New build in progress - 60g cube

[WiscoFishNut]

Small update - The fish are past the halfway point in the copper power treatment. I plan on transferring them to QT2 on Sunday to start GC treatment, 1 dose, wait 5 days, 1 more dose. Then they're ready for their new home. Some folks have expressed concerns about the CB in a 60g cube and the six line in general, so at some point I may resurrect my original 75g and turn it in to an aggressive FOWLR setup and call it the Misfits home lol. I'd definitely drill it for an overflow and sump this time around though.

The DT has been cycling for just short of 20 days and seems to be pretty much done using the bacteria in a bottle and ammonia dosing system. I decided to keep the lights off except for the ambiance after work when the wife and I are in the room to keep algae down. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and try to break in the skimmer or not at this point?

Below is a snippet on the flow schedule I have going. Suggestions are appreciated! I'm thinking of adding a nutrient export cycle in there somewhere, but I don't think my lower positioned powerhead will stir up the entire bottom "zone".

I still haven't hooked up the Kessil wifi-dongle and played with the light settings yet. I'll definitely be looking for some advice there as I seemed to have failed with my schedule in the coral QT..Corals are doing great, but dealing with loads of GHA. Just dialed it back to 1 hour ramp up, 7 hours peak, 1 hour ramp down. Had it at 12 hours peak ;Facepalm

 

[TheKingInYellow]

I thought 60g was plenty big for a CB?

 

[WiscoFishNut]

I thought 60g was plenty big for a CB?

LiveAquaria lists the recommended at 70g, but I figured I'd roll the dice. The little bit of feedback I've gotten on here is that they prefer a longer tank for more swim room. Right now he's only about 2.5" long, but I may end up moving him later if it looks like the space is cramping his style.

 

[TheKingInYellow]

Fair enough, I tend to think people underestimate swimming space along the tank depth though.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Small updates -

All fish survived copper treatment and are now in QT2. GC dose #1 starts on Wednesday, then 5 days, then another GC dose, then 5 more days, then to the DT ;Woot

Finally got the upper hand on the algae problems in the coral QT. My emerald crab is my new favorite critter. I'll definitely be getting more for the DT. This first one is going to be a full time resident in the coral QT tho since she's proven to be coral safe (watched her delicately pick algae off a frag plug with zoas on it).

I've been ghost feeding the DT and doing WC's to keep nitrates down. I still need to fire up the skimmer and try to get it dialed in. Not sure if that's possible with just ghost feeding. I'm also contemplating going sock-less in the sump. I have 2 10" socks in there and after 2 days the water is overflowing. There's an option to put a sponge in there instead. Looking for suggestions on this please!

This weekend I'm picking up some additions for the CUC - astrea turbo snails, sally lightfoot crab, another female emerald crab, and a scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp. For the next batch of fish I'm somewhat undecided still. Here's the short list - 3 x Pajama Cardinalfish, Purple Firefish, Starry Blenny, or 3 x yellowtail blue damsel(I know this is probably a bad idea, talk me off the ledge lol).

Currently there are 2 astrea turbos and a fire shrimp in the coral QT that'll be moved over to the DT shortly. The shrimp is ready to go whenever since he's molted several times already. The snails won't hit day 76 until 12/13.

Can't wait to see life in the DT! Watching the pretty blue light shimmer is nice and all, but..

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Been super busy with work lately. The tank is alive!! The first set of fish and inverts are in and all asjusted nicely. Current stock is - six line wrasse, coral beauty angelfish, storm clownfish, snowflake clownfish, fire shrimp, and a Sally lightfoot crab. The coral QT will be finished on the 13th. With corals I'll be moving over a peppermint shrimp, scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, and 4 snails. The second batch of fish are going through QT and are about 15 days or so out yet (3 x PJ cardinalfish and ruby longfin fairy wrasse).

