New User - New Hoppy - New Tank
 

My 24G JBJ Nano Cube arrived yesterday from J&L and I got some live rock yesterday (thanks R.).
The rock is still in a seperate bucket with heater and pump as I'm still looking for a suitable stand. I can't stop staring into the bucket at the rock. I swear this morning I thought I even saw a mini feather duster. :lol: I know I'm crazy.
Anyhow I'm sooo excited. So I had to share this with you!

I keep you guys posted (hehe if you want to or not) :twised:
Ang

Welcome to Canreef Ang!! Please do keep us updated.

Before I had my first tank up I had a 10G stuffed full of rock as a temporary holding tank. I had it sitting on the ground (carpet) in the spare room.
I spent hours everyday laying on the floor just staring at my beautiful rocks.. (ask my wife..:lol:) So I can relate to the excitement.

Make sure to take pics of the progress!

Welcome to Canreef Ang! Let me know when you get set up, I have a Colt coral that just keeps on shooting out new pieces... I'm sure I could donate one to the cause... :biggrin: I probably haved a mushroom or two as well...

:surprise: Reeferaddict! You would do that? :biggrin: yay.

Still at work browsing on usedvictoria for a stand. HAPPY FRIDAY!

Welcome to Canreef and enjoy the ride you are about to take. Ask all the questions you want - as the old saying goes "the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask".

We know the feeling. When we set up our first reef tanks years ago, my wife & I would spend hours staring at the LR looking for new & unusual hitchhikers, like different types of feather dusters or barnacles or clams or crabs .....

It's great to be in that "everything's new & exciting" phase. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Anthony

Congrats!!!
My 33G has been running for a few monthes now and I still stare at the rock!! Never know what you find hiding in there!
Would love to see it when it is setup and running!

Sometimes I have such stuff on hand to get people going - think of it as a "house warming" gift... :biggrin:

it is alive mua ha ha
 

Told you I saw feather dusters and thought I was crazy. Ha! Have a look at that. (sorry had to make space for some new pic)

I also saw some "worm". Doesn't move but I will keep watching it. Anyone know what that could be?

(sorry had to make space for some new pic)

By the way, are there really only two SW stores in Vic? (creatures and safari)?

I am not able to find a stand with the right dimensions. I wonder whether I should've ordered the fitting stand for the 24GJBJ - but $200 :redface: .

Ang

What are the measurments? Could you do some custom work or maybe "mod" something to work for you?
Are you looking to have just a stand for the tank or were you looking to put a sump/refugium under it?
And what would you like to do for lights? Matching hood? hanging light?
The more info the better we are able to help. :wink:

The JBJ 24G Nano Cube comes with Hood and lights and has a built-in "sump"/seperation for the skimmer and filter. So all I need is a decent table/cupboard that is strong enough.

Meassurements approx 20"x20" could be bigger but not much bigger than 30"30". Doesn't even have to be square 20"x30" would do fine as well.

Easy to find one would think but so far all side tables I saw were just 20" tall. I need at least 30".

Anyone?

Hey Ang-there is also Hillside Tropicals. And a small trip to Duncan to see Island Pet Zone is warranted! Also....can you get a better picture of your "feather duster"? It actually, from the pics looks like Aiptasia......someone else may chime in....get some really close shots of it if you can.......

ha ha I think you are right. Two days ago I still thought that Aiptasia is only red-brownish. well there you go... my first living organism is Aiptasia. Way to go.. Can only get better now!
I hoped no one else would notice that my feather duster is a fake.

Ang

I would nuke the Aptasia before it spreads.... sorry to be the bearer of bad news... like I said... lemme know when you get set up and I'll make a donation...

Nuke with what?

Nuke - To kill - eradicate - To remove permanently from this plane of existents

If you can, remove the rock get it off and give it a freshwater dip if it's not too far cycled... (scrape, chip or scrub it off)...

If that's not doable, then use a syringe with kalkwasser & inject the little bugger til it goes away... it might be novel now, but when it spreads and you have a hundred that are killing things you'll wish you had done it now... :mrgreen:

Thanks for all the advice. :razz:
I will try to get some Kalkwater tomorrow together with some ph Buffer. Apparently the salt I'm using (Oceanic) didn't do much for my ph. It's at 7.8 right now. :neutral:
I don't want to take the rock out, as it is fully cured and there is some red stuff growing on it that I hope - for once - is something good.
I will get a good cleaner crew as soon as my water readings are good. Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate are all at 0ppm - which surprises me, but it's only the 2nd day. They prolly will go up real soon. Not sure that I should introduce any hermit before that.
Also I haven't seen that baby-shrimp-or-whateveritwas any more. (see "just great" thread). I'm hoping that it not a mantis but maybe a fire shrimp (from the tank I got the rock from) if it is even still alive that is.

