JDA Build-Off Competition Entry - 60g MBP&S Cube

J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#21
#21
Day 36: Back from week-long softball trip with the kid. Tank sitter did not fill the sump, but this is why you have redundant stuff - water is a bit cloudy and excess algae on the glass (looks like the tank in Finding Nemo when they put the pebble in the filter impeller), but everything looks OK. Fish are eating. Ended up, so far, with a pair of Banggai/Kauldern's Cardinals, Pair of Creole wrasses (only one is eating, so I expect to lose the other one), YT Blue Damsel and a Florida Pygmy Angelfish. Coralline spots have come in the last week. I have an order of MBP&S coming from my friend Quinn at Boom Corals - he gave me a sweet pack deal, just like anybody would on these "weeds." Should be here on Tuesday or Wed... photos to come after after I unload them and clean the glass from the week-long vacation ordeal.

I have no yet seen any new growth on the birdsnest that I put in there.

Need to update the cost total to see if I can afford a used CaRx setup. I found a really old knopp for like $25 and I already got a regulator for $19.99. I will do this after I get the final invoice from Quinn.

I need to update the first page tank photo too.
 
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scmountain

scmountain

Registered Users
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#22
#22
jda123 said:
looks like the tank in Finding Nemo when they put the pebble in the filter impeller
Click to expand...
Try being engaged to Darla...... :tearsofjoy::tearsofjoy:............:sob: hope the wrasse pulls through, maybe try the "medicated" frozen food that is soaked in garlic to induce appetite?
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#23
#23
Day 37 Photo. About time for some snails or an urchin. Algae is coming on strong now. New corals here and will take some photos tomorrow - freebie Hammer in the tank since it won't fit on a frag rack.

 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#24
#24
Day 38: Frags are in. Pack was $250 with shipping. I might look for a Stylo later on down the road - I hate it when they spawn, but that will give me every one of the MBP&S.

 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#27
#27
Day 47: 15 gallon water change which was late. Supplemented with caclium chloride and baking soda for the first time. Got the levels up to about 550 and 14. I will let them drift down to about 400 and 8 before I dose again.

Will probably set up a cheap CaRx that I got, but it needs a trip to the hardware store to get seals and stuff which while cheap does take effort. :)

Frags lot a bit of color, they have good PE and are looking good. I will likely mount them next week.
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#28
#28
Bargain CaRx is ready to go. Had to reseal most fittings and reassemble it and clean out the impeller, but it works. Got the bottle for $5 full of co2 from a failed home brewer. Might install this weekend. Probably won't fit under the stand.

Used sections at the LFS are the best...

 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#29
#29
Day 59: Urchin on the scene helping with the ulgies. I have a bit of green cyano which I will do nothing about... it might stick around for a month or two. Got a few leaks fixed on the CaRx and is running. Frags got brown/red after the move, but all are mounted and starting to color back up. I decided that I would not have enough blue, so I added a Cali Tort (lemke said that he would charge $15 for this).

Coralline has kinda stalled, but that is normal. I have no idea what N and P are, but alk is at 8.3. The coralline should start to grow again after this next water change.

I had one creole wrasse never eat - it disappeared. The other jumped out. Right now, pair of YT Blue damsels, some sort of white/yellow fish that I got for free as an unknown, pygmy wrasse and a pair of Cardinals.

Probably get 20-30 astreas in there in another month... probably not enough film for them to eat right now and the urchin can handle the larger stuff quite well. Keeping some budget for some astreas, conch and some peppermints from ReefTopia. I don't want to "chase" the algae and kill off snails prematurely. I have not scraped the back or standpipe so that the urchin has something to eat.

 
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J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#32
#32
People seem to think that the fish is a Sunrise Dottyback... which if it is, I am getting jipped that it is not the brilliant blue color, except it was free. :)
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#33
#33
Here is my auto top off. Whenever the sump starts to pump bubbles back up, my arms automatically lift this jug up and pour a few gallons into the top. Unfortunately, there will likely never be any budget for a real ATO. I don't mind adding water since anything to keep my eyes on the tank is usually good.

Planning on testing some water this weekend for the first time.

View attachment 15068
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#34
#34
Full swath of testing today.

1.026 or 35ppt - perfect
8.3 carbonate - little high, but not enough to mess with
78 on my Medusa is 78.2 on my laser temp gun - guess this will do
"clear" nitrate on Salifert - about what I expected
2-3 ppb Phosphate on Hannah Ultra Low - .006 to .009 ppm, or so... about perfect

I was mostly looking at alk and the phosphate. The phosphate is perfect and where I would like it to be. This means that the rock and sand have absorbed some since there is some in the water - they can now act like a reservoir for growth spurts and stuff. This also means that the rock is not full of phosphate. Soon, it will start to climb and this is when I will add some chaeto to the front chamber of the fuge.

To be clear - I would have nearly never added coral until after this initial "break in" period, but this is a special case with the timeline. Two months is a good time period to wait and just feed fish.

I went ahead and executed the first plan of a single Tunze 6100 on the tank. The other pump was too little. Other than being big, bulky and old, it really does a great job with the flow and randomness.

Fun fact: this little Knop reactor does not need a feed pump... it will pull water through the reactor on it's own. I am going to keep the feed pump just in case, but I guess that you learn something every day. It is running well so far with just about 40 drips per minute and about 10 bubbles. This little beer tank is so small and cute.

Urchin has nearly cleaned the whole tank of the film algae and the uglies. These are amazing creatures.

Maybe some new pics in a few days.
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#36
#36
Back from emergency family visit and tank sitters did a good job... everything is alive and growing.

Will scrape glass, change some water and get new photos soon.
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#37
#37
10g water change. Got a bit of green cyano - should go away soon. Have a few patches of algae where the urchins have not seemed to wander - might set them there manually.

Corals are encrusting and coloring up pretty well. I will get some photos sometime this week.
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#38
#38
As-is photo getting through the uglies. Red and green cyano is slowly leaving. Film algae is mostly gone... now need the urchins to get on the rocks.

 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#40
#40
Due for another water change and I will probably siphon the algae off of the rocks this weekend. This tank is getting close to being past the ugly phases.

Down to just 5 fish... pair of YT Blue Damsels, Atlantic Pygmy and a pair of Bangaii Cardinals. Creole wrasses were a waste of money.
 
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