Tigereye37's 12g Nano Build........

[tigereye37]

Finally, it has begun! Recently got in a new Nanocube 12g DX to play with so that is the basis of this thread. I'm not interested in why you don't like the nanocube or why others are better, post that in another thread! I plan on doing this tank up for softies, shrooms, zoas, and maybe 1 or 2 appropriate LPS. More to come..........

[gsusfreak]

awesome....cant wait to see it!!!!....and i agree, im a little tired of the kid that post how much he hates the NC

[tigereye37]

Alright, here is the setup:
-12g Nanocube DX tank with 48 watts of compact flourescent lighting.
-I like the look sand on the bottom so i added 10lbs of "Nature's Ocean" bio-activ live aragonite sand. The sand has a grain size diameter of 0.5 to 1.7 mm and looks really nice with a depth of approx. 1.5-2"
-I picked up about 14 pounds of cured Figi live rock from the LFS along with 3 lbs of LR rubble.
-The rear chambers are as follows: #1 has approx. 1.5 lbs LR rubble, carbon, and a sponge. (I plan on swapping the sponge out weekly with another and letting them dry out in between so they are really more for particulates than biofiltration.) Chamber #2 has another 1.5 lbs LR rubble and i've removed the black backing of the chamber to create a small 'fuge. I plan on adding Chaeto and lighting it in reverse schedule from the outside rear of the tank with an Azoo palm light. Chamber #3 has my 50 watt black stealth heater and my return pump.
- i swapped out the stock pump for the Minijet 606 and attached a Hydor rotating flo deflector to the outlet on the return.

[tigereye37]

Here are a few pics of the aquascaping...... I went for a horseshoe type design with many caves/tunnels and i'm pretty happy with it. I also got a few nice surprises on the LR which you'll see at the end of the post.
I was pretty careful during the water addition, but you can still see a slight cloudiness from the "sandstorm"
Front view

Left side

Right side

Post Sandstorm-morning after

Surprise! That is the coolest mushroom i have ever seen........

I think these are other potential mushroom frags that might survive

[rodri075]

Your aquascaping looks really great. Just hope your rocks don't topple over. Agree that you have a super nice 'shroom! Can't say I have ever seen one quite like that before...

[tigereye37]

Thanks, i think it will work out. Its actually pretty stable now, i moved one rock on the right side slightly so that it is seated a little better. BTW if any of you mushroom guys know what type this might be, i would love to know........

[tigereye37]

Observations from Day 2:
I've noticed lots of micro brittlestars, loads of pods, some sponge, and even a snail on the live rock i bought. It seems pretty well cured so i don't expect a large cycle, especially with the "live" sand i used. ( i know alot of people have their doubts about packaged live sand, but i've used it in the past and i think it actually helps.) I tested for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates today just for the heck of it, but everything is still showing at 0 ppm. I plan on adding about a 1/4 cup of sand from my established 25g tank tomorrow just to help with the diversity of microfauna.
As far as tank inhabitants go, i plan on stocking with a firefish and a pistol/goby pair as the only fish. CUC will prob consist of 3 scarlet reef hermits, a few astreas, a cerith or two and a few nassarius snails. After the cycle of course.......

[tigereye37]

Nothing of note today, the little mushroom frags are starting to look more like little mushrooms instead of purple blobs. I seeded with about a 1/4 cup of sand from my established tank. Testing today showed a slight increase in nitrates, but i'll have to run the salifert tomorrow to really tell what the reading is. More info after the New Year.

[thin crust]

great start! i dig your rock work.

[zma21]

Awesome tank and good choice!

Your aquascaping is perfect.

[Jason1520]

That aquascaping looks ausome! I really like that!

[tigereye37]

Thanks, i appreciate the comments! With all the gaps/tunnels it appears i'm getting good flow to all areas, so that's a plus. Now if i can only get my pH back up i'll be happy...... anyone have input on when i should put the chaeto in the modified fuge? Should i wait for the cycle to be completed first or what?

[saltydragon]

yea the rockwork does look nice.....i would just let it do its thing for a few weeks...even though evrything might seem cured.....probrably at this time,get the water chemistry all checked out...(alk.cal.mag)
and what do you plan for the auto top off....
i made one for my 10g with a float valve/battery powered air pump/airline tubing/applejuice bottle....and its taking care of my topoff very well.....probly cost me about 10$

[tigereye37]

Yeah, no auto top-off at this point. I plan on maybe making my own in the near future though, i've seen a few designs online that i can probably pull off. I think when i do it though i'll go probably usa an aqualifter as the pump. Any suggestions on a readily available float switch? the only one i've really heard of is I-float?

[tigereye37]

Update with pics!
As i predicted, the initial cycle on this tank has appeared to have run its course in a short amount of time. Ammonia and nitrite levels experienced brief peaks and have returned to o ppm. Nitrate is hovering around 10 ppm. I'm thinking of adding the chaeto into the fuge portion soon, but i'm not sure. I'm not planning on adding any fish until the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels have been stable for awhile longer. I'm starting to experience the first algea/cyano bloom with a little green starting to show on the glass and sand and some reddish brown on a few of the rocks. Today i added two scarlet reef hermits to get to work on the growth in the tank. Within 10 secs of hitting the sand (after drip acclimation) they were hard at work picking off the sand bed. (if they manage to get ahead of it, i plan on supplementing their diet with a sinking pellet, so don't worry they won't starve.)

I call him Big Herm:


My hitchhiking mushroom has migrated down to a rock at the sandbed and seems to be doing ok:


My other unknown hitchhiking shroom frags are really taking off:


Initial growth:

Big Herms mountaineering partner:


I have to say, the amount of life on the live rock i got is amazing! The amount of featherdusters, pods, sponge, etc. took my other tank 6 months to achieve. I will definitely buy rock from this LFS again. I've been doing my testing daily and i will continue to monitor this tank closely.

[gregrocks79]

Tank looks great! I just got that Hydor rotating flo deflector and I love it!!!

[tigereye37]

Yeah, i think it does a pretty good job of creating different currents and flow. I've got one on a powerhead in my 25g as well.