Starting up my JBJ 12g Nano Cube again

[fishman805]

Ok.... I took your advice SH and moved the leather both closer to the light ( which ain't much in this small tank ) and now the Hydor hits it directly on it's path.... Already it's blowing off alot of the "coating" that was on it from shipment.... I'll just have to wait and see how it responds

Bob

 

[steelhealr]

It looks alive...give it time. Leathers will sometimes shed a waxy coating when stressed or covered with debris. You try a little phyto yet? SH

 

[fishman805]

Phyto as in phytoplankton.?? No not yet.. do you think I should ...??

Bob

 

[steelhealr]

Well..you are adding corals, so, it is something to start researching, ie, the needs of your corals. Do you have Borneman's book? Although the corals have zooxanthellae, over time they WILL benefit from additional nutrients, ie, zoo or phyto. They do this in nature. Many times, eg, with my gornonian, they WILL open in response to a 'feeding'. However, they ARE already acclimated. SH

 

[fishman805]

Well..you are adding corals, so, it is something to start researching, ie, the needs of your corals. Do you have Borneman's book? Although the corals have zooxanthellae, over time they WILL benefit from additional nutrients, ie, zoo or phyto. They do this in nature. Many times, eg, with my gornonian, they WILL open in response to a 'feeding'. However, they ARE already acclimated. SH

Yes I do understand about the care ... I routinelly add cyclopeeze to my 150gal even though the only critters that benefit from it are my lobophyllia and my button polyps.... I've also dosed with DT's phyto. for my fan worms and clam... ( in the same tank ).... I just wanted clarification on what you meant is all...

I also trigger the feeding response in my lobo and target feed it some mysis from time to time but have to keep watch over it until the food actually gets in it ( I've got several oportunistic tangs that see an easy mark and try to steal the food from it's mouth(s) )

Sorry if there was some confusion there.... But I do appreciate the remarks all the same... I "AM" still new at this....LOL

By the way, the leather is looking better and has just now started to open... It's "bumpier" now than it was and is still shedding mucuss but the flow from the Hydor seems to break it apart easily enough... I'll have to post some updates ...


Bob

 

[WendyMc]

That's great to hear! I've heard of other hobbyists reporting this mucus shedding on a regular basis, some of the things I've read suggest it's normal & to expect it about monthly.

 

[fishman805]

Some new updated pics... Good news is the leather is opening up more... And the Blackcap Basslet I thought I'd lost from LiveAquaria, turned up the other day... Very much alive and healthy looking... the Foxface took some abuse for a while from the yellow tang but is eating nicely and also looking very healthy ( those two are in my 150gal )

Now the pics:

Bob

 

[steelhealr]

Lookin' good..that leather WILL open. BE forewarned..those arms can get long. It can sting other corals, leathers, so give it room. You're doing great. Keep up the good work. SH

 

[fishman805]

Thanks for the kind words..... I have to tell you .. it's frustrating "waiting" for this thing to fully open....lol... As far as space goes, I hear ya.. Where it's placed right now,it's got plenty of open area around it so I don't think it will be a problem but I will be keeping an eye on it..

Bob

 

[WendyMc]

Great news! SH is right about leathers, last month I almost lost my new Palau nephthia frag to my leather. Has that basslet eaten yet?

 

[fishman805]

Great news! SH is right about leathers, last month I almost lost my new Palau nephthia frag to my leather. Has that basslet eaten yet?

Yes the basslet has eaten.... yesterday I actually saw it eat some mysis shrimp and I'm assuming that it ate this morning when I fed the tank... I actually did not see it eat today but the shrimp was making it into it's "cave" where it's hanging out...

Bob

 

[fishman805]

Update on the leather and the tank in general.... The leather was showing signs of opening then seemed to go back to it's closed state again... Not sure why but since I've still got a week's worth of "guarentee" time through LA, I've decided to put it in my 150gal... I also moved the mushrooms to a better location in the 150gal... I was losing shrooms in the 12gal. ( breaking off ) so not it's in a better place... ( the 150 ).... The botton polyp frag also "never" opened and was a little rank when I finally sent it to SW heaven ( which I'm certian it had already gone to )... The tank looks rather bare without those two pieces but "heh" that gives me room to order more....

The polyps and other pieces are doing great.... I love the ricordia and plan on adding more of that to this little tank.... Oh and the Fire Shrimp has molted once already and is really doing well... It's a kick to watch him going after food....


Bob

 

[fishman805]

Here's some updated pic's with the above mentioned leather and mushrooms removed..... I've also noticed some other things distressing..... 1: I lost the sixline.... dead... and #2, I've noticed that the gramma has some cloudiness to it's left eye....It's very slight but noticable..... I'm not sure what can be done if anything but he appears to be healthy otherwise... but then again the sixline looked fine yesterday... Here are the pictures...

Bob

 

[KING OF THE REEF]

how did you get the hydor flow installed? i want to add one to my 12 jbj cube 1st edition but i am wondering about the mounting style my cube didn't have a ball joint and directional nozzel on it just a cap like item wth a center hole and a wierd slit for water movement. also sorry to about the sixline

 

[ChrisMan123]

how many watts is on the 12g nano cube you have? is it the deluxe model of lighting?

 

[fishman805]

how did you get the hydor flow installed? i want to add one to my 12 jbj cube 1st edition but i am wondering about the mounting style my cube didn't have a ball joint and directional nozzel on it just a cap like item wth a center hole and a wierd slit for water movement. also sorry to about the sixline

The Hydor was easy to install... I took the lockline directional output off and used the closest size adaptor wrapped with a little electrical tape and pressed it into the output hole....

And thanks about the sixline...

Bob

 

[fishman805]

how many watts is on the 12g nano cube you have? is it the deluxe model of lighting?

I'm using the standard PC lighting for the DX model.... It works for what I've got in there....

Bob

 

[ChrisMan123]

yeah i think its like 48 watts on 12g... which would be the equivalent of 40 watts on my 10g... Im just trying to get an idea of what direction i should go with lighting... I want to get something around 60 watts but nothing is 20" and 60 watts or so... I found 40watts and 96watts both close in price... but i cant decide

 

[steelhealr]

Bob...sorry about the sixline. Sometimes things like that just happen during the early maturation process of the tank. As long as your params are in good shape, you may never find out what the problem was. POI..sixline's prefer a bit of swimming space. He might have been stressed out or stressed from the lfs. Let us know how the other frags do in your larger tank. If they open, might be a water problem. If not, could be stress from shipping/acclimation. SH

 

[fishman805]

Some more bad news on the tank.... Although the corals and polyps are doing well.... ( the brown buttons I added are also open and doing great ) I lost the last of the fish.. my royal gramma... The fire shrimp is doing great ... I just did a water change and do not have any updated parameters to post but I believe that I am going to keep this tank fish-less for the time being.....

Bob