12g Nano Cube DX build

[Mkus]

No not at all my frogspawn used to grow so fast I could not give it away quick enough lol
But there is no problem with both in same tank

 

[Mkus]

Yeah no problem with both in the tank my frogspawn used to grow so fast I couldn’t give it away quick enough

 

[xiholdtruex]

Yeah no problem with both in the tank my frogspawn used to grow so fast I couldn’t give it away quick enough

Does frog spawn grow heads or is it just a mass that you frag off?

 

[Mkus]

It’s branching so it grows new stalks off existing ones

 

[xiholdtruex]

It’s branching so it grows new stalks off existing ones

Did you coral dip the frog spawn? Have read some people don't because sometimes they die

 

[xiholdtruex]

This is what has happend over the last few days,
Placed some regenerated purigen in the tank this morning and performed my weekly water test, my ammonia and nitrite was at 0 but my nitrates where between 80 - 160 ppm. Noticed the Rfa we're closing up. So I performed a 70% wc and they started to open up again and put some prime in the tank. I thought it may have been the purigen. So I tested the water in my buckets.

I went to the bucket of salt water and tested the water from my local store, Which is water sourced from the reef down off the coast. Found that the Ph was at 8.2 the ammonia was at .25ppm the nitrite was 0 and nitrate was between 40-80 ppm. This is not good seems like I'm on my way to get some salt and RO DI water to mix my own. Informed the store and they informed me that it maybe from the organics from the reef water. Im just going to mix my own from now on to keep it under control.

retested my main tank water and I am currently at 0ppm on ammonia and nitrite and 40ppm in nitrate and 1.023sg , Salt and power head come in tommorow.

Funny thing is my Rfas are more open then ever now.

Im trying to decide on a budget tds meter to buy till I can afford a com100 any one have any they would recommend?

 

[xiholdtruex]

 

[xiholdtruex]

Received the water and began mixing it, 3cups of instant ocean in a 5g bucket makes 1.026 water perfect. Checked peramiters before wc, ammonia and nitrite at 0 , nitrate is between 40 and 80 pH at 8.0. Changed 4g of water , dosed 1ml of prime just incase and checked the salinity in tank after letting it ciculate a bit it's at 1.024 which is the sweet spot usually for my nems let's see how it goes. I will test nitrate tommorow and see if it's gone down. Had a small bag of chemi pure break -.- let Amazon know and they are sending me a new one.

 

[xiholdtruex]

Tested the water today before doing my wc
0 ppm ammonia
0 ppm nitrite
20-40 ppm nitrate
8.0 pH
1.024 sg

ordered a salifert nitrate kit.
This cyano bacteria Is taking over but my nems seem to be liking the higher nitrate levels they keep opening and there colors are popping better. I remove almost all the cyano each water change and it grows back in a day.
do you guys and gals think a 12g cube can support
10 dwarf cerith snails
3 nassarius
6 floridaceriths
4 nerites

or should I add a few turbo snails first and keep adding over time? I currently have 2 trochus snails and 2 hermits as my clean up crew
Any advice on it is greatly appreciated.

 

[xiholdtruex]

Three days later and the cyano is back again -.- did a 30% wc and tried removing most of it but it was mostly in the sand. After the wc waited 4 hours and my test came out good.
0 ppm Ammonia
0 ppm Nitrite
10 ppm Nitrate
8.0 pH
1.024 SG

Any input is appreciated.

 

[xiholdtruex]

cyano is spreading waiting on my phosphate test to come in here is what my readings look today
0ppm Ammonia
0ppm Nitrite
5-10 ppm Nitrate with API test
2-5 ppm Nitrate with Salifert
8.0 pH
1.024 SG

 

[xiholdtruex]

so a little update, Ended up dosing h202 for a few weeks to try to control the cyano, it stunted the growth until one of my turbo snails decided to die in a spot I could not see and it started to spread, The nems were a little stressed while dosing h202, by the time I found the turbo my cuc had cleaned him out lol so I tested the water and there was no change in perameters. removed sponge filter and micropolishing pad , due to the rear over flow area starting to seperate and the water would just bypass the sponge -.- . To stir the sand I purchased 3 nassarius snails. I see them burst and move about the sand then dig themselves in again. nems are looking good. Finally got around to getting a DI filter to add to my RO systems so now I dont have to go out and buy rodi water , which is very nice and am able to control the water going in more.

