Ninjafish's new cube diary.
- Thread starter ninjafish
- Start date
Agu
Premium Member
ninjafish said:Agu,
I agree with you whole heartedly and will definitely make sure I have some building rubble in the tank. Infact, I should have talked to you sooner about it; I learned about this behaviour only after seeing how Ike used pieces of my montipora digitata to build walls with(hey! that's some expensive building materials you little rotter!)
- Chad
You think that's expensive ? My tiger pistol shrimp in another tank used a galaxia frag as building material.
Mushroom Boy
Premium Member
Another vote for sand here. I was never more disappointed with a change in my tank than when I removed it from mine (when my 100 gallon was a reef). FWIW
LOVE the tank by the way!
LOVE the tank by the way!
The Shrimp X
New member
Sand all the way, not only is it more natural, but its much more beneficial.
a.fool.for.fish.
New member
im for sand because i thought that it completed you other tank very well and it will fill in greatly on your new tank
ninjafish
New member
Wow, thank you everyone for your input. I am glad that I put the question out there. Despite how much I am in favor of some of the benefits of BB, I wouldn't have wanted this many reefers looking at my system and saying "it's nice, except for..."
Here is the update that I promised on my cannister filter mod:
(with chaeto fuge lights and 50w heater)
I went with a Hydor 50w Theo - not because I think it is a fine piece of equipment - just because it was the only one short enough to hang from the underside of the impellor housing (the wires from the chaeto lights are a bit of a pain to fish inside the filter and I didn't want anything else rattleing around the inside).
For those of you who are wondering why I didn't just build an inline heater compartment, I would have liked to but the distance from the bulkheads to the tank is so short that the hoses barely have enough room to turn. An extra length of pvc in the line wouldn't have given me enough room to connect and disconnet the hoses.
I know that drilling a cannister filter with ONE hole is less-desireable, never mind two holes... I sealed it off good from the wet side and then used an entire tube of silicone to fill up the pocket where the wires come out of the top. It is pretty safe... not as safe as a stock cannister... but I wouldn't risk Ike's life on a job that I didn't feel would hold. As for the questionable nature of the heater. I have been temp testing it and have been pleased with how well it maintains a constant temp. I just bought a controller that I will use to prevent any stuck-on catastrophies. Well, that's pretty much the heart of the system. Hope you like it.
- Chad
Here is the update that I promised on my cannister filter mod:
(with chaeto fuge lights and 50w heater)
I went with a Hydor 50w Theo - not because I think it is a fine piece of equipment - just because it was the only one short enough to hang from the underside of the impellor housing (the wires from the chaeto lights are a bit of a pain to fish inside the filter and I didn't want anything else rattleing around the inside).
For those of you who are wondering why I didn't just build an inline heater compartment, I would have liked to but the distance from the bulkheads to the tank is so short that the hoses barely have enough room to turn. An extra length of pvc in the line wouldn't have given me enough room to connect and disconnet the hoses.
I know that drilling a cannister filter with ONE hole is less-desireable, never mind two holes... I sealed it off good from the wet side and then used an entire tube of silicone to fill up the pocket where the wires come out of the top. It is pretty safe... not as safe as a stock cannister... but I wouldn't risk Ike's life on a job that I didn't feel would hold. As for the questionable nature of the heater. I have been temp testing it and have been pleased with how well it maintains a constant temp. I just bought a controller that I will use to prevent any stuck-on catastrophies. Well, that's pretty much the heart of the system. Hope you like it.
- Chad
I think BB is much more friendly for your livestock than sand is, but without a skimmer, there's not really a point of going BB. Were you thinking you would just reduce the flow so that detritus settles in a pile so you could siphon it out?
I'm all for BB, but for your tank, I would get a thin sandbed.
BTW, I've followed your cube for quite a while and it is amazing. I really liked that snowglobe pico tank you had a while back.
I'm all for BB, but for your tank, I would get a thin sandbed.
BTW, I've followed your cube for quite a while and it is amazing. I really liked that snowglobe pico tank you had a while back.
ninjafish
New member
Thanks for your advice! Ya, I was planning of siphoning the bottom of the tank at every water change and thought that BB would make that a lot easier. It looks though that a lot more people want to see this tank with some form of substrate so that's probably what I will do.
Cheers,
- Chad
Cheers,
- Chad
gman0526
New member
I hope that by posting this I don't turn this into a DSB vs BB thread, but come on people "every BB tank I've seen looks like it has a dirty bottom"? If by dirt you mean coralline and corals on the bottom then... I guess you can say Joe's tank is dirty 
I'm sure your new tank will be another masterpiece regardless.
I'm sure your new tank will be another masterpiece regardless.
ninjafish
New member
gman,
That is a sweet pic. And yes, I didn't mean to start the poll to get into the debate either. After having done both, I personally believe that BB makes for a healthier system. Infact, I dont necessarily even think that a reef tank with sand looks more "natural". From what I have seen snorkeling, a natural looking tank would be one that was either all rock and coral or all muddy silt because these are two different environments that are usually separated by a little more distance than we portray. The best place to find a perfect reef sitting on a patch of sugar white sand is in a SW aquarium - not the ocean. But instead of trying to recreate an accurate to-scale model of a reef, I am trying to create something that "looks right" to the eye of a hobbiest. The reason that I posted the poll is because I didn't want to go with one option if 77% of the people looking at the tank would have prefered seeing it the other way. The response has really been an education for me and I am willing to put a little more effort into cleaning and water changes in order to have it turn out looking "right".
Cheers,
- Chad
That is a sweet pic. And yes, I didn't mean to start the poll to get into the debate either. After having done both, I personally believe that BB makes for a healthier system. Infact, I dont necessarily even think that a reef tank with sand looks more "natural". From what I have seen snorkeling, a natural looking tank would be one that was either all rock and coral or all muddy silt because these are two different environments that are usually separated by a little more distance than we portray. The best place to find a perfect reef sitting on a patch of sugar white sand is in a SW aquarium - not the ocean. But instead of trying to recreate an accurate to-scale model of a reef, I am trying to create something that "looks right" to the eye of a hobbiest. The reason that I posted the poll is because I didn't want to go with one option if 77% of the people looking at the tank would have prefered seeing it the other way. The response has really been an education for me and I am willing to put a little more effort into cleaning and water changes in order to have it turn out looking "right".
Cheers,
- Chad
I'm just curious why other hobbyist's preferences weigh so heavily on you? It's 1 thing if you were thinking of doing something we all KNOW isn't good for the inhabitants, but you're deciding on something that has been proven to have good results either way. I sorta feel like if I know it could be healthy either way, I would pick my personal preference because it is a reflection of my personality how my tank turns out. I'm not trying to be negative here, but I do think it's sad that you would let other's preferences affect your underwater haven. I would much rather appreciate your setup as something which is an extension of you; sort of like art. 
Wow Chad, I can't wait to see your next creation. I have finally recieved my tank based on your initial cube design, mine will be 10 inches on a side and has an approximate volume of 5g. I am lighting with a hang on the tank coralife 150w de mh light at 20k. I look forward to seeing your new system. For now I am working on my stand.
Not that it matters, but I personally prefer a substrate bottom.
Ron
Not that it matters, but I personally prefer a substrate bottom.
Ron
