KAT74's 29g Biocube Diary

[nacl+h2o fish]

KAT...
Your Blenny looks 'good as new'!!!
Happy that all is going well!
I am in the middle of constructing the pedestal for my RSM.
I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in those design details... so I will forward you the finished pix.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS...!!!!

 

[kat74]

I finally got the Oceanic Biocube skimmer and installed it in my first chamber. I've been on vacation since December 18, and will be back at work tomorrow, so I'll plug it up and see how it goes!~

 

[kat74]

Oh! I got a call this afternoon from Tiffany at my LFS (Blue Planet in McDonough, GA) and she told me that she had a customer who was in the store right then who had brought in a picture of my tank and some messages from this thread. Specifically, they had asked about the Koralia powerheads.
Who was this?

First, I was flattered that someone brought in a picture of my tank, and second, would have loved to stop and chit chatted with you for a bit because I stopped by shortly after that to pick up a missing part to my skimmer.
Whoever you are, if you have any questions and I can help, just ask!~

 

[lbaskball]

do you still have the plate corals? cuz i have had a hard time keeping them even alive for a month. Specially when they are on rocks, they try to move around and hteir underneath gets damaged. How are you keeping them alive?

 

[kat74]

Originally Posted by lbaskball
do you still have the plate corals? cuz i have had a hard time keeping them even alive for a month. Specially when they are on rocks, they try to move around and hteir underneath gets damaged. How are you keeping them alive?
I traded the pink plate coral in but I still have the green/purple one shown here:

I've had that one for 4 months now and it seems to be very happy and looks like that everyday. I have it up on a rock that is about an inch and a half off the sandbed. I haven't done anything "special" for it, but it does seem to like lots of flow.

I don't always get a chance to spot feed it, but when I do, I give it pieces of krill and mysis soaked in garlic plus, zooplex and some vitamins, which is what I feed my fish.

 

[paintballer768]

Originally Posted by KAT74
I'm glad to see my blenny ok too! He's my favorite!

I always add garlic plus, zooplex and some amino acid type supplement to their food, so I am sure that that helped with the healing some!

I've been pretty lucky I guess when it comes to buying ricordeas. The most I've paid for one is $16, and that was for an orange one. The others were between $10-$12.00 each for the green and blue ones. The LFS around here rarely get them and when they do, they want $40-$60 EACH for them. I'm going to a conference in Tampa next September and I told myself that I am going to be on the hunt for ricordeas when I go because I've heard that you can buy ricordeas for so much cheaper in Florida. I'm hoping to run into that LFS that has them labled as "rock anemone"....

Down here it really isnt much different. 3 ricordea yumas that are about as big as a quarter each, my LFS wants 60$ for. Theyve got a kind of monopoly where I am right now.

 

[paintballer768]

Originally Posted by KAT74
I traded the pink plate coral in but I still have the green/purple one shown here:

I've had that one for 4 months now and it seems to be very happy and looks like that everyday. I have it up on a rock that is about an inch and a half off the sandbed. I haven't done anything "special" for it, but it does seem to like lots of flow.

I don't always get a chance to spot feed it, but when I do, I give it pieces of krill and mysis soaked in garlic plus, zooplex and some vitamins, which is what I feed my fish.
Good diet for the plate. Ive never had one but my LFS has one and its always swaying in the current and looks really really healthy and happy. Yours looks great so keep it where it is if you can.

 

[kat74]

Yay!!! I'm SOOO excited!!~
My LFS called me today to let me know that they got a shipment of misbar clowns yesterday!!

I have been looking for a pair of misbar clowns or a single misbar maroon clown, but none of my LFS had ever gotten any in.
I went by after work to check them out and they are absolutely adorable! They are juvenile misbar percs. They were still in the acclimation tank when I saw them, but I picked the two out that I wanted and will pick them up tomorrow. One has the full stripe around its head, one small top piece of the middle bar and that's it, and no stripe at all at the tail. The other that I picked out had the full stripe around the head, top part of the middle bar, big break in the middle and bottom of the middle bar and no stripe at all at the tail.
I also bought two small hot pink feather dusters.

Will post pics sometime tomorrow when I get them!!~

 

[worshrag]

that blue ric. brought a tear to my eye, i mean no kidding im wellin up as i type this.

 

[kat74]

Originally Posted by worshrag
that blue ric. brought a tear to my eye, i mean no kidding im wellin up as i type this.
The blue ric next to the blenny?

 

[kat74]

Got my misbar pair today and they are sooo cute!!

