- Joined
- Nov 27, 2018
- Messages
- 242
- Reaction score
- 181
Hey guys and gals I’ve been struggling in this hobby for the last few years. Can’t lie it’s been less then enjoyable but I never give up. So here’s the back story.
started back in December of 2017, not to long ago, wife got me a 55 gal tank and I set it up as a softie tank and all was great for a year or so then ended up with green bubble algae so tried some vibrant to treat the gba and before I knew it I had Dino blooming everywhere. Now I’m definitely not blaming vibrant for my Dino issue as I’m sure I wasn’t using it as the bottle said to. Well before I could get that under control I was forced by work to make a 900 mile move,July 2019, so I packed up samples of most of my corals and gave the rest to my LFS minus my finger leather. By far my favorite. Either way the poor coral and fish were tossed back into the tank when we got to the destination. No uniform to it just coral on plugs and a pile of live rock with plans to set up my 150 or 90 I had freshwater before the move. Well after getting a home inspection we have to get some subfloor work done before I can set up much on a permanent basis. I was bummed to say the least.
Well after that news about the subfloor I was thinking either a nano or just shutting it down until we get the floors fixed and my wife surprised me yet again with a jbj nano 24 gal aio cube with stand she got off the letgo app for $25. So that brings us to the reason I started this thread. The nano cube.
So here’s a breakdown on my nano cube setup
jbj nano 24 gal aio
Mp40
Mp10
AI hydra26
Ato
Apex
Some heater can’t remember
Weekly 3 gal water changes since no skimmer
Feed reef frenzy daily
set it up with old dry live rock that I bleach cured for a few days then dry out for a week followed by rodi soak for a week and dry for another week.
Used egg crate to elevate the rocks off the bottom and have 2.5” of special grade sand.
used a table shrimp to cycle the tank August 2019.
added a few crabs and snails after cycle for a few weeks before adding fish and snails from my 55 gal that was still just a rock pile and frag rack. Nov 2019 added my coral, mostly softie and a few lps.
so now you have an idea of what I’m working with now for the real reason of this thread. Well my Dino has returned. It’s kind of funny how it’s staying of the finger leather as it’s starting to multiply. I know it’s only a short time before it gets out of hand so I’m doing everything in my power to slow it down until I can restore balance in my tank.
Ive read both Dino threads on here twice now. Once before the move and a refresher in the last few days. I can’t say I’m not confused by some of it but do understand it’s not a easy fix.
so here’s where it gets interesting I’m mostly color blind so any test that tells you to compare colors are a joke to me. So im planning on getting a icp test done, should I do a test on my source water and tank water or just tank water? Yes I’m using rodi and yes it’s 0, have the inline tds meter. I did check my phosphate with my Hana checker and it’s 0.14. I have a cheap api test kit and wife said the nitrates look to be 0 but I don’t trust that thing. Bought it for the ammonia test.
I know the icp test will take awhile to get back and need to keep the Dino at bay until I can get a for sure game plan to get my tank balanced.
i did order a 55 watt UV Sterilizers should be here next Wednesday. Should be fun to plumb with a aio tank.
so my real question is this
Where did I go wrong with my setup?
Where did my imbalance come from?
Had a buddy tell me once that “when you have a problem keep throwing $100 bills at it until it goes away.” Guess I’m gonna give that a shot I really hate to give up on this hobby because of Dino.
any insight on where my problem is coming from would be appreciated
thanks
Matt
started back in December of 2017, not to long ago, wife got me a 55 gal tank and I set it up as a softie tank and all was great for a year or so then ended up with green bubble algae so tried some vibrant to treat the gba and before I knew it I had Dino blooming everywhere. Now I’m definitely not blaming vibrant for my Dino issue as I’m sure I wasn’t using it as the bottle said to. Well before I could get that under control I was forced by work to make a 900 mile move,July 2019, so I packed up samples of most of my corals and gave the rest to my LFS minus my finger leather. By far my favorite. Either way the poor coral and fish were tossed back into the tank when we got to the destination. No uniform to it just coral on plugs and a pile of live rock with plans to set up my 150 or 90 I had freshwater before the move. Well after getting a home inspection we have to get some subfloor work done before I can set up much on a permanent basis. I was bummed to say the least.
Well after that news about the subfloor I was thinking either a nano or just shutting it down until we get the floors fixed and my wife surprised me yet again with a jbj nano 24 gal aio cube with stand she got off the letgo app for $25. So that brings us to the reason I started this thread. The nano cube.
So here’s a breakdown on my nano cube setup
jbj nano 24 gal aio
Mp40
Mp10
AI hydra26
Ato
Apex
Some heater can’t remember
Weekly 3 gal water changes since no skimmer
Feed reef frenzy daily
set it up with old dry live rock that I bleach cured for a few days then dry out for a week followed by rodi soak for a week and dry for another week.
Used egg crate to elevate the rocks off the bottom and have 2.5” of special grade sand.
used a table shrimp to cycle the tank August 2019.
added a few crabs and snails after cycle for a few weeks before adding fish and snails from my 55 gal that was still just a rock pile and frag rack. Nov 2019 added my coral, mostly softie and a few lps.
so now you have an idea of what I’m working with now for the real reason of this thread. Well my Dino has returned. It’s kind of funny how it’s staying of the finger leather as it’s starting to multiply. I know it’s only a short time before it gets out of hand so I’m doing everything in my power to slow it down until I can restore balance in my tank.
Ive read both Dino threads on here twice now. Once before the move and a refresher in the last few days. I can’t say I’m not confused by some of it but do understand it’s not a easy fix.
so here’s where it gets interesting I’m mostly color blind so any test that tells you to compare colors are a joke to me. So im planning on getting a icp test done, should I do a test on my source water and tank water or just tank water? Yes I’m using rodi and yes it’s 0, have the inline tds meter. I did check my phosphate with my Hana checker and it’s 0.14. I have a cheap api test kit and wife said the nitrates look to be 0 but I don’t trust that thing. Bought it for the ammonia test.
I know the icp test will take awhile to get back and need to keep the Dino at bay until I can get a for sure game plan to get my tank balanced.
i did order a 55 watt UV Sterilizers should be here next Wednesday. Should be fun to plumb with a aio tank.
so my real question is this
Where did I go wrong with my setup?
Where did my imbalance come from?
Had a buddy tell me once that “when you have a problem keep throwing $100 bills at it until it goes away.” Guess I’m gonna give that a shot I really hate to give up on this hobby because of Dino.
any insight on where my problem is coming from would be appreciated
thanks
Matt