New 24g Aquapod Starting Up

[rjwilson37]

I am setting up a good sized Nano for my Eel, who I traded in and got back. I traded him in because the Bio-Load in my 90g with him and all my fish was just to high, the nitrates were rising slowly even with frequent water changes. He was very unhappy at the LFS and no one seemed interested in a large Snowflake Eel. He is very tame, I have had him since he was around 7" and he doesn't bother a soul.

Here is the first pic, it was setup with fully cured LR, Argonite LS and the salt mix at 1.025. I am only making two modifications to it, and those are, using a 100w heater and adding a MJ900 for some more water movement. I have the Daylight and Actinic lighting on timers so they come on and off the same time every day, and these are all on a surge protector.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060208nanotank.jpg

[rjwilson37]

I have taken out the Bioballs as well as the bag of cermic circle things, so I just have the blue sponges in there.

Should I be taking those Blue Sponges out and replace them with some LR rubble?

I also took out the top two platic pieces for the overflow. Should I put one back in and lot the water only flow over the top, to get surface skimming, or take them all out, or can I just leave the two out I have now. Any suggestions on my setup would be great.

Remember, I can not do any modifications that will remove the hood, the hood has to remain on which keeps the Eel inside the tank.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

RJ, I took out everything the tank came with. In the back left chamber I have the chamber filled 3/4 way with live rock rubble, then the last 1/4 is all chaeto algae. The middle chamber is my skimmer(they make a nano skimmer now if you are interested... http://nanotuners.nanocustoms.com/nanotuners/product_info.php?products_id=150 It actually will fit under your hood RJ) and the right chamber is my return, which I bought a bigger pump and put in there.


Amanda

[rjwilson37]

I don't have a center chamber, just a smaller left where the return pump resides and the bigger right. My pump pushes 290gph, and the MJ900 when I get it in there will push 230gph which between the two will give me 17 times my water volume for movement.

[aquaman67]

I'm proud you got your eel back! I know you really liked it.

Seeing the pics of yours made me want one too!

I recently found a small one. I have mine in a FO tank.

Here's a pic

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/4240/9513eel_long.jpg

What to you feed yours and how often?

I've been feeding mine 2 or three krill or some squid almost everyday.

TIA.

[rjwilson37]

That is a good looking Eel aquaman67!

I was feeding mine like 7 to 10 krill every other day, I wanted to keep him from being hungry and looking elsewhere for food. I will only feed him 5 krill every other day in the small tank, since he will pretty much be the only one there. I am thinking on trying some different things in his diet except krill, but that is all he has eaten in the 2 years I have had him. He is probably ready for a change I am sure. I am going to put 2 small Damsels and a Purple Pseudochromis in there with him, they are to fast for him to get and will keep him company.

This tank is going to be pretty cool, I will have tons of small frags from my 90g to put in here, so it should be pretty sweet.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Hey Tia, that's a great looking snowflake.



RJ, what am I to do with you???????


Love, Tia.

[rjwilson37]

Yes... I see now, Thanks In Advance!

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

LOL, RJ, You crack me up!

[rjwilson37]

I am not a big chatter box on the net at all. I see something like that at the bottom and if it sounds like a name... Heck... I just call it like I see it, I mean we had a cat named Tia.

What do you think of my fish choices, some nice hardy specimens to keep him company. All aggresive, so they should all just do fine together.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I'm not a big fan of damsels, however, they are cheap if he decides to munch them. What about like a small lion or puffer?

[rjwilson37]

I had a puffer with him before in the Nano, and I read some scary stuff about people who have been zapped by there Lion Fish.

I am getting a Blue Velvet Damsel, and a 3 Spot Domino. I think Damsels are cool and have some great color as well as being Reef Safe. I can't do many Damsels in my big tank, because they are mean little buggers, but in here they will do just fine and be reef safe. No damn fish is going to eat my Zoanthid's in this tank.

[MaryBebo]

Well.... It's all ya'lls fault. I couldn't Waite to get a nano going again, so I bit the bullet and made my order for the Nano cube 24 2006 and also ordered the nano skimmer and surface skimmer and upgraded the pump like Amanda did. I hope you guys don't think I am a copy cat...but I really want to get this put back in my salon. The kids miss the other one that I had and so did I. The other one was the system 12. I know I will like this one MUCH better. My big tank is so tall that I have rock falls ALOT and I am going to just use the rock from it and lower it down some.
Do you think using the water from it will be OK? I still have the sand from the other tank in a bucket. It should be OK too don't you think?

Sorry... RJ don't mean to go on and on and mess up your thread. I am so excited for you that it just rubbed off..lol

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

YAAAAAAA MARY!!!!!! How exciting!!!!!!!! I can't wait for you to get it!!!! You should start a new thread and post pics! When do you get it? Rock and water from an existing tank is perfect, no cycle!!!! As for sand, just rinse it out really good.

Amanda

[MaryBebo]

I ordered it last night from nanotuners.com. I think they said it would ship out in 4 days. So I am thinking maybe since this is a weekend, it will be the last of the next week or the fist of the next. I hope the little nano skimmer will work good. After I get it set up I will start a thread.

Yours looks really great and so does RJ's I know he is so happy to have the eel back and it sounds like the kids are too :)

[aquaman67]

I think the fish choices are fine.

In the tank I have the eel in I also have a Picasso Trigger.

I added a four stripe damsel and the trigger comes out more. He used to hide a lot but now I see the trigger all the time.

I don't think the eel will care, as they don't see to well. But at least he'll have someone to smell.

[rjwilson37]

You can post in here if you want Mary, just direct people here and they can see all of our tanks as they progress. I think it would be good to have 2/3/or 4 24g nano cubes going in one thread, then people could see the differences and get a glimpse of what they can do and not have to go to 2/3/or 4 different threads.

