That's not a cube!
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- Thread starter W1ngz
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OP
OP
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
Looking really good now the dust has settled mate!!Really glad to hear the wheelers has shown up hidden away in his burrow too
Thanks!
Can't wait for the new and newly exposed rock to colour up. I could pretty well reassemble my whole original rock structure just like a puzzle right now... lol
OP
OP
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
So it's been a week. I've had a couple of days to just observe things now that I'm done moving things around. The leather coral that I dropped a rock on has recovered and has fully inflated every day for the last few days and anything else that was a little closed up seems to have settled down. I was due to calibrate my pH probe, and the addition of the refugium lit opposite to the tank's photoperiod seems to be working wonders on my pH. I can't wait to start restocking my lost LPS and SPS from the crash that kicked off this whole upgrade plan last fall!
ZipAdeeZoa
Valuable Member
Looking good! I really like the depth you got from the scape, way to make the most of the footprint!
WiscoFishNut
Valuable Member
Lookin good man! I'm almost ready to start my 60g cube build. Just waiting on the stand. I ended up going with a FijiCube 20 sump, so it was really nice to look at how you had yours plumbed up since I've never had a tank with a sump before. I really wish the sides of the stand I'm getting were detachable, it's gonna be a PITA to work in there..
OP
OP
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
Thanks! It's been an expensive upgrade, but I love the look and the removable sides are awesome. If there's any way for you to change directions with your stand, I really recommend it.
OP
OP
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
Now that things are settled in, I've managed to dial in most of my parameters. Still working on dropping the PO4 a little and upping the Nitrates.
First things first, if I'm gonna have a proper mixed reef I needed something better than the Salifert phosphate test. So I picked up a Hanna HI774. That is their newest in their seemingly growing line of phosphate checkers. I think it's pretty much the same as the HI736 ULR phosphorus checker, but the 774 does the conversion automatically to display ppm phosphate.
For the last 7 days or so, my parameters have been nice and steady:
Alk: from 8.0 to 8.4
Cal: Around 425-430
Mag: 1470
Nitrate: 2.5ish
PO4: .10-.12
ph has a more or less steady cycle of either 8.0-8.15 or 8.1 to 8.2, all depending if it's an AC kind of day or an open window day.
First things first, if I'm gonna have a proper mixed reef I needed something better than the Salifert phosphate test. So I picked up a Hanna HI774. That is their newest in their seemingly growing line of phosphate checkers. I think it's pretty much the same as the HI736 ULR phosphorus checker, but the 774 does the conversion automatically to display ppm phosphate.
For the last 7 days or so, my parameters have been nice and steady:
Alk: from 8.0 to 8.4
Cal: Around 425-430
Mag: 1470
Nitrate: 2.5ish
PO4: .10-.12
ph has a more or less steady cycle of either 8.0-8.15 or 8.1 to 8.2, all depending if it's an AC kind of day or an open window day.
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OP
OP
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
So, I'm a bad bad reef keeper. I'd been checking out this fish at my LFS twice a week for 3 weeks before picking it up, and it always looked healthy. I plopped it into my quarantine tank, and got impatient. After just 3 weeks of observation and 2 rounds of prazipro, I was confident in cutting things short and moving it into the big tank especially knowing that my LFS doesn't run any hypo or copper so there was less chance of anything being suppressed.
Honestly, for that size a fish a 10gal qt isn't enough at all, and there were some behaviours starting. If it wasn't cowering behind the filter, it was pacing and rapid up and down in one corner. So it's a win win.
The lights are starting to dim and he came out to say hello after already being tucked under his ledge and changing pattern for the night. Normally he's solid yellow, and only flexes his fins when the clownfish get too close.
I definitely need to do something about my photos. The old iphone SE just doesn't cut it.
Honestly, for that size a fish a 10gal qt isn't enough at all, and there were some behaviours starting. If it wasn't cowering behind the filter, it was pacing and rapid up and down in one corner. So it's a win win.
The lights are starting to dim and he came out to say hello after already being tucked under his ledge and changing pattern for the night. Normally he's solid yellow, and only flexes his fins when the clownfish get too close.
I definitely need to do something about my photos. The old iphone SE just doesn't cut it.
OP
OP
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
Miserable failure due to my own stupidity.
I picked up a simple acro, more or less to use as a canary to see how well an SPS would do in the new system. I didn't catalog it and forgot the name. Purple flesh with green polyps. Not that it matters...
I didn't secure the plug properly in the rock and it tipped over, head first into an adjacent hole. So it's got it's plug sticking up right in the flow. It spent a whole work day upside down in a hole being ground into the rock. I stood it up, and the bottom looked ok, though the top was crystal white where the flesh had been ground off. 48 hours later I saw what looked to be some random fish poo or mucus stuck to it.
