John’s 8g Pico Cube

[sotsreef]

John’s 8g Pico Cube

Hey everyone!
Just to give you a little backstory before I get into the tank. My name is John, I am 15 years old, and I live in Georgia. I got into this hobby a year ago by watching tanks on YouTube and seeing them on the forums. I recently moved to Georgia from NewYork and my parents agreed to let me have my first saltwater tank YAY! I have read lots and lots of information online and have educated myself with as much stuff as I could. I purchased some used equipment from local reefers and some new things from southern aquatics.

Tank Specifications:
<ul>
<li>7.5 gallon Deep Blue Professional rimless glass cube tank</li>
<li>Kessil A80 tuna blue led light with gooseneck mount and spectral controller</li>
<li>Aquaclear 50 HOB Filter</li>
<li>Koralia Hydor nano pump</li>
<li>Finnex Marine 2 Refugium Light</li>
<li>Chaeto algae from my lfs</li>
<li>Acurel poly fiber media pad pack</li>
<li>Pro Clean sand cleaner and water siphon kit by Python</li>
<li>Sybon Refractometer</li>
<li>DrTim’s Tank cycling bottle</li>
<li>Walmart Turkey baster</li>
<li>JBJ nano ato system</li>
<li>Preset 78.5 degree 50 watt Aqueon Heater</li>
<li>Digital Aquarium thermometer</li>
<li>Old piece of furniture for tank stand</li>
<li>Dry rock from my ARC</li>
<li>CaribSea Dry aragonite sand 15 lbs bag</li>
<li>AquaStik Stone Grey rock epoxy</li>
<li>Innovative Marine glass cleaner
Premixed salt water and RO water from my lfs</li>
<li>BioCube nano protein skimmer with woodblock air stone</li>
<li>1 Bucket from Home Depot to be used for my ato reservoir</li>
</ul>

Livestock I’m planning on adding:
x1 Occelaris Clownfish
x1 Banded skunk cleaner shrimp
x3 Snails
x1 hermit crab
x- a few corals
x1 rosebubble tip anemone
Maybe x1 goby and pistol shrimp pair if I take out the cleaner shrimp, not decided yet.

I hope you all follow along with me on this journey! You an check out weekly update videos on my youtube channel at Yogi’s Reef by clicking the link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkpXzKUBzy2zATjSHw-v8Kw
I’m also on Instagram @Yogis_Reef

 

[sotsreef]

<img class="alignleft" src="https://atlantareefclub.org/boards/data/uploads/hm_bbpui/1070497/Tmrxltbpi8rkocj638bdgxnjuevq0v9a7.jpg[/IMG] alt="AB2C149D-0C1F-4317-8E29-E6BFC34934F5" /><img class="alignleft" src="https://atlantareefclub.org/boards/data/uploads/hm_bbpui/1070497/Ttne9cdgnet4xbrx43w7o8j7s8jt3xw7g.jpg[/IMG] alt="F80485CD-809A-48A3-8FD4-CBDC7FD76189" /><img class="alignleft" src="https://atlantareefclub.org/boards/data/uploads/hm_bbpui/1070497/Tbrha1jc5bgu9m898hq3u9db4hx3n51s7.jpg[/IMG] alt="F2127309-EB21-48D1-91B7-F3838FD40647" /><img class="alignleft" src="https://atlantareefclub.org/boards/data/uploads/hm_bbpui/1070497/Tz7a8a5ahqauo9twqmhppijx5cb14tzdj.jpg[/IMG] alt="E848306D-B042-4BDF-90C2-3C7F41DAEA5D" /><img class="alignleft" src="https://atlantareefclub.org/boards/data/uploads/hm_bbpui/1070497/Tkc9ebkkmfvm3oqzv0lq08fdpgu59nkvy.jpg[/IMG] alt="D7DB2FE8-B12A-4C1E-AD3D-751F97BC451B" />

 

[sotsreef]

This is the aquascape before I add the water.

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[sotsreef]

Added water! I siphoned the water in the tank but realized I’m missing about a gallon or so, eeeekk! I’ll have to pick some more up today. I’ll get some better pics once the sand and water settle!

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[danh]

I really enjoy my 5g. I moved it about 4 months ago and added an A80 and it hasn't been the quite the same. I'm still trying to get it under control. Good luck with yours, keep up with the pics.

