Jamie's 24G JBJ nano cube Diary

[jamiegrl]

I have been waiting for months to set this up and i finally have some time to upload pictures!
im 7 months into this now!!
OK I have a 24G jbj lighting nanocube deluxe with cabinet stand
I started this project in August of 2007. I let it run for about a month to get the tank cycled. I started to add things in September 2007. Here's a few pics of the beginning!

 

[jamiegrl]

Unfortunately i experienced some rough times with the start of my tank with dumb decisions
I found out my tap water has very high nitrates and phosphates which caused my mushrooms to do poorly but I went and bought an RO/DI system and now things are great. BUT the good news is my hitcher on that rock had room to grow with the absence of all the mushrooms and you can see my red kelp plant is a result of it!
The yellow wrasse seen in the first set of picks died because he got beat up by a purple pseudochromis. The pseudo was in hiding while the picture was being taken. The pseudo was too aggressive so I took him to a LFS.
Then i got a firefish... it jumped into the outflow nozzel of the waterpump.... i dont know how that's possible... i can see it get sucked into the intake but swim against the flow of water and get stuck in there?
So these set of pics are of course my nasty little nemo who bites anything to enters his tank
The second picture was my pygmy angel. He was doing great and eating but ended up eating the kelp plant and stressing nemo (which you can see in the 4th pick, nemo is on love with the plant). Luckily I knew someone who wanted one but was nervous cuz they can have a tendency not to eat but mine ate fine so I gave it to him.
The last two picks are from this February. I added Green Star Polyp and leather finger coral. The kelp plant is regrowing quickly

 

[jamiegrl]

These pictures are closer picktures of the February additions
The green Star polyp, leather finger, and nemo with his plant

 

[jamiegrl]

So my kelp plant is huge now and nemo couldn't be happier. I think I may want to get him another clown friend but suprisingly i can't find false percs anywhere!!! and when I do find them they are huge
The tank has been having algae issues because i basically have no clean up crew... I have a rather aggressive mega hermit who attacks new additions.
I added a bunch of hermits and snails tonight and if he attacks them we may be looking at a new home placement!!!
So the second picture is of my new zoo polyps!!! i saw them while buying the hermits and snails and couldn't resist. my leather finger was a nano and has doubled in size so i hope the same with happen with the zoo
Here is a pic of the tank... the very dirty tank!!

 

[aquaguy24]

a couple emerald crabs will gobble all that hair algea right up....yeah get rid of ur huge hermit. it might not be reef safe either...

 

[nwdyr]

I agree with aquaguy, get rid of the big hermit! that kelp is really cool! I have never seen on around here in the LFS. Tank is looking good

I used to live in Philly, where are you from?

 

[subielover]

Your tank looks great

Love the aquascaping, reminds me of a lagoon. Keep us updated

 

[jamiegrl]

Thanks everyone!!!
yea be careful with emerald crabs.... i got two and they destroyed the tank!
The ripped almost all of the kelp off the rock, ate my zoos, and karate chopped my mushrooms off the rocks!! I was able to save the mushrooms but what a nightmare I had to get rid of them. they were ridiculous

The big crab has been reef safe. It a zebra hermit and he has been in there since the beginning of my tank... he just grew really big.
I still think im gonna get rid of him cuz he's just too aggressive
As for the kelp it just grew off the rock. I actually haven't been able to find anything like it in this trade. I cant even ID it! but it's pretty delicate and grows pretty fast!
I really want to add a cool fish like a midas blenny but im nervous they will eat the plant like the angel
As for my location I actually live outside philly near the willow grove mall but I went to high school in the northeast and work in West Philly

 

[nano12er]

Oh, cool, Willow Grove Mall.... a local so to say! i am right outside of Ambler. Great job on the tank by the way!! I have Zebras as well, and they are getting too big and aggressive fro my 12 gal. unfortunately. Which lfs do you like? I go to Big Al's (aka Captain Nemo's) for just about everything. There are a few guys there that know just about everything.... even Latin names...

Good luck!

 

[perfectdark]

Very Very nice looking tank. I love the kelp clownfish relationship, finally some other living organism other than an anemone that clowns can host and wont end up killing it. Possibly the best alternative to an anemone in a tank that cant have one that I have ever seen.

