REEFcubed

BattlesReef · Feb 15, 2011

Well I have been in the hobby for a little more than 4 years now. I have had quite a few different tanks, and have learned a lot in these past few years. Last year I had set up a 50 breeder and after moving everything to the new tank I quickly realized that I had a water contamination problem with the RO and saltwater I made for the change. After losing every piece of livestock in about 12 hours I tested the water I had been making to find out that it had 900TDS!!! So needles to say I was overly frustrated and decided to take a step back. Well after about 6 months I began gathering equipment. I was going to wait a few months to let the tank become a little more established before I show it, however, I have had a few requests, so here it is. It has only been up and running for about a month.

EQUIPMENT
60 gallon rimless cube. 3 sides starfire glass. drilled for closed loop (closed loop not running yet)
24" Sun Supply Maristar fixture 250W DE w/ 2- 24W ATI Blue plus
Custom built stand with custom built electrical panel
Bubble Magus NAC7 cone skimmer - best skimmer i have ever had highly recommend
30G sump
Next Reef MR1 media reactor running 225ml of Biopellets
soon to have BRS dual media reactor for carbon and GFO
Quietone 2200 return
Koralia 1,2,3

LIVESTOCK
Fish
2 occy's
Niger Trigger
Sailfin Tang
Firefish

SPS
Green plate
rainbow monti
strawberry field monti
green acro
elias stag
satosa
yellow tort
red planet
aussie milli
green mille
puple acro
unknown tort
Idaho grape plate
purple digi
pavona
green/orange monti
strawberry milli
pink birdsnest

LPS
PC Afterburner acans
PC Under the Rainbow acans
Joker Acans
Blood acans
unknown acan

Zoas / palys
king midas
Bambam morph
and 3 or 4 unknowns

I also have a real nice RBTA for my clowns
everything in the tank is a little "light shocked" at the moment. most of the people I bought the coral from where either running T5 or LED so I am guessing it will take another 2 weeks or so before I see the correct colors again. I have to say this is my first run with biopellets but so far I am a huge fan. My brother in-law has not changed is water in almost 3 weeks and feeds twice a day and has zero nitrate!

Be sure to let me know what you think. Now that i am around a lot of other cubes be sure to let me know if you guys know some good secrets

revhtree · Feb 15, 2011

Sweet cube bro! Tank looks great!

gar732 · Feb 15, 2011

The wife wants a cube, one of these days I'm going to have to give in and get her one. Nice tank and I love that nem.

akabryanhall · Feb 15, 2011

Awe man awesome tank! How is your trigger in that tank?

BattlesReef · Feb 15, 2011

Thanks a lot for the compliments everyone. Im glad to hear that people like it. Unfortunately every time i look at my pictures they are not a good representation of the tank but oh well hopefully you will be able to see all the corals when they color up a little more, and learn to use my Nikon

I have had no issues at all with the trigger. He is the most timid fish in the tank. Hell i have watched my firefish scare him away lol. He will only be able to be in the tank for about a year or so. After that i will have to find him a bigger home. But for the money a small niger trigger IMO is a great fish, very unique. thanks again everybody. Also if anybody has any experience with biopellets let me know. I want to make sure I am doing everything right. I have not yet had my nitrates at zero but the water quality has been good for considering the age of the set-up.

dougers31 · Feb 15, 2011

Very nice setup. I myself would go with gfo before biopellets but that's just me. How's the bubble magus treatin ya?

gar732 · Feb 15, 2011

How big is the trigger now? I've wanted one but I'm ify about get one. Does he go after your inverts at all?

BattlesReef · Feb 15, 2011

The bubble magus is amazing!!! best skimmer I have ever used. with the pump being inside the skimmer makes for a tiny footprint and it is completely silent. easy to adjust and pulls out the worst smelling gunk. It almost made my wife throw up lol. As for as running GFO over biopellets, I am running the biopellets for the nitrates. From what I have heard biopellets are great for nitrates but no the best for phosphate. I am only running the GFO for phosphates. plus in my experience I have not seen nitrate reduction with GFO. Have you had a bad experience with biopellets?