Reeferaddict I will stand at your door step very soon! :wink: Just need to get my water quality sorted first.

Hey angel I might be able to donate some things as well although all I have that is fraggable right now is Anthelia and Colt Coral which it sounds like reeferaddict is already offering. I just moved my tank and it has only been set up for a week or so, so no guarantees but I'd be happy to help if I can.

:biggrin:

Thanks Jeremy. :biggrin:
Even more reason to get my tank sorted out. I know I know I need to be more patient.

So I'm doing two more water changes as my ph is too low. This time I use a good salt, not like the crappy stuff I bought at petsmart. :shocked!: I know - you don't have to say it. I promise never to buy any SW related things there any more. It was pure convenience as I had to get some cheap dog stuff. Didn't think it would matter with off the shelf stuff such as salt. :shocked!: I know.. the salt is the most important bla bla... it makes sense to me now too.
I did at least drop a 1 page (front and back) comment to express how disappointed I was with them selling low quality products.

Ang

We went out to PetSmart and had a look and I didn't see any salt stuff there. Go visit Scott up island or Alan at Creatures.

Update!
 

just to give you guys an update.

My nano is now a bit over 2 weeks old which was enough to got me totally hooked on it. Initially I had some issues with the pH value but that's all sorted out now. The tank is up and running, water is great and I also got a cleaner crew to get rid of my aiptasia and algae.

Here is a pic of the tank:

Attachment 570

I'm open for any suggestions (more rock, more sand, etc.).
Also I piled the rock up high, but now when i do water changes the top of the rock is out of the water (just for the time during the water change, approx 10 minutes). Is that bad? will it prevent any growth on it?

Then for our 2 year wedding anniversery, my hubby got me a Coral Beauty. First I was concerned as I heard many things about anglfish not being reef safe etc. So I called up Creatures but Allen confirmed that it would be ok.

He is a very pretty boy but too quick to get any good pictures. Cleaner Shrimpy has quiet a "thing" for him. :biggrin:
Attachment 569

Next step is to get some easy corals or softies.
Reeferaddict? Jeremy? :mrgreen:

or is anyone by chance putting in a local order to Victoria from anywhere?

Ang

mmm I think I'm going to get more rock. Does anyone have any idea whether ALL rock must be submerged under water AT ALL times?


Does anyone sell any frags or is putting in an order soon? Let me know.

Ang

Very nice coral beauty :)

But I wouldn't put a dwarf angel in a 24g cube :sad: They are fabulous swimmers and need at least a 3' tank to live in, IME.

Also, some individual dwarf angels are reef safe and others are not. It's really the luck of the draw with these fish.

:sad: see, that's what I thought too.
Can one not trust even the experts in a store with good reputation? I only heard good things about Allen.

:sad: what to do now? will "fishie" (that's how we call him) not be ok with the 24g?

Tag. I want to see this tank develop. It brings back memories of setting up my first tank.

I want to see it develop too :mrgreen:

seems pretty difficult so far. Mind you I think I was pretty lucky. no real ammonia peak, not much algae, and now the water quality is great and tank is spotless...

however... I got an angl that shouldn't be in this tank.... and I think some of my hermits kinda "disappeared" :eek:

hey KarlK... I saw your amazing pictures.... I would be soo lucky at some point having a great tank like you do. the pictures were soo nice.

if you want to give any advice ... please go ahead. :smile:

Where did you see pics of my tank?

"Experts" at even the most "reputable" lfs are still salespeople, unfortunately :( They are there only to make sales, in many cases, even though they may seem to be trying to help you out.

When I'm at a lfs and I see a fish that I don't know much about, I ask the salesperson to look in their reference books to determine the needs of the fish in question. If they cannot do that for you, you must do some research elsewhere, like here on Canreef for example, before buying.

That said, the store gave you lousy advice, especially if you told them that the fish was going into a 24g nano. I think you have only two courses of action in this situation. One is to return the dwarf angel to the lfs, and the other is to see if a local reefer with a more suitable tank might buy it from you.

In your DIY thread about the chiller. I was interested in how you put one together as I sometimes have temperatures around 90. But soon realized that you are building in a much much larger scale :wink:

Oh, no...

That's not my tank. Mine isn't that nice.

That is Hightower's tank.

I am looking at making a small one for a nano style tank.

oh. my bad. :redface:

I'm sure yours is lovely too :wink:

still interested in a piece of colt coral?

Ya :mrgreen: I will send you a PM with my details.

The Fun Begins
 

I just switch from freshwater to salt 5mons. ago
Just take your time [don't rush ] and you will do just fine
If you are in Abbotsford check out a great store and the
greatest owners and staff [ Hidden Reef ]
Good Luck