A Reef Keeping Cube

bobssecrtsn

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Welcome Ladies and Gent's to a story of an unforgettable Cube Adventure!

Storyline
A year ago, I upgraded my upgrade from a 42G Versa Tank, to a 70G Leemar tank. I felt the lengthy tanks was not my type. I wanted more of a cube tank like my 50G I had years ago. But much larger...


Another Mans Trash Is Ones Man Treasure
I figured this was my last upgrade So I wanted to make it special. I've waited and waited till someone decided it was their time to move on, and finally the stars aligned, I was speechless on the size of this tank. I Seen it in person with it still up and running and I wanted it. The next day it was sitting in my garage cleaned up and ready to roll.

History
I did some digging of my own on how this tank was handled/cared. This tank was whoring around, in storage, Never being filled for LOOONG time. It was once owned from a guy in San Diego, set it up and got rid of it a few months down the road, Bought from Another reefer locally, never set it up, And then purchased from someone in Long Beach. Who then stored it for a year and decided to set it up, After a few months He was moving. and now its back in SD.

Tank dimensions

The tank is from LEEMAR, 130G 36x36x24, 1/2" Starfire. Diamond edged, 4 predrilled holes for 2 returns, 1 overflow, and 1 emergency. This thing is Heavy, It took 4 people to get it in the room, on the stand, and where it sits.
9/13/16



10/27/16


Heres a corner shot of the tank. The corals are settled and acclimating to the lights. Only casualty was the red dragon was STNing from the base.

Equipment
  1. Full apex
    • Dos With Resivoirs
    • WXM
    • BOB
    • AFS
    • ALD
    • 3 EB8
  2. Vertex Omega 130i (May upgrade to an ATB possibly?)
  3. 2 Dlink Camera
  4. 1 Amcrest 1080P camera
  5. 2 Vortech MP40W
  6. Vortech M1 return pump
  7. ATI NANOBOX 6bulb hybrid
    • B+,C+,B+,LED,B+,P+,B+

What makes the reef
I wanted to try something new, I was always Redsea Blue bucket and Bionic 2 part system and fuge etc. But with this system I wanted to do the Aquaforest. For now this is what I will be trying. Hopefully in time after I use up all of my bionic 2 part and carbon/p04 remover I will go full AF.
  1. Aquaforest ProbioticReef
  2. AF BioS
  3. AF NP Pro
  4. AF Pro bio F
  5. AF Pro bio S

suppliments

I've been dosing AF 1-2-3 and started dosing the following:

  1. Coral V
  2. AF Build
  3. AF Energy
  4. AF Amino Mix
  5. NP PRO
  6. Pro Bio S

I'm not sure if its the supplements but the tank has a hint of cloudiness. Not sure if it's bacteria bloom OR if i been dosing NP pro+ pro bio S at the same time, But I cut back and dosed the supplements 30 minutes apart.

these sps were in QT for 4 weeks before adding them to the tank, weekly dips browned them out but are recovering nicely
1st day of qt

corals

I've added SPS last week and they are regaining color, Still pale and brown. but encrusting fast. I say everything is moving along smoothly!

pink lemonade


tri color valida


blue stag


strawberry shortcake


unkown


garf bonsai


red planet
 
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revhtree

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Awesome! Following along! Aquascape looks nice.
 
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bobssecrtsn

bobssecrtsn

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10/15/16

Coral Update
I need to fill my bottom sand area with some softies. So I purchased some Zoa's ( no name ) waiting in QT atm. Also RAP is this weekend so ill be purchasing a ton more corals to fill the tank in.

As far as the SPS go, they are encrusting fast. especially my Garf Bonsai. From what I can tell, The bigger colonies/ frags takes longer to heal/encrust then the 1-2" peices!



I bought this nice little bowl with a strainer that comes with it, from Daiso, Its great when you need to dip your coral!

Livestock
After treating my lyretails anthias I added them to the tank last week. I am happy to say they are eating flakes/frozen. I should have bought 6 instead of 3, they are very active and open swimmers, so more fish choices to choose from later down the road!

Equipment
Socal has alot of reefing activity, Especially when a company goes on sale. A few things I purchased.

  1. Vortech mp60 QD
  2. Jeabo Rw4
  3. Frag rack
  4. Ecotech coral propagation kit
  5. rodi sediment/ di resin filters
Pictures will be posted soon!
 

Daniel@R2R

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Nice! What are you planning to pick up at RAP? This will be my first one, so I'm very excited!
 

KlynnUK

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Looking forward to seeing this mature. FOLLOWING
 
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bobssecrtsn

bobssecrtsn

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Coral haul from RAP!

