The 60 Rimless Cube Adventure - Page 2

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 06:04 PM

I finally got the question about why the 29 was running with one orange clown in it. So, he had to go. Don't feel bad for him, I'm sure he's out terrorizing some other clowns in his new home as he was adopted pretty quickly.

This was just a cool picture I got of the urchin believing it was the end of times. I had done a large water change as the tough mudder had thrown off my wc schedule and thus he climbed to the highest spire and started to cloud the water. Love the lighting effects the LEDs give through rippling.

One of the aspects that drew me into the hobby was watching an ecosystem grow and mature on it's own. These little feature dusters and tube worms are one of my favorite parts of the tank and they managed to just hitchhike their way into my first aquarium 5 years ago.

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 06:12 PM

Battling a diatom bloom here and there everything continued to progress pretty smoothly. I ran a test of doing small daily water changes of 2 gallons and found the idea nice but yearned to have it be automated. Thus, back to the water changes every two weeks.

Another picture of a harvest, the kessil run on an alternate schedule continues to produce thick rich chaeto.

For Christmas I wound up getting another Kessil A360 to help boost coverage in the cube and give me the piece of mind that I could grow anything I wanted. Around this time I also got a little torch coral and the saddest purple gorg. Towards the base you can see where the tissue had disappeared leaving only the stem and polyp extension was minimal. Another project to work on. I began spot feeding it with phyto and cyclops in hopes it would recover. Movement in the aquarium has been very important to my overall vision for this tank. The gyre 130 got a complete tear down and clean and was installed on the cube. I love this pump and the amount of water it is able to turn over.

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 06:27 PM

Finally getting some polyp extension. A question I have is how to enhance the purple color or will my gorg be a pale purple forever?

I wish I had a better picture of the original injury but here you can see it's starting to heal itself much to my relief.

With the dual Kessils and regular sunlight the LTA took off. It started to flourish and show greens I never knew were there. The clowns dive in and out all day long.

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 06:32 PM

One of my absolute favorite species and one that I feel is often underrated is the scopas tang. He's been with me since he was the size of a half dollar and completely washed out from stress.

I felt like this is a pretty cool shot to show off the power of the Kessils, the polyps continued to spread and actually do well underneath the rock. Only supported by reflected light off the sandbed. Also the brittle starfish making an appearance.

Glamour shot of Digger

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 06:35 PM

One of two larger hermits that have been with me since they were the size of a red leg. One now wears a mexican turbo shell and this guy is actually wearing a shell that was in my brother's wife's bridal shower center display. I boiled it and he hopped right into it. They have no qualms going wherever they please, sometimes knocking things over in the process.

A bonding moment I accidentally captures with an antenna touch. You can see some of the awesome colors on that mini-max

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 06:38 PM

One of my favorite additions to the family was my leopard wrasse and ruby headed fairy wrasse. I've been lucky to get a leopard who is very willing to eat everything I feed but flakes haha. He absolutely loooves the nori sheets and gets right in there with the Scopas and Rabbit. This is a rare shot where I managed to get all three relatively in focus together.

That natural lighting and coloring I was talking about earlier.

My pair of blood fires, they don't always hang out together but it's really a cool sight to see the fish paying them a visit for a cleaning every now and then.

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 06:46 PM

Much to the dismay of the ceriths the urchin often adds them to his outfit. An absolute lawn mower and fun to watch as he maneuvers the rock work and glass.

One of the regimens I've added to my maintenance is the addition of ozone. When I got the cube in the package deal this unit came with it. I left it out for a while until I felt like I had more of an understanding of it's uses and possible negatives. I run ozone 2 - 3 times a week at least a day apart. I run the unit overnight at a reduced flow for 8 hours directly into the curve 5 skimmer. I've noticed polishing of the water that makes everything appear so crisp. My numbers come from the recommendation of a UK reefer who runs a little under 20ml for 3 hours. I divided that to arrive at my number.

Here's some of the foods I feed. I like to have a variety on hand as I have a diverse group of mouths to feed. I also enrich with selcon and garlic every 2 - 3 days. The anemones will receive some meaty bits if the clowns forget to feed their hosts.

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 06:53 PM

Fun shot I grabbed when I was working under the tank and realized everyone was looking to see what I was up to and if that would mean food. Sadly the green acro that was adjusting to the kessils was knocked down into the sand when I was away for a wedding. Bummed about it.

Something I noticed was the midnights no longer let the darwin into the anemone and he was spending his nights on the rocks behind the anemone. J felt bad for him and a friend of mine had spotted a bubble tip anemone he thought I could save. When I saw the nem it looked pretty grim but I figured I'd give it a shot and hope some sharing could occur and he would bounce back. Here it is at first addition to the tank. Also a great shot of the leopards patterning, he's a stunner for sure.

