Just a simple 45 cube

[Helter Skilter]

I'm setting up this simple little 45 cube as an LPS system. Just an MP40, an HOB skimmer, and a couple Orphek OR3s (Blue+ and Blue Sky) . The Blue Sky came from the Reef2Reef drawing at Reefapalooza in October. It pretty much inspired me to convert my planted tank to an LPS system. Thanks again R2R!!!

I'm still collecting enough water to completely fill it, but I stopped by an LFS on the way home from work and couldn't resist picking up some really nice rock. I'll be getting the rest of the rock and adding some Tropic Eden Tonga Pink sand this weekend.

 

[Peace River]

It looks like you are off to a good start! Good luck with the new adventure!!!

 

[Helter Skilter]

I got the rest of my rock this weekend. This is aquascape v1.0. I don't know about you, but it usually takes me three attempts to get it right. I've got a titanium heater coming in tomorrow. While I'm in there swapping out heaters, I'm going to add some height to the tabling piece in the back left.

 

[Helter Skilter]

Wow... it's already been a month since the last update. A lot has happened since then. I'll start with the learning experiences first.

I really wanted to raise the tabling piece of rock in the back left of the tank. If I put a rock under it, it ended up either blocking the flow of the MP40 or I had to angle the rock to where it was leaning on the left side panel of glass. Neither are an acceptable option. More on this later.

Secondly, I regret not rinsing the sand. I figured live sand wouldn't be heavy on fines. I used the same sand 10 years ago and I don't remember it turning the tank into a white out. Oh well. Some occasional dusting with a bulb syringe got it up off the rock and the skimmer pulled it from the water. It took some effort, this issue has been resolved.

As expected with live rock, I've had some aiptasia and a majano to kill. A little Joe's Juice and they're history.

I'm running an Orphek OR3 60 Blue + and Blue Sky for lighting. I forgot just how bad fish look under pure actinic lighting. My quote was also complaining about how much she hates the blue light. My logical answer was to add a Day + strip in the middle. I dunno about this light. Orphek tried super hard to make it full spectrum. They even used a red lens to add to that. That red lens spots and is clearly not blending with the rest of the colors present. It also gives the tank a weird neopalitan look from the side. The jury is still out on this thing.

Lastly, the MP40 was just too much for this tank. This actually worked out in my favor. I replaced it with an MP10. The smaller footprint allowed me to get a rock under the aforementioned tabling piece of LR in the back left, and lifted the center piece to a much better angle. I'm really digging how the rock turned out.

 

[Helter Skilter]

Now for the good news... Starting the tank with cured LR has paid off. The tank instacycled. I had a small bloom of diatoms on the sand that lasted all of 36 hours. That was the last of it. No signs of cyano so far. The one drawback had been my glass being covered in pods. I'm pretty OK with that.

I got the dosing pump (Jaebo 4.1) dialed in. A daily dose of 15ml B-Ionic two part and 5ml of their Mag is keeping everything stable.

Here's a pic of Barnum... the first addition to the tank. I'm going to get this out of the way in case he shows up in the background of a picture... I brought home a baby RS Desjar. His fins were scalloped and he has some HH/LLE going on. His fins are on the mend, he's putting weight on and the lateral line is starting to heal up. He'll be moving on to a new home in a couple months. For now, he's made friends with a pair of cleaner shrimp.

I've added a few coral too. I got a deal on a damaged Symphyllia, Cynarina, a pretty wicked Lobo, and a Candy Cane. The Candy Cane and Lobo are healing nicely. I'm not sure if the Symphyllia and Cynarina will come back, but I'm going to feed them and how.

I also found a black tube anemone. Pretty neat. I don't see those too often.

 

[Helter Skilter]

Well, my banded trochus decided to spawn yesterday. Kind of a surprise considering the tank is only 6 weeks old.

I brought home a weird one on Friday. it's a blue tipped octo frogspawn with one green tentacle on Friday. I also got some pieces that were heavily discounted due to tissue receding that I'm going to try to heal up. I've also got an Ecotech battery back up on the way.

I think I'm going to slow down on the coral now that it doesn't look barren. I want to get a bunch of favia frags to start filling in the spots between the Euphyllia. I also want some Acan lord (or Lobo lord... whatever it's being called now) and some chalices to tuck into the shaded recesses.