I went to rap BOTH days and it turned out OK. Not many companies came, ( possibly because Black friday is next week and people will rather do a sale at their shop)

There was so much going on I did not ask for the coral name! Espeically with these ridiculously new acros that are surfacing with intense colourations.

Total acros I purchased 16 acros.
Total Zoas I purchased 6.
total others 1 duncan

Their all in QT atm. I wish they will hold their colour but I doubt it will.


I am loving this one!








I def. know what coral this is. Its called JOE the coral.


Oregon Tort


Sunset millie



This will def. turn out to be a nice one if I can ever get it back to this color again



Zoa collection!


Equipment Haul
So I purchased a Aquamaxx ConeS c02 at RAP, I believe whats going on with my tank being cloudy is the skimmer was underrated, and not skimming much. So This will solve my problems!

 
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bobssecrtsn

bobssecrtsn

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food for thought

Now I know people tend to get lazy and skip testing water and when you get lazy that's when things start to go wrong, If anyone does not have a Stirrer mixer yet I would highly recommend one. I bought this one on amazon for 40 or 50$ shipped and also extra magnet things for my other test kits.



Your hand will thank you! I wish I got this when I first started. Now its a breeze, testing takes 2-3 minutes now and you dont have to sit and swirl the vile with your hand.

This unit is battery operated and so far I've done about 20-25 test and it still stir's strong!
 

Daniel@R2R

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food for thought

Now I know people tend to get lazy and skip testing water and when you get lazy that's when things start to go wrong, If anyone does not have a Stirrer mixer yet I would highly recommend one. I bought this one on amazon for 40 or 50$ shipped and also extra magnet things for my other test kits.



Your hand will thank you! I wish I got this when I first started. Now its a breeze, testing takes 2-3 minutes now and you dont have to sit and swirl the vile with your hand.

This unit is battery operated and so far I've done about 20-25 test and it still stir's strong!
Cool! I may need to get one. I'll have to hunt for some videos on these being used.
 
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bobssecrtsn

bobssecrtsn

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11.27.16

How was everyones thanksgiving? I missed it this year, But next year I will definitely eat some ham,turkey,pie, I love pie...

tank update

I removed my filter sock ( will explain later)
I noticed my red dragon paling wednesday, When I got home friday it either bleached out or had STN. ( zero nitrates )
All other inhabitants are good!
Before leaving (wednesday) I dipped my sps in QT and checked for pest, NONE to see, After getting home Saturday I dipped them again and removed old plugs and added them to the display ( 3 dips total in 1 week )

I'm looking for someone to make a shield for my mp60. If I put it to high, It draws air from the surface. But to low it stir's the sand around. Hopefully I can make it myself...


After a week of the Aquamaxx c02 skimming this skimmer is a far better skimmer then any I have ever had ( pictures for reference )

This is less then a weeks worth! The skimmer is constant and doesnt break its foam if I feed frozen ( other then PE mysis )



Tested my n03 and sadly It was 0 ( Had to dose kn03 to 5ppm )

Aquaforest

I will definitely be lowering my Pro Bio S and NP PRO to 3 drops daily, but keeping other dosage the same
 
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bobssecrtsn

bobssecrtsn

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Update: 12/6
As with fishes, They are known to jump, I lost one of my barlett anthias a week ago. Sad that she had to do that after QTing them for a while.
I made a mp60 surface cover, Its not pretty, But it will do the job :p. I hate seeing sand being blown around! With that being said. I will need to add a bit more sand, Or turn down the pumps.
The SPS is recovering nicely, and they are colouring up ! :)
I bought a Seneye Par meter ( see details below )

I really want to frag the zoas and move some over to the display. But I am terrified of cutting their soft tissue!
As for the SPS, They are still colouring up and growing. I lost my red dragon, I'm not sure why. After getting home most of the tissue was gone( I still have it in the tank as i can see some tissue is left hoping for a hail mary!)
I moved some sps around, Didnt like the location of them!

FTS


SPS frag pack!

These numbers are based from tank flows ON and screen net OFF (brs 1/4 netting) Fixture is 8" above water line

NANOBOX ATI hybrid (6bulb 6 puck)
Front to back B+, Coral +, B+, LED, B+,P+,B+

NO filter sock, I am able to see particles in the water. Photo is an old photo, And the numbers you see is where I placed my corals, ( Right side I could not check(cable was not long enough)

I turned my flow off but numbers were almost identical. +/- 5-10. As always these numbers were rounded +/- 5 as well
 

When to mix up fish meal: When was the last time you tried a different brand of food for your reef?

  • I regularly change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 39 23.1%
  • I occasionally change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 58 34.3%
  • I rarely change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 53 31.4%
  • I never change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 15 8.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 4 2.4%
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