Dr's 70G Rimless cube Build Log

[DrPheel]

Originally Posted by mgoulding

Following along

Thanks !

[DrPheel]

Hey RC ! sorry for the long delay in updates but I have been busy with other projects and now that my algae issue is gone and under control the tank is on cruise control. Other than feeding and weekly WC not much has happened

Still no sings of P04 on the Hanna checker , waiting for a rise to change out the GFO media! I aslo took the pellets offline .... Yup , no more pellets. I converted the Phosban 150 to a Cheato reactor from a read in the DIY section I also switched to Reef crystals instead of plain IO salt as i'm starting to get more stocked on corals. My friend let me use his RedSea master test kit to check my CAL and also double check my hanna dKH and Salifert MG . We are at 1500MG (kind of high but in range & Stable) , 8.1 on dKH (perfect) and I tested my CAL twice at 480PPM. Cal is a little high to my liking but I will test every other day until its at 420 ish. I'm only missing the CAL Hanna checker and I will then track the consumption of the trace elements over the next few weeks.

I also have been testing with some yellow flash gel to take pictures under full actinics , Its insane what difference it makes and I can now show much better pictures when i'm trying to sell my corals Here's is a few teasers for your guys !
Have a nice Week RC

Nice polyps:


Few Acan i'm trying to sell as I have them in double:


More Acan:


Some Chalices im growing out from very small frags:

[DrPheel]

Hey RC, Happy hump day !

Time for a update since I have not posted nothing in the last month. I'm glad to say the tank is still on cruise control. I am enjoying the tank and the inhabitants. Apart from the regular change of water/sock/media and cleaning the glass I have nothing more to do then spend money on corals. Not much has changed fish wise, although they are all very more active and out in the open. The gramma is still a bully and I tried a few times to get him out with a fish trap with no success. My little goby found a nice spot in the front of the display and I'm waiting for my LFS to source a nice randall pistols to keep him company. I also HAD to buy a green bubble tip nem last week ... let me give you a little more context ... I HATE NEMS ! but on the weekend I have a LFS that is more like a large surface store (petsmart / petco kind of store) I will not mention the name but they unfortunately have incompetent staff that works on weekends. They are mostly a freshwater/plant store but they do have a small section for fish and coral that covers maybe 1/8 of their livestock section. After seeing the GBTA on special for 45$ and noticing it was on a rock that also had 2 nice ricordea shrooms on it. I proceeded to ask the clerk if the GBTA came with the rocks it was attached on... I was told that it does but I might want to remove the nem from it or cut the rock because it had 2 manjano anemones on it... wait what ?? Someone needs a ID here ! No need to say I took his advice and removed them .... but only to put them on some frag plugs I will eventually keep one for my shroom rock and sell the nem and the other ric for profit and re-invest in some livestock. As always, here are a few shots for your eye pleasure

Remember that little red blastomussa from my first corals ? look at it now :


The shroom rock in progress ! with a few chalices on top , the wrasse and firefish were surprisingly camera happy that day:


Shroom close up 1 :


Shroom close up 2 (one of my fav) :


Shroom close up 3 :


GBTA and the 2 florida rics I got for free :

[DrPheel]

Hi RC ! Quick update on the build... I ran into a big issue that I can not get my head wrapped around. I am, for some unknown reason , unable to keep a shrimp alive for more than 2-3hrs How could this be ?? all is thriving in the cube but for some odd reason my acclimation process seems to be flawed

Here is the original post and you can view the link HERE for all the comments :

After almost a year of running a very successful reef I wanted to add my first shrimp. I got a nice coral banded shrimp at my LFS , temp acclimated for 20-25 mins , dripped for 1h30mins , introduced with the lights off in the DT and after 2 hrs it had already lost one of its claw to what I assume either stress of maybe a aggressor that I did not see. After being very calm for 20-30 mins in a shaded area of the tank , the hermits and nasarius snails were making sandwiches out of him

Checked my water , all was good as usual. PH/Ammo/Nitrate/Phos/Alk/Cal and Mg were all pristine like the last reading in my logs. I change water, do maintenance on Mondays and test on Tuesday. I go to the LFS on the weekend so I was thinking something may of been off. RODI still at 0PPM , even tested for Phos but it was 0.000. I then started to suspect my yellow wrasse or the hermits but since the lights were off I know the wrasse was sleeping.