 

[kat74]

Oooooh, I absolutely love the red kelp! I've never seen any of that at my LFS's. Do you know if it has the potential to go sexual?
Love your aquascape and love that your little clown hosts in the kelp!

Too cute!
Keep us updated!
Get a few blue leg hermits and they will also eat up the hair algae.

 

[halostalker]

really nice tank, yea the red kelp is the center piece of the tank and ur clown loves it. also it helps out with the nitrates.
i have green kelp i think and it also grows really fast almost right in front of my eyes.
i won't worry about it goin sexual and releasing sperm but if u do noice little hair like things starting to form thats a bad sign of it goin sexual and ur water will be cloudy when released.
yea get rid of the hermit and get a whole bunch of little ones and some snails.
great tank keep up the updates

 

[kat74]

I was talking about the possibility of it going sexual and then releasing all of the nitrates into the tank. I had some type of caulerpa in my 14 gal last year that went sexual overnight and I caught it first thing the next morning and I was pulling clumps of colorless gunk that was once a green caulerpa. I posted about it on the boards and everyone told me to get it all out and do a massive water change and add carbon because of the possibility of it releasing all of the excess nutrients back into the tank and causing it to crash.

I ended up doing a 50% water change. After that experience, I said that I would never get another macroalgae again. But this red kelp is so pretty that I just had to ask anyway.

 

[halostalker]

YEA I WAS TALKIN ABOUT THAT TOO, IT RELEASES SPORES. WHICH IS WHAT U SAID ADD NITRATES AND STUFF=P KAT

well thats only that micro algae there are so many other ones that are pretty in there own right.

 

[kat74]

Originally Posted by HaloStalker
http:///forum/post/2536906
YEA I WAS TALKIN ABOUT THAT TOO, IT RELEASES SPORES. WHICH IS WHAT U SAID ADD NITRATES AND STUFF=P KAT

well thats only that micro algae there are so many other ones that are pretty in there own right.
WELL.... all that talk about releasing "sperm".... got me all flustered.

 

[jamiegrl]

I like Captain Nemo's but had a huge argument with the owner so i still go but i cant say i will let it go completely, im a woman... i hold grudges

I really like the hidden reef which is in levittown. They both have cons and pros. Nemo's has great selection but hidden reef has better prices sometimes.
Actually I have absolutely no idea what this plant is about
I didn't buy it, it just grew and no one seems to know anything about it
I guess it has potential to do bad things to tank but has been fine for 6 months so i will cross my fingers and hope it doesn't
thanks so much for letting me know about this because I will definately keep an eye out!
and I did pick up some blue legs and snails so hopefully things will be better in a few days

 

[halostalker]

nice jamie=P

 

[jamiegrl]

so i ordered another powehead and a biocube protein skimmer today!!!
im excited to get them!
I tried to use the koralia nano powerhead I have now to hit the dead spot I have in the back corner but my Green Star Polyp got jealous and and cranky
It is only happy when it has complete attention of the powerhead...
so now I need another powehead. I ordered the koralia 1.
after this buy I wont need any more tank hardware for a while
so the next addition im planning on is another clown
Im trying to pick my last fish and I think it's going to be a midas blenny.
I know it has potential to nibble at the kelp but I just think they are so pretty! If i keep it well fed hopefully it will stay away from it!
if it nibbles here and there it wont be devistating because it's so big now
does anyone think it will go to town on the kelp?
what other fish can anyone suggest??

 

[perfectdark]

I dont think you will have that big of an issue with it feeding on your kelp, they seem to like more film algae, or at least mine did. But you can always get some algae sheets and hang them in your tank. The one thing I noticed when I had mine was she didnt hold back when it came to disputes and my clownfish had some tears in its fins from it. And then of course they are jumpers..
What about a nice carpenters wrasse, or a strawberry pseudochromis....

 

[jamiegrl]

wow really???
see i had a strawberry pseudo and i thought it was agressive... it killed my yellow wrasse
i have a 6line wrasse now so i cant have any more wrasses
i had a firefish with a jumping problem.... hmmm i definately will rethink my selection