firebirdude
04/28/2009, 01:26 PM
I have a 29g Biocube that I've had setup a little over 6 months now. It has the 4.36 lighting upgrade from nanotuners. Not much in it. 1 1/2" sand bed, 20lbs live rock, a clown, couple small zoa frags, and a clean up crew consisting of several style snails, blue legs, and a cleaner shrimp. And a lot of basic hair algae. (not bryopsis style)
The above listed is really all I've been able to keep alive for the past 6 months. Got most of them towards the beginning of my ownership and most have done well. Everything since then has not. I've bought several other fish/inverts that seem to do fine for about a week, then I find dead. (Two clowns, lawnmower blenny, small purple urchin, all I can think of now)
I've been battling the hair algae for months now and losing. Using only DI water and running two phosphate removers. Water changes are regular and verified that nirate levels are zilch. I've shortened the lighting cycle down to 4 1/2 hours a day for the last 2 months probably. I removed the heater from the aquarium about a month after owning it because it was clearly not needed. I have checked my tank temps every now and again with a glass/mercury style thermometer. They've always been in the 83 range during the day and about 80 during the night. Ok, but a little on the warm side. Well today I checked after the lights had been on all day. 85 degrees. This is too hot. This is really my only guess to why a lot of my livestock has died. This is really why I'm making this topic. The hair algae sucks bad, but a whole nother can of worms me thinks. True, the temp is high, but also the temp swing from 85 to 80 every single day might be something too. I'm really not keen on the idea of buying a chiller for this little tank that was suppose to be something small and fun. They're expensive and invasive.
Your guys thoughts? I've thought about ditching the Biocube hood and going with an open top lighting option. Again, expensive and allows fish to jump out. (My single clown has already jumped into the rear compartment once) Evap will obviously increase, but I think this will help the temps quite a bit. Thoughts? Thoughts? Thoughts?
The above listed is really all I've been able to keep alive for the past 6 months. Got most of them towards the beginning of my ownership and most have done well. Everything since then has not. I've bought several other fish/inverts that seem to do fine for about a week, then I find dead. (Two clowns, lawnmower blenny, small purple urchin, all I can think of now)
I've been battling the hair algae for months now and losing. Using only DI water and running two phosphate removers. Water changes are regular and verified that nirate levels are zilch. I've shortened the lighting cycle down to 4 1/2 hours a day for the last 2 months probably. I removed the heater from the aquarium about a month after owning it because it was clearly not needed. I have checked my tank temps every now and again with a glass/mercury style thermometer. They've always been in the 83 range during the day and about 80 during the night. Ok, but a little on the warm side. Well today I checked after the lights had been on all day. 85 degrees. This is too hot. This is really my only guess to why a lot of my livestock has died. This is really why I'm making this topic. The hair algae sucks bad, but a whole nother can of worms me thinks. True, the temp is high, but also the temp swing from 85 to 80 every single day might be something too. I'm really not keen on the idea of buying a chiller for this little tank that was suppose to be something small and fun. They're expensive and invasive.
Your guys thoughts? I've thought about ditching the Biocube hood and going with an open top lighting option. Again, expensive and allows fish to jump out. (My single clown has already jumped into the rear compartment once) Evap will obviously increase, but I think this will help the temps quite a bit. Thoughts? Thoughts? Thoughts?