My Biocube 32 in San Diego

[cgripp256]

what stores you been going to! When coral time comes check out @AquaSD on clairemont mesa and their clearance section for pieces nicer and cheaper than aquatic warehouse and petzone imo

I think I’ve been to every store from Temecula to the border. We went to AquaSD at the start and yes, I agree they have the best coral selection I have seen.

any recommendation on a store for fish/cuc? I got our damsel from Riptide creatures in Temecula.

 

[jazzfisher]

Have you been to North County Tropical Fish? (in Vista) Or the Love Aquarium in Escondido? The Love aquarium has the most supplies out of what I have listed. Smaller but nice-Aquatica in San Marcos. There is also a store here in Encinitas but I don't care for it, so I won't name it here. I also like Aqua SD for corals and Aquatic Warehouse sometimes.

 

[cgripp256]

Have you been to North County Tropical Fish? (in Vista) Or the Love Aquarium in Escondido? The Love aquarium has the most supplies out of what I have listed. Smaller but nice-Aquatica in San Marcos. There is also a store here in Encinitas but I don't care for it, so I won't name it here. I also like Aqua SD for corals and Aquatic Warehouse sometimes.

I have been to Love, Deep Sea Creations, Rip Tide Creatures, Fish Frenzy, Aquatica Warehouse, Aqua SD, Aquarium Fish Depot

Not North County Tropical or Aquatica though. Thanks for the tip!

 

[jazzfisher]

I have been to Love, Deep Sea Creations, Rip Tide Creatures, Fish Frenzy, Aquatica Warehouse, Aqua SD, Aquarium Fish Depot

Not North County Tropical or Aquatica though. Thanks for the tip!

If you go to NCTF tell Louis Sherry recommended. I get most livestock there. And Dave at Aquatic & crew are good too a bit expensive though

 

[gavinz]

Hi All! I've already learned so much (and realized the overwhelming amount of things I don't know) in the short time I've been a member or R2R. I'm starting with a 32 gallon BioCube after waffling for a while on a HOB style breeder vs a decked out rimless setup with sump, etc. Being brand new to saltwater aquariums and out of the freshwater scene for 15 years I decided the BC32 was a good compromise. I'm still in the VERY early stages of having just purchased the aquarium and stand and plan to get it set up and cycling this weekend! I look forward to all the help and guidance along the way that the R2R community provides!

I’m in San Diego as well and glad to help anyway I can

 

[Dcal]

I have been to Love, Deep Sea Creations, Rip Tide Creatures, Fish Frenzy, Aquatica Warehouse, Aqua SD, Aquarium Fish Depot

Not North County Tropical or Aquatica though. Thanks for the tip!

aquatic warehouse is my main store its pretty good

 

[cgripp256]

Added a small cleanup crew today.
1 turbo snail
2 hermit crabs
2 Nassarius snails
2 Astrea snails
1 margarita snail

Both Nassirius immediately dove into the sand. One has stayed buried and not really moved (I’m a little bit concerned) the other emerged shortly later and has been cruising EVERYWHERE.

The hermit crabs started munching right away on the tiniest bits of algae. So much fun to locate and watch these guys do their thing.

And our 1 clown fish was pretty interested in her new neighbor but forgot about them and focused her attention on my hand. I never knew how much a clown fish resembled a rabid junkyard dog! Lol

 

[cgripp256]

For the last 2 weeks while the damsel was in QT I’ve been looking into our stock list.

Here is where I've come to a crossroads. I keep seeing so much conflicting info I‘m getting a bit locked up on where to go from here.

Our Maroon is, as I learned, typically aggressive. My hand has been thoroughly bludgeoned by her whenever I need to do anything in the tank.

I‘m a little concerned (ok a lot concerned) about adding our damsel and even more so about what to add after that assuming the damsel goes well.

I have an acclimation box arriving tomorrow and planned to add the damsel (in the box) this weekend to the DT. After that it all depends on what happens I guess.

I‘ve got a shortlist of the usual suspects for the 3rd fish.
goby/shrimp pair
firefish
Royal Gramma

Any acclimation advice for the damsel or alternatives to the above list?

 

[Dcal]

For the last 2 weeks while the damsel was in QT I’ve been looking into our stock list.

Here is where I've come to a crossroads. I keep seeing so much conflicting info I‘m getting a bit locked up on where to go from here.

