Ninjafish's new cube diary.

[ninjafish]

Hello gang. Despite my 2gal cube being a big success, I have decided to set up a tank that is slightly larger so that my mantis shrimp, Ike, is a little more comfortable. Here is a photo of the new tank sitting next to the original:


Changing of the guard





The new cube is a 12" starfire cube. This time around I had the glass shop polish the edges for me and it looks even better! (time will tell though if it was worth the $1/inch polishing cost ) The one-cubic-foot dimensions gives me approximately 7.5gal of volume. I don't think this tank will be as much of a marvel as the last one (a bullet-proof 2gal is pretty rare but lots of folks have success with 5-10gals). However, I am hoping that the extra room will allow me to create some interesting aquascaping and allow for further coral growth. And of course, it's all about Ike these days . Continuing in the tradition, the bulkheads and intake strainer will be the only equipment visible inside the tank -so this photo of the emtpy tank is as unsightly and cluttered as it will ever get. I have planned an additional modification to the cannister filter and am currently giving some serious consideration to going BB. I would be interested in seeing what people thought on the subject. I have kept both sand and BB and personally feel that astetics (or sand-dependant livestock) is the only reason a person should ever keep substrate. Having said that, astetics is a pretty powerful reason in a hobby where we place so much effort into having everything look right. Since I am so torn right now, a "yea" or "nay" from my peers would really help. I look forward to any comments or questions.

Cheers,

- Chad

[perpetual98]

Wow. It's hard to believe how much bigger that tank is than the other one. Are you going to go with the same light? What bulb do you have? I just switched a 10KK Ushio 70W to a 14KK Astralux and the difference is amazing. Much more crisp white/blue with the Astralux.

[Andrew]

Wow. Should be nice to see what this one will look like. Im going BB in all my tanks and love it. Don't think ill ever use sand again.

[perpetual98]

Will Ike be ok without sand?

[ninjafish]

perpetual,
I am hoping that I will be able to continue using the same light, but if it's not enough at least I'll have an excuse to pick up a second 70w halide (I really want to do a dawn/dusk with two halides)

My current bulb is a 20k and I love the color. However, I have noticed that there is a huge difference in par between the 10k I have and the 20k - no readings just observations and some nearly-fried corals that I got from putting the 10k over the tank for a couple days. In my opinion 10k was just too much for a 2gal cube but it may turn out that 20k isn't enough for a 7.5gal cube . If so, a 14k like yours might be a nice comprimise...

Bacause Ike is a smasher, he lives most of his life in the LR and doesn't need a sandbed the way that spearers do. I was concerned that a bare bottom tank might have him ice skating like hermit crabs do, but I have been watching him move around his temporary holding tank and he doesn't have any problem...

- Chad

[WendyMc]

Sand, please! Asthetically speaking, I never saw a bare bottom that didn't look just dirty on the bottom. I understand in certain circumstances, it may be more functional than sand. I love the life in my sandbed so much, I would never go bare bottom again. I think the 2g looked so good, I wouldn't change a thing w/this new setup. MHO

[ninjafish]

Andrew,
Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your input.

- Chad

[NanoManMaster]

Sand all the way bro i personaly like natural looking tanks. I think bb alwayts looks dirty

[deltoid]

I gotta agree. In my opinion every bare bottom I've seen looks dirty. They just look like the tank isn't finished yet.

If you don't want much sand just put a fine layer down. But don't go barebottom as it will look crap.

[ninjafish]

Wendy,
Thank you. You are one of the few people I have talked to that said they have tried BB and then went back to sand. I really like the look of sand better too. My dillemma is because I am worried about keeping the tank clean and not just keeping the tank looking clean. Maybe my bioload is low enough that having a sand bed won't make that much difference...


NanoMan
Gotcha. Would you go with white arogonite or black sand? Someone else suggested black to me, and it would blend with the bulkheads pretty well...

- Chad

[ninjafish]

deltoid,
Thanks for the vote. Do you think that it would look better if I cultivated a mat of gsp , mushrooms, and zoos on the bottom of a BB tank. To clean it, I could just blast it with a turkey baster every once in a while...

- Chad

[deltoid]

Yeah I don't know. You want something there. Even when barebottoms arn't dirty they just look like the person cheaped out on sand (even though I know they didn't) and it just doesn't look natural.

Possibly even if you had white fake grass it would probally look alright. Just something there but not bare.

EDIT: Just saw your post about black sand. If your wanting something different that would look pretty damn cool. However you'd want to try and keep dirt off it or it would look odd (I'm talking about white pieces of dietris).

[WendyMc]

Originally posted by ninjafish
deltoid,
Thanks for the vote. Do you think that it would look better if I cultivated a mat of gsp , mushrooms, and zoos on the bottom of a BB tank. To clean it, I could just blast it with a turkey baster every once in a while...