He walked around and picked a great spot, although not for viewing. I was happy to see he also was utilizing the natural light coming in and the bubbles were still inflated. The wrasses coloring was also very nice. The darwin would actually begin hosting the anemone 3 days after acclimation

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 06:58 PM

Here's the most recent FTS, I like it because it shows how the light strikes the tank for an hour or two a day. Everyone is doing incredibly well and I haven't lost any inhabitants other than that acro.

And here's the gorg in all it's glory, I think this is probably one of the pieces I'm most proud of next to saving the midnight clowns. Great polyp extension, fully healed and enjoying the currents throughout the tank. The leopard of course has to photobomb.

Here's that anemone that was completely bleached and shrunken up to the size of my fist. Now if only it would leave that whole I could only imagine what it's true size would be.

jbm421 · 02/23/2016, 07:01 PM

Definitely a beautiful wrasse. One of my favorite fish by far as well.

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 07:05 PM

And the last post from this update! This is why I got into the saltwater hobby, I was fascinated with the interaction between clownfish and anemones. Little did I know when I setup my first 10 gallon nano those years ago that I would fall so deeply in love with the hobby and the animals in our care. I can't wait to watch as this tank continues to mature and the reef begins to take shape adding new and exciting colors. I've been blessed with a fish population that may seem excessive for this size tank but completely balances itself out.

The looks on the faces of those who visit make every stressful or heartbreaking moment worth it. Jamie has fallen in love with the fish tank as does anyone who watches the clowns pop in and out of their anemone.

I promise to be better about these updates! As a token of good will, here's a shot of the mini-max

inkTheory · 02/23/2016, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbm421

Definitely a beautiful wrasse. One of my favorite fish by far as well.

Yeah his personality is great, so inquisitive and fearless. Although sometimes I wish he wouldn't take so much interest when I have my hand in the tank haha. I'm so glad his only gripe with food is flakes, pellets he'll eat, flakes not for him.

inkTheory · 03/02/2016, 12:23 AM

A little test video I shot. Still figuring out video editing, think I need to up my frame rate

and just incase that video embedding didn't work here's the link https://youtu.be/tCcOp_YU6rk

Marksmithsb2004 · 03/02/2016, 12:45 AM

Nice tank, cool fish!

blrrobinson21 · 03/02/2016, 10:05 AM

Right on man, tank is looking great. I have the same tank, curious on what return pump your using and how much flow you have running through the overflow? I'm assuming your still using the Marineland durso setup. I have an Eheim 1260 dialed back by probably 30-40%.

02/23/2016, 06:04 PM	#26
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	I finally got the question about why the 29 was running with one orange clown in it. So, he had to go. Don't feel bad for him, I'm sure he's out terrorizing some other clowns in his new home as he was adopted pretty quickly. This was just a cool picture I got of the urchin believing it was the end of times. I had done a large water change as the tough mudder had thrown off my wc schedule and thus he climbed to the highest spire and started to cloud the water. Love the lighting effects the LEDs give through rippling. One of the aspects that drew me into the hobby was watching an ecosystem grow and mature on it's own. These little feature dusters and tube worms are one of my favorite parts of the tank and they managed to just hitchhike their way into my first aquarium 5 years ago.

02/23/2016, 06:12 PM	#27
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	Battling a diatom bloom here and there everything continued to progress pretty smoothly. I ran a test of doing small daily water changes of 2 gallons and found the idea nice but yearned to have it be automated. Thus, back to the water changes every two weeks. Another picture of a harvest, the kessil run on an alternate schedule continues to produce thick rich chaeto. For Christmas I wound up getting another Kessil A360 to help boost coverage in the cube and give me the piece of mind that I could grow anything I wanted. Around this time I also got a little torch coral and the saddest purple gorg. Towards the base you can see where the tissue had disappeared leaving only the stem and polyp extension was minimal. Another project to work on. I began spot feeding it with phyto and cyclops in hopes it would recover. Movement in the aquarium has been very important to my overall vision for this tank. The gyre 130 got a complete tear down and clean and was installed on the cube. I love this pump and the amount of water it is able to turn over.

02/23/2016, 06:27 PM	#28
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	Finally getting some polyp extension. A question I have is how to enhance the purple color or will my gorg be a pale purple forever? I wish I had a better picture of the original injury but here you can see it's starting to heal itself much to my relief. With the dual Kessils and regular sunlight the LTA took off. It started to flourish and show greens I never knew were there. The clowns dive in and out all day long.