Mary, are you getting the standard 72w PC lighting, or going with the 70w Metal Halide?

[rjwilson37]

This thread is just getting started, and would be good to add a few more cubes here.

I moved some of my zoa's from my 90g to the Aquapod Nano, these are just a few of the surviving misc zoa rocks that Dori was munching on which I figured I should get out of there before they are all eaten. I hope she leaves the hot pinks alone in the 90g, they have been fine for a few months now, so I am pretty sure she is not interested in those. I have two rocks of the hot pink zoa's, a large and a medium, so the medium will be coming over to the Nano sometime soon I am thinking. I hope they look hot pink under the PC lighting, because I have 14k MH in the 90g.

My LFS has had the Nanocubes, and the Aquapods and he swears the Aquapods are a better running setup. I am thinking he probably just makes a bigger margin on them, there is probably a personal preference as well, but I think the money he makes is a bigger decision on which he likes.

[rjwilson37]

I figure I should mention this here, and that is that I purchased the Oceanic 30g Cube and was going to do it up pretty cool with a 175w MH, a sump and a skimmer with a couple PH's. My wife thought the Oceanic Cube was ugly and liked the Aquapod a lot better, plus it is already setup and since this was going in the living room it should be small and nice.

I do have to say that the Aquapod runs silent, I don't hear a thing from it and wonder if the pump is running sometimes which is a good thing being in the living room.

I would have liked to do the Oceanic with 14k MH and think it would have been a nicer setup for the inhabitants as well as the look and health of the corals. I just hope this Aquapod runs well and keeps things happy, being it is pretty much a self contained setup.

[tonym10]

Nice Rj
What is your plans for water quality? How much and frequent water changes? I do 2.5 gallon on my 15g nano/week, but I only have 3 tiny fish in there.

[MaryBebo]

Mary, are you getting the standard 72w PC lighting, or going with the 70w Metal Halide?

Rj , I am just getting the 72w PC lighting. There is a thread here in the nano cube about a man that has had wonderful success with the reg lighting. So this is the way I am going for now. So far I have spent about 327.00 shipping and all. and I think I will see how things go.

:)

[rjwilson37]

I am planning on doing a 3-5g water change once a week, or maybe every week if it permits. I fed the Eel heavy in the 90g, to keep him from wanting to eat other inhabitants. I am going to feed him lightly in this setup and he will get use to it I am sure. I am thinking he was fed a lot and wanted a lot in the 90g, where here he will be fed a little and only want a little.

I was told a while back ago, to just feed him twice a week, that is all they need. I have also heard about them eating everything in the tank, which is why I fed mine regularly to keep him a nice little mixed reef inhabitant. Since this Nano is pretty much specifically for him, he should do fine with fewer feedings I am thinking.

[rjwilson37]

Ok, got my fish today and they are swimming about very happily. The Purple Pseudochromis is like any other one that darts in and out of the rock work and not out in the open much. You can see the Blue Velvet and Domino here in this picture, as well as a few zoanthids and a kenya tree. I put 8 small hermit crabs (4 red leg & 4 blue leg) in the tank to eat any extra food that is not eaten and do some cleanup on the LR and such.

I have the stock pump 290gph and the MJ900 230gph, this gives me 520gph pushing over 21 times my water volume for movement which is not to bad.

Are those two little buggers cute or what!

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060210nanotank.jpg

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Looks great RJ!!!

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6713588#post6713588 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AEALOVESHERGIRLS
Looks great RJ!!! Thanks Amanda!

Here is a closer pic of them cropped from that picture. You can also see in this picture how damaged the Zoa's are from my Dori in the 90g, of which I hope they recover nicely.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/inhabitants/damsels021006.jpg

[gwrulzmylife]

now how large will these get?

[Flipturn88]

Wow RJ! I'm impressed! :thumbsup: I bet your baby is glad to be home again!

I always think it's a good idea to have two reefs, if only for the purpose of having a "backup" tank in case something goes wrong with the other. You can also frag of all your zoas (and any other corals that can handle the PC light) and put them in this new tank just as a just-in-case measure...I must admit, I'm a little too good at finding excuses for setting up more and more tanks...;)


Since we are dealing with "aggressive nanos," here is the latest addition to my 25g nano:

An Octopus!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v353/Flipturn88/OP_2-11-2006-R.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v353/Flipturn88/OP_2-10-2006-R.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v353/Flipturn88/OP_2-11-2006_2-R.jpg

Here's the tank...kinda eerie looking, wouldn't you agree? He certainly needs a well-sealed lid as well.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v353/Flipturn88/25_2-11-2006-R.jpg

The octopus' only tankmate is a brittle star; most other fish/crustaceans/mollusks would be lunch--he's already eaten 15 ghost shrimp!

[rjwilson37]

Very Cool Kayla, can he sting or bite you or anything like that.

[rjwilson37]

Here is a picture where you can see all fish, except the Eel who comes out mostly in the evening and at night in the moonlight.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060211nanotank.jpg

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6716380#post6716380 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gwrulzmylife
now how large will these get? If you mean the Snowflake Eel, he is 18" now and will get around 2 feet full grown.

[Flipturn88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6716836#post6716836 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rjwilson37
Very Cool Kayla, can he sting or bite you or anything like that. Octopi do have beaks, but they aren't prone to biting humans; they are very timid creatures. Although they can't "sting," they can eject an ink cloud that will pollute the tank, and some produce a neurotoxin in their saliva that is very potent, such as the Blue Ring, whose poison can be lethal to humans.

