My 28G Nanocube HQI - predominately SPS tank

[landonl]

Hello all,
After posting about the 12g Aquapod and LED lighting, I thought I would post about my other nano tank. My best tank is my 28g Nanocube HQI. The information below is a description I had from a while back. Since then a lot has changed which I will address in a subsequent post.

Short story on the tank, is that I bought it off ebay from someone who owned a aquarium business. They lived in Iowa. So I drove all the way up there, and drove this tank home in my passenger seat. Yes this tank was well worth the trip, plus it turned out to be a fun road trip anyway with a friend of mine. We took a couple of days and stopped in Louisville, Chicago, Madison, and St. Louis on the way home.

About the tank:
This tank was modified before it was even wet, 2 x 18w PC Actinics were installed in front of, and behind the 150w HQI Metal Halide, and the chamber just to the left of the overflow was drilled and had two bulkheads installed so the chiller could work on a closed loop (1/20 JBJ Nano-Arctica Chiller). Inside the stand is the base piece of the Reef Keeper 2 Controller, which controls MH lighting, PC lighting, Chiller, Heater, Temp, pH, Circulation, Kalk Dosing, etc. It has a custom built Kalk doser that consists of a AquaMedic SP 3000 dosing pump hooked to a Kent Aquadoser, which has a MJ 1200 mounted to the side of it, and plumbed inside of it to mix the kalk water when the dosing pump turns on.

Filtration:
For filtration I run very little. the RK2 keeps the tank up well, so all i run in the filter box is a little bit of Phosguard and de*nitrate under the filter pad. A small ball of chaeto inside the tank helps a little bit also.

Livestock:
What can I say, part of the reason I bought this tank was the livestock.

Fish + Inverts:
(1) Blue-Spotted Jawfish
(1) Flaming Prawn Goby (Discordipinna griessingeri)
(1) Purple Firefish
(2) Blood/Fire shrimp
(1) Ocellaris Clown (mean devil used to bite me a lot while cleaning)
(1) unknown damsel (only thing i DONT like in the tank, bullies my jawfish)
(1) Maxima Clam
(4) Hermits (2 blue, 2 red)
(?) 1-2 small conchs of some sort
(?) 2-3 snails that burrow

Corals:
This tank is well stocked with LPS, SPS, and some softies. However I cannot identify most of them.
Part of the reason I am starting this thread is so that if anyone recognizes anything they can let me know what it is.
I myself have added two frags:
(1) Electric Blue zooanthids
(1) Watermelon zooanthids

As you can see in the pics, sometime soon I need to frag some of this stuff!
So, anybody who can, help me ID some stuff in these pics!

 

[landonl]

As with the pics on my other threads, these are older pictures, from Feb 2009. I really need to get some new pics!

The Pics:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_WHmWja4IoRQ/SY8J9I6DunI/AAAAAAAAAGk/297rwg30qjA/s720/DSC_2110.JPG" alt="" />
[B]Full tank shot[/B]


[IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_WHmWja4IoRQ/SY8KAjZPd_I/AAAAAAAAAGo/1TuVwLPuT_I/s512/DSC_2111.JPG" alt="" />
[B]Little bit clearer[/B]


[IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_WHmWja4IoRQ/SY8KEVU-PNI/AAAAAAAAAGs/yb8n61toLHw/s720/DSC_2127.JPG" alt="" />
[B]Close up[/B]


[IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_WHmWja4IoRQ/SY8KIIDeUvI/AAAAAAAAAGw/JJaA9y7bOD8/s512/DSC_2124.JPG" alt="" />
[B]A Colt coral that has become a constant problem[/B]


[IMG]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_WHmWja4IoRQ/SY8KLsYU2YI/AAAAAAAAAG0/ZLeRbrH46VQ/s512/DSC_2113.JPG" alt="" />
[B]Side Shot[/B]


[IMG]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_WHmWja4IoRQ/SY8KPiYZXVI/AAAAAAAAAG8/VJaJoSYsVQo/s720/DSC_2117.JPG" alt="" />
[B]Can anyone name this coral?[/B]


[IMG]http://lh5.ggpht.com/_WHmWja4IoRQ/SY8KTG6xHBI/AAAAAAAAAHA/am5O1OAG7Qo/s720/DSC_2120.JPG" alt="" />
[B]Hodag Monti that I lost, along with two birdnest corals, one of which is enormous now[/B]

 

[landonl]

I wanted to add, this tank has been a little neglected since I have been so busy in grad school. I have really been putting a lot of effort into it lately to get it back in shape.

Since the description I posted above, it has had an RKE controlling it, and now I have switched to an Apex because of numerous problems with DA and disappointments with their management of their products.