I still haven't fired up the skimmer to get it broken in due to being away from home for work. I should be back to normal on Wednesday finally. I'm hoping it'll clear up the fine particles I'm seeing in the water, but might have to put the socks back in. The light got stuck in the on position the entire week last week because our WiFi dropped. Got a nice algae jumpstart as a result

 

[islandbreeze]

Build looks great, keep up the great work! Ill post a build thread and get ur input when my fiji54 cube and 20sump arrives! Cant wait it looks like urs is a bit taller but same width depth...im gonna be cramped for room as well in stand but where theres a will theres a way im told. I like how u added furniture to sides to hide more epuip....great look

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Build looks great, keep up the great work! Ill post a build thread and get ur input when my fiji54 cube and 20sump arrives! Cant wait it looks like urs is a bit taller but same width depth...im gonna be cramped for room as well in stand but where theres a will theres a way im told. I like how u added furniture to sides to hide more epuip....great look

Thanks for the kind comments @islandbreeze ! Going with the 2 side cabinets was definitely a good move. So much easier to manage things that way and I didnt have to build anything lol

 

[SMSREEF]

Really nice tank and build thread. I love the cube footprint.
I’m really interested to see how the Copperband does. That’s my favorite fish and I’m setting up a 60 cube too, so I’m hoping it’s really happy in your tank!

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Really nice tank and build thread. I love the cube footprint.
I’m really interested to see how the Copperband does. That’s my favorite fish and I’m setting up a 60 cube too, so I’m hoping it’s really happy in your tank!

Thanks for the comments! I think I misused the CB acronym, I have a Coral Beauty, not a Copperband. I think a larger tank would be required for one of those.

 

[SMSREEF]

Thanks for the comments! I think I misused the CB acronym, I have a Coral Beauty, not a Copperband. I think a larger tank would be required for one of those.

Dang... that’s what I was thinking too, that it needs more room. I had decided to not get one but then was rethinking it again, lol. Maybe I just wanted to see CB=copperband, I’m not sure what the right acronym is for them, is it CBB?

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Dang... that’s what I was thinking too, that it needs more room. I had decided to not get one but then was rethinking it again, lol. Maybe I just wanted to see CB=copperband, I’m not sure what the right acronym is for them, is it CBB?

Yeah I think it's CBB. Let me know when you put up a build thread so I can follow along!

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Status update -

The second batch of fish are doing well in QT. I started out with a prolonged GC treatment on the front end this time due to work travel and observations. The copper power ramp up is in progress and should be at 2.0 by Friday. Everyone is eating and looking healthy so far.

Had to delay moving the coral frags to the DT due to elevated nitrate levels.. Thats what I get for dragging my heels on breaking in the skimmer. I will say that Reef Octopus 150 SS is awesome! Easy setup. Only had to drain the cup twice right away before it calmed down. Currently have the air setting at 2-3 and adjusting slightly to find the sweet spot. Super easy.

Pardon the algae lol. This QT is in my home office out of sight.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Jan 2020 update

The Good

All the fish are doing well! It took a bit to get the corals where I wanted and anchored down using the epoxy stuff from Two Little Fishes. That stuff works great! I didn't initially use any, but my emerald crab had some issues with some of the frags..

System wise everything has been running really well, no mechanical or plumbing issues.

The light schedule seems to be ok, at least no corals have died so far lol.

The Bad

I decided to experiment with filtration and pretty much failed lol.
1. Pulled filter socks completely because I was tired of cleaning/replacing them. result = Bad
2. Replaced sock holder with a floss tray and floss. result = Not much change
2.a. Decided to start feeding more because nitrates and phosphates were at zero and feared I'd get Dinos(?). result = Terrible.. Water is cloudy as hell, glass needs cleaning daily, water is stained green
3. Put the sock holder back in and put in 2 x mesh socks hoping they'd be enough without having to replace/clean so often. result = nope, still terrible.
4. Went full circle and switched to 2 x 10.5" 100 micron socks lol. Hopefully these will get the water back in order.

