MJ Delphin 22 gal Cube - Pics!

[intenseimage]

Picked this up yesterday to replace our Minibow 7 when we move into our new house.

Our current setup was nothing more than the MB7 with some live sand, a fake rock, and a damsel with an AQ 500 in the back acting as a fuge filled with LR. Lighting via PC. We have been battling algae since we set this tank up - I feel due to not doing enough water changes and the small volume of water. The new tank will have MUCH more time dedicated to it

Any comments/suggestions/etc on the new tank are appreciated since I am pretty much in the dark when it comes to a setup like this ....

On to the pics:

Front of tank:

Inside of tank w/ return - Im guessing those holes are only to allow more water into the filter section?:

Surface Skimmer I hope?:

Full Metal Hood with individual switches:

Lighting via 2x24 PCs:

Filter Section:

Filter Setup:

Now please help me understand how this will work out:

The water spills over from the tank section through the surface skimmer area into the small section on the right side of the tank (in the back) ... that section will fill up and spill over the wall that leads to the longer filter section. In the top tray I will have carbon, under that filter floss, then the black sponge, followed by LR Rubble (replacing those white tube things) and finally in the bottom tray is the return pump which will then return the water to the tank?

I am thinking about that Fission skimmer in that small section on the right and putting my heater in the bottom section by the pump. I have also debated putting more rock down by the pump and moving the heater over to where the skimmer would be. Suggestions?

The tank for now will just be live sand, another fake rock, and the damsel. Due to the algae probs we have faced in the past we arent too eager to do LR in the main tank right off the bat. We are thinking about replacing the damsel with a pair of clowns since I dont think the 3 will live together too well. Maybe a goby .... plus the usual cleanup crew and a shrimp. Later down the road we will add some small coral -- xenia, zoos, etc .. nothing major.

Thanks for any and all help ... This one is a bit more elaborate than the last tank.

 

[MadTownMax]

Nice tank - may I ask where you got it?

now for your questions - you are correct about the water flow - I wouldn't put anything in the back except for a bag of carbon - I ran a 24-gallon nano-cube (very similar) and that is all that I did for a sucessful tank. The sponge, filter floss and any other media helps to trap detritus that could otherwise be feeding the main tank.

the fusion in the first chamber would be the correct placement - as you suggested - you'll have to be the judge on effectiveness of this skimmer - personally I put some some pieces of halmedia macro algae in my tank to suck out the extra nutrients (a lot less maintenence than cleaning out a skimmer cup daily).

I think you'd be fine with the pair of clowns and the damsel - once your tank is stable (I'd give it two months) - I'd get some live rock though - the small amount of live rock rubble that you have planned will have little to no effect on biofiltration - you would be much better off with 15-20 pounds of live rock - make sure this is fully cycled before introducing it to the main tank with the fish.

If you do not want to go the live rock route - definately get the fission skimmer, and plan to do 10- 20% water changes weekly to keep the water quality high.

I'd assume your algae problems were due to tap water - try getting a tap water purifier (available at most LFS's for about $40) or an RO/DI unit ($140) for making ultra-pure water for top-off and making new synthetic saltwater for water changes.

That's about all I can think of for now - let me know if I missed anything, or if you have other questions - I'm giving these suggestions just from my experience, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[Reefvette]

Hey Brian

Hey Brian

Lets start a MJ DELPHIN Fan Club... I have one tooo..... I told you stick around for awhile these guys are good for information.

 

[MadTownMax]

sorry - tried to edit above, but it was too late - I just wanted to clarify that if you went the "live rock route" to get the live rock right away and let it stabilize for two months before adding fish - yes it's a long time, but it will pay you back in spades with the amount of biodiversity that appears on the rock in this time sans preditation

 

[intenseimage]

Tank and stand were purchased at Pet Shanty

I have a 4 stage RO/DI Unit so I doubt it was water quality.

Also, I did some rethinking on the setup of the tank and will basically remove all those "layers" from the back of the tank and will add a Remora skimmer in the larger area which I know will be a MUCH better job than the Fission.

Much like this setup:

So now the water will skim off into that smaller section on the right, will flow into the larger section where the Remora will have at it - and will flow right back into that section for the pump to return to the main tank. I am just not sure if I should add a baffle in the larger rear section - basically creating 3 sections - so the remora will have its own section and then the overflow will go into the 3rd for the return pump

As for water changes I plan to do a 2 gal change every week

I am thinking about adding LR to the main tank but havent found any fully cured LR at the shops around here that are nice - its all just plain rock that has been sitting in the tanks curing -- no corraline, life, etc - so boring.

Thanks for the comments/suggestions. I do appreciate it.

 

[MadTownMax]

Just to beat a dead pony - make sure the TDS coming out of your RO/DI is 0...

If it wasn't the water (all parameters "good" and stable) then I would assume over-feeding - I feed my tank (4 chromis, two small clowns, fire shrimp, midas blenny, and two engineer small engineer gobies) about 6 BB-sized pellets each day, and throw in a 1/4 cube of frozen food mix once or twice a week to mix things up - in other words, I feed almost nothing - the smaller the tank, the smaller and more carefully you must feed - with only one chromis, you'd probably just want to feed a few flakes a day.

When I was running a 24-gallon with two clowns, I fed 2X a week, 1/4 cube of frozen food.

FWIW I just returned from a week-and-a-half vacation from home, during which no-one fed my tank, and my fish were all OK, clowns were actually still fat - (I believe) mostly due to the insane population of mysis and 'pods on my rocks - just another reason to grab some live-rock, let it cycle in a 5-gallon bucket w/ an airstone for a month or two and plop it in your tank

 

[intenseimage]

Yea the TDS is 0 ...

When I feed at the time we had a cleaner shrimp, YMG and a Clown ... fed like 8 TINY pellets once a 2x a week - they were all chubby and happy.

What causes a cleaner shrimp to molt? He would shed skin once a month and was HUGE but sadly he has passed

 

[MadTownMax]

they can molt more often than natrual if Iodine concentration is too high.


Sounds like you were doing everything right though :thumbsup:, so maybe it was just old age

JMO - since water changes are easy with smaller tanks, and you're already planning on frequent small water changes - the remora might not be needed (I've used one and wasn't too happy with the performance myself) - I'd spend the cash on Live rock, and see if in a few months you still think you need a skimmer - pick up a remora then.. but, that's just my opinion.


Here's a pick of my old 24 - there was some pesky caulerpa that I had to cook the rocks to get rid of (curing method, not in the oven and ignore the dendronepthya - that was a youthful indescretion), but other than that, it was a nice, healthy tank.

There some other pics in my gallery of this set-up, and a few of my old 30-gallon oceanic cube that might help you get some ideas too..