 

[dball711]

Tank and rock work look great, can't wait see how it progresses.

 

[sotsreef]

Sand and water is a little more settled this morning.

picture @8:00am

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[bcavalli]

I look forward to seeing your progress John!

 

[ricky5415]

Looking good John

 

[ricky5415]

Maybe u can modify the aqua clear filter into a hob refugium too. It will help nutrient export

 

[sotsreef]

Ricky I already was planning on it

I got my light and equipment to make it into a Refugium.

 

[danh]

Yeah, take everything out of that hob and fill it with the chaeto.   What's the room temp and how stable is that heater?

 

[sotsreef]

Heater should be stable, room temp is around 68-69 degrees depending on when the heat kicks on and off.

 

[danh]

I might have to get one of those heaters for my 5g. I've been putting off getting an neotherm for $50 for a 5g........

 

[dakota9]

Love the rock work and really like the way you planned it out



my most favorite tanks was a 6 gal Fluval Edge. Mini-reefing is fun

 

[sotsreef]

Update: 1/16/18

I know the setup looks cluttered right now but I’m just trying to eat everything running before I worry about looks. I ran the tank normally last night at around 76.5 degrees with a Hydor powerhead. The sand has settled more and the rock work is beginning to become a lot more visible. Without the light it’s hard to tell what it will look like in weeks to come. I’m waiting to pickup a heater from a local reefer so I can get my temp up to 79 degrees. Here is the picture from my refractometer and tank from today.

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Refractometer has a reading of about 1.024-1.025ppm and a specific gravity around 34. Let me know if that looks right.

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Tank at 4:10pm on 1/16/18

 

[sotsreef]

Update: 1/18/17

So first off, since the last post a lot has gone down, I decided to switch around the location of my equipment to try and cluster it in one area to hide it and increase performance. When I did this I unplugged my ato so it wouldn’t accidentally go off and unbalanace the salinity. Once I had rearranged everything, I used my trusty turkey baster to move around the sand to try and flatten it out. This caused the water to be more cloudy and for the sand to become stirred up. I waited about an hour for it to settle before pluggin my equipment back in. When I plugged everything in I accidentally plugged in the ATO sensor into the outlet(facepalm), and it started filling the tank with RO Water. I didn’t realize this at first until I realized the water level was past the float valve. I cursed myself and quickly unplugged it from the wall, I reinserted the sens or into the actual ATO computer monitor thing and the pump did not go on again. I checked the salinity with my refractometer and it was down to 1.020ppm and 30spec.g. I was so mad but realized there wasn’t anything I could do about it. So I’m waiting for water to evaporate each day and top it off with 1.025 ppm saltwater instead of RO. The salinity is making a steady recovery as I check it 3 times per day.

So on a brighter note, I picked up a piece of scrapbook paper at hobby lobby for 79 cents and taped it to the back of my tank to hide the cords and equipment, it looks a lot cleaner now and more ‘reef ready’. I plan on getting the water parameters stable for the next week or two before I add my first fish and my nitrifying bacteria. I’m getting a new heater so my temp is up to 79 degrees since my current heater is half broken and will be used for my backup.

Here are the update photos...

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[sotsreef]

Update 1/21/18

I’m currently waiting for a large shipment of stuff from amazon and someone I got stuff from online. I will do a larger update when that happens, most likely tomorrow or Tuesday. I will be adding some chaeto and pods to my Refugium this upcoming weekend and then adding livestock the weekend after that. Better photos coming in the future so I hope you stay tuned.

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Photos of tank with flashlight(not kessil), I reworked the aquascape a little to create more room for placing frags on sandbed in the future.

 

[sotsreef]

UPDATE : 2/4/18
Wow it has been a long time since a tank update. First off the tank has been running stable at around 79.5-80*F for the past two weeks. Everything is looking great. The filter has been converted into a Refugium and is working great. I purchased chaeto from my lfs to add into the tank and it’s growing like crazy! I added my first inhabitant also, a blue legged hermit crab He is doing awesome and I have fed him a few fish pellets so far to supplement his diet because of the lack of algae and other things in the tank. I have a moderate light schedule from 1-4 just to give a little time for the tank to get acclimated to the light. And so I can look at it for a little bit afterschool. Here are some pics

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[danh]

Coming along nicely!