29g Biocube Metamorphosis

Hello,
I've finally decided to post after spending many late nights reading these forums absorbing as much information about this amazing hobby as I could.
I got into saltwater/reefkeeping about 8 months ago and have pretty much gone off the deep end with upgrading my little 29g Biocube which I bought to see if this was something I could get into. I live in an apartment and plan to buy a house in the near future so I have obviously not been able to get a bigger tank as I am limited by space and already don't look forward to moving the equipment and livestock in my small system.
As you can see from my signature I enjoy the technology of this hobby almost as much as looking at the life in my tank. I realise though that with complexity comes increased risk and more things that can fail and I am fearing the first power outage (which is why I have also invested in a 1800w battery backup system which should give me about 6-8 hours of uninterrupted power to my essential components).
I am thinking about starting a thread detailing the evolution of my tank from startup as I have seen a few of those threads on these forums if anyone is interested. I want to do this to get opinions and feedback from more experienced people on how I can make my system better for all the little guys in my tank.


4/18/08 Shortly after starting the tank during the initial cycle. Sally lightfoot crab, 3 damsels.



Another image. Diatome algae...as expected.

At this point, the tank is a standard 29g biocube "all in one" aquarium. 72w power compact lighting (36w actinic + 36w 10k) in the stock hood. With 30lbs live rock and gravel (not live). 295gph return pump only. 100w heater. Digital thermometer. I discarded the bioballs in the second filter chamber and replaced them with live rock rubble on my LFS advice. At this point I am still using the mechanical filter floss/carbon cartridge in the first filtration chamber that came with the aquarium.

I'll post some more pics further along in the evolution of the tank which is now about 8 months old...

Thanks for looking!

 

About 10 days later my water parameters were all within target range (Ammonia, Nitrite both zero and Nitrate about 10ppm) but the tank was obviously not mature as the diatome algae was still growing on the rocks and changing color. This was starting to subside somewhat though so I decided I would try a small pulsing xenia in the tank.


4/28/08 still some algae during the initial cycle but the live rock is starting to look a little better.

I had taken the damsels back to the fish store for full money back as the tank had gone through the initial cycle and over the course of the next week added a small hippo tang, clown, and lemon peel dwarf angel. You can see by reading this that it was my first tank because in hindsight I was going pretty fast with stocking and not choosing size-appropriate fish (hippo tang). However the fish was small and has been doing quite well to this day but I will definately need a bigger tank soon as he will outgrow the 29g shortly.

In addition to the new fish, I added over the next month a nice plate montipora capricornus, zoa colony, finger leather, candy cane coral, tubastrea (sun coral), 2 peppermint shrimp, cleaner shrimp, six astrea snails.


5/21/08 Everyone looks happy and the live rock is looking better.


5/21/08 Close-up of sun coral and lemonpeel angel.


5/29/08 Close-up of plate montipora and zoa colony. Both of these have more than tripled in size in six months!

In addition to the livestock, I added two koralia nano powerheads to improve water flow in the tank. I added the oceanic protein skimmer designed for the bio cube and removed the filter cartridge which fits into the first filtration chamber; both are high-maintenence/low-yield items and the filter cartridge is simply not needed. About this time I also started using chemi pure and poly filter in the second filter chamber to both polish the water and assist in the removal of any harmful organics missed by the skimmer. I have since more-than-upgraded my skimmer as the oceanic airstone skimmer is miserably inadequate and more of an afterthought gimmick put out by oceanic so as to provide a skimmer 'option' for this tank. I am a beginner though and I expect to make beginner's mistakes.

 

I really dig that sun coral looks great!

 

the latest pic you posted is time stamped 5/29/08 more than 6 months ago. how about some recent pics?

 

you stocked the tank way to fast. from just cycling to corals. and fish. in a month?

