Hello Reef 15 Gallon Cube Build Thread

[DiamondDog1030]

Hello all,

Been a little while since I gave an update. My nem split while I was out of the house!!! I came back just in time for it to finish the split. Now I've got two little guys after a month of getting the nem. Hopefully, it was a good kind of split, not from stress.

Nitrate has been dropping a lot recently (almost 0), which I assume is from all of the algae. Will need more time to test and figure something out. Rocks are all covered in green spots, but nothing is growing upward(?). Just spots on my rock. Trochus snails and their many children can't eat it.

Anyway, hopefully nothing happens over the holiday. Happy holidays to anyone who reads this on time. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas or any other holiday you celebrate.

 

[tbrown]

Happy Christmas!

The first Nem split is always exciting! The 24th Nem split is still exciting, especially if you've got a LFS you can trade them in at

 

[DiamondDog1030]

Howdy,

Been three months since I said anything here and thought I'd share some things that happened in that time.

Sadly my three trochus snails I got from my LFS died. They died some time in January and I am honestly not sure what the reason is, aside from my cleaner shrimp potentially antagonizing them during weekends I am away. Their kids have been doing the same work though and there was a slight die off of them too. My ceriths and nassarius snails are doing fine though it seems.

The clowns are nems are the same as ever with some nem growth, but no splitting (for better I guess). I actually saw the female clownfish rubbing against the anemone tentacles every now and then when I turn off the pumps. Only when its off though, I was wondering if maybe the flow was too strong for them or the nem is too out in the open for hosting.

Nitrates are always running at around 5-15 ppm depending on how long I don't perform a wc. Not too concerned with other parameters since coral is not present here.

Updates out of the way, the next one is the big one for me. My housemates are fighting so we may split up and look for a new house. I didn't think I would be trying to read up on moving a fish tank already but here we are. So if anyone reading this has any advice to offer, I am all ears. I may start a thread for gathering information for my case on the general forum. The move is in July or August most likely so I have a bit of time.

Anyways hope allergies is treating everyone well.

 

[Red_Beard]

Howdy,

Been three months since I said anything here and thought I'd share some things that happened in that time.

Sadly my three trochus snails I got from my LFS died. They died some time in January and I am honestly not sure what the reason is, aside from my cleaner shrimp potentially antagonizing them during weekends I am away. Their kids have been doing the same work though and there was a slight die off of them too. My ceriths and nassarius snails are doing fine though it seems.

The clowns are nems are the same as ever with some nem growth, but no splitting (for better I guess). I actually saw the female clownfish rubbing against the anemone tentacles every now and then when I turn off the pumps. Only when its off though, I was wondering if maybe the flow was too strong for them or the nem is too out in the open for hosting.

Nitrates are always running at around 5-15 ppm depending on how long I don't perform a wc. Not too concerned with other parameters since coral is not present here.

Updates out of the way, the next one is the big one for me. My housemates are fighting so we may split up and look for a new house. I didn't think I would be trying to read up on moving a fish tank already but here we are. So if anyone reading this has any advice to offer, I am all ears. I may start a thread for gathering information for my case on the general forum. The move is in July or August most likely so I have a bit of time.

Anyways hope allergies is treating everyone well.

Well, that is a bitter sweet update, glad to hear about the clowns but sorry to hear about your room-mate situation.
A 15 won't be too terrible to move. The biggest issue will be making sure the livestock stays safe. How far are you planning to go? I would pull the rock with your nems and put it in a 5 gallon bucket. Drain 3-4 gallons of tank water in so they don't get hit with parameter swings, do the same with the other rock just make sure that they won't shift and crush any thing living. Put the fish and snails into another bucket. Then you can use a gravel vac to suck out all the sand into yet another bucket (this will also be a good time to be able to give it a good rinse if you want too before you put it back in). If you are going far, get a battery powered air pump and run a line into the buckets, and make sure the temperature doesn't get too high or low.

 

[DiamondDog1030]

Well, that is a bitter sweet update, glad to hear about the clowns but sorry to hear about your room-mate situation.
A 15 won't be too terrible to move. The biggest issue will be making sure the livestock stays safe. How far are you planning to go? I would pull the rock with your nems and put it in a 5 gallon bucket. Drain 3-4 gallons of tank water in so they don't get hit with parameter swings, do the same with the other rock just make sure that they won't shift and crush any thing living. Put the fish and snails into another bucket. Then you can use a gravel vac to suck out all the sand into yet another bucket (this will also be a good time to be able to give it a good rinse if you want too before you put it back in). If you are going far, get a battery powered air pump and run a line into the buckets, and make sure the temperature doesn't get too high or low.

Hi thanks for the advice. The move shouldn't be far, I'd wager maybe 30 minutes at most to drive to wherever we plan to move to. I might still do the air pumps just in case I move too slowly for the set up of the tank again.

For the sand, I was wondering if taking it out was actually necessary. I know that the sand has some gas build up sometimes and there's also bacteria in it. I saw some move videos where people just leave the sand in the tank barely any water and move the tank like that. If I do rinse the sand, is there anywhere that explains how to do that exactly?

I don't have things like brute cans or larger water storage, so I assuming I will be making fresh salt water in at least 3-4 batches once we get to the new place.

 

[Red_Beard]

Hi thanks for the advice. The move shouldn't be far, I'd wager maybe 30 minutes at most to drive to wherever we plan to move to. I might still do the air pumps just in case I move too slowly for the set up of the tank again.