Hit it with the turkey baster, and poof, all the flesh blew off and it was bright white down to the plug.
I am an idiot.
I picked up a simple acro, more or less to use as a canary to see how well an SPS would do in the new system. I didn't catalog it and forgot the name. Purple flesh with green polyps. Not that it matters...
I didn't secure the plug properly in the rock and it tipped over, head first into an adjacent hole. So it's got it's plug sticking up right in the flow. It spent a whole work day upside down in a hole being ground into the rock. I stood it up, and the bottom looked ok, though the top was crystal white where the flesh had been ground off. 48 hours later I saw what looked to be some random fish poo or mucus stuck to it.
Hit it with the turkey baster, and poof, all the flesh blew off and it was bright white down to the plug.
I am an idiot.
OP
OP
W1ngz
Failed Padawan
The flipside to the failure though, is a nice score at another local shop.
I had a look at their euphyllia tank, and the yellow hammers seemed to wave and beckon me. I asked how much, expecting an alarming number given the specimen and the ludicrous retail prices on euphyllia these days. 35$ (CAD) a head for all euphyllias! Even the yellows? Yup! Not bad! So I pick a small one that looked to be one head. When I get home and drop it into my dip cup, there's three heads!! After a day or so, fully inflated it's gotta be at least 2" across. Eventually I'll master this photo thing so the yellow shows up properly.
i definitely need to get back there soon to see what else I can steal.
I had a look at their euphyllia tank, and the yellow hammers seemed to wave and beckon me. I asked how much, expecting an alarming number given the specimen and the ludicrous retail prices on euphyllia these days. 35$ (CAD) a head for all euphyllias! Even the yellows? Yup! Not bad! So I pick a small one that looked to be one head. When I get home and drop it into my dip cup, there's three heads!! After a day or so, fully inflated it's gotta be at least 2" across. Eventually I'll master this photo thing so the yellow shows up properly.
i definitely need to get back there soon to see what else I can steal.
Bleigh
The best bad influence
Reef Squad
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My Tank Thread
I heard from the builder that the glass is cut and edges are polished, so I guess it's time to start a build thread.
The very first time I posted online (outside of R2R) about starting a new build, the first person to reply felt it was his sworn duty to point out my "mistake". The question I was asking was irrelevant since I had clearly committed the cardinal sin of being wrong on the internet. Turns out that 30x30x24 "wasn't a cube", and this person really, really needed to make sure I knew that. So here we go - trolls be danged, this is the virtual home of my "It's not a cube" 90 gallon cube build.
The tanks - the main display will be 30x30x24 eurobraced, 3 side starfire on a powder coated steel frame. Next to it I'll have a little home made 12x12x8 frag grow out tank.
The stand - I was originally content with building my own stand, but tank builders like to tie in their warranty with using their stand, so there's that. I'll build a small extension to add next to the steel frame, making the whole thing 48" wide, and wrap the whole thing in removable front and side panels.
The sump - I'm still deciding, but more than likely will go with a Trigger Emerald 34, though I'm also considering a fijicube 24 or 30, and last option the eshopps R200. I like the flow-over style filter sock setup, all of them fits my existing skimmer, and add a fuge - which I still need to pick a light for.
The lighting - I want to enjoy my tank, not worry about spectrum or intensity adjustments. Aquatic life t5 hybrid, probably with an ATI coral plus and blue plus bulb in each section to get a middle of the road blue from the T5s. I'll put a Kessil A360we in the middle so I can ramp up/down with my Apex and use it to adjust the colour visually.
The plumbing. My current 75 was a used tank I picked up as a newbie, so I've lived with going on 5 years of adding this, changing that. It's a mess. This time it's going to be planned properly, and assembled right the first time with colour coded pipes and nice grey fittings.
Stocking. I have another thread over here discussing stocking a 90 cube. There's tons of resources around about suggested tank sizes for any given species, but the dimensions of a cube don't fall into the "usual" recommendations which all equate volume to standard rectangular tank dimensions. 30x30x24 may not be a cube, but with a square footprint, it's also not a rectangle. Great, I'm building a tank with existential issues. I hope it won't need therapy.
I don't have all the cash up front, so it's going to be a slow build over several months. This is somewhat intentional, to protect me from myself and making it harder to get caught in rash decisions based on impatience and an eagerness to get things wet.
Hahah. Sorry. But the not a cube argument cracked me up. It’s a square from the top and a rectangle from the side. Lol. I’d call it a cube as well. And then would have told the person that it’s rare to meet someone more pedantic than myself. ;Hilarious
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