ZAPCOnj's Biocube 29 Build
- Thread starter ZAPCOnj
- Start date
Here are tonight's readings:
N02 - .25
No3 - 20
Alk - 300
PH - 7.8
Amo - .50
so i stopped in at the LFS tonight on the way home from work to chat a little about coral care and a check out what new stuff they had. while i was walking past the Live Rock cure tank i noticed a small chunk of rock that was purple and green.. it kind of stood out from the rest.. it was pretty cool looking.. i thought it might give my BC29 or the GF's 60 gal some character. my sales guy saw me looking at it and said.. "isn't that an interesting piece of rock? I found it in the other LR cure tank in the back of the store" then in one swift motion... he reached in, grabbed a bag, snatched up the rock, poured in some water and snapped the rubber band around it and said.. here take it... on me. now i know it wasn't a HUGE expense and it is just a chunk of lr but i thought that was pretty cool of him.
so here is the rock:
in the tank:
I know it's just a hunk of rock but i thought it was pretty cool looking. can anyone tell what kind of coral it use to be?
N02 - .25
No3 - 20
Alk - 300
PH - 7.8
Amo - .50
so i stopped in at the LFS tonight on the way home from work to chat a little about coral care and a check out what new stuff they had. while i was walking past the Live Rock cure tank i noticed a small chunk of rock that was purple and green.. it kind of stood out from the rest.. it was pretty cool looking.. i thought it might give my BC29 or the GF's 60 gal some character. my sales guy saw me looking at it and said.. "isn't that an interesting piece of rock? I found it in the other LR cure tank in the back of the store" then in one swift motion... he reached in, grabbed a bag, snatched up the rock, poured in some water and snapped the rubber band around it and said.. here take it... on me. now i know it wasn't a HUGE expense and it is just a chunk of lr but i thought that was pretty cool of him.
so here is the rock:
in the tank:
I know it's just a hunk of rock but i thought it was pretty cool looking. can anyone tell what kind of coral it use to be?
yungreefer2410
Well-Known Member
looks like candy cane to me but i'm prob wrong
Here are last nights readings:
No2: 0
No3: 20
Ph: 300
Alk: 8.0
Amo: .50 (kind of inbetween .25 and .50)
temp: 80.5
There is a larger amount of redish brown algae in the tank and all over the rock. similar to what the GF's tank had.
since this will be a reef what else should i be testing for? I want to go out and get all that i need now so one night i'm not sitting here with you guys saying "TEST FOR THIS" and i can't cuz i don't have the kit.
there are a ton of pods in the tank now as well, you can see them all over the place on the rock work. I changed the floss in chamber 2 last night and there were a few in there as well.
I added that hydor wave thingy... got it at the LFS for $8 figured ehh.. for $8 if it works great if not it's $8. so far it seems to be working as advertised. it moves the water around a bit. i purposely put some micro bubbles in the tank yesterday to check on water movement in the tank and it definitely moved the water differently than the stock inlet. I also modded the K-nano's so they work on the JBJ wave maker and i get only a tiny y bit of clicking. I will mod them a little more this weekend at some point to get rid of the rest. seems like using the two K nanos and the Hydor wave thingy is just enough flow in the tank. pretty happy with them so far.
((there is a very good chance i will have a bc14 soon as well for a little project...hehe...)
No2: 0
No3: 20
Ph: 300
Alk: 8.0
Amo: .50 (kind of inbetween .25 and .50)
temp: 80.5
There is a larger amount of redish brown algae in the tank and all over the rock. similar to what the GF's tank had.
since this will be a reef what else should i be testing for? I want to go out and get all that i need now so one night i'm not sitting here with you guys saying "TEST FOR THIS" and i can't cuz i don't have the kit.
there are a ton of pods in the tank now as well, you can see them all over the place on the rock work. I changed the floss in chamber 2 last night and there were a few in there as well.
I added that hydor wave thingy... got it at the LFS for $8 figured ehh.. for $8 if it works great if not it's $8. so far it seems to be working as advertised. it moves the water around a bit. i purposely put some micro bubbles in the tank yesterday to check on water movement in the tank and it definitely moved the water differently than the stock inlet. I also modded the K-nano's so they work on the JBJ wave maker and i get only a tiny y bit of clicking. I will mod them a little more this weekend at some point to get rid of the rest. seems like using the two K nanos and the Hydor wave thingy is just enough flow in the tank. pretty happy with them so far.
((there is a very good chance i will have a bc14 soon as well for a little project...hehe...)
michael_cb_125
Well-Known Member
Nice setup.
