noob with a 12g cube.... here we go

[pompeyjohn]

Evening all,

I have been splashing around with freshwater fish for a while, and this is my first go at saltwater. So far the tank has been cycling for two days. Here for completions sake is the setup...

• 12g Nanocube DX
• 2x24w lights; one 10k & one actinic
• aragonite sand
• RO water at 78degrees
• instant ocean salt mix
• some smelly live rock
• surface skip
• koralia nano (425)
• stock pump

back chambers from left:

• oceanic protein skimmer (the 14 and 29 one)
• bio balls, ceramic rings, sponge
• heater, carbon against inlet for pump

At present it looks like most areas receive good flow - mainly because of the extra powerhead pushing more current - except for right behind the coral wall.

I am thinking about switching up the layout,.... would a pile of rock in the center be better?

My guess is that the negative of having buried live rock not filtering will be outweighed by the greater flow of water around the back of the tank.

I already have an idea about stocking for this tank. Before moving on to that I'd love to hear your thoughts on the best rock layout.

Thanks,
John

ps. Is it OK if this turns into a build thread? If not, where should I move the post to? I am new to all this salty water so really looking forward to bouncing ideas and questions off y'all.

[Jocephus]

I always bury some of my liverock to facilitate burrowing animals. If you don't they may be crushed in a cave in. Also, keep in mind that there are some anaerobic bacteria in your rock that work to reduce nitrates. Not every inch of rock needs to be exposed. All that said, make it look how you think is pleasing to the eye. Don't forget to leave room for corals to grow. Good luck,

Joe

[thegrun]

I would get rid of the bio-balls, use some rubble rock in the chamber instead.

[Bluskeyes]

I started out with almost the same set up as you (12g aquapod, protein skimmer, bioballs, filter, LR etc)

I took out the filter, bioballs, and ceramic and just left the protein skimmer in the back chambers. I've had the tank that way for about 5 months and it's had low/zero nitrate levels the whole time, I hardly have to do water changes at all.

As far as the rocks go.. I have mine mostly in the center, to leave room for little hermits to scoot around. if I had those rocks I would make some of the flatter pieces lie across the others to make bridges and tunnels. I never used epoxy to stick my rocks together, just try fiddling around with them until they fit nicely together and feel sturdy. (I like those rocks though, they look like they have potential, inspiring!)

good luck!

[pompeyjohn]

Thanks for the all the encouraging comments.

So there have been a couple of changes.

• I have added some new live rock to the main tank, and changed the scape.
• The powerhead is now in the bottom left.

These two changes were made to encourage greater water turbulence and more passageways and hiding places for the critters.

The tank now also has five little crabs as well. Every rock was getting hairy and my LFS suggested getting them. They are happily chomping away. Today I also dosed 2.5ml of MicroBacter7 by Brightwell Aquatics.

A few of the rocks are showing signs of sprouting something other than what I presume is hair algae. My camera has died, and the iphone camera is just awful. I'll work on trying to get better pictures asap.

I also have a little red plant at front. I have no idea what it is. Anyway, onto Operation take a better picture with the shitty camera phone.

[pompeyjohn]

Day Ten...

The sand bed is really dirty now. Lots of detritus everywhere. No sign of any critters coming out of the totoka liverock.

[pompeyjohn]

Front of tank....



Here are the details........

JBJ 12G DX, 24w 10k & 24w actinic

In tank:
1.5" of Aragonite
15lbs of Totoka live-rock
Nano 425 powerhead

Rear chambers:
L:floss,carbon and protein skimmer
C:cheato refugium 13w full spectrum PC lamp
R:heater, and mj900.

Livestock:
2 True Percula clownfish
1 Peppermint shrimp
4 red legged hermit crabs
3 narcissus snails

Coral:
frogspawn
nepthea
some purple mushrooms
brown button polyps
three colonies of zoas (only one opening up yet)
Green Star Polyps
Yuma Ricordia (hard to see but is above the GSP)
some more mushrooms - "superman" I think
daisy polyps

Things are coming along nicely. I wish I could see the shrimp more, but in a 12g nano cube it is hard not to scape a pile of rocks. The sun coral is doing really well, but only blooms during the day time. At present we are feeding a frozen mysis cube every couple of days. We target feed the sun coral the shrimp, and the leftovers are snapped up by the fish. I bought some omega one marine pellets but have not used them yet.

Advice appreciated on a feeding routine... and I am keen to hear any comments or advice about anything else