My 24 Gallon Reef

This is my 24 gallon reef, it isn't doing that great right now but I thought I would start a build thread anyway: the tank is a jbj nanocube 24 gal. And has been running for about 10 months. My current stocking is:
1 extreme misbar black clown (bubbles)
1 royal gramma (gramma)
And 1 tailspot blenny (benny)
In the future I plan on getting a davincI clown and a pair of greenbanded gobies. For coral I have:
1 acan
1 hammer
Eagle eye zoas
Mohican sun zoas
Mohawk zoas
And some other zoas that I don't know the name of. I will get some pictures later

Oh yeah and for filtration I have filter sponges in the first aio compartment, chaeto and marine pure in the second, and heater and return in the third. And I also have bio balls spread out across all three compartments.

 

Sounds great. Don't be shy now... we all go through stages where the tanks aren't at their best. I've been a little lazy on a tank or two lately, but this crowd is pretty forgiving, so it's nice to share the struggles and the successes. Can't wait to see your tank! I think you have the same model as Culprit 's new salty setup.

 

Heres a fts:

8FD4996E-4973-4FFD-8244-40A3F0A8D2F7

• sipec
• Jun 28, 2018

24 gallon fts

 

Nice fluffy acan

 

Grammaw fish

 

A beautiful fish! I've been thinking about one of those myself.

 

A beautiful fish! I've been thinking about one of those myself.

Imao pretty good fish, but occasionally bossy

 

Thanks btw

 

Pretty much the only thing happening is my acan is growing a new head

 

Well, that's great news! How's Grammaw?

 

Well, that's great news! How's Grammaw?

All the fish are doing great

 

Love the acan. That’s beautiful red coloring in it.

 

Love the acan. That’s beautiful red coloring in it.

Yeah, I think it's my favorite coral so far

 

Acans are definitely a rewarding coral. Are you directly feeding it? If not, I'd suggest you do. Not so much as to foul up the tank, but a little bit 2-3 times a week would certainly speed the rate of growth.

 

Acans are definitely a rewarding coral. Are you directly feeding it? If not, I'd suggest you do. Not so much as to foul up the tank, but a little bit 2-3 times a week would certainly speed the rate of growth.

I do every now in then, it's been a while

 

9/28/18
There might be some big toys coming soon! My parents are going to pay me to rebuild the roof of our outbuilding, $200, plus I have another job I'm doing for $100. I'm hoping I'll have these done before black Friday, and then maybe I'll get a aI prime, and maybe an mp10. As for the tank, it isn't doing too great. All the fish are fine, and so are the hammer and acan (the acan actually grew a 3rd head) but the zoas are getting swamped by hair and bubble algae. I'd add a picture, but it doesn't look that great, and also nothing has really changed. And also I'm not at home right now. But maybe I'll get pics later

 

Sounds awesome!

Manually remove as much hair algae as you can. You also might want to up your CUC and check your phosphates. PO4 is algae's favorite food, and you may want to look at options for PO4 reduction like ChemiPure Elite, GFO, or a phosphate reducing pad, which is what I'm running. No worries bud, most of us go through some uglies, and don't forget that algae is the ocean's filter. The biggest problem in our tanks is when it engulfs corals enough to upset or kill them.

 

what do your water parameters look like? how often do you blow off your rocks? how often do you vac the sand? like stella said algae loves nutrients and is a natural part of tanks to a certain extent due to this nutrients.

I would first test the water. Then manually remove as much as you can and wc and sand vac to drop nutrients.
I personally use chemipure blue and seachem purigen. check the rear aio compartments for excess detritus that can fuel the algae.

 

I got a Kessel for Christmas!

 

Sweet. Nice haul.

 

Ive decided I'll probably return the a160 and get the a360 instead
Also, I'm going to get an emerald crab soon, because I have bubble algae all through the tank; I probably won't keep it though, cause I hate crabs and don't want them in my tank, except for my blue leg hermit, he hasn't really hurt anything since he killed my red leg.
Maybe I'll buy some coral soon too

 

New kessil! Gonna pick up some more coral and a mp10 powerhead tonight. Also here's a video I made of my tank subscribe to my YouTube channel
Rip spray bottle

Also I think bubbles the clown has internal parasites, so I'm going to get some general cure, and Benny the blenny was stressed by the new light, and seems to have started hanging out in a new hole, idk if he'll live there though perminintly he seems to go back and forth between them

 

9/28/18
There might be some big toys coming soon! My parents are going to pay me to rebuild the roof of our outbuilding, $200, plus I have another job I'm doing for $100. I'm hoping I'll have these done before black Friday, and then maybe I'll get a aI prime, and maybe an mp10. As for the tank, it isn't doing too great. All the fish are fine, and so are the hammer and acan (the acan actually grew a 3rd head) but the zoas are getting swamped by hair and bubble algae. I'd add a picture, but it doesn't look that great, and also nothing has really changed. And also I'm not at home right now. But maybe I'll get pics later