Also, I noticed you have a pretty thick sandbed. Do you plan to siphon the substrate when doing water changes? I would highly recommend it, but that's JMHO. :)

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

KAYLA!!! WOW!! HOLY MOLY!!!!! I can't believe you gaot an octopus. What are you going to feed it, what else is in the tank?

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

KAYLA!!! WOW!! HOLY MOLY!!!!! I can't believe you gaot an octopus. What are you going to feed it, what else is in the tank?

[Flipturn88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6717532#post6717532 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AEALOVESHERGIRLS
KAYLA!!! WOW!! HOLY MOLY!!!!! I can't believe you gaot an octopus. What are you going to feed it, what else is in the tank? Nothing else is in the tank, other than a brittle star. It's eating ghost shrimp and silversides.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Kayla, I think it's cool, but they are kinda like having a parrot right. Aren't they super intellegent? Don't you need to stimulate them so they don't get bored? You should give him like a bottle with food hidden in it or something for him to do.

[vanmo92]

kool

[rjwilson37]

The bottles are childs play for them, they can open them pretty easily from what I have read and heard, but definately a cool experiment.

[rjwilson37]

The fish I purchased are so small in the Nano, it is hard to believe they can survive and do well away from there mommie's.

I got my Diatom algae yesterday, so I picked up 6 snails today... 4 Trochus and 2 turbo's. I did a 2 hour acclimation and they all seem to be doing well, the turbo's took right off and got to work.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

WOW rj, 2 hour acclimation for some snails?????????

[rjwilson37]

My PH in the Nano is only like 8.0, and I know they don't like differences in PH especially from what I have been told. I just did a long acclimation because I need them to be healthy and working on my diatoms.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

I think that's great RJ!!! I only gave my snails 30 minutes, but I'm sure they would have liked 2 hours!

[rjwilson37]

All snails are alive and working on my algae, here are some pictures.

Full Tank
http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060214nanotank.jpg

My Little Snowflake, looking very content in his new home.
http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/inhabitants/snowflake021406.jpg

My hard working turbo... (wish I had 6 like this guy.)
http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/inhabitants/turbosnail021406.jpg

CORALS..............
Brown zoanthids's with a slight hint of a pink tint in them.
http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/brownzoas021406.jpg

Recovering Green Zoa's from Dori the Zoaminator.
http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/greenzoas021406.jpg

Kenya Tree
http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/kenyatree021406.jpg

[MaryBebo]

Looks like everything is adjusting just great.

RJ, your 90 still looks great too!

Wow Kayla !!!!!!!!

All of your tanks look AWSOME!!!!!!!!
Good For You :) Really Nice

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Mary, I'd like some of those zoas in your avatar for my birthday please!

[MaryBebo]

Haha... It's just a small frag... but maybe one day:)

I love the zoo's too!!!!!!

I am going to go all softies in the nano.

In the 85 I am going to go more SPS and LPS, with just a few softies that have spread on the rocks that I don't transfer to the Nano. This is my plan right now. Since I have MH in the 85 it would work out best to go that way.


I don't have a lot of LPS OR SPS. So it will be a work in progress. Hopefully I can get some frags to get me going :)

[rjwilson37]

Yes, I hope those zoanthid's spread nicely for you and then maybe we could purchase a small frag one day. I gave a member of our club a piece of the hot pink zoa's I have and it had about 20 polyps on it he said. I did not count them, I just took a piece off and gave it to him. Maybe one day he will give me something cool.

[shouldabenacowboy]

Your setup is nice!!!

Keep up the good work

SBC

[rjwilson37]

New Addition.... I wonder why they call these Lavender Mushrooms.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/lavenmush021506.jpg

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Hey ya, where is the lavender?? Kinda like, Where's the beef?

[MaryBebo]

They look like green hairy mushrooms. I have 2 of those and they get really large.

here is mine

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/68332Hairy_Mushroom.jpg

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Goodnight, sleeptight, don't let the Isopods bite!

[rjwilson37]

They looked very sweet at the LFS for the past 2 weeks, and seemed to be flourishing nicely. That picture above is after 15 minutes of being in my nano, the lights are out right now and they are looking sweat after only 2 and a half hours in the tank.

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6750736#post6750736 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AEALOVESHERGIRLS
Hey ya, where is the lavender?? Kinda like, Where's the beef? I think the Lavender is more of the type and not refering to color, I will post a thread and find out.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

RJ, your little nano is coming along nicely, too bad your lighting is just the standard, an anemone would look sweet!

RJ, did you hear about Preuss's new 20,000 SF place????? I can't wait to go, it's in Lansing, will take me about an hour and 15 to get there. Let me know when you want to go, I'll get a babysitter.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Care Level: Easy
Light: Low to Moderate
Water Flow: Medium
Placement: Bottom to Middle
Tank Conditions: 72-78°F; sg 1.023-1.025; pH 8.1-8.4; dKH 8-12
Color Form: Lavender, Purple
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Ideal Supplements: Trace Elements, Iodine
Origin: Indo-Pacific
Family: Discosomatidae

Nope, I think it's referring to it's color.

[MaryBebo]

Well, I think my 24 JBJ NanoCube DX 2006 & everything else will be here some time today. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it comes in one piece. With all that I have read this week about theirs being cracked or worse. Needless to say I AM WORRIED..... I will be sure to take pics of the box before it is opened. If it is in one piece I will test it for a few days with just water.
Maybe I will be one of the lucky ones :)
If everything works out well, then will come the transfer and that will take some planning and TIME. I'm trying to figure it all out. I want to redo the other tank too during this transfer. I am planning to use egg crate to make some type of stand with shelves for the live rock to help with rock slides. also to keep some height. I am working on the plans for the stand to have it ready and put together before I do the transfer. ALOT of Work.

