Soulpatch's build thread (ongoing)

Today I cleaned the tank and redipped a couple pieces of my rock as I am still having some byopsis in my tank. Not a huge deal at this point but I am prepping for new corals this week and thus wanted it cleaned up a bit. It is currently turning white in the tank as it dies off.

Here are pics of the dipping process:











After getting back from Easter dinner I shot a short film of the gyre. The tank is in dusk mode so much more blue as everything transitions over to moon lighting but thankfully enough light to see the motion.

Sorry about the lack of quality as I did not break out the go pro or the DSLR for really high quality video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7QcQdxB--8
 
After dipping yesterday afternoon here are the same rocks 24 hours later. The bryopsis is either white or turning so as it dies off. At night my CUC flocks to the dead bryopsis as well which I find odd. It must taste better or is softer or something for them.





 
So I got the real reef rock to avoid hitchhikers both good and bad. Seems it didnt matter. I have been seeing some tubes coming up in my tank and was concerned with what they were till last night I saw a feather duster pop out. I have a few in there and they can stay. I did see my one emerald waiting at the top of a tube for it to pop out so they might not be around long anyway.

Seeing that I decided hey lets take a flashlight to the tank and see what else I see that comes out at night. I found both my emeralds, a couple feather dusters, what appears to be a sponge under a rock, and what I hope is a bristleworm and not something else. I only saw the slither through a rock crevice so I have no real way to ID at this point.

So who knows what else is in there. I will probably order in a red light this week so I can look into the tank without alerting the creatures that I am looking at them. LOL
 
Yea, one thing I've learned is that however hard you try, you'll never get an entirely hitchhiker free tank.

I bought my tank and rock from someone who said he was adamant about keeping his tank sterile, and started the whole system on dry rocks. When I bought the rocks, they were in a bucket, dry for over a month, so I figured I was effectively starting with dry rocks from relatively clean dry rock anyway.

There were zoanthids and palythoas that he had in those rocks that survived a month entirely dry. I also have a lot of tunicates and featherdusters in the biocube sump that had to have come from somewhere.

Point is, there's no such thing as a sterile tank. That's why a lot of the early reefing guys always recommended having the most grungy and biologically diverse rock as possible, so that you get the whole ecosystem and don't leave a niche for a negative specimen to fill.
 
well the 180/220 I set up this fall I will be doing the rock from Florida (name escapes me at the moment) so as to go that route. I will probably soak it in bins to pick off some thigns but for the most part the larger tank will be a diverse system.
 
Yeah, let the dead stuff and detritus settle off first with fresh rock, and then put it in and get it settled. My only gripe with natural rock is the high incidence of aiptasia, but if you find them as the tank is settling in, you can get rid of them pretty quickly with some lightly-wetted kalk paste and they won't spread.

You'll also get all sorts of neat sponges and other random stuff growing. Very cool.
 
yeah aiptasia is an issue when you go live rock though the straight from the sea rock is worse with it. That said in the larger tank I should have some options for shrimp and fish to take care of them.

I will figure it out. I will have to do a mix of live and dry to save on costs but I do plan on the dirty live rock. I still need to break down my fresh water tank this summer and get that sold so I have room for a new tank and then I need to budget for that as it will be a few grand to get going.
 
If anyone wants to see something in particular equipment wise or such let me know. I can shoot another vid or take pics as needed.

I will probably do another update this week after I get the new corals. Maybe a quick photoshoot of the dipping process for the corals...
 
Video is cool man. I almost wish I had less rock so my tank could benefit a little more. I have an RW-4 and a Koralia nano taking care of the dead spots though, so it's ok for now.

Looking good!
 
Yesterday I got in my new salt as I am switching from Reef Crystals to Red Sea Pro Salt. Give it a shot and see how it works out for me.

I also got in a few other goodies as my new energy bar 8 came in as well as some husbandry items like new measuring cups so my wife can have some of hers back.

This new energy bar will replace the small power strip I have with the LEDs and fan on it while also allowing me space for the BRS doser pumps.

So these purchases do it for this tank for a while. No more equipment should be needed as I have just about everything. HA HA. Now the money each month will go towards livestock, food, dosing chemicals, and the rest put into my summer golf/motorcycle track time funds....

Still need to get out to the LFS for the brains and such this week but the wife has been working extra late with tax season coming to an end so I have been on daddy day care...
 
Curious to see if you note any difference in the salts. I'm on RC now, my old tank was in FL and we had access to filtered NSW from the LFS, so this is my first foray into using synthetic salt. I've been mostly happy with RC, except I believe it precipitates quite a bit, because there's always grain in the bottom of the mixing bucket (only 5g bucket) and the calcium and alk are not as high as advertised when mixed to 1.025.

Yeah, save up and stock up for your big tank move... That'll be an exciting adventure. The funny part is how much you'll be able to move to that tank from this one, or even save for a QT tank. I just made big moves adding new LEDs (RapidLED retro) and dosing pumps, so I'm done for a while as well.

