12g NanoCube at 1 Year

[Bobalouy]

Well its been just over a year, so I took a bunch of pics today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/ftsa.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/fts.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/tcu_4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/tcu_3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/tcu_2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/tcu_1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/reds.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/gsp.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/zoos.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/yzoos.jpg

[Bobalouy]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/yuma.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/frog.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/blasto.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/blasto_eat.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/tcu_5.jpg
Band New acan I got today!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/acan.jpg
under blue led
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/acanblue.jpg

[bostoneric]

wow thats amazing...

[Rock Anemone]

Amazing tank!!! Absolutely beautiful, looks extremely healthy as well. Keep up the great work!:thumbsup: What type of equipment are you using? What do you feed/dose?

bostoneric,
[welcome]

Rock Anemone:D

[Andrew]

Hold crap! Thats one great tank! Everything looks perfect and your corals look great. :)

[supernareg]

do u have a skimmer on it?

[bigtank]

That is an awesome little tank! Please, do tell us about your system. Any modifications to the nano cube?

[Ebisan]

Looks great. You could use a bigger tank now. :)

[Bobalouy]

Thanks guys, nothing to exciting for mods just keeping it simple, Stock lighting. Cassette skimmer mod. Chamber 1 has LR rubble, Chamber 2 Cheato, removed vinyl from the back with a plam light, Behind the tank. Chamber 3 heater and Minijet 606.

I dont dose anything, feed mysis to fish and corals 2-3 times a week. And spectrum small fish pellets on the other days for the fish.

3-4 gallon water change weekly with reef crystals.

Thats about it I think.

And yes I;m dieng for a new tank, planning a 20L.

[DrChristianTroy]

Lovely tank and design

[rogerwells]

woah woah...stock lighting?

[Bobalouy]

Yup stock lighting, you'll notice I dont really have any demanding corals.

[DizziDezi2]

looks awesome! how much live rock do you have in there?

[eugimon]

wow... that is some lovely work there

[Sugar Magnolia]

Holy xenia and GSP batman!! Time for a trim I'd say. ;) Other than that, nice.

[Bobalouy]

Yeah its hard to see but I have a frag tray in the top left, that is full, I just havent had time to take them to the LFS

[RandyP]

That is one full tank.....great job

[rogerwells]

i didnt know i had that many options with stock lighting on my nano...i think ill put some zoos in the tank before i add the mantis

[frezel]

bobalau really like your tank

[frezel]

Oh i forgot to mention he liked your tank so much hes buying a nano cube too

[NanoManMaster]

looks like someone loves xenia

[vanmo92]

SWEET!!!

[FishWife1]

That is gorgeous! What are you doing for skimming? I'm not familiar with all the "new" terms :lol: I've been away from reefing for a few years.

You have "almost" sold me on a cube. Great work.

Oh, BTW, see if you can sell your frags for credit to your LFS. That's how I got the stand for my old Oceanic 200 a few years back - nothing but xenia - made lots of money on it.

Laurie

[Bobalouy]

Thanks everyone!
I think xenia loves me more than I love it, lol.

I do not run a true skimmer, Just the cassette mod. Which is just a cassette tape case with teeth cut in it, put over top the intake grate.

I do trade my xenia in at my LFS, and they give me pretty good credit for it. I think the the tourch is the only coral I have spent cash on since I bought the xenia 9 months ago.

[bubblevssqueek]

Stock lighting???? i cant believe that. Nice tank:D

[CamBarr]

wow that looks great do you have any pics after you set it up???
cb

[Bobalouy]

Here it is a year ago :
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=48920

[CamBarr]

wow thats amazing any upgrades to bulbs or non stock items

[egdevilboy]

he stated the only mod was the casette surface skimmer. The lighting is stock

[CamBarr]

thanks robb

[rogerwells]

ok i have a question about the filtration.....you said in the first compartment is just some live rock? well what did you do with that sponge? and what is cheato? cause my 12 gallon is looking pretty brown and not healthy...i want to know what i should do about the filter

[icenine2005]

wow... stunning tank!