For the sand, I was wondering if taking it out was actually necessary. I know that the sand has some gas build up sometimes and there's also bacteria in it. I saw some move videos where people just leave the sand in the tank barely any water and move the tank like that. If I do rinse the sand, is there anywhere that explains how to do that exactly?

I don't have things like brute cans or larger water storage, so I assuming I will be making fresh salt water in at least 3-4 batches once we get to the new place.

you can absolutely leave the sand in. I moved a 90 with the sand still in. Just be careful and vacuum it good a week or two beforehand when you do a waterchange or it will get some serious glunk in the water when you go to fill it back up again.

When you pull the water out for the fish and rocks, fill the fish bucket up like 4 gallons too and put that back in the tank when you get there. Some from the rock bucket too if it isn't too dirty. I would try and reuse 30-50% if you can and it isn't too dirty. The rest will need to be fresh mixed though, just try not to shock anything.

 

[DiamondDog1030]

you can absolutely leave the sand in. I moved a 90 with the sand still in. Just be careful and vacuum it good a week or two beforehand when you do a waterchange or it will get some serious glunk in the water when you go to fill it back up again.

When you pull the water out for the fish and rocks, fill the fish bucket up like 4 gallons too and put that back in the tank when you get there. Some from the rock bucket too if it isn't too dirty. I would try and reuse 30-50% if you can and it isn't too dirty. The rest will need to be fresh mixed though, just try not to shock anything.

Got it. I usually vacuum all of the sand every wc anyway since the tank is so small. I'm also hoping to rebalance it without the rock since my clownfish have become excavators after buying them.

Once again appreciate the advice and anyone else is welcomed to offer more. I was going to use the move as an excuse for an upgrade, but I think I will wait it out this time. Don't want to be too trigger happy.

 

[DiamondDog1030]

Hey readers,

I think we are preparing the big move, with a uhaul for Juneteenth. I was thinking of moving the tank saturday or sunday all in one go.

I have the bucket for the clowns, shrimp, and a last minute new pitho crab. A bucket for just rock and a bucket for the rock that my 2 anemones love to sit on with them still on it. That should account for maybe a little under 10-11 gallons of the tank water. The rest will hopefully get swapped out with maybe 5 gallons of fresh salt water waiting at the new house. I am mainly going to recycle the water from the bucket with my rock in it and probably the one with the anemone in it for less waste.

For the snails, not sure if I should scrape them off the rock, glass, and out of the sand or just leave them where ever they are. I've got nassarius, cerith, and trochus snails all over the place.

Just wanted to do a final check on if I need airstones or not. The trip is roughly 10 minutes away, so it should be ok. I also won't feed my tank the day before while I am moving all of my big things in a uhaul. Maybe a small meal in the morning and that's all.

Anyways that's my rough plan. Let me know if there are any holes with this.

 

[tbrown]

I leave my snails and crabs wherever they are. If they're in the rocks, they go in the bucket with the rocks. If they're on the glass, they go in the bucket with the fish.

For the rock, you can always dunk a towel in the tank, put it in the rock bucket and then wrap the rocks in that in the bucket to have less sloshing or, as you planned, you can fill the rock bucket with water. If it's not to the top of the rock, just add a towel or some paper towels over the top to keep them wet.

 

[Yon reefs]

solif good jobs on the build

 

[DiamondDog1030]

I leave my snails and crabs wherever they are. If they're in the rocks, they go in the bucket with the rocks. If they're on the glass, they go in the bucket with the fish.

For the rock, you can always dunk a towel in the tank, put it in the rock bucket and then wrap the rocks in that in the bucket to have less sloshing or, as you planned, you can fill the rock bucket with water. If it's not to the top of the rock, just add a towel or some paper towels over the top to keep them wet.

Sound advice. I was trying to fill up the rock bucket with more water since I can put a solid lid on it. While the fish bucket has maybe 3.5 gallons of water in it with a lid full of air holes. I'm hoping they can accommodate that for an hour max. So I don't really disturb the sandbed when I add water slowly back into the tank.

solif good jobs on the build

Thank you, glad you stopped by to check it out.

 

[DiamondDog1030]

Hi y'all,

We have survived for the day. I thought I would take this sooner, but got too tired with the actual house move. Pulled off the move with my dad, happy late father's day to all out there. Sadly couldn't treat him to dinner today, but I will later.

To sum up the first move experience, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. The sand did cause a bit more trouble than I expected (new sand bed next time), but I parsed it out with a big turkey baster (took an hour). Clowns and shrimp were hard to get into the bucket, but they made it. Nems would not shrink for the life of me, so they were just hanging off the rock out of water and I was scared they would just tear in two before I got them in the bucket. Every other invert was good. Loaded them all in buckets with an air hole out the top with a big costco container to make sure spills are caught. I left my back chambers of my tank half full to keep ceramic media and sponge submerged.

The whole drive I just heard sloshing in the back when my car hit every bump, most stressful thing ever for me and the tank inhabitants.

For now the tank is set up with rock work falling apart so the aquascape is a mess. I will just leave it like that naturally locking to each other. My ammonia test kit reagent spilled in transport so I am sort of running this blind. I dosed Prime and some microbactor 7 an hour apart to account for this, but I am getting some Hanna nitrate test refills tomorrow and a new ammonia kit later in the week. The new water I made at the new place also accounted for a 30% water change so I hope this is enough for tonight.

Will post again once I have cleaned and checked for the tank to stabilize (or whatever the fate of this tank is).

Happy Fathers Day to all Fathers again.