Man I hate to sound like a know it all. But I would recommend looking into the Jebao DC controlled powerheads and return pumps. I’d look at BRS for their awesome sales on Skimz brand skimmers. Their hob is supposed to fit in the compartments. My in sump Skimz Monzter minI is a beast. I have transferred everything I have to DC controllable and love it. I’ve done it all for less than $300. Two return pumps. One as the actual return pump and one return pump runs to the dual BRS GFO/Carbon reactor. I have two Jebao PP4 powerheads. They’ve all lasted over a year so far and are still super quiet. I hope I don’t sound like a know it all. But Jebao can be had for good prices on eBay. And I looked into Vortec and they have so many problems with their powerheads. I’d recommend carbon dosing and bacteria dosing for nitrate and phosphate control as a cheap way to get rid of that hair algae issue after you get a skimmer. I love your tank. You have a lot of the same stuff I have.

Man I hate to sound like a know it all. But I would recommend looking into the Jebao DC controlled powerheads and return pumps. I’d look at BRS for their awesome sales on Skimz brand skimmers. Their hob is supposed to fit in the compartments. My in sump Skimz Monzter minI is a beast. I have transferred everything I have to DC controllable and love it. I’ve done it all for less than $300. Two return pumps. One as the actual return pump and one return pump runs to the dual BRS GFO/Carbon reactor. I have two Jebao PP4 powerheads. They’ve all lasted over a year so far and are still super quiet. I hope I don’t sound like a know it all. But Jebao can be had for good prices on eBay. And I looked into Vortec and they have so many problems with their powerheads. I’d recommend carbon dosing and bacteria dosing for nitrate and phosphate control as a cheap way to get rid of that hair algae issue after you get a skimmer. I love your tank. You have a lot of the same stuff I have.

I just realized you mentioned Black Friday. Which was a couple of months ago. Sorry for the delayed comment. It just showed up early in my feed and it caught my eye. I hope you got all the toys. Maybe even a couple more for Christmas.

I got a Kessel for Christmas!
View attachment 513208

Very nice! Kessel blends the best and distributes the most even PAR, as far as BRS testing goes.

 

Man I hate to sound like a know it all. But I would recommend looking into the Jebao DC controlled powerheads and return pumps. I’d look at BRS for their awesome sales on Skimz brand skimmers. Their hob is supposed to fit in the compartments. My in sump Skimz Monzter minI is a beast. I have transferred everything I have to DC controllable and love it. I’ve done it all for less than $300. Two return pumps. One as the actual return pump and one return pump runs to the dual BRS GFO/Carbon reactor. I have two Jebao PP4 powerheads. They’ve all lasted over a year so far and are still super quiet. I hope I don’t sound like a know it all. But Jebao can be had for good prices on eBay. And I looked into Vortec and they have so many problems with their powerheads. I’d recommend carbon dosing and bacteria dosing for nitrate and phosphate control as a cheap way to get rid of that hair algae issue after you get a skimmer. I love your tank. You have a lot of the same stuff I have.



I just realized you mentioned Black Friday. Which was a couple of months ago. Sorry for the delayed comment. It just showed up early in my feed and it caught my eye. I hope you got all the toys. Maybe even a couple more for Christmas.



Very nice! Kessel blends the best and distributes the most even PAR, as far as BRS testing goes.

Thanks, I just bought a used mp10 though. I'll update pics later, I'm installing it right now

 

Finally got the mp10 installed, there was a bit of a problem with it but my dad was able to fix it. Also I got new corals, a green pocilapora and a red monticap (with cool greenish yellow polyps)! These are my first sps, and I hope they do well. So far they seem fine
Also I took a picture of my eagles eye zoa, cause I thought it looked nice under the new lighting

 

My list of coral I want for my tank (will edit as preferences change or I find more corals I like)

1. Coolers turaki
2. Orange setosa
3. Jf crocodile Hunter
4. Space invader pectinia
5. Garf bonsaI acro
6. Grubes gorgonian
7. Purple MontI cap
8. Utter chaos zoa's
9. Jf glowing fingers
10. Jf atomic sunrise zoa

Corals I own:

1. Green pocilapora
2. Red MontI cap with greenish yellow polyps
3. Eagles eye zoa's
4. Unknown acan
5. Purple branching hammer
6. Mohawk zoa's
7. Mohican sun zoa's
8. Radioactive dragon eye zoas

 

I got a Kessel for Christmas!
View attachment 513208

Absolutely love this light !

 

New corals! Unknown favia and hairy mushroom. Also I have an actual camera now, so I'll be using that from now on



I also got a peppermint shrimp to clean up my aptaisia problems. Its cool too cause it had eggs when I got it, and when I saw it last night it didn't have them any more, so fingers crossed sorry I don't have any good pics


Oh yeah, and the pocilapora kinda partially died where it was, so I moved it and now it seems to be doing ok, although it's mostly dead. And the montipora was doing good, but then I moved it... and it died. I'm finding sps corals are kinda hit or miss, and that on the first sighns of bleaching I should step in
I do bi-daily water changes now, too

I also took some fish pictures
Btw I don't use color mixing or anything like that on my aquarium pics



Yeah, bubbles the clown isn't that photogenic. This is the best pic I got

And then an fts to top things off

 

Glad I found this thread hope your peppemint eats aptasia.