Wish me luck please!!!!!!

[rjwilson37]

Good Luck!

[MaryBebo]

It's all here!!!!!!!!! And so far so good. I will be adding water in a bit:), I will post pics maybe tomorrow.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Mary Congrats!!!!! Post some pics on my thread as well if you will, I don't want to miss any!!!

RJ, how's the tank tonight? I'm doing a water change in the morning, I found that my tank needs a heater! I thought it was running a tad on th ewarm side, but I bought a new digital thermometer with an alarm on it, and I'm running a little cool.

[rjwilson37]

I just use the stick on thermometer's and my nano runs at 83, which maybe is a little on the hot side, but that is probably because it is completely enclosed and I have the MJ900 in there. I have lost power like 10 times so far tonight with the ice storm were having here in the Grand Rapids Area.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

We don't have ice yet RJ, just massive thunderstorms, but I know the ice is on the way. They had tornado watches for Lansing!!!

Ya, I had the stick on thermometer too and it said it was 82, however, it really ended up being 77!

[rjwilson37]

Maybe I will go and buy one to stick inside the tank tomorrow, a bit more accurate. I can't do it tonight, Meijer and Walmart are closed because there is no power in a lot of Greenville.

I lost power twice more, but it seems better now. I used this oportunity to take off the back Seio 1100 on the 90g and clean it off and out really good. I put it back on and it started right up just plugging it in without a bang on the wrist. They work really well powering up after a good cleaning, but after not even a day in the tank and you lose or turn off power... it takes a bang or two on the palm to kick it back on. That is why I have two MaxiJet 900's in the 90g besides the 2 Seio 1100's, the MJ900's turn back on all the time.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

RJ's big bang theory.

[MaryBebo]

I hope all is going OK with you both and the weather. When we have Ice here everything just stops or even just a little snow.
We haven't really had really bad cold weather yet...or for the past few yrs. Anyway, I wish you well !

Ha ha Amanda, If you clean it it will work...Like if you build it they will come..lol

OK, I now have a thread started with what I have going so far..which isn't much..lol
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=778851


RJ, I know you said to post here and I will, but I didn't think you would want me to post how everything came in...lol
I have got a start.:) This weekend, I am hoping to do the transfer over. If I have no leaks. I was VERY pleased with the box and the packaging and how it came in. It looked in great shape!!! It had stickers on ALL sides that said {Glass } and {which end should stay up}. So it looks like Fed-Ex did a good job too.
THANK GOODNESS :)

[rjwilson37]

Very nice Mary, I will jump into your thread.

Ok, I have a glass stick inside the fishtank thermometer and it reads the same thing as the stick on I have, guess I got a good stick on thermometer.

Most of Greenville is still without power, I live in a new sub that has all underground power and were good, only lost power 2/or 3 more times last night and it has been stable all morning. We have 4 pine trees down in our back yard... bummer! One almost hit the well, where the whit thing comes out of the ground, missed it by less than an inch. These trees are so heavy from all the waterlogged/ice build up, if it would have hit the white plastic head piece to the well, I could have been in trouble with no water

Lot's of diatom algae right now in the nano, not overwelming, but enough to give it a dirty/unlcean look. Come on snails... do your job.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Our power flickered a little bit last night, but never went out!

RJ, I never got any diatoms, weird!

[rjwilson37]

You are lucky to not get diatoms, I have always gotten them on a new tank setup, even a small little bit on the my 90g move. It should be gone and over with in about 4-5 more days, just all part of a new tank setup.

Here are some pictures from today, the brown zoanthid's look very happy and the new lavender mushrooms are adapting to there new environment well I think!

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060217nanotank.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/brownzoas021706.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/lavmush021706.jpg

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Looks great RJ, but you never answered my question about Preuss's!

[rjwilson37]

Oh... I am not sure when I will get a chance to get out there. I am definately tapped out this month, maybe next month.

[icenine2005]

So your tank is running at around 83? Do you still have the stock pump running in addion to the MJ900? What is your photoperiod like?
...and can I ask why you have the heater in the display rather than the rear chambers?

Thanks!

[rjwilson37]

Yep, stock pump 290gph and MJ900 230gph giving me 520gph for an overall. I could not put the heater back there and get the suction cups to stick, can't get my hand in there to push it firm.

[icenine2005]

Hmmm.. I wonder how many watts that stock pump throws off? But even when I run just one pump for a day I only get a one degree difference.

[rjwilson37]

Between the two they probably throw off some heat, and then there is the PC lighting, which I am sure runs a little hot in a closed system like this.

[pnsnowboard]

what species of octo is that
???????????????

[rjwilson37]

I think that is for you Kayla, on the Octopus!

[tygger]

Great looking tank. I might have missed it, but did you mention what type of lighting you have on this tank?

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6807151#post6807151 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tygger
Great looking tank. I might have missed it, but did you mention what type of lighting you have on this tank? Thanks tygger, it is just the standard PC 72w lighting that comes with it, which is 36w Actinic and 36w Daylight.

[Flipturn88]

Lookin good, RJ!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6797515#post6797515 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pnsnowboard
what species of octo is that I'm not sure, actually! It's a Pygmy octo, but that's about all can say in regards to the species (I'm such a bad hobbyist, I know;)).