BattlesReef · Feb 15, 2011

The trigger is about 2 1/2" currently. this is the third Niger i have had. None of mine have ever gone after inverts. that being said they are considered non reef safe. But like is said I have had no issues at all. wrasses can be way worse if you ask me. If you have things like sexy shrimp or pom pom crabs that could be different. But when I had a pom pom crab and a Niger he never even glanced at him. Just keep him well fed and you will be fine.

dougers31 · Feb 15, 2011

BattlesReef said:
The bubble magus is amazing!!! best skimmer I have ever used. with the pump being inside the skimmer makes for a tiny footprint and it is completely silent. easy to adjust and pulls out the worst smelling gunk. It almost made my wife throw up lol. As for as running GFO over biopellets, I am running the biopellets for the nitrates. From what I have heard biopellets are great for nitrates but no the best for phosphate. I am only running the GFO for phosphates. plus in my experience I have not seen nitrate reduction with GFO. Have you had a bad experience with biopellets?

No, but I have never had an issue with trates, just phosphate. Suppose it would depend on what your bioload is. Good to hear about the skimmer. Is it a pain to get at the pump for maintenance?

gar732 · Feb 15, 2011

BattlesReef said:
The trigger is about 2 1/2" currently. this is the third Niger i have had. None of mine have ever gone after inverts. that being said they are considered non reef safe. But like is said I have had no issues at all. wrasses can be way worse if you ask me. If you have things like sexy shrimp or pom pom crabs that could be different. But when I had a pom pom crab and a Niger he never even glanced at him. Just keep him well fed and you will be fine.

The only thing that I would be worried about is a pistol shrimp, but he rarely come out of his burrow so I might be ok. I'll have to give it a shot one of these days. Your tank is a 24" cube right?

BattlesReef · Feb 15, 2011

The skimmer is very easy to take apart. I believe it has about 8 or so screws that connect the body to the bottom plate. take that off and the pump is right there. But again I cant say enough about this skimmer.I have never heard one so quiet and break in and start working so quickly. prob the best thing about it IMO is the fact that I have never adjusted it. It has never freeked out or changed level. just plain works perfect. lol even my brother in-law is mad that mine works so great for under $200 and his $450 super reef octopus cone skimmer doesnt work half as well lol.

I dont think you will have a problem at all with your pistol shrimp. he is to fast for the trigger. If he is well fed he wont bother him a bit. Also if you get a goby for your pistol shrimp he will ward off the trigger before he could even get close. I tell you what if you get a Niger and he hurts your pistol I will ship you a new one lol. Let me know if you get one. and yes the tank is 24" x 24" x 24"

gar732 · Feb 19, 2011

BattlesReef said:
I dont think you will have a problem at all with your pistol shrimp. he is to fast for the trigger. If he is well fed he wont bother him a bit. Also if you get a goby for your pistol shrimp he will ward off the trigger before he could even get close. I tell you what if you get a Niger and he hurts your pistol I will ship you a new one lol. Let me know if you get one. and yes the tank is 24" x 24" x 24"

Well you pushed me over the edge, I'm picking one today. He's just a little guy so I don't expect any issues, at least not yet anyway.

BattlesReef · Mar 7, 2012

Well I guess i should post an update seeing how its been a little over a year lol. Everything has been going ok. a few things here and there but nothing too bad. I have been collecting a few chalices lately. I told myself i would not get into them but it happened..... have not gone to crazy with them dont have a my miami or anything. Right now i have orange sherbet, Mt dew, watermellon, BGM, Miami hurricane, purple nurple, and a few wild ones. I have been getting very good growth with them. almost all of them started as frags of just 1 or 2 eyes. well here it is let me know what you think.

slammin · Mar 7, 2012

nice tank!

are you still using the biopellets? do you still feel the same about the nac 7 skimmer?

KoleTang · Mar 7, 2012

What happened to the RBTA lol

BattlesReef · Mar 7, 2012

Lol I got rid of the RBTA after a while he kept moving around and he was taking up to much room.

Stopped running bio pellets. IMO they work well for a while, however after so long algea became a huge issue and the bio pellets just fuel the fire. So I took them off line. Still like the skimmer. Have had no issues what so ever with it. It skims consistent and is quiet as can be. I would recommend it to anyone.