02/23/2016, 06:32 PM	#29
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	One of my absolute favorite species and one that I feel is often underrated is the scopas tang. He's been with me since he was the size of a half dollar and completely washed out from stress. I felt like this is a pretty cool shot to show off the power of the Kessils, the polyps continued to spread and actually do well underneath the rock. Only supported by reflected light off the sandbed. Also the brittle starfish making an appearance. Glamour shot of Digger

02/23/2016, 06:35 PM	#30
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	One of two larger hermits that have been with me since they were the size of a red leg. One now wears a mexican turbo shell and this guy is actually wearing a shell that was in my brother's wife's bridal shower center display. I boiled it and he hopped right into it. They have no qualms going wherever they please, sometimes knocking things over in the process. A bonding moment I accidentally captures with an antenna touch. You can see some of the awesome colors on that mini-max

02/23/2016, 06:38 PM	#31
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	One of my favorite additions to the family was my leopard wrasse and ruby headed fairy wrasse. I've been lucky to get a leopard who is very willing to eat everything I feed but flakes haha. He absolutely loooves the nori sheets and gets right in there with the Scopas and Rabbit. This is a rare shot where I managed to get all three relatively in focus together. That natural lighting and coloring I was talking about earlier. My pair of blood fires, they don't always hang out together but it's really a cool sight to see the fish paying them a visit for a cleaning every now and then.

02/23/2016, 06:46 PM	#32
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	Much to the dismay of the ceriths the urchin often adds them to his outfit. An absolute lawn mower and fun to watch as he maneuvers the rock work and glass. One of the regimens I've added to my maintenance is the addition of ozone. When I got the cube in the package deal this unit came with it. I left it out for a while until I felt like I had more of an understanding of it's uses and possible negatives. I run ozone 2 - 3 times a week at least a day apart. I run the unit overnight at a reduced flow for 8 hours directly into the curve 5 skimmer. I've noticed polishing of the water that makes everything appear so crisp. My numbers come from the recommendation of a UK reefer who runs a little under 20ml for 3 hours. I divided that to arrive at my number. Here's some of the foods I feed. I like to have a variety on hand as I have a diverse group of mouths to feed. I also enrich with selcon and garlic every 2 - 3 days. The anemones will receive some meaty bits if the clowns forget to feed their hosts.

02/23/2016, 06:53 PM	#33
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	Fun shot I grabbed when I was working under the tank and realized everyone was looking to see what I was up to and if that would mean food. Sadly the green acro that was adjusting to the kessils was knocked down into the sand when I was away for a wedding. Bummed about it. Something I noticed was the midnights no longer let the darwin into the anemone and he was spending his nights on the rocks behind the anemone. J felt bad for him and a friend of mine had spotted a bubble tip anemone he thought I could save. When I saw the nem it looked pretty grim but I figured I'd give it a shot and hope some sharing could occur and he would bounce back. Here it is at first addition to the tank. Also a great shot of the leopards patterning, he's a stunner for sure. He walked around and picked a great spot, although not for viewing. I was happy to see he also was utilizing the natural light coming in and the bubbles were still inflated. The wrasses coloring was also very nice. The darwin would actually begin hosting the anemone 3 days after acclimation

02/23/2016, 06:58 PM	#34
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	Here's the most recent FTS, I like it because it shows how the light strikes the tank for an hour or two a day. Everyone is doing incredibly well and I haven't lost any inhabitants other than that acro. And here's the gorg in all it's glory, I think this is probably one of the pieces I'm most proud of next to saving the midnight clowns. Great polyp extension, fully healed and enjoying the currents throughout the tank. The leopard of course has to photobomb. Here's that anemone that was completely bleached and shrunken up to the size of my fist. Now if only it would leave that whole I could only imagine what it's true size would be.

02/23/2016, 07:01 PM	#35
jbm421 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 168	Definitely a beautiful wrasse. One of my favorite fish by far as well.

02/23/2016, 07:05 PM	#36
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	And the last post from this update! This is why I got into the saltwater hobby, I was fascinated with the interaction between clownfish and anemones. Little did I know when I setup my first 10 gallon nano those years ago that I would fall so deeply in love with the hobby and the animals in our care. I can't wait to watch as this tank continues to mature and the reef begins to take shape adding new and exciting colors. I've been blessed with a fish population that may seem excessive for this size tank but completely balances itself out. The looks on the faces of those who visit make every stressful or heartbreaking moment worth it. Jamie has fallen in love with the fish tank as does anyone who watches the clowns pop in and out of their anemone. I promise to be better about these updates! As a token of good will, here's a shot of the mini-max

03/02/2016, 12:23 AM	#38
inkTheory Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: NJ Posts: 37	A little test video I shot. Still figuring out video editing, think I need to up my frame rate and just incase that video embedding didn't work here's the link https://youtu.be/tCcOp_YU6rk

03/02/2016, 12:45 AM	#39
Marksmithsb2004 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Southern California Posts: 50	Nice tank, cool fish!

03/02/2016, 10:05 AM	#40
blrrobinson21 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Lake of the Ozarks Posts: 201	Right on man, tank is looking great. I have the same tank, curious on what return pump your using and how much flow you have running through the overflow? I'm assuming your still using the Marineland durso setup. I have an Eheim 1260 dialed back by probably 30-40%.