 

Yea its one of the coolest corals in my tank. Had it for about 8 months now and its looking better than ever. Opens up like clockwork just after lights out. I feed it about once or twice a week thawed mysis soaked in supplement as much as it will take (which is a lot). In hindsight probably not the best choice for such a small tank as you can easily foul the water with feeding. I take it out of the tank and feed it in a bowl of tank water for 10 min and put it back then throw out the water in the bowl. Doesn't seem to mind at all.

Sorry about that, when I started the thread it took forever to figure out how to upload pics and by the time I got to the last post it was way too late to finish. I'll get some more up reallly soon. Thanks for looking!

Yea I agree. In hindsight I really should have taken more time. This is my first aquarium and I was way too eager to start looking at more than just rocks in water. I tested every day and jumped when I saw my parameters stabilize. I now realize that rock/substrate/filtration/water takes far more time to mature before it's safe to start stocking. My next tank will be done with less breakneck speed. The upside is I've only just lost my first coral two days ago (one of the xenia heads that had split from the original two I got when I first started) and eight months into the tank. I count myself lucky considering how fast I went with it. It just sort of slumped and withered away over a couple of days. No changes in any water parameters and the other xenia and corals are looking perfect. I heard this can happen with xenia though; probably some untested element in the water that is lacking or chemical warfare from another coral. Have you or anyone you know ever have this happen?
I've lost 2 fish in eight months unfortunately. One was a watchman goby that jumped the back divider and was found near death gasping on the diffuser plate in the second filter chamber. I quickly put him back and he limped along for about 8 hours but died. The second was a false percula clown that somehow ended up in my cats mouth. To this day I have no clue how that could have happened.

 

Ok, here are some pictures of my tank as it looks today after much tinkering over the last 8 months. Not quite a stock oceanic 29g biocube anymore and loads more coral. I've got lots of pictures of the in-between trial and error since the start which I'd like to add and get opinions/criticism/suggestions on what everyone thinks.


12/12/08 Remora skimmer (bulky but not to offensive on the side), with second Tunze Nano DOC skimmer in second filter chamber which cant really be seen here. I mounted the Reefkeeper 2 controller flush with the cabinet and the vortech pump controller below it (Its programmed to run in reefcrest mode during the day and has a 10hour gentle lull cycle overnight after lights out). I was a little anxious taking power tools to the cabinet with all the livestock just inches above needless to say. Thank God for no catastrophic events that day... Inside the cabinet I have the hardware including a 3-4 gal freshwater reservior hooked to the Tunze osmolator ato which senses the water level in the 3rd filter (return) chamber. You can just see the pH probe in the backround which is tied into my my kalk drip dosing pump through the controller. I also maintain Ca (460) and Alk (9-10 dKH) with a Korallin Ca reactor with a second stage I added in a NextReef MR-1 reactor (awesome piece of equipment). My Ca reactor is fed by a 5lb CO2 tank and solenoid controlled by an american marine pinpoint pH controller. Also in the cabinet is another MR-1 reactor running chemi-pure and Rowaphos. All of this fits snugly and I even have room to keep my fish food down there. I wonder if I could also fit 100 circus clowns down there with all of that stuff. I really didn't think it would fit but it did. Gosh I wish I had a sump but I just don't know where I would put it! On the floor just barely out of sight is my JBJ arctica 1/10hp chiller which kicks in about 10 times a day under the 250w CurrentUSA metal halide I put in after I chucked the stock hood and lighting that came with the aquarium. All of this for 29 gallons of water.

 

Some pics of the inside of the tank.


12/12/08


12/12/08 Compare this to the photo in the earlier post above. Good growth of the montipora in 6 months.


12/12/08 Morning sun on the Frogspawn. I really think the natural sunlight has helped with my tank overall.


9/13/08 Thought I would post a growth comparison of these two. A montipora digitata and acropora (species?)


12/12/08 Almost exactly 12 weeks growth.


12/12/08 Another overall shot. The derasa clam just to the right of the acropora has shown some nice growth in just 7 weeks since I bought it with new white shell extending beyond the older shell covered in coralline algae.

Thanks for looking!

 

do you still have the sun coral or is it gone ? can't tell from new pix

 

looking good