New Old NanoCube Setup

akmartinez1 · 08/11/2010, 12:10 PM

Hello,

I'm new to this site and fairly new to reef keeping.

Several years ago I bought a JBJ 12g NanoCube but never set it up until now so it's an older generation aquarium.

I just setup aquarium last week and so far so good in its early stages.

I have 10lbs of live sand, and the first week only had a 5lbs live rock and just added 14lbs more of live rock.

The first week I had an actinic blue light given to me from a friend but it was way too blue for me so I changed it to a 50/50.

I'm running the stock pump that came with the tank and at the suggestion of a LFS owner I took out the ceramic, bio-ball, and carbon media from the back but I guess it was not necessary to remove the carbon so I might put it back.

In the back chamber #1 I have just the original sponge filter, #2 I put in a Duetto 100 submersible filter to create some turbulence in the back chambers and oxygenate the water from the back without creating too much turbulence in the main viewing area. I have the water heater in the back chamber #3.

I don't like the big sizes of even the small power heads I've found in stores but I do understand that it's beneficial for oxygenation when creating turbulence at the surface but do I really need to keep a power head in the front for this purpose? Can and will the Duetto running the in the back chamber be enough? When I look into the aquarium up to the top I can see what looks like a film of something in areas furthest away from the aquarium's output spout. I have a spare Duetto mini filter that's smaller than the power heads I've found that I can install as a mini power head to create more surface turbulence if needed. With the Duetto 100 in the back chamber I did not attach the air line but I can to bubble the water and oxygenate that way too.

Any tips in these early stages before livestock is added will be greatly appreciated.

There is some visible life attached to the live rocks. On one of the new rocks there is an anemone of some type. I can see little insect like creatures skitting about and I think I've found 2 bristle worms. I also discovered 3 very very tiny snails with white bodies and shells, one with very tiny black dots. And I see almost a dozen or so grayish green very very small starfish looking creatures that move very very slowly (I watched intently to make sure they were moving), and lastly I found 1 snail about the size of my pinky's first knuckle segment with a small shell that looks more like a plate of armor than a curved bubble shell. The shell had a white stripe that ran from front to back.

On the bristle worms, I found some pages that say they are harmless and somewhat beneficial to the tank and on some pages refer to them as a harbinger of doom to all other life in the aquarium. These worms are tiny. I can only see about 1/4 of an inch or less of their bodies poking out from the rocks. They are not more than a millimeter in thickness if that. They are brown with what looks like white lines separating the segments. I tried to get them with tweezers but they're hard to get too and quick once you touch them with anything... Are they really harmless at this size? Is there a natural predator I can keep in this size aquarium to control them? I think one of the first things I'll get are small emerald crabs and hope they can help but from what I've read they probably won't because there is no indication of that type of behavior in the crabs...

I'll try to take some pictures if I can and post them.

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08/11/2010, 12:10 PM	#1
akmartinez1 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: San Francisco, California, USA Posts: 3	New Old NanoCube Setup Hello, I'm new to this site and fairly new to reef keeping. Several years ago I bought a JBJ 12g NanoCube but never set it up until now so it's an older generation aquarium. I just setup aquarium last week and so far so good in its early stages. I have 10lbs of live sand, and the first week only had a 5lbs live rock and just added 14lbs more of live rock. The first week I had an actinic blue light given to me from a friend but it was way too blue for me so I changed it to a 50/50. I'm running the stock pump that came with the tank and at the suggestion of a LFS owner I took out the ceramic, bio-ball, and carbon media from the back but I guess it was not necessary to remove the carbon so I might put it back. In the back chamber #1 I have just the original sponge filter, #2 I put in a Duetto 100 submersible filter to create some turbulence in the back chambers and oxygenate the water from the back without creating too much turbulence in the main viewing area. I have the water heater in the back chamber #3. I don't like the big sizes of even the small power heads I've found in stores but I do understand that it's beneficial for oxygenation when creating turbulence at the surface but do I really need to keep a power head in the front for this purpose? Can and will the Duetto running the in the back chamber be enough? When I look into the aquarium up to the top I can see what looks like a film of something in areas furthest away from the aquarium's output spout. I have a spare Duetto mini filter that's smaller than the power heads I've found that I can install as a mini power head to create more surface turbulence if needed. With the Duetto 100 in the back chamber I did not attach the air line but I can to bubble the water and oxygenate that way too. Any tips in these early stages before livestock is added will be greatly appreciated. There is some visible life attached to the live rocks. On one of the new rocks there is an anemone of some type. I can see little insect like creatures skitting about and I think I've found 2 bristle worms. I also discovered 3 very very tiny snails with white bodies and shells, one with very tiny black dots. And I see almost a dozen or so grayish green very very small starfish looking creatures that move very very slowly (I watched intently to make sure they were moving), and lastly I found 1 snail about the size of my pinky's first knuckle segment with a small shell that looks more like a plate of armor than a curved bubble shell. The shell had a white stripe that ran from front to back. On the bristle worms, I found some pages that say they are harmless and somewhat beneficial to the tank and on some pages refer to them as a harbinger of doom to all other life in the aquarium. These worms are tiny. I can only see about 1/4 of an inch or less of their bodies poking out from the rocks. They are not more than a millimeter in thickness if that. They are brown with what looks like white lines separating the segments. I tried to get them with tweezers but they're hard to get too and quick once you touch them with anything... Are they really harmless at this size? Is there a natural predator I can keep in this size aquarium to control them? I think one of the first things I'll get are small emerald crabs and hope they can help but from what I've read they probably won't because there is no indication of that type of behavior in the crabs... I'll try to take some pictures if I can and post them.