The best thing you can do while doing the summer golf/cycling is just let the tank go on cruise control. Make sure it's still being dosed correctly, etc, but I think the reason I had such great success with my old 120 was that I was in school 450 miles away, so I could only futz with it once or twice a month, and the calcium reactor, skimmer, ATO did the day to day lifting. Then when I came it was time to frag everything up, deep cleaning on all of the equipment, testing, and every 6 months a water change.

Needless to say I'm running my nano very differently. We'll see once I get the dosers set up...
 
ReefWreak said:
Curious to see if you note any difference in the salts. I'm on RC now, my old tank was in FL and we had access to filtered NSW from the LFS, so this is my first foray into using synthetic salt. I've been mostly happy with RC, except I believe it precipitates quite a bit, because there's always grain in the bottom of the mixing bucket (only 5g bucket) and the calcium and alk are not as high as advertised when mixed to 1.025.
Click to expand...

This is my main reason for the switch. The levels were not as advertised and I HATE the brown funk left in the brute tank. I have read on here that the red sea is much better in both regards so worth a shot. It is more expensive then RC since the 160 gal was like $74 vs the $60 or so for the same size RC but if I get constant levels and no funk it is worth it.

Yeah, save up and stock up for your big tank move... That'll be an exciting adventure. The funny part is how much you'll be able to move to that tank from this one, or even save for a QT tank. I just made big moves adding new LEDs (RapidLED retro) and dosing pumps, so I'm done for a while as well.
Click to expand...

I will be able to move most of the more expensive things over like the apex, dosers, reactor but the rest will stay as the cube will remain a frag tank. I like the small tank in my basement as it is pleasing to look at. The large tank would go up in the main living room as people tend to hang out up there. The tank and stand are not an issue for the new setup as the cost will wash out once I sell my freshwater setup. The problems I will have is the cost for the rock, new skimmer, sump, DSB setup, plumbing, new water station, ect. It will be a long process which will be tough for me as I like faster gratification. This is added reason to keep the cube running so I can enjoy things.

The best thing you can do while doing the summer golf/cycling is just let the tank go on cruise control. Make sure it's still being dosed correctly, etc, but I think the reason I had such great success with my old 120 was that I was in school 450 miles away, so I could only futz with it once or twice a month, and the calcium reactor, skimmer, ATO did the day to day lifting. Then when I came it was time to frag everything up, deep cleaning on all of the equipment, testing, and every 6 months a water change.

Needless to say I'm running my nano very differently. We'll see once I get the dosers set up...
Click to expand...

These are my thoughts exactly. I still have some things to set up like the dosers and fine tune those as I add a couple more frags and they grow out. But otherwise I am down to just be doing maintenance at this point and enjoying the tank. If I want to tinker I can go work on my race bike or to the back yard to work on my horrible golf short game.
 
Awesome stuff, definitely learning some new stuff on Biocubes. Thanks for taking your time to post really helps with new biocube owners. Will be following your post from now on. Beautiful fplanted tank, you make me regret breaking down mine.
 
Sherpa503 said:
beautiful fplanted tank, you make me regret breaking down mine.
Click to expand...

That tank is going away soon honestly. While the fresh is MUCh cheaper to run I do not get near the enjoyment out of it anymore. My ONLY concern going to a large reef tank in that space is that my daughter currently LOVES the freshwater tank. I have a ton of neons and guppies in there which is constant movement that she likes. I then have a couple rare plecos and rams in there for me that have some awesome colors. The plants were always my thing in keeping a well running tank. It basically needs no chemicals and outside of feeding it is pretty much self sufficient. Just no longer holds my attention.

That said when it is finally up for sale someone will get a steal to take it off my hands. between all the lights and other equipment there is a TON of money invested in it. I just hope to recoup enough to pay for the new tank and I will kiss the rest goodbye. HA HA. Such is life.
 
How big are you wanting to go for your new tank? Hopefully you enough to get a good start on the new one! your birthday is coming up too Happy Early Birthday!! How is the gyre working so far? What does it do?
 
The gyre is a pump like a MP10 but it moves MUCh more of the water column. I am really liking it but I need to relocate my RW4 to handle one deadspot I thought I had cleared but apparently did not. Or I might just take the RW out and just turkey baste the spot when cleaning.

The new tank I am still undecided. I have 2 things going about it. 1 is that I LOVE cube tanks. I like the unique things you can do with scaping in them vs a long tank. That said the spot I have for one currently would be a bit obtrusive in my living room. If I go long tank it will be a 180 so I can get the depth for scaping.

That all said the wife pushed back on me some last night. She wants a new house in the next couple years. I could walk away from my house now without paying anything in a sale or might make some money (I bought before housing crash and got screwed in local values). The benefit to waiting is that we would most likely go new construction and I would have the ability to have a fish room.

Not sure I am too keen on breaking down a 180 and moving it or a 240 gallon cube.

So at this point still undecided about the upgrade this year. I want it badly but a new house would give me the space I need for the fish room and to finally have a garage for my motorcycles. They currently live in my race trailer which is a bit of a hassle when I want them to commute to work...
 
Here is a teaser of what all I have coming tomorrow...

In total I have 4 or 5 pieces coming home with me tomorrow...

342229c4692359aabd00cf948dfc8e55.jpg
 
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