The 40 gallon cube rebuild

[mch1984]

Had to break down and rent a tile saw, luckily it was only $22 for 4 hours. Doesn't seem like a huge change but it's enough to give coral more room to grow up there. I'm hoping to put some birds nest up there, maybe some green slimer.

 

[mch1984]

Everything is wired, dosing containers have the hoses, auto water change hoses are ran. I don't need some of that for a while but wanted to be done with it before I filled it with water. I am not good at cable management so I know this looks like a mess. I'll try to clean up some of it at some point, but it's not my strong suit.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Had to break down and rent a tile saw, luckily it was only $22 for 4 hours. Doesn't seem like a huge change but it's enough to give coral more room to grow up there. I'm hoping to put some birds nest up there, maybe some green slimer.

At least you have more room for your corals to grow!

 

[mch1984]

At least you have more room for your corals to grow!

Agreed, I told my wife I would hate it if I didn't do something about it.

 

[mch1984]

Everything to get this started is ordered. I have salt, dr tims one and only, dr tims amonia chloride, microbac7, and a basic test kit. I have a bunch of test kits from before but everything is expired. I got something to get me through the cycle. After that, I already have some hanna checkers, I just need to reup my reagents. I did switch up my salt from before. I have read so much positive about tropic marine salts, on r2r and other places so I went with tropicmarin pro. It is a little more expensive but not bad when you figure per gallon cost. Before I always used reef crystals and it was fine. I hate that I will have to order salt online every time if I do stick with tropicmarin but well see what the future holds. Super excited to get water in the tank and start the cycle.

 

[mch1984]

Busted out the old testing case, ready to put this thing to good use. Of course everything is expired but that's ok. Case is still in good shape.

 

[mch1984]

For anybody who may be watching this thread, where are you all getting fish online? I've shopped live aquaria in the past, and there used to be a guy locally who got stuff in, but he isn't in the hobby anymore. The only thing local is Petco unless I drive a couple of hours. Just looking for other solid options besides live aquaria, never had any issues with them but just wondering. Thanks

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Busted out the old testing case, ready to put this thing to good use. Of course everything is expired but that's ok. Case is still in good shape.

What case is that? It looks so organized haha.

 

[mch1984]

What case is that? It looks so organized haha.

It’s just an Apache case from harbor freight. Stole the idea from a buddy. It makes it super handy.

 

[mch1984]

Well she is wet, and working on the salty part. I knew one load of water wouldn't be enough, but should be able to get it flowing tomorrow. I made a last min change to the scape, got the wives opinion on it and I think it looks better. Just changed one rock out.

 

[mch1984]

Well she is full and flowing, everything is looking good. Bringing up the salinity, once it's there I'll put Dr. Tims and get the cycle started. Then it will be pretty boring for a little while.

 

[saltybagel]

For anybody who may be watching this thread, where are you all getting fish online? I've shopped live aquaria in the past, and there used to be a guy locally who got stuff in, but he isn't in the hobby anymore. The only thing local is Petco unless I drive a couple of hours. Just looking for other solid options besides live aquaria, never had any issues with them but just wondering. Thanks

Love this build! Definitely going to be following along. Just curious, do you have a plan for the livestock you want to add?

I've had a lot of great specimens purchased from SeaHorse Savvy. They have a great selection of fish, corals, macroalgae and inverts (and seahorses too). 9/10 specimens I've received from them have been in great condition and arrive the next day, and their customer service is great as well if you ever have an issue. They are on the east coast, fyi.
I've also ordered some cerith snails and pom pom macro algae from AlgaeBarn, and received decent specimens. Though word of caution with AlgaeBarn, a clump of macroalgae I received had small Aiptasia on it, so if you order from them make sure to comb through the clumps you receive before putting it in your tank.

 

[mch1984]

Love this build! Definitely going to be following along. Just curious, do you have a plan for the livestock you want to add?

I've had a lot of great specimens purchased from SeaHorse Savvy. They have a great selection of fish, corals, macroalgae and inverts (and seahorses too). 9/10 specimens I've received from them have been in great condition and arrive the next day, and their customer service is great as well if you ever have an issue. They are on the east coast, fyi.
I've also ordered some cerith snails and pom pom macro algae from AlgaeBarn, and received decent specimens. Though word of caution with AlgaeBarn, a clump of macroalgae I received had small Aiptasia on it, so if you order from them make sure to comb through the clumps you receive before putting it in your tank.

Of course we will have a pair of clowns, because who doesn't love some clown fish. My wife has always wanted a pair of black storms, so we will probably get those. Also we will have a lawnmower blenny, they have always been one of my favorites. After that I'm not 100% sure, I'm hoping to get something unique. Had a guy on Reef2Reef mention a red pygmy waspfish for something different in this size tank. I need to do some more research and make sure I want to take one on, and it will take some time to find one.

I've never looked at SeaHorse savvy, so I will have to look at their site. I've done algaebarn in the past, didn't realize they were having Aiptasia issues so I will for sure take a look at it before it goes into the tank.

 

[mch1984]

ordered the heater holder from octo. My sump is tight on space so I think this would be the best way to keep the heaters.

 

[mch1984]

When you are waiting on the cycle, its the little things that keep you entertained. Like a cheap tablet for apex control. The cord will be ran properly later.

 

[mch1984]

cycle is moving along, ammonia is coming down and nitrite is coming up. Time to add some more ammonia.

 

[mch1984]

Well, I was having some issues with my ATO; I'm using an Apex PMUP and an FMM module. It would say the pump was turned on but it wouldn't actually turn on. I was messing with things this morning before I left for work, and it made it worse. I broke the plug on my PMUP. I was going to order a new one this morning, but then I remembered that I had an older 50ml per minute BRS dosing pump. I will hook that up tonight and see if that will work. It may end up being better than the PMUP anyway.

 

[mch1984]

There have been no changes to the tank. I have been out of town this weekend. Daughter had a polo match in the Dallas area. We did visit a local fish store just for the fun of it. They had a beautiful planted tank. It was one of the neatest LFSs I've been to. It makes me wish we had something like that in my town.

 

[mch1984]

While at the aquarium store we went on a side quest. Set up a little planted tank for the wife. It's a 6.3 gallon planet tideline. Not sure if she will put a betta or a few guppies, but it turned out nice.

 

[mch1984]

Octo Aquatics heater bracket came in today. I've seen these before and always really liked it. It will help save some space in my small sump.