They're swimming around together and working out their dominance issues so far (knock on wood) without any serious problems. They also seem to be drawn to the brain....

During acclimation:

 

[kat74]

At first, I picked out this misbar with just the middle top part, but ended up taking him back for the other one because I just wanted just a little bit more white on him.

I also picked up this cute feather duster.

Posting this because I was amazed at how fast these are growing in just a month!
1 month ago:

Now:

and last, today's FTS:

 

[paintballer768]

Not a feather duster, its a coco worm. Locally here, they run about 60$. Good steal! Very nice misbars also.
I have a yellow polyps frag in my tank for about 2 months now and havent spread near the amount yours have. They spread like mad in some systems, just not mine.

 

[mckevinfang]

wow i love your tank!!! great job!! i recently purchased a 29gal biocube. so far soo good yet it didnt come with the bioballs in the back what do you use? and what are those things on the left and right side of the tank they look like powerheads or fans? how can i get my tank anywhere near and good as yours?

 

[kat74]

Originally Posted by paintballer768
Not a feather duster, its a coco worm. Locally here, they run about 60$. Good steal!.
Are you sure?? I thought that coco worms came in a hard tube, a white-ish color? I know that when this one came out, it didn't look like my regular feather duster at the base of the crown, but it has the same mushy tube.

You can't tell as well in this pic, but it's white at the base of the crown.

Originally Posted by paintballer768
Very nice misbars also.
Thanks!
Originally Posted by paintballer768
I have a yellow polyps frag in my tank for about 2 months now and havent spread near the amount yours have. They spread like mad in some systems, just not mine.
I'm glad that these are spreading in mine because I absolutely love them! In my other system, I couldn't keep xenia to save my life. In this one, it's growing like mad and has already attached itself to the nearby rocks.

 

[kat74]

Originally Posted by mckevinfang
wow i love your tank!!! great job!! i recently purchased a 29gal biocube. so far soo good yet it didnt come with the bioballs in the back what do you use? and what are those things on the left and right side of the tank they look like powerheads or fans? how can i get my tank anywhere near and good as yours?
Thanks for the compliment!~
Did you buy your Biocube new? If so, it should have come with the bioballs. I am using the bioballs that came with it in mine.
The things on the left and right side are powerheads. They're both Koralia 1 powerheads.
And your tank can look as good as mine and better if you keep reading these forums and ask for advice like I did!~

Everyone here is so helpful, so why not start a thread and share pics of your progress and ask for advice or suggestions. We're all here to help.

 

[paintballer768]

Originally Posted by KAT74
Are you sure?? I thought that coco worms came in a hard tube, a white-ish color? I know that when this one came out, it didn't look like my regular feather duster at the base of the crown, but it has the same mushy tube.

You can't tell as well in this pic, but it's white at the base of the crown.
Thanks!
I'm glad that these are spreading in mine because I absolutely love them! In my other system, I couldn't keep xenia to save my life. In this one, it's growing like mad and has already attached itself to the nearby rocks.
I think cocos come in hard tubes most of the time, but a soft tube is possible. Ive seen most feather dusters have their crown in sort of a radial direction around the tube, know what I mean? Cocos are like it too, but can also be messy like your pics. Plus its really really uncommon for feathers to be red like that, and I think DeMartini has a coco just like that, take a look and see if its alike or not.

 

[mckevinfang]

Originally Posted by KAT74
Thanks for the compliment!~
Did you buy your Biocube new? If so, it should have come with the bioballs. I am using the bioballs that came with it in mine.
The things on the left and right side are powerheads. They're both Koralia 1 powerheads.
And your tank can look as good as mine and better if you keep reading these forums and ask for advice like I did!~

Everyone here is so helpful, so why not start a thread and share pics of your progress and ask for advice or suggestions. We're all here to help.

so i purchased two koralia 1 powerheads today thanks to your advice! and instead of bioball i think ill add live rock rubble down there. but do you use a protein skimmer? and if so what brand? i dont know how to work mine? great job again

 

[mfp1016]

Coco worms only secrete calcium shells.

 

[kat74]

Originally Posted by mckevinfang
so i purchased two koralia 1 powerheads today thanks to your advice! and instead of bioball i think ill add live rock rubble down there. but do you use a protein skimmer? and if so what brand? i dont know how to work mine? great job again
I use the protein skimmer that is made for the Biocubes. It's the Oceanic Biocube skimmer which was made for the 14 and 29 gallons.I started using it on Thursday and so far, it's been working great!~

See if your LFS has one, and if not, see if they could order one for you.