 

Glad I found this thread hope your peppemint eats aptasia.

It has been, they seem to be disappearing

 

Yikes I haven't been on here in a while
Anyway, I kinda neglected the tank for a while and all my sps died, but I'm going to try to work harder on keeping the tank nice from now on
The favia has been doing very well tho and has grown multiple heads; and the eagles eye zoa's have also been reproducing

 

Life does get in the way sometimes. Glad to hear you're back at it and having some successes.

 

So...
I kinda neglected the tank again for a bit and the shrimp died, but I'm going to ACTUALLY try to keep it clean now
I did get a new coral tho, it's a red setosa, just I didn't realize how sensitive they are to parameter changes and I just temp acclimated and didn't drip it
So yeah, it's barely alive, but I have hope that it could come back
I don't have any good pics of it, but here's a picture of my favia I took last night with it's sweepers out
This is the most insane sweepers I can recall seeing on this thing

 

We all get behind sometimes. Sorry to hear about the shrimp. As for the setosa, definitely give it a fighting chance.

Personally, I have never dripped any of my corals, including the most sensitive SPS frags. My usual is to prepare a dip (for hitchhikers) and two rinse containers. Since frags are small, and so is my tank, I do this in pint-sized plastic take out containers (like you can get soup in). They do not leak, but even so, the dip container never touches my tank. The rinse containers do, however, and this is only to float them so I can temp match. Anyway, new frags are removed from bags, their water is tossed, and into the dip they go for 15 minutes, with frag plugs and any stony parts getting scrubbed during that time. Then, 2x 15-minute rinses and in the tank they go. I can't speak for everyone, but this has worked for me and I have never lost a coral to poor acclimation.

However, I have had an issue with my doser once where it was accidentally unplugged and it went unnoticed. Over 3 days, my alkalinity and calcium levels dropped significantly and corals got mad, mad, mad. I tell you this because a monti, as well as a few acros and several but not all LPS corals, looked terrible during this time and I thought I'd ultimately lose them. I really never give up on a coral though... not until it's white and definitely dead anyway. For about three months these corals had lost most of their color (eek, some looked brown) and polyps did not extend. These were scary times but by the end of month 4, those same corals were flourishing again and if anything, grew at a faster rate after the stressful time. Don't give up on your setosa and if you too decide not to drip acclimate, just make sure the parameters in your tank are appropriate... it's worked for me.

 

Long have I fought the beast of irresponsibility
Is this a trick?
Or am I overcoming?
I feel it may be the latter

Anyways, once again, a lot has changed. I now have 3 favias, 2 acans, my hammer, the dragon eye zoas got choked out by algae a while ago by algae but I still have the other two, a new pocilopora (I didn't plan on getting another but you know how it goes), my hammer, and I'm not sure whether to say one or two mushrooms, as the one split
I also now have an Arabian Cowrie named Howard

The tank is doing alright, the fish are good but gramamaww seems to be aging
For once in the years I've had it the hammer is finally reproducing
Pretty much all of the corals are doing good too, except for the zoas, which Howard grazed on the eagles eyes and they're looking better but are less in population, and the mohawks haven't been attached to anything yet and keep getting bumped around by Howard during his nightly patrol. I set them up into a nook in the rockwork; I'm still dealing with algae but feel I might have the upper hand and once I kick it I'll attach them to the zoa rock.

So yeah
That's it
I think
(Oh yeah and my snails died)

 

(I'd have pics but most of them accidentally got deleted in transfer, so here's my hammer [before it started splitting] and my original favias, which is now a glutinous monster of a thing)

 

That brain coral and that hammer are very nice. I really like that brain coral color and pattern.
Id for sure get a handle on that algae. Sps will not do well and will likely get smothered out and killed by algae. Stupid question but are you using RODI water? Also have you tested your nitrates and phosphates recently?
if your corals aren’t growing this might be the cause. Also are you testing calcium, alk, and magnesium?
Tank is looking better.

 

I do use rodi water, but haven't tested anything in a while
I do a lot of water changes though, so idk what I'd be able to change

 

I do use rodi water, but haven't tested anything in a while
I do a lot of water changes though, so idk what I'd be able to change

Do you make your RODI water? Do you buy it? Do you test the tds of the RODI water?
How often and what percentages of water changes do you do? How much and what do you feed? I’d test for sure.

 

My dad makes the rodi
Can't really speak stats
I try to do 20% every other day
I feed 10 pellets and a pinch of spirulina flakes once a day (thinking of toning it down tho, the fish haven't been eating it all)