[Bobalouy]

I got rid of the sponge and all of the other stuff that came with the tank.

Cheato or Chaetomorpha, is a macro algae. So basically the back of my tank is a 'refugium'

Here is the back of the tank
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/fuge.jpg

I did run one sponge for the first couple of months, untill the tank was established. Just make sure you wash it out alot, atleast with every water change.

[Genin]

wow what a great nano. it is really stocked to the brim and the colors are fantastic. good job.

[rogerwells]

and did you just get the macro algae at your lfs? and does the back of the tank being a refuge really keep the tank clean as good as it would with the filter stuff it comes with?

[Bobalouy]

I actually got the cheato from a local reefer, you can probably find somone giving it away near you because it grows so fast.

I belive it keeps my tank cleaner than the mechanical stuff. Because the cheato eats up any of the nutrients that any bad algae would use to survive. Most of the sponges and bio balls just turn into nitrate factorys, over time.

[rogerwells]

well im only having a mantis tank anyways....so that doesnt need to be as clean and pure as yours....but i think im going to get some zoos in there after awhile for the hell of it....so then ill do what you did

[FishWife1]

Do you have any lighting on that Cheato in your refugium?

Seacrop.com sells it by itself or in a refugium kit that has 30 aquacultured amphipods along with it for $14. That's going to be one of my first purchases after my tank has cycled. I just love having lots of pods and worms all over the place.

Laurie

[Hanauma-Reef]

I have a question for you ...maybe a stupid one, but is it okay to do water changes like that with the coral so close to the top???

[Bobalouy]

FishWife1 - Yes I have a Palm light behind the tank, you can probably find someone local that will give you cheato free, and Im sure it will have pods in it. But either way its definatly a good addition to the tank.

Hanauma - The corals are fine, they are only out of the water for a minute or two. Anthony Calfo, recommends 100% water changes on nanos.

[zukihara]

Extremely nice choice on the acan and nice looking nano overall imo.

[kewliz]

Can I ask how you keep the chaeto from outgrowing chamber 2 and slowly inching into the other 2 compartments?
I have some in Chamber 1 - but it's just newly added and will probably be moved soon - depends on how my light fits in there.

[Hanauma-Reef]

You do 100 percent water changes?? Sounds scary

[Sugar Magnolia]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6509702#post6509702 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hanauma-Reef
You do 100 percent water changes?? Sounds scary
Anthony Calfo does a weekly 100% water change on his nano as well.. As long as the pH, temp and salinity are matched to the tank's water it's not a problem.

[Bobalouy]

Hanauma - No I only do 25% weekly changes, I was just stating that its not going to harm your corals.

kewliz - I havn't had any problems with it growing into the other chambers, I just pull some out every once and a while. I only keep my water level in the back as high as the lower wall so I cant grow over the top.

[Bobalouy]

Picked up some sweet hot pink zoos lask night
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/One%20Year/pinkzoos.jpg

[CamBarr]

nice

[NanoManMaster]

god i love ur tank but just a suggestion i think a rainfords goby would look sweet in their.... imo

[Bobalouy]

Thanks, I would love to add another fish, but I dont want to push it, Ive been thinking about a clown goby. But my female clown is soo agressive. She bites my hand non stop when its in the tank. Draws blood sometime.

Aren't rainfords really hard to keep?

[callmetodd]

How did you get the vinyl off the back of the tank? I didn't know that was possible! I just got a 12g Nano for christmas. Hope someday it looks as nice as yours!:)

[Bobalouy]

Just a razor blade, it peels right off.

[hrrsncrg]

Bobalouy...

I just bought a 24g pod and want to have a small 'fuge like yours. Did you purchase the cassette skimmer or did you DIY?

And how do you keep your water level in the compartments lower than the level in your main tank? Thanks,

craig

[hooterhead]

rainfordi gobys aren't that difficult as long as they've got a nice sand bed to munch on until you get them eating frozen.

[Bobalouy]

The cassette mod is DIY, but you can buy similar products now. I think JBJ has one that will come with the new tanks.