 

[xiholdtruex]

after battling with cyano now for about 5 months I have givin in. I made the deciscion to rip clean my tank two days ago after marinating in this thread for a few months.
So here is what I did. I set up a 5g holding tank and individually removed each rock. Scrubbed each rock of any detritus and cyano. Placed into a second container and flushed with fresh salt water and placed into the 5g holding tank.

Removed all snails and fish and placed in holding tank. Scrubbed the snails shells and flushed.removed any shells or dead snails I found.
Removed pump and heater. Diassembled pump and cleaned. Also cleaned heater.

Took tank out side and flushed sandclean 20 times till it had no signs of detritus and passed a drop test with tap water.

Reassembled tank and poured in some fresh water and placed rocks back in. Waiting till tommorow to place fish back in.

In the process of grabbing rocks I dropped my light on the tank and shocked the out of my arm. Luckily I am ok. Had a ton of detritus and sand was nasty. I'm sure it was feeding the cyano let's see how the tank does now. Redid my scape a little and removed one rock. It was feeling crowded. Had the whole family help on this project.

 

[RealistMiami]

One thing i could think of from the pictures is that your white is way to bright even if thats the peak of the day. Flower anemones dont need that much light an also that could be causing algae breakouts. Ive delt with algae breakouts an a simple good clean like you did good water changes an good light setting will get you rocking an rollin in no time ! Awesome flowers btw ! Keep it up !

 

[xiholdtruex]

Tested my water to have some numbers to go with the visual of the tank. 29 hours after rip cleaning.

Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 2-5 ppm
Phosphate - 0.03 ppm
pH - 7.8
Sg - 1.023

Looks good so far.

 

[xiholdtruex]

So it has come time to get a new light. I'm actually over due on the current bulbs in the tank by a few months and do not want it to be a factor in algae growth and RFA and future coral growth hinderance. I was on the fence between getting new bulbs and keeping the cannopy or jumping the gun and grabbing a led. Last night my son made the determining factor for me when I watched him climb a small chair and pop open the canopy to watch Sammy the clown fish or as he calls it NEMO! swim at the top as he does when I feed him small pellets lol So I am picking up a knock off A80 light for the time being which is within budget. My question is It is adjustable in spectrum from the videos I have seen. what do you guys and gals recommend as far as lighting coloration. have seen mixed recommendations of 50/50 blue and white to 80/20 blue and white.

All recommendation are appreciated!


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LJC8HL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ycJEBbZZGSFD9

 

[PshThisGuy]

Love tank builds like this. The new RockScape looks better than the first one, just my opinion though. We started our first tank back in December too, we're currently battling Cyanobacteria and slightly elevated Nitrates, but weekly water changes we and cut back on the feeding has made improvements. Still have slight signs on cyano, but it appears to be a phase with new tanks. As for the LED, I recommend the Pixie 30, its a COB LED, just like the one you linked, but a little more beefier. Check out EZReefin's video on it, he does PAR reading and it appears to be a really good LED. .

 

[xiholdtruex]

My light came in. Tore the canopy off and put the light on.greats let's see how the nems do over the next few weeks.

 

[PshThisGuy]

Looks great. Can see those nem colors pop!

 

[xiholdtruex]

One week after sand rinse and rip clean. Only see a tiny quarter size amount of cyano on a rear piece of rock which I'm going to clean off in a little bit. Tested my water and everything is looking solid.
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 2-5 ppm
Phosphate - 0.03 ppm
pH - 8.0
Salinity - 1.23