[fishyapol]

hey rj everyhing looks great, i actually just got myself a 24 aquapod, i like it a lot, how fast did you start adding corals and everthing, because i went from a 20 g to the 24, and i treated it like a a water change and put mostly all of the water from the old one to the new, put all the live rock in there,, transferred everyone and its 2 days now and everyone is swimming around happy with their new bigger home,, been doing test and everything is just where it needs to be. going to do a water change in the next couple of days. i ll put some pics up, so everyone can let me know what they think.. keep up the good work

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6818978#post6818978 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishyapol
hey rj everyhing looks great, i actually just got myself a 24 aquapod, i like it a lot, how fast did you start adding corals and everthing. I added soft corals pretty quick, and I think you could add some soft corals which will do fine. I would wait until your diatom algae bloom comes and goes before adding LPS, as you never really know what is going to happen with a new tank. Sometimes you get weird things that happen and sometimes you don't, it just all depends on who knows what, because sometimes it just happens. I don't want to invest $50 to $100 in some LPS Corals and have them not make it because of some kind of algae or bacteria bloom. I can wait, or just add some frags from my 90g over here, which is where I am getting a lot of stuff for this tank anyway.

[fishyapol]

rj, by any chance, how are you dealing with the water temp,, i noticed that the hood gives off a lot of heat,, so i dropped my heater to 71* because the temp got up to around 80-81,, are getting that also,, thanks

[rjwilson37]

My Aquapod runs at around 82 it looks like, and down to 80 at night. I have the extra MJ900 in my little tank, which I am sure throws off a little heat... something I didn't think about, but everyone seems to be doing fine.

[MaryBebo]

Hey RJ,

I too am having some heat issues. Mine got to 84* today Yikes!!
I took my heater out. I may have to do something to help keep it cooler...humm

Also I am getting a little diatom algae bloom right now. Are you still having some? How long will this last?

[rjwilson37]

I have my heater turned down to like 77, so it will only really kick on at night time and not let it get to cold at night. If the heater is not on, then it is not causing a heat issue because it is not running.

I had the diatom algae for about 4 days I am thinking, it is a lot better now. I will post some new pictures tomorrow.

I just looked and the tank is still 83 degrees, so I am thinking a lot of the heat is coming from the two pumps running. My tank get's at 84 or 85 during the day when the lights are on and everything is doing fine.

I don't think 84 is horrible, there are a few people at RC that run there tanks in the 82 to 84 degree range which makes for active creatures for sure. The warmer it is, the more active they become, but it also means that if something bad happens, it happens quicker as well.

I run my 90g at 80 degrees at night and when the MH kick on it get's 82 during the day.

[MaryBebo]

Here are a couple of pics from today :)

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a44/MARYBEBO/000_0656.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a44/MARYBEBO/000_0657.jpg

This one is cool :)

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a44/MARYBEBO/000_0633.jpg

So you think just keep the heater in and not to worry. If it needs to come on then it will be in there.

[rjwilson37]

Things look very healthy for you, I am not worrying about the heat and will just deal with it if it starts to possibly cause problems. You could check in the early morning and see what the heat is before the lights come on, my guess is that your tank will not be less than 80 degrees in which case there is not a need for a heater.

We had our house furnace starter die one time and the house got down to 60 before the heater guy came and thank goodness I had a heater in my tank. The tank only got down to 78 degrees, which was a good thing I am thinking, imagine how cold it could have gotten.

[MaryBebo]

What I meant to say, was you were telling me to leave the heater in there. Then if the temp starts to drop below 78* it will be in there and keep it from getting to cold. It would be safer for me to do it this way. :)
Right?

[rjwilson37]

I am thinking yes on that one, you could just leave it out tonight and see what the temp is in the morning just to get a feel if there is any heat transfer from the lighting or if it is pretty much from the pumps.

[MaryBebo]

OK, Thanks RJ :)

[rjwilson37]

My House is 74 degrees pretty much all the time in the colder parts of the winter, I am going to check my tanks temp in the early morning just to see if it goes down more as the night/early morning cools the tank down possibly with the lights off.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Good morning everyone!!! Mary, your tank looks fabulous!!!! It's hard to believe as gorgeous as all our tanks are, none of them are older than a month!!!!


My tank hits a high of 77.8 during the day, and at night, before I bought the heater it would hit 74. Now it's just 77 all the time. I think it's good because come summer, I'll need it cooler, I don't want to buy a chiller.

[rjwilson37]

My tank got down to 82 last night maybe 81, probably because ours have closed tops Mary, they stay warmer than Amanda's. I think Amanda also has a fan, but I am not sure on that.

Here is a couple pictures from this morning, I will have to take some when the sun is not shining in. I moved a brain from the 90g over here, and it is puffing out and seems happier in the little Nano.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060225nanotank.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/brownzoas022506.jpg

[alien9168]

I dont think I have ever seen an eel in a nano before. Thats pretty slick!

hows your bload?

-alien

[syndrome]

Nice tank ad all. but honestly you need to take the eel out of that tank. It already looks like it is getting cramped and seeing as how they grow 30+ inches and as thick as baseballs. I dont mean to flame.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Looks awesome RJ!!! No, I don't have a fan, just an open top.

[fishyapol]

what up everyone,,, about the heat again.. i checked in the morning and it was at 79,, at night when i got home it was at 82,, it has been like that since i had it runnin.. everyone is doing good, before i transferred everyone from my old tank, the temp was at around 71-74*, seems like everyone adapted well, so i m not seeing any bad changes,, i hope none well come, but you never know... have fun everyone!!!

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6824494#post6824494 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by syndrome
Nice tank ad all. but honestly you need to take the eel out of that tank. It already looks like it is getting cramped and seeing as how they grow 30+ inches and as thick as baseballs. I dont mean to flame. I got this tank specifically for the Eel, who was in my 90g. He will only get about 20 to 24 inches, which require a 30g tank typically and the 24g is pretty close to a 30g.

The Bio-Load is good doing one 5g water change a week. The fish I have in there are a low bio-load, so the Eel is the main bio-load. I am feeding him a lot lighter in here than I did in the 90g, where I was afraid if I didn't feed him enough he would maybe eat some of my fish.