The livestock has also changed a little bit. My favorite fish, the Blue spotted jawfish is no longer with me. I think old age just got to him, as I had him for a couple of years, and the previous owner of the tank had him for a couple before that. He was my favorite fish out of all the ones I have had and still do from the course of this hobby. Jawfish have a lot of personality, and I recommend them to anyone with the proper tank setup.

The purple firefish also disappeared, not sure about that one, but all the other livestock is there, although I hadn't seen the Flaming Prawn Goby in over six months until I did a complete tank break down and clean the other day. That particular fish species is very cryptic and probably better suited for pico reefs if you ever hope to consistently see them.

Landon

 

[jdabs]

That's a great looking tank! We'd love to see some updated pics!

 

[jcusmarine]

As a former 28 HQI owner myself, this is impressive. Well done. +1 for more updates....I had the hardest time with mine as it matured in controlling excess nutrients. Thanks for sharing.

 

[landonl]

JDabs;577191 wrote: That's a great looking tank! We'd love to see some updated pics!

Well, unfortunately the tank was relatively neglected over the past year. I had a bad algae problem and the kalk dosing pump broke so the alkalinity was constantly low so the majority of the beautiful deep purple coralline is faded.

I was out of the country for most of the summer also on a research trip, doing field work in Indonesia, so my neighbor basically just kept it alive by feeding, and no water changes were done.

All in all, I lost a few colonies, and some suffered from infections due to the nutrient load that accumulated. The Green Acro is enormous now, as is the birdnest, but some colonies had to be fragged and were moved to my frag tank.

I will get some up, but they won't look as good as these, as I just recently fixed the kalk doser and performed a complete breakdown and clean. It is going to take me a good six months to get it back to that point of visual attractiveness in coral diversity and coralline cover.

The colonies that are there and managed to weather the storm are really beautiful though, so I will get some up so you can see them.

jcusmarine;577192 wrote: As a former 28 HQI owner myself, this is impressive. Well done. +1 for more updates....I had the hardest time with mine as it matured in controlling excess nutrients. Thanks for sharing.

Nutrient load isn't really a problem post cleanup, but my bioload is really small. The Nitrates stay around or below 5ppm, even with my infrequent water changes. I recently put an Eshopps PSK-75H on the back, we will see how that does. Right now the tank only has a clown, the Flaming prawn goby, and the two fire shrimp, plus some CUC, and I have cut down on my feeding

A few small conchs and burrowing snails I think really help to keep the nutrient level down by constantly turning the sand bed, which is really thin.

I am about to move my Yasha goby and her pistol shrimp over to the tank, and probably add a Helfrichi firefish to replace the missing purple firefish. I also may temporarily add one of my harlequin shrimp to the tank to eradicate many of the asterina stars in the tank, and probably remove the ocellaris clown, as this particular fish always bites me when I work in the tank, and the fish just seems way to common for me these days.

Landon

 

[zoajohn]

great looking tank man

 

[parkerge]

Impressive

 

[superclown]

beccamc10;585959 wrote: WOW that is the nicest nano I have seen

I know man this tank is sick :thumbs:

 

[landonl]

Thanks for the complements guys, but like I said, it doesn't look that good right now. Needs a lot of fine tuning to get it back into shape.

 

[superclown]

Hey landon can i see some more pics of how you have your lights on the tank.

 

[landonl]

I don't have my camera out right now, but I think the guy I bought it from got it from nanotuners, or at least got the CF upgrade kit. Here is the picture from their website, which is exactly the same as my setup. The Actinic CF bulbs are mounted in front of, and behind the HQI bulb.

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[superclown]

Oh ok i was thinkin u had a hanging pendant would u say your ciller ur running is a must?

 

[superclown]

only reason im asking is because im thinking about getting a 150 mh for my 24g nano but mine is not going to be in the stock hood I run topless

 

[toolzreef]

Very nice. Inspiration for my current 30 gallon cube build.

 

[wrxcrazy03]

Wow that tank is sick... New pics please.

 

[landonl]

SuperClown;588777 wrote: Oh ok i was thinkin u had a hanging pendant would u say your ciller ur running is a must?

Yes, a chiller is a must. I am currently having problems with the fan in my chiller, so had to attach a desk fan to outside to blow into the radiator.

Maybe without the chiller it would run up around 81-82 in a cool house, but I like to keep my tank at a steady 78.

I will get some new pics up when I move the frag racks out of it that cover the sides. I need to bring the nitrates down in my main system so I can move all my frags over to it. That way I can actually see inside this nano and do some maintenance.

Landon