Next Steps

QT more CUC! 2 snails isn't enough to keep up with the glass cleaning. The algae on the rocks isn't bad at all at least. I'm thinking 6 more snails probably wouldn't be overkill. The two crabs have done a real nice job cleaning up the bare bottom where the flow hasn't kept up.

I won't be adding any more corals for quite a while since I'll be out of country next month for a decent stretch. I QT everything and don't want to risk the $$$ in case something goes haywire while I'm gone.

Overall I'm pretty happy I took the time to QT everything. It forced me to slow down and is giving me a little bit of peace of mind..

I'm not sure about adding more fish. Everyone seems to be getting along really well so far. I'd like to get a bi-color blenny, but the wife really wants a mandarin goby further down the road. At this point I'm content to just let things be till the end of the year and see how it goes.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Gotta share the ugly pics along with the good lol

 

[NC122606]

Bump! Very interested in how it is going.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Thanks for the reminder @NC122606 , been a while since I updated because life gets in the way I was out of country for 7 days earlier this month and everything survived and no equipment failed!

Updates -

The water clarity issues have been resolved. I've been rotating pairs of 100 micron socks about every 7-10 days along with a mesh bag of activated carbon.

Film algae on the glass is still an issue. I'm not surprised since I only have a single pair of turbo snails at the moment. I just placed an order with reefcleaners for a small army of snails - 15 x dwarf ceriths, 5 nassarius vibex, 9 x Florida ceriths, and 7 nerites. The site says everything should be fine for a bare bottom tank, but I'm curious to see how the nassarius guys do.. I'll give the expanded crew a couple weeks and see if the film algae on the glass slows down any before messing with the lights. So far the livestock has kept all other algae types under control which is nice.

I did lose one of the clowns when the water got funky there for a bit I couldn't see anything visibly wrong with em other than hiding out in a corner of the tank and loss of appetite. All fish were fully QT'ed in the beginning, and none of the other fish seemed to have any problems. The remaining clown of the pair continues to stick mostly to one spot in the tank and hardly ventures out. The longfin fairy wrasse does harass him on occasion, but not 100% sure that's the problem.. I'm not sure if I should re-home the remaining clown or get em a new mate. I'd also like to add some kind of blenny, but haven't made up my mind yet.

Corals-wise - had one die. Think it was an alveopora or goniopora, just slowly bleached from what i can tell. The torch, zoas and other goniopora seem to be doing good for the most part. I'd like to ramp up the lights a little bit and see if it helps them thrive a little more. The now banished emerald crab might have been the cause of the one death also..

Inverts - the two shrimp are doing great. The emerald crab had to be banished to a basement tank because it was getting a bit too aggressive stealing food from the torch. The two turbo snails are fat and happy. The sally lightfoot crab is molting on the regular and generally doing a good job of creeping my wife out lol.

I'm starting to see small spots of coraline algae here and there which has me really excited! Water parameters have all been really consistent to the point where I'm not sure I'll need to add any macroalgae for quite a while. I picked up a variety of test kits for calcium, mag, and alk to get some base line #'s before I add any more coral.

Reflections - I think things have gone pretty decent so far considering this is my first run at a mixed reef setup. If I had to do it again I'd reconsider the livestock plan. I was focused so much on how large the fish that could be put in the tank are instead of looking at smaller cooler fish that would be more comfortable in the tank. I really like the look of the coral beauty and the longfin fairy wrasse, but they really dominate the space and make the "balance" look a bit off.

Current stock
1 x Coral Beauty Angelfish
1 x Ruby Longfin Fairy Wrasse
1 x 6-line Wrasse
3 x PJ Cardinalfish
1 x Storm clownfish
1 x Scarlet Skunk Cleaner shrimp
1 x Fire shrimp
2 x Turbo snails

Will post up some pics here in a bit. Thanks for following along and please share any thoughts or suggestions!

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Pic dump

 

[Webslinger]

imo....Catch that 6-line and rehome before he starts becoming a jerk. Also slow and steady wins the race. I wouldn't add anything else for about 6 months.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

I could use some help with an id on this coral -