Youngreefer- Not a candy cane, It looks like it was a type of closed brain, maybe a favia of some sorts.
~Michael
Youngreefer- Not a candy cane, It looks like it was a type of closed brain, maybe a favia of some sorts.
~Michael
yungreefer2410
Well-Known Member
lol knew i was wrong only good at knowing what alive corals are
Ok got home from the GF's this weekend and found that most of my brownish/red algae bloom was gone. Just a little bit still on the top shelf.
but my glass has this greenish algae on it. I did a quick cleaning with the mag scraper and it's all clean.
thoughts on the green algae?
Tonight's readings:
No2: 0
No3: 20
Ph: 8.4
Alk: 300
Amo: .25
temp: 80.5
Salin: 1.025
Pods are all over the place in the tank and the water looks pretty clear.
but my glass has this greenish algae on it. I did a quick cleaning with the mag scraper and it's all clean.
thoughts on the green algae?
Tonight's readings:
No2: 0
No3: 20
Ph: 8.4
Alk: 300
Amo: .25
temp: 80.5
Salin: 1.025
Pods are all over the place in the tank and the water looks pretty clear.
ok so i got home today from work and took a quick gander at my tank.
I noticed that the Green film has come back.. not as "thick" as yesterday... more of a film. I did a quick scraping and noticed that the green is on some of the rock as well:
There is still a little brown algae on the shelf rock but most of the brown is gone in the tank:
I also noticed that there is a much larger presence of Purple in the tank after i put in the new rock. this tonga branch was mostly white (look at the pics in the posts above):
you can also see the laydown rock in the front also shows an increase in purple color.
the lower shelf was pretty much all white up until yesterday. I noticed this spot of purple today as well as the little dots of purple all over it.:
This part of the rock on the back left (near the intakes) also shows purple where there was none:
So here are my questions for the group....
I have not added any chems to the tank. the only new addition to the tank was the new purple rock last week.
I noticed that the Green film has come back.. not as "thick" as yesterday... more of a film. I did a quick scraping and noticed that the green is on some of the rock as well:
There is still a little brown algae on the shelf rock but most of the brown is gone in the tank:
I also noticed that there is a much larger presence of Purple in the tank after i put in the new rock. this tonga branch was mostly white (look at the pics in the posts above):
you can also see the laydown rock in the front also shows an increase in purple color.
the lower shelf was pretty much all white up until yesterday. I noticed this spot of purple today as well as the little dots of purple all over it.:
This part of the rock on the back left (near the intakes) also shows purple where there was none:
So here are my questions for the group....
- is the green a good thing or bad thing?
- is the purple a good thing or bad?
- do i need to do anything?
I have not added any chems to the tank. the only new addition to the tank was the new purple rock last week.
Grasspicker
Member
Hey Zap,
Im not sure if your testing it but you need to tes Calcium as well. It has a lot to do with how much good algae your tank will produce as well i think. I know for sure that you need it for good Coral growth.
The tank is looking very good by the way. If you have the chance to get a nice piece of purple rock and can bust it to make rubble it will help seed the tank as well. The Pink is nice when you can find it.
The only way you get the good purples,deep reds, and pinks is by the existance of it in your tank already. You can find it sometimes on the shell of a snail or Hermit crab as well. Its nice because at times they sit in one place for a long time.
Id say so far your :golf: Shot is looking to be straight down the fairway.
Im not sure if your testing it but you need to tes Calcium as well. It has a lot to do with how much good algae your tank will produce as well i think. I know for sure that you need it for good Coral growth.
The tank is looking very good by the way. If you have the chance to get a nice piece of purple rock and can bust it to make rubble it will help seed the tank as well. The Pink is nice when you can find it.
The only way you get the good purples,deep reds, and pinks is by the existance of it in your tank already. You can find it sometimes on the shell of a snail or Hermit crab as well. Its nice because at times they sit in one place for a long time.
Id say so far your :golf: Shot is looking to be straight down the fairway.
Thanks! I just got the Red Sea Reef kit and will be doing the additional tests later tonight.
That last purple rock i got (pictured on the previous page) was the most intensely purple rock I've seen in a LFS. I was pretty psyched to get it.. I'm going over that way again today to pick up another test kit for the GF so i will see if they have anymore purple rocks in the tanks if so i will snatch it up!
That last purple rock i got (pictured on the previous page) was the most intensely purple rock I've seen in a LFS. I was pretty psyched to get it.. I'm going over that way again today to pick up another test kit for the GF so i will see if they have anymore purple rocks in the tanks if so i will snatch it up!