It is almost feeding time right now and you can see he is a little restless and getting ready to munch down some shrimp.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060225nanotank2.jpg

[rjwilson37]

I should just take the right side of my 90g here and put together an Oceanic 30g with one 175w MH, this would make an awesome little nano. It would not be as nice as Amanda's at a month old, but it would still be sweet.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/90g/20060225right.jpg

[syndrome]

The SFE will eventually grow 30+ inches it is a fact and I have seen it in real life. 75 Gallons is the smallest i would keep one in. If you dont believe me go to Grimreefers.com and tell them what tpe of tank your SFE is in. Im not trying to flame you its just i would hate to see an eel in a 24 gallon tank.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

According to Marine depot, the minimum size tank for a SF eel is 30 gallons.

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/snowflake-eel---echidna-nebulosa-fish--eels.html

He looks pretty happy RJ, keep an eye on him, if he looks stressed start shopping!

Amanda

[lennyd19]

hey guys just a quick question in the rear of the tank by the overflow did you remove those little black plates or did you leave them. I am haveing a little problem with cloudyness. Its been about a week and it has only cleared a little. I remeber when I did my 75 it only took about a day or so to clear. I have some floss to get the big stuff and some carbon but dosen't seem to be having much of an impact. Also have the fission skimmer, I was a little worried about it but it seems to be making some nice skimet. Any adivce would help!thanks.

[rjwilson37]

lennyd19: I took out the tubes and bioballs that the Aquapod came with, and I took out the top two plates. I am leaving the sponges in there and will just clean them periodically kinda like I did in my old 55g with the built in overflow.

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6826056#post6826056 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by syndrome
The SFE will eventually grow 30+ inches it is a fact and I have seen it in real life. 75 Gallons is the smallest i would keep one in. If you dont believe me go to Grimreefers.com and tell them what tpe of tank your SFE is in. Im not trying to flame you its just i would hate to see an eel in a 24 gallon tank. Ok, thanks. I will let you know when he get's over 22" and hopefully I will have my In-Wall 180g by then which may be in about 2-3 years.

I went to that website and did not see a huge snowflake Eel, there were definately some big Eels there, but only 1 or 2 snowflakes.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

RJ, lemme know when your eel gets as thick as a baseball bat, I would be interested in seeing that!

And, is that a standard wooden baseball bat, or one of those red plastic little tikes ones?

Amanda

[mr.bear]

great stuff

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6827039#post6827039 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AEALOVESHERGIRLS
RJ, lemme know when your eel gets as thick as a baseball bat, I would be interested in seeing that!

And, is that a standard wooden baseball bat, or one of those red plastic little tikes ones?

Amanda It may be like the little mini basball bat's that you buy at a baseball game, they have the teams name or emblum on them and you hang it by the banner on the wall of your room.

I think maybe you just get a big one here and there. I mean there are people in the US that are 7 1/2 to 8 feet tall every now and then, but the normal is like around 5 to 6 feet tall.

I would love to have him live a full and happy life with me, in which case he may get pretty big, but only time will tell on that note. Maybe we will all still be in contact around that time and he will be 36 to 40 inches long in my 500g tank.:)

[MaryBebo]

Hi all,

Went to a RC meeting to day and had a GREAT time! LOT"S of reefers there, I would say 40 or more. Lot's of door prizes. Some nice RC members gave me some frags to replace the ones I lost.:)
I am so thankful!!!

RJ, My tank was 80.4 this morning with out the heater plugged up. Then tonight when I got back home it was only 81.5 so it does seem to be better. I am going to just keep a check on it, with out the heater.

BOY!!!!! HE is Hungry :D
http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060225nanotank2.jpg

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

:( I wanna go to a RC meeting :(

[rjwilson37]

Man, you really need to watch these Nano's and make sure you don't put to much water in them, they can easily spill over a little. If you put a lot of flow in them and the top ripples, a ripple here and there can cause a little bit of water to spill over, and after enough little bits flow over you get a puddle.

[fishyapol]

rj, dude same here, when i would get home i would see water spots down my tank, then i figured that is what was going on,, hey how long have you had your eel again?

[HartfordWhalers]

looks good keep postin

[rjwilson37]

Thanks HartfordWhalers!

fishyapol: I have had him for over 2 years. I purchased him because I thought he was cool and had him in a 10g nano with a little Puffer and Damsel, he was only 8" when I first got him. I moved from my 29g tank up to a 55g breeder and took down the nano, I tossed him in the 55g mixed reef and he was just fine with everyone else. He lived in the 55g breeder tank for the life of that tank which was about a year and a half, I then moved him to the 90g when I upgraded tanks.

[Fishfreak218]

So how large is he now??? also doesnt he eat those fish (the damsels and pshuedo [sp] ) ...do you have really Nitrates in that tank?? also what do you feed him and is he out much??? (when i say out much i mean is he visible much... like his head or does he hide until feeding and/or night???? i am looking into getting one so i want to know... thank you very much.... (you have the best threads.. there is like a picture every other day.. lol)
-josh

[rjwilson37]

My Eel comes out a lot, pretty much the whole evening before, during and after feeding. Sometimes the nitrates get up there a little, in the 10 to 15 range, but I just do a 5g water change and they come right down. This system has only been running for 3 weeks, so I can't really say there is a nitrate problem yet, I need to give the LR a chance to start working.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060226nanotank.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/brownzoas022606.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/lavmush022606.jpg

[syndrome]

what type of ricordia is that? Fish freak dont get a SFE for your 30g cube(i love that shape). Its like you liveng in a closet.

