amounts (i believe this is about 20lbs) of rock. I plan on 3 maybe 4 fish max

 

[m88a2]

so for the past week I've been having a bacterial bloom. Is it still the general consensus that I just let it run its course? should I stop dosing microbacter7 and about how long should I expect it to last?

 

[Harold Green]

Did you consider putting all the rocks together to build a single island? I believe it will make the tank look larger than rocks scattered around.

 

[m88a2]

I have and I still may, but I went with this set up so future sps have room to grow. also most of the rocks have a pvc cave inside for fish to sleep in and this way they can have some space from each other.

 

[Rookie J]

Sweet tank. Following along to see how this thing turns out.

 

[m88a2]

Thnx. A little update on the tank. Ghost feeding every day yielded an ammonia/nitrite spike but levels weren't huge nor did they last too long. I also had a bacterial bloom that subsided in 5ish days. It may or may not have helped but I started running small amounts of activated carbon passively and it cleared up the following day. I also acquired a juvenile linespot flasher as the tank was seeming too sterile. He hid for 2 days but has since been out and about and eating like a pig. He is fed 2x when I'm working and up to 5 time when I am not. Def looks like he gained some girth. I've had him for about a week and params are still in check. I'll give it another weekish and I'll probably add another. Also the skimmer doesn't put out nearly as many micro bubbles and even produces some semi transparent/milky skim. It's got some funk to it so its pullin something

 

[m88a2]

What's an update w/o pics so here's the tank with just T5's and the first tenant

 

[m88a2]

a few days ago I saw this little guy on sale"ish" because he had a damaged fin. It appeared to be just from other fish and I read that it would grow back so I went for it seeing as my params seem stable. At first the linespot swam up to the new guy and threw his fins out for an hour or so but then stopped. He hid for the first 2 days but always came out for feedings, even the first one which was 2hrs after he was added. Now he is out and about in the open and eats all 3 things i feed (LRS nano, Pe mysis, and spectrum pellets for small fish). I can usually find them swimming in close proximity to each other in the open. the firefish has claimed the pvc in the back right corner and the linespot claimed the one behind the largest rock structure.

 

[m88a2]

im also doing an order for a few macro algae now that im starting to detect some nitrates and phos. hopefully there will be some pods in there as i have none in the tank (all dry rock)

 

[m88a2]

Just a little update. A few things have happened. About 4 days ago, my little firefish passed. I'm at a loss as to what happened. He was out and about as he had always been, swimming with the flasher. I fed the tank for the 4th time that day and when I came back, I found the poor guy float on the floor lifeless with a large piece of mysis in his mouth. Could it be that he got a piece stuck which ultimately cause his death? Anyone ever heard of this? Anyway, I replaced him with a tailspot blenny. Really cool fish that perches on the rocks and out/eating since I got him. I also have had 2 pieces of coral I've been using as testers for 2 weeks or so. One is a sunny d look-a-like which has gone from 3 heads to 4 w/ 2 babies. The other was a purple w/ green polyp sps. Initially it browned (I suspected it was from the Bayer dip I used). Now the tips are showing purple and the body seems to be shifting in the same direction. I also put some chaeto in the sump along with a bag of copepods from algaebarn. It came with phyto which i'll be dosing as well.

 

[m88a2]

I found my brother's camera so I thought I'd put some pictures up

tailspot blenny


dragon's breath macro recovering from bleeching. with just royals on you can see the very tips turing orange

supposedly purple bonsai. still pretty brown but you can see some of the purple coming back


another angle


supposedly sunny D. started as 3 adult polyps, now has 4 adult, 4 baby, and 3 nubs.


another angle

 

[m88a2]

So my tank has never been super clear like my old tanks. Someone questioned if I had enough rocks for the bio filtration but I'm now thinking the answer is no. I have some other larger dry rocks I'll be adding to the sump. If anyone has some suggestions I'd like to hear them.

 

[Harold Green]

Filter socks. The water will look polished. I think your problem is you've rushed the tank, putting in fish and corals too soon. The tank should be run in now after seven or eight weeks and ready for the first fish or coral at this point.

 

[m88a2]

hmm, I was under the impression that after I see ammonia converted to nitrites then nitrates, i would be ok to add fish so long as ammonia remained undetectable. i guess i should redo some research on other stuff i thought I knew. thanks for the input.