The reason the rear is lower, is that the water has to flow over the cassette . So the tank will always stay as high as the cassette in the display.

[fishman805]

Can you post a picture of the "peeled" back and show us how you've got the light set up??

Bob

[Bobalouy]

check page 2

[fishman805]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6533617#post6533617 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bobalouy
check page 2


Thanks.... The first time I looked at it, I could not orrient myself to the back of your tank ..... Now I get it... And you had no problems cutting off the plastic ??

Bob

[Bobalouy]

Nope its just stick on vinyl, like a sticker

[bowfront26]

awesome tank, i love it. my lfs also gives me pretty good store credit for xenia which grows like a weed in my tanks. Great pics, love the moon lit acan shot.

[cmondo]

Very nice tank, doesn't look like there is much room for any more stuff in there....When is the upgrade coming???

[OCDep]

Thats an increadible looking tank. Very healthy

[MAreefer1]

OMG AWSOME TANK!!!

[CamBarr]

any more pics????

[flsandwoman]

Gorgeous tank. I have a 12G, but it is an OG, so need to update lighting.

What is mysis and reef crystals you refer to in your tank maintenance procedure?

[jetman357]

Very nice tank!

[Bobalouy]

Thanks everyone, I might try taking some pics tonight after a water change. I fragged out a ton of xenia, so the left side of the tank is alot brighter.

FL- Frozen Mysis Shrimp is what I feed my fish and corals. Reef Crystals is the brand of salt I use

[mokujin22]

kinda late on the bandwagon, but very nice setup indeed. :)

you make it sound so simple.

[pnsnowboard]

absolutely beautiful tank what kind of tank is it?????????

[AEreefer]

thats an amazing nano, i love all the xenia!!

[bawla47]

your tank is awesome!, what camera are you using? pics are awesome too.

[vanmo92]

Nice

[Bobalouy]

mokujin22 - It really has been pretty simple so far, (knock on wood)
pnsnowboard- Its right in the title man. 12g JBJ Nanocube DX
bawla47- Nikon D70 with the kit 18-70mm lense, or 50mm Macro in some of the pics.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/sexy2.jpg

[CamBarr]

nice

[jetman357]

That's a cool pic, nice close up.

[The Reefist]

sweet tank keep up the good work

[shaunmurray]

Same as everyone... BEAUTIFUL!

Question tho... This cassette filter... What the heck is that? I'm wanting to have a set up similar to yours. I also don't want to use a skimmer, and basically just want the refrigrum in the back (any DIY suggestions?) and a good light source.

Again, beautiful tank!!!!!!! =D

[aleiodubua]

That's a sweet tank you got yourself there. And to think...I upgraded my tank before I overgrowed it like yours...why didn't I wait, so I could have posted beautiful pictures like those. Gosh.

[DSparks]

Awesome softie tank. It's nice to see what can be done with a stock NC.

[piberoptikz]

awesome!

[Bobalouy]

Thanks Guys!

Shaun- The cassette mod is basically a surface skimmer made out of an old cassette case. It functions the same a the surface skimmer JBJ now includes with the tanks.

http://www.jbjlighting.com/sys_12gDX_nanocube.html

As for the fuge, check out page 2, I posted a pic. And that is a palm light.

[snarkes]

Wow... that tank really inspires me for my nano 12dx. How do you clean the walls so well with all the coral and rocks so close to the sides?

[Bobalouy]

Thanks, I only scrape the glass about once a week, and I just try to get as close as I can. I use these surgical clamps that are real long and skinny with a plastic razorblade. I dont really clean the left side of the tank that much.

[i2go]

I hate you(jk) for having such a amazing tank. lol : ) Great job! Can you show a pic of frag tray?

[Bobalouy]

Thanks man, I dont have any good pics of the tray.

Updates:
New Blue zoo frag
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/bluezoo.jpg

And Pink/Green Echino that is finally recovering:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bobalouy/12g%20Nano%20Cube/echino_macro.jpg