[Fishfreak218]

ya.. i wasnt planning to for my 30g.. lol.. i know about the SFE they need like 70g.+ tanks.... also he doesnt have any rics. in that tank from what i can see.. i think ur talking about the Hairy Mushrooms... (last pic in his last post)

[rjwilson37]

Yep, they are the lavender mushrooms (hairy mushrom), not ricordea's.

[alien9168]

That really is a cool nano...It is so unusual--to me--that u put an eel in there! :D

Its awsome!-- I really want to do somthing like this tank!


-alien

[alien9168]

Oh--I do have a question about the cost of putting somthing like this together--if u dont feel comfortable talking about that in an open forum, shoot me a PM. :D

THanks.

-ALien

[rjwilson37]

It was $300 for the tank, $100 for 18lbs of LR, $30 for 20lbs of LS, $15 for the MJ900 powerhead, $20 for the heater and $70 for the 3 main corals which are the brown zoa's, the kenya tree and the lavender mushrooms.

So your looking at $535 plus tax! Oh.. and $20 for the Instant Ocean Salt Mix.

All the other corals are just frags and such from my 90g.

[rjwilson37]

What is funny about this whole thing, is that for some reason I am almost in a hurry to make something beautiful, or place the corals in the right spots, or re-arrange things for the perfect look.

I took a step back and looked at what I have so far, which is not bad and not perfect, just a little bit of something that is starting to evolve into... well.... who really knows what. I don't want to move the corals, they are happy and doing well, and one thing I do know over my years is that sometimes you move a coral to that perfect placement spot you want it and then it just dies or melts. I think I am just going to leave things be and let them come into there own. I will pull the misc frags I put on the bottom once they attach and encrust and move them up a little, but that's about it for them. I will place a couple new corals over the next couple months and maybe move the powerhead a little, but I think I will just let it be and become what ever it becomes!

[rjwilson37]

Thanks alien9168, I appreciate the note of confidence, and I am very glad you like it.

[MaryBebo]

It does look very good RJ. Looks like everything is doing great!

[Fishfreak218]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6833858#post6833858 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rjwilson37
My Eel comes out a lot, pretty much the whole evening before, during and after feeding. Sometimes the nitrates get up there a little, in the 10 to 15 range, but I just do a 5g water change and they come right down. This system has only been running for 3 weeks, so I can't really say there is a nitrate problem yet, I need to give the LR a chance to start working.

Really...... doesnt he eat those fish????

[alien9168]

thanks rj wilson! :D

I appreciate your openess!! :D
THis really is a beutiful setup!!

-alien

[rjwilson37]

The Eel doesn't really bother anyone, he is use to having fish swimming around the tank with him. I think those fish are a little to fast for him anyway, even if he did want to eat them.

[rjwilson37]

Ok... It's treat time... I was gone all week and came back to great tanks, my wife did a wonderful job of taking care of everyone... What a great wife I have.

I did a water change, the salinity is 1.024, the PH is 8.2 now which is good, and my nitrates are at 5ppm. I turned the living room ceiling fan on and the temp in the tank is now down to 81 during the day... excellent!

Here are some pictures of a tank doing very well, minus a little bit of cyano which I am hoping the flow redirection and time will help take care of. If not, I will try something else.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060304nanotank.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/inhabitants/snowflake030406.jpg

Oh.... I got a Maroon Clown since they are aggresive for my aggresive Nano. He will come out when he get's bigger, not sure when that will be yet.
http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/inhabitants/maroonclown030406.jpg

[rjwilson37]

The Zoanthids that came from my 90g, after being munched on by Dori are all doing great and recovering nicely, even the Red Brain I moved in here is doing very well.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/grnctrzoas2030406.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/grnctrzoas030406.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/orangezoas030406.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/brnskirtzoas030406.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/redbrain030406.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/grncapkenya030406.jpg

[Fishfreak218]

after seeing this tank i have to do a tank with an Eel in it.. thanks alot... lolololol

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

OMG RJ, absolutly beautiful. That Clown is awesome, but man it's gonna get big and mean! It might pick on our littl eeel!!!!


Awesome Job!

[Fishfreak218]

I think its time for some Joes Juice.. or temporarily put the eel in one of those critter keepers (and then put a large rock on top of it and sink it into tank...)and get a pepermint shrimp to eat all that Aptasia..... its got to go.. lol.. or if u like aptasia for some weird reason.. keep it

[rjwilson37]

It is a curly cue type of aptasia, which can look pretty cool for an anemone being in the tank, I am undecided what to do about it just yet.

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6881551#post6881551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AEALOVESHERGIRLS
OMG RJ, absolutly beautiful. That Clown is awesome, but man it's gonna get big and mean! It might pick on our littl eeel!!!!


Awesome Job! Thanks Amanda. If you look at the Eel, he is liking hiding out in the zoa's.... he is like... who is that new mean little guy... I'm afraid!:eek1: ;)

The Maroon clown in his picture is like... I am not taking crap from anyone!:cool:

[Fishfreak218]

I had that same type in my 2.5g Pico (which i transfered into a 1.8g Hex the other day...)

[MaryBebo]

Nice additions RJ ! Love the Clown too. It has the broken bands, I think that makes them look unique. I have one in the 85 that has them like that too. TooCute:) What did you attach your Monti cap with?

[rjwilson37]

I like it when you can get a clown that has the broken bands, this was a Petco fish, sometimes there stuff is good and sometimes not. They had a nice batch of fish in right now and you can't beat the price. It is funny at Petco when they ask you the question, you do know that this is a saltwater fish and you should have an established saltwater aquarium to house it. ( I somtimes want to just say, I have big saltwater fish bowl I setup with 2 airstones and a couple pieces of LR, that's good... right. )

I attached the cap's a few different ways, the one is attached with a rubberband, some are wedged in and some are superglued.