Our Maroon is, as I learned, typically aggressive. My hand has been thoroughly bludgeoned by her whenever I need to do anything in the tank.

I‘m a little concerned (ok a lot concerned) about adding our damsel and even more so about what to add after that assuming the damsel goes well.

I have an acclimation box arriving tomorrow and planned to add the damsel (in the box) this weekend to the DT. After that it all depends on what happens I guess.

I‘ve got a shortlist of the usual suspects for the 3rd fish.
goby/shrimp pair
firefish
Royal Gramma

Any acclimation advice for the damsel or alternatives to the above list?

I have a chalk bass in my 90 and its a super cool fish and could do well in a biocube

 

[cgripp256]

Thanks for the suggestion

 

[jazzfisher]

Pygmy Hawkfish (so cute) Yellow or white banded possum wrasse, neon goby, clown goby (lots of varieties) I have a yellow clown goby & green war goby-very peaceful fish.

 

[jazzfisher]

my newest Yellow Coris Wrasse-very active, peaceful. Fun to watch.

 

[cgripp256]

Cool little guys! Thanks

 

[cgripp256]

I added the damsel to the tank last night. I used the acclimation box for about 5 hours until the Damsel seemed to settle in and started exploring the limits of it's small universe. My clown barely acknowledge the other fish's existence at all. They've been getting along splendidly since setting the damsel loose. No aggression at all and only VERY MINOR territorial behavior from the clown. Like half hearted chasing away the damsel from her favorite powerhead. The damsel is about 10x faster than the clown though so I don't think there's a chance it gets caught by the clown unless it wants to be.

Whew! All that worrying and anxiety seems to have been for naught.

I still like the acclimation tank as it ensures a nice safe place for any new additions so I don't regret dropping $50 on it. I can say it is very nicely made. I purchased the Reefing Art 8x4x6 acclimation box with the magnets and it was very good quality.

 

[cgripp256]

Today I reprogramed my smart power strip.
I had procured a Kasa Powerstrip when I started but was only using its functionality sparingly. I have my ATO, Lights (factory), Inkbird heater controller, powerheads and Return pump on it. It's Alexa compatible too.

I now have it set up to:

1. Turn my ATO on for 1 min intervals about 4 times a day. I got the idea somewhere so as to help prevent any overflow floods from a stuck ON ATO pump. Seems like a good plan, I just have to monitor to make sure it's enough time for the ATO to actually keep up with the evaporation and if not just increase the frequency instead of duration. Worst case my ATO reservoir is only about 2.5 gallons of water.
2. Alternate my 2 Koralia 425 powerheads every few hours so that it creates a cycle of 1 on, 1 off and then both on every 8 hours or so then repeat 3x daily. I actually had to use a diagram to visualize it as I couldn't seem to do it in my head. LOL. The return pump is on 24/7 except for a couple times as listed below.
3. I voice enabled a couple of Alexa routines as well. One for water changes (turns off all pumps and heaters for 1 hour and back on automatically just in case I forget to tell it to turn back on), one for feeding that turns off return pump and leaves the power head on that blows away from the overflow grates. The feeding mode lasts 5 minutes and then turns everything back on.

I'm very happy with the Kasa Powerstrip and the functionality it has added to my tank. It's not an Apex power bar (my wife would have my head if I dropped that kind of money right now) but it was definitely worth the $50.

 

[cgripp256]

Yesterday, right after we left to go to dinner, my tank temp alarm sent me a text saying the temp had risen to 81.1 It was 100 degrees outside yesterday and upstairs in the loft, where the tank is, got to be 80. So I remotely cranked the AC and turned off the lights. Thanks to my Kasa smart power strip. Temp stopped rising at 81.1.

I had already been contemplating going hoodless but we have 3 cats and 2 German shepherds and by god I WILL have a hairless aquarium!

As an alternative to address the heat retention of this system I looked into DIY fan installs. So I ordered a couple USB powered 80mm fans and am going to give them a shot.

 

[Reefbuds]

Hawkfish are always a great choice. I personally like the Flame Hawk but they are all very cool additions.

 

[cgripp256]

I do like the hawk fish. I’m a little worried that they might go after my newly added cleaner shrimp.

 

[cgripp256]

Also I added an RBTA!

 

[jazzfisher]

I do like the hawk fish. I’m a little worried that they might go after my newly added cleaner shrimp.

Try the Pygmy Geometric Hawkfish--small size-very peaceful doesn't bother anything.