2 months pass by and this weekend I got a deal on one cleaner skunk and coral banded for 40$, both very small and in good health. I pulled the trigger and as I am temp acclimating them in the DT I do a bit more research to make sure I was doing the right method. I had both specimen in a previous system with wayyy less equipment, knowledge and questionable maintenance but all was thriving and they both lived for a good year until I took down the tank. I then again temp acclimated for 30 mins , drip for 2hrs ( bumped up the time to make sure the drip was small and progressively rise the salinity to my level. Someone online mentioned that the reason of the long drip is when you do not know what salinity the shrimp was in and that most stores will run low salinity. I run 1.026, I called up the store and the system it came from was at 1.024. I took a little longer so as I was introducing them the lights were just turning on. The skunk climbed up my hand when I put it in the bag like it knew it was taking him in the tank , It stayed a bit on my hand and jumped on a rock a good minute after it got a look around. acting normal , perched upside down under a cap. I introduced the coral banded about 10 mins after and set him down in the opposite corner of the tank. he was a little more feisty so I had to take a cup with tank water and drain the bag until no water was left and I then doped him in the cup that I could put in the tank since it was all my water.

Coral banded stayed in the rockscape a bit but went in hiding and has never been seen since (4 days). The skunk cleaner on the other hand was in the other corner a little less active (30-40 mins had passed) but still walking around and grazing. I started to noticed his claws were not picking at his surrounding and it was just swaying in the waves... well it did not take long for the nasarius and hermits to smell him out and try to eat the poor guy

I was watching them both for the longest time to make sure nothing was getting at them but they just seem to not like my tank or water I cant find a explanation for this , I have 6 thriving calm fishes and many picky corals like chalices , a few SPS and a GBTA that are doing well and growing. What am I leaving out ???

Lets hear it RC , help me get my head around this!



Got some great feedback from everyone and as much as I know inverts like shrimp and anemones are very picky most of the people seem to not drip them at all and just float the bag and drop them in for better survival rate. So I took all the good advice and totaled what came up more and ended up with a new process :

-Temp acclimate with bag closed for 25-30 min in sump
- Drip for 20 min with bag in sump
- Dump n pray

Well , 2hrs in and the dam thing hit the hay I'm now seeing that many people just float acclimate and dump it in. I may this this again over the weekend but this is getting aggravating and costly, not to mention the fact I hate to not be able to take care of something I purchases and cause it to decease a few hrs later


Hopefully its just my acclimation method , yet I'm able to keep every other thing I acclimate and drip. keep you guys posted on the outcome if I try again and I will have a nice update with pictures over the weekend on a fragging frenzy I have been working on

Have a great day RC

[DrPheel]

Hi RC and happy Memorial day if you are in the USA.

Quick update here on the 70G cube ! I have unfortunately lost my anemone for some odd reasons , It was deflated for a few days and I notice one morning that its foot let go from the shell it was attached to. I removed it and did a few back to back water changes in a 3 day period. I also changed the carbon out just in case it leached back the toxins it filtered out. Other than that the tank is going 100% ! I started dosing Acro Power from TLF and I can say that over the last few weeks I have notice nicer colors and good growth in my corals. The chalices are the one that I have notice a net improvement. I don't have that many SPS but I can say that they do show nice colors but no noticeable growth for now. I dose 10ML every 4 days at night about 1hr before the lights go off. I shut down the return from the sump and let the dosing circulate in the tank a good 10 mins before turning it back on. I am now on a strict schedule for feeding / dosing and maintenance because I have not been on top of my chores since the nice weather is out.

Fish wise I had made the addition of a spotted green mandarin and I have yet been able to get the Royal gramma out of the tank. I also suspect the yellow wrasse giving troubles to my inverts and other fish. I think it will be much harder to get this one out so I will start with the gramma and go from there when I get my fish trap skills to the next level.

For corals , I have been doing more and more online orders since my 2x LFS seem to have run out of new stuff for me to get ... or maybe im getting too picky I have been getting lots of Acans, both enchinata and lord and I also got a nice Trachyphyllia and a few rhodactis. I also got a few nice zoos but have not take pictures or placed them in the DT yet , still growing a bit and target feeding on the frag rack.

Here are a few shots for you guys and Im looking forward to the next update in a few weeks

Nice Acan's : ( how much do you guys pay for Acan frags ?? )


Rhodactis :



Trachy :


Enchinata's :




full actinic , no gel filter :

[jraker]

That orange rhodactis is insane. Looking good so far.

[DrPheel]

Originally Posted by jraker

That orange rhodactis is insane. Looking good so far.

It is indeed one very nice specimen. Interested to know what you guys would pay for this at your LFS ? i got it online for 29.99 + 3$ shipping (divided among all the corals I got) so 32.99 for me is the average range for a rhodactis. Somewhat around 25 to 45 $ depending on the color and size.

Thanks for looking / commenting