[rjwilson37]

Well... Not much is happening right now, I added some GSP's to the upper right, I will hopefully take some pictures and post them tonight.

[rjwilson37]

Here are the promised pictures.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060308nanotank.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/gspnano030806.jpg

[MaryBebo]

Your eel looks like he is thinking ..hummm he's putting more stuff in here...lol

[rjwilson37]

I think the look actually this.

Ok buddy, enough already... It is cramp enough in here for me.

[AEALOVESHERGIRLS]

Looks awesome RJ, nice to see someone else besides Mary and I adding WAY too much WAY too fast :)

[rjwilson37]

Thanks Amanda!

[rjwilson37]

Wow, almost 2 weeks since my last post... sorry about that. I re-arranged the nano a little and broke apart the lavender mushroom since it was so big and I think the new aquascape looks much better.

Ok... We.. meaning the GRMAS (Grand Rapids Marine Aquarium Society) had our first annual swap meet and it was a great success. The turn out was big, we sold over 800 raffle tickets for a bunch of prizes like a 4-5" crocea clam, some Acan Lords, a 4-5" Tri-Color Acro with multiple branches and a bunch of other stuff. I sold some stuff and bought a few things and one of the things I sold, was some of my pink zoa's from the 90g. I took the best frag from my medium piece in the 90g and sold the other 3, so I moved that nice pink zoa in my Nano. I also got another zoa and a moon polyp for the nano.

Here are some pictures, I had to much glare for the full tank picture, I will get that later this afternoon, but here are some pictures to wet your apetite.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/kenyatree031906.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/zoasnano031906.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/moonpolyps031906.jpg

[rjwilson37]

This is not a great shot, but hopefully when the glare goes away later this afternoon I will get some better pictures. My little maroon clown using the big zoa colony on the left side for it's host, which you can see in this picture.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/maroonclown031906.jpg

[rjwilson37]

I didn't have to wait until mid afternoon to take a couple more pictures, here you go.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060319nanotank.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/brownzoahost031906.jpg

[ga_reefer_guy]

Hey, rj what kind of skimmer are you running on your nano?

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7030554#post7030554 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ga_reefer_guy
Hey, rj what kind of skimmer are you running on your nano? No Skimmer at all, just 4g weekly water changes and rinsing out the sponges in the back. I don't want to kill any benificial bacteria that might be on the sponges, but I do get a lot of crud out of them when I rinse them thoughly with the water that comes out of the tank at the water change time.

[dmazz_63]

Hey RJ and the other nano-er's here. I'm considering breaking my 29 gal AGA down and putting everything into one of these self enclosed cubes like yours. There's just too many wires on my desk the way it's set-up. Is it easy to hide all the wires and what is the weekly maintenance like?
Thanks, Dave.

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7037350#post7037350 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dmazz_63
Hey RJ and the other nano-er's here. I'm considering breaking my 29 gal AGA down and putting everything into one of these self enclosed cubes like yours. There's just too many wires on my desk the way it's set-up. Is it easy to hide all the wires and what is the weekly maintenance like?
Thanks, Dave. The Maintenance is very simple, just the weekly water change and since my LR is away from the sides and front, it is a snap to clean the glass. I does some Araga Milk 1-2 times a week with just a little squirt and I am just doing hardy fish and hardy type corals. If for some reason the nitrates get out of hand it is a snap to do a couple big water changes, but the nitrates are not bad at all, even with this high bioload.

Who really knows for the long run though of how well this little setup is going to do, I will let you know in 8-10 months if it is still a snap to take care of.

Here are a couple pictures from today.

The Clown is like, get away from my home there home boy!
http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/zoahost032506.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/zoasnano032506.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/redbrain032506.jpg

[dmazz_63]

Nice pics RJ. Is your substrate aragonite sand? It looks alot whiter than what's available here. The petsmart here carries the sugar sized .5 - 1.0 mm and it's more a pinkish brown almost like play sand. Yours seems a little coarser and whiter (and cleaner!) than the crushed coral I used.

[rjwilson37]

Yes, it is the argonite sand and the sand I purchased for this tank has a little bit bigger pieces than I used for my 90g. I wanted the bigger pieces for this tank, just something a little different that I think looks nice.

You can see here that yes, there are some electrical cords showing that is driving my wife crazy. I may make a little oak staind box to go over them and cover them from sight.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/20060325nanotank.jpg

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/corals/lavmush032506.jpg

My Eel could care less about any of the fish in the tank.
http://rjwilson41.com/docs/aquarium/24g/inhabitants/clowneel032506.jpg

[rjwilson37]

Here is the 5th day of spring in West Michigan, it snowed last night so it is not much of a spring for flying kites yet.

http://rjwilson41.com/docs/misc/snowymarch032506.jpg

[nc2tarheels]

sweet looking tank man!

[MaryBebo]

Looks like everything is doing really nice !!!

Love the House pic :)

[rjwilson37]

Thanks you two, things are going well it seems.

[alien9168]

Nice house! :)

I like the stone facade. :)

-alien

[syndrome]

I feel like crying seeing that big sfe in that tiny tank

[rjwilson37]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7043866#post7043866 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by syndrome
I feel like crying seeing that big sfe in that tiny tank I sort of feel the same way, but he seems very content in there and spends most of his time back in the rock work anyway. He comes out for about 3 hours a day which is before, during and after meal time in the evening for the most part. I am sure he comes out in the evening looking for a way out, as they are escape artists and if there is a way out, they typically find it, but there is no way out.

[rjwilson37]

Here is a link to my new thread, I just want to have one thread for both tanks, it makes it easier and you can see the progression of both tanks since sometimes things will be traded between them.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=809475