Rectangular Fiji Cube

[Reefried]

My next project is adding a fan under the tank to vent. I did not realize how warm and humid it gets under there. Not to mention stinky. The last tank I had had a stand with an open back. This tank has a sealed back.

I am having a container 3D printed to hold some carbon to help absorb the smells. And adding a computer fan to the stand, on a timer to run for 5 mins, 4-6 times a day. I was originally thinking of having one fan for exhaust and one for intake but I think I am overthinking this. One for exhaust should do the trick. Thoughts?

 

[SaltwaterNomad]

Good luck!

 

[Reefried]

Quick update. So I removed my sand and beat Dino’s. As much as I don’t like to say it as I may jinx myself. Then hair algae popped up. Green hair algae. It is always something with this hobby!! Nutrients have been fairly stable. My phosphates were high for awhile but I have been feeding less and slowly lowering them. I toothbrush the rocks once a week to remove hair algae with an in tank filter running for 24 hours or so after I brush rocks. I added 15-20 turbos, which suck because they are always falling and dying. Awhile ago I added a Dollabella sea hare which was mowing down hair algae. He was big, probably 3-4”. I came home one day to find him in one of my Vortechs. I believe he crawled up there and was eating algae from it as he was literally wedged in there. I don’t think he died and just got stuck to it. I have since replaced him with another who is tiny. He seems to be munching on it but we will see. I also added a foxface who doesn’t touch the GHA.

I also had sand in my sump in a container that was the largest I could fit in the sump. I left it in the sump for 6 weeks and stirred it occasionally to hopefully let it get seeded with goodies while getting no light. Last week I added it into the tank, it covered about 20% of the tank, I put it all on one side. Good news is that no Dino’s popped uo, but after two to three days I get brown spots on it. Don’t know if it’s really brown or just GHA spots. Maybe diatoms. I will take a sample and look under the microscope when I get a chance. I put more sand in the sump to seed. I hate bare bottom.

Here’s a FTS. And a couple other pics. You can see the hair algae in some of them. I am excited to be picking up a big frag pack from flyfisherman in the next week or so. Shhh don’t tell my girlfriend!!

 

[Reefried]

Blues pic from my “observation chair”.

I really love the Orpheks. They are par monsters. SPS colors are great and I only have the white channels at 26% and 12%. I had them at 35 and 18 and was getting 600+ par on top of aquascape.

 

[Reefried]

Couple of pics from today

 

[Reefried]

Picture from tonight. Things are looking good.

 

[Reefried]

Quick update. Tank is 14 months old. It is jam packed with frags. Over 50 sps frags. It is looking good. I have decided to stay bare bottom although as I’ve said a few times I like the look of sand much better. I am still battling some hair algae. I have plenty of snails, crabs etc. I also have three tangs and a foxfave. The nip at it a bit after I scrub it. However when it is long they could care less. I have tried two Dollabella sea hares. One I had for two months and he was a hair algae eating machine, but I came home and found him in my MP40. I think he squeezed in there for a snack! The second one died after two weeks.

I read a thread on R2R about a micro dose of flucanazol and decided to try that. I am typically against adding things like that, although it’s not really a chemical, more of a medication. I started with a super low dose and waited the recommended three weeks and saw no change. So I upped the dose and tried again. I am about a week into that second dose and I believe I see some white spots, and overall the GHA does not look healthy. I guess that is good.

 

[Reefried]

I have yet to install the fan inside my cabinet, that is still on the list. I did however get my backup plan in place for power loss. I purchased a 2200 watt Honda portable generator. It runs at 1800w. It can run the whole tank including lights and constant heater usage easily. Plus my fridge.

I also bought a lithium ion battery backup for one of my MP40’s. I saw a YouTube video by Reef Dork. He tested this brand battery and it got good results. I bought it on Amazon for $65. I installed it on my controller board. It is small and fairly lightweight. It plugs into AC power and senses power loss and kicks on.

He tested it on his MP40 and it lasted somewhere between 24 and 34 hours. (He went to bed woke up and it stopped running) one day I will text how long it lasts. Even if it lasts half as long it will keep things going until I can start the generator.

 

[Reefried]

Battery Backup.

 

[Reefried]

Mounted to controller board.

 

[Reefried]

Nice shots of BC Pearly Cadaver

 

[Reefried]

Some more decent pics.

BC Blood Bank

 

[Reefried]

BC Skeetkes Granny

 

[Reefried]

FHC Fire Fly

 

[NeverlosT]

What a great build! You beat dinos, have outstanding colors, and built a very well thought out system! I may follow you into the dino abyss… only time will tell.

Fwiw, i used to have a bariene tang that ate everything, even hair algae. May be worth a shot, though they get big.

 

[Reefried]

What a great build! You beat dinos, have outstanding colors, and built a very well thought out system! I may follow you into the dino abyss… only time will tell.

Fwiw, i used to have a bariene tang that ate everything, even hair algae. May be worth a shot, though they get big.

Thank you. I recently purchased a huge CUC order with the hopes of beating back GHA. I noticed the two emerald crabs eating it as soon as I put them in the tank. However two days later the larger one died. I am going to grab 3-4 more this weekend.

 

[Reefried]

818 Grab Bag Acro

 

[Reefried]

So quick update. I bought a large CUC from one of our sponsors. @All Things Aquatic. The price was great and the whole process was very easy. The order had close to 175 snails, two urchins and two emerald crabs. They died. I purchased 4 more. Since then two of those died. Maybe they can’t eat GHA!!! I also bought two Sea Hares. I had great luck with one previously. We will see.

 

[Reefried]

I also finally set up my calcium reactor I got for Christmas. I set up the reactor about a month ago, but just let it run without the CO2 for weeks. I put the tank on last week and I am just getting it dialed in. Like I said before, I have no controller on my tank, so I am not using a PH probe on my calcium reactor. Just going old school. I do understand how counting bubbles and drips can be a pain, but I don’t mind it.

I bought a cabinet to go beside the tank. It was tough finding one I liked and almost went with a small 80/20 set up like my stand. I finally found a decent one that is the same height as my stand. I went with an Aquamaxx reactor, a Tunze regulator, and I am feeding the reactor with a small Sicce pump. This way of running the reactor is considerably cheaper than the usual method. Tomorrow I will post pictures of the cabinet and the reactor itself.

 

[Reefried]