KEep in mind that different colors coraline is usually from different depths and thus needs/thrives under different light conditions. I bought a rock with incredible orangish coraline that was in the bottom of a Live Rock vat at the LFS. It looked great for maybe a week then faded to night. Eventually the purple grew back in it's place.
If you want to "Seed" a tank get one piece of LR with coraline on it (can be a piece of rubble even) and scrape it into your tank. My Nano-Cube was seeded with the coraline from ONE single snail. I just took a blade and scraped the shell some releasing the spores into the water column and I've regretted it ever since!!
If you want to "Seed" a tank get one piece of LR with coraline on it (can be a piece of rubble even) and scrape it into your tank. My Nano-Cube was seeded with the coraline from ONE single snail. I just took a blade and scraped the shell some releasing the spores into the water column and I've regretted it ever since!!
ok here are tonights readings with the new test kit..
CA: 360
PO: .25
No2: 0
No3: 20
Alk: between 240 and 300
Ph: 8.4
Amo: 0
Temp: 80.5
Salin: 1.024
i have got the heads up on a brand new 60 gal tank and stand... it's so tempting to get in place of this BC.... sigh... decisions decisions....
After looking at the tank a bit tonight i noticed that the purple algae has gone..."hairy" looks like little hairs on them. anything to worry about?
CA: 360
PO: .25
No2: 0
No3: 20
Alk: between 240 and 300
Ph: 8.4
Amo: 0
Temp: 80.5
Salin: 1.024
i have got the heads up on a brand new 60 gal tank and stand... it's so tempting to get in place of this BC.... sigh... decisions decisions....
After looking at the tank a bit tonight i noticed that the purple algae has gone..."hairy" looks like little hairs on them. anything to worry about?
Last edited:
i was looking around in the tank again tonight and found a few things that i was hoping someone could tell me what they are. I took a few pics but they're not the greatest..
first is this:
I know the photo is a little blurry but the thing is very small. the shape is round. stringy "arms" light at the tips and darker near the center of the circle. almost looks like a feather duster. It comes and goes depending on the light and flow in the tank. when the flow is good it waves in the water and almost looks like it's pulsing or grasping. when the flow is not good it "disappears". I would say it's just smaller than the head of a thumb tack.. i just noticed it today.
The next two are the same type of thing just in two different places in the tank:
The color is almost like a translucent green. they both have rounded tips and are growing out of "cracks" in the tonga rock.
the next is this:
I found these on the side of the tank on 2 pieces of rock that i had near the back wall. i moved them to the front for now. They are both hard to the touch but look "soft and fluffy" on the second one the purple dots seem to react to water flow. if i squirt some water out of a bottle they shrink up then come back. the base that the purple dots are on also seems to react to the squirt of water.. the best way i can describe it is that it "flinches" or "shivers" when the water hits it. both of these were white when the rock was put in the tank.
anyway... if anyone can help me out with any thoughts or guesses as to what they are it would be great.
first is this:
I know the photo is a little blurry but the thing is very small. the shape is round. stringy "arms" light at the tips and darker near the center of the circle. almost looks like a feather duster. It comes and goes depending on the light and flow in the tank. when the flow is good it waves in the water and almost looks like it's pulsing or grasping. when the flow is not good it "disappears". I would say it's just smaller than the head of a thumb tack.. i just noticed it today.
The next two are the same type of thing just in two different places in the tank:
The color is almost like a translucent green. they both have rounded tips and are growing out of "cracks" in the tonga rock.
the next is this:
I found these on the side of the tank on 2 pieces of rock that i had near the back wall. i moved them to the front for now. They are both hard to the touch but look "soft and fluffy" on the second one the purple dots seem to react to water flow. if i squirt some water out of a bottle they shrink up then come back. the base that the purple dots are on also seems to react to the squirt of water.. the best way i can describe it is that it "flinches" or "shivers" when the water hits it. both of these were white when the rock was put in the tank.
anyway... if anyone can help me out with any thoughts or guesses as to what they are it would be great.
thanks for the info to everyone who posted here and in my other thread about the hitchhikers...
I guess i was reading or doing the CA test wrong. I took a sample of my water to the lfs and they ran a full set of labs on it. the CA came back 400. so i ran the test when i got home earlier and came up with the same results... i rack it up to beginner error.
I asked the lfs if i should consider adding a cuc and they said i should wait a little while. what do you guys think?
I guess i was reading or doing the CA test wrong. I took a sample of my water to the lfs and they ran a full set of labs on it. the CA came back 400. so i ran the test when i got home earlier and came up with the same results... i rack it up to beginner error.
I asked the lfs if i should consider adding a cuc and they said i should wait a little while. what do you guys think?