- Chad

How funny, the thought crossed my mind to suggest a mat of GSP, but I thought 'na, just another of my crazy ideas, probably would trap detritis just as much as sand, w/out the spaghetti worms & pods to process it'. If you want my opinion, I think it'd be a very interesting experiment! Also, I would just do the GSP, so it looks like a lawn, the thought of the shrooms & zoas mixed in sounds too busy & a little messier. Also, I think the shrooms would prefer a lower flow than zoas & stars. My .02

[cj_basser]

How about a Faux Reisen Sand Bed? Do a search here and you will find out what it is all about. It is just a sand bed that was mixed with reisen to make it not a sandbed!!

.....IMO, the best of both worlds- BB and Sand!

If not, I would use arganite.....i think a littering the arganite with corals just makes the tnak look cluttered.

[Agu]

My mantis tank with an n. wennerae has a mixture of substrate, everything from southdown to pieces of broken shell. It may not be as aesthetic or clean as other tanks, but it's appropriate for a smasher that lives in a rock burrow. The mantis actually hollowed out the largest rock in the tank and has a front hole so it can keep track of me and a rear emergency exit.

Back to the substrate. Every night shortly before the light goes out the mantis collects rubble and blocks both entrances to it's cave. It's fun watching the mantis arrange each piece just right to secure it's home. Every morning after the lights come on both openings are cleared. When the mantis molts I know because the cave opening stays blocked for days until the molt is completed.

I'm no stomatopod psychologist but imo having rubble available is necessary for the mantis to behave as it does in the wild. I think the rubble fulfills a need and allows me to observe a behavior that is normal for the mantis.


jmo, ime,

[ninjafish]

Wendy,
Haha crazy ideas seem to work out the best sometimes! My GSp frag is only a couple inches long right now but I think I will try and grow it into a lawn. While I wait, I may take deltiods advice and use black sand to cover up the glass that the gsp doesn't cover. I can just remove it slowly as the GSP spreads (unless I decide to keep both...)

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Originally posted by cj_basser
How about a Faux Reisen Sand Bed? Do a search here and you will find out what it is all about. It is just a sand bed that was mixed with reisen to make it not a sandbed!!

.....IMO, the best of both worlds- BB and Sand!

If not, I would use arganite.....i think a littering the arganite with corals just makes the tnak look cluttered.

I thought about that too. Have you ever tried it? from some of the reading that I have done, I heard that after a few months a biofilm coats the resin bed and makes it look dirty. Some people say that you can't clean it like you can BB and you can't stir it like you can a real sandbed... I don't really know personally

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Originally posted by Agu

...I'm no stomatopod psychologist but imo having rubble available is necessary for the mantis to behave as it does in the wild. I think the rubble fulfills a need and allows me to observe a behavior that is normal for the mantis.

jmo, ime,

Agu,
I agree with you whole heartedly and will definitely make sure I have some building rubble in the tank. Infact, I should have talked to you sooner about it; I learned about this behaviour only after seeing how Ike used pieces of my montipora digitata to build walls with (hey! that's some expensive building materials you little rotter!)

- Chad

[Kigs]

Hey Chad,

I didn't even read the entire post yet, but uh... knowing that it's your thread, I'm sure I can say awesome looking tank!! in advance. I'm looking forward to see the progress pictures.

You were able to make such a cool tank out of just a 2g, I really want to see what you're going to do with a bigger tank now. G'luck.

[WendyMc]

I think the 'lawn' will look awesome, & you've got the flow to make it grow fast. I've been thinking about it alot, & I probably would start it midway between the liverock & the glass. As it spreads closer to the rock, I think it would be a good idea to place smaller pieces of rubble between the base of the rock & the mat. That way, it'll grow up on the rubble instead of overgrowing your structure, when full just pull out the rubble for sale or trade & replace w/a new piece. What do you think?

Do you have any pics of your GSP frag?

[NanoManMaster]

well man i would definantly go with the white just to keep it natural and with your bulkheads just place your rock arround it a little to cocer it up or put some coral

[NanoManMaster]

once again with the balck sand it almost looks like when your at a lake or a place with low water flow and leaves have fallen and deccayed in the water and it makes it look dirty

just sayin

[dcoufal]

I had black sand when my 125g was a freshwater tank... It looked pretty good and I'm considering using it again in a 6g hex nano reef....

Drs. Foster & Smith now has *clear* bulkhead fittings.... Something to think about if you decide to go BB.

Dwain

[Agu]

Originally posted by ninjafish
Agu,
I agree with you whole heartedly and will definitely make sure I have some building rubble in the tank. Infact, I should have talked to you sooner about it; I learned about this behaviour only after seeing how Ike used pieces of my montipora digitata to build walls with (hey! that's some expensive building materials you little rotter!)

- Chad

You think that's expensive ? My tiger pistol shrimp in another tank used a galaxia frag as building material.

[Mushroom Boy]

Another vote for sand here. I was never more disappointed with a change in my tank than when I removed it from mine (when my 100 gallon was a reef). FWIW

LOVE the tank by the way!