A few pic's of Mike & Marcie's 29 Biocube

[medwards]

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=219

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=232
How do you like the heart shaped center on the zoas? I think it is pretty cool.

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=228

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=227

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=226

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=225

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=224

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=222

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=221

http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=66&pictureid=220

The fish were being a little camera shy, so mainly coral pictures.

[tazzy695]

looks sweet you have some very good shots

[medwards]

Thank you, we like it. Our photo skills as well as our camera are sub par at best.

[thefishgirl]

Tank looks really nice!! You've got some great pieces.

[Hopkins]

Great job on the aquascaping!

[jimsflies]

Very nice....I'm setting one up right now. Post more pics of the aquascaping!

[medwards]

Ok, we will get more pics of the aquascaping. Glad you guys are digging it cause the rockwork was actually bugging my wife. We had to do a teardown in sept to remove a problematic fish, aka damsel. So of course when putting it all back together, nothing went back the way we had it. Close but not quite right. Two rocks had to be put in our other tank and one of the rocks was my wifes favorite, It looks like a face. I can tell you we tried to make the rockwork u shaped and progessively going up toward the back wall. This time around it is still u shaped but when it comes to the elevation, it just goes straight up the back wall for the most part.

[fronts]

never the less it still looks great! good job

[taziam10797]

Good looking tank, nice pictures of the flame angel.

[Manoj's Reef]

Everything in the tank looks happy . Very nice..

[Sir Patrick]

Lovin it!!! Like your polyp colection! You have some nice happy zoas!

[igot2gats]

I concur on the 'scaping. With the corals scattered, it looks like a reef out in the wild.

Nice work.

[ReeferRob]

'Bout time we had an update on this tank! How long have you had the Co Co worm?

[medwards]

Ive had the worm about 5 months now, Its my second one but it just shed a crown. 1 crown left. I feed phyto, but I think its starving. Or like everything else in that tank its all going downhill. Had the problem with a heater recently, lost my wifes fav fish. All my corals look like crap. Nitrates are off the charts, Im doing water changes like a mad man to no effect. I changed my bulbs a ways back and that started the algea bloom, now with my nitrates as high as they are Im sure thats why I cant get rid of the algea. And to think this is supposed to be fun. Close to tearing it down. Or at least making it a fo tank. My water is coming mixed from a lfs. Ive even taken the new water to be tested at another store, the water is good, my tank is bad. Thats it for this update, hopefully the next one isnt bio cube for sale

[streetrodder007]

The corals look very full and healthy. picture perfect !

[jimsflies]

Hang in there Mike...you may need to revise things a bit to get on top of it all. My concern would be build up of detritus in the crushed coral substrate. With the rocks piled in the back, detritus easily can settle in those areas and start causing a nitrate problem.

How high are your nitrates?

I noticed some bryopsis in the pics from a couple months ago...I'm guessing that is the algae that took off? It is difficult to get rid of...the most effective method is using the Tech M magnesium to elevate you Mg levels. I would also add some GFO in a filter sock in the back compartment to reduce phosphates.

Since you didn't post any new pics, I'm not sure how "bad" it is. But with a relatively small tank, you may be better off taking some "drastic steps" to get on top of it...change substrate/100% water change.

[MizTanks]

Words of encouragement from one who just went through this exact same stage. Ask anyone here! I had algae everywhere, killing several zoa frags. I lost 5 fish to the dreaded ich. Our LFS doesn't sell water so I went through heck trying to get it right.
But thanks to EVERYONE here I didn't give up!!!
Today i'm just 8 days away from my tank being 1yr old! It's beautiful! I'm loving it! Everything is right on!
DON'T give up, keep the faith in CR and you and your wife will not have any regrets about what all your going through at the moment.

[medwards]

I spent all day sat tinkering, and at least five hours scrubbing, dipping and water change. Still needs work. But looks better than it has in while. I moved all the rock, removed settled detris, dipped all my polyps, shrooms and rics. Stired the sand bed, changed some water and repeat. My zoos are opening back up, execpt my lunars. They still have algea on them. Think I might lose em. Have to do another water change Tomorrow or tue. Salinty is low from where i keep it but in a pinch had to get water from a diff source. The water was at 1.21 and usually I keep it around 1.24 1.25. Temp is 76-78 degrees. Thought I would have a ammonia spike with all the disruption. Barely any last night and today is none. No Nitrite today. Have to get a new Nitrate test tomorrow. But Im really wishing to have them down to 100 or so. That would be half of what they were. Fish could care less and the corals are looking a lot better. Ph is 8.2. Calcium is 410. No Idea on phosphates But im sure they are high. Alk is 8 dqh. Alk is still new to me so not sure what that means exactly. Tank is brighter and might get some pics Later this week. Wont be as nice as the last batch but its progress. A little over a year in this hobby and now I start getting problems. Didnt have any of these problems when i started.

[MizTanks]

Your readings sound pretty good-you sure did a lot of work! What you got for filtration?

[medwards]

Well I upgraded the stock pump, a larger rio, not sure what size exactly, but about three times the output of the stock one. Instead of bio balls in the middle chamber, I use carbon pad on the top of the over flow/spill, phos pad, and floss and sometimes a little more carbon in a sock. Have two koralia power heads a nano and a 1. And of course the rock. I think about 35 to 40 pds. Also use the bio cube skimmer, but Im not sure how much that counts for as it doesent work that great.

[MizTanks]

This is the setup I have for my 8g for filtration-one of the best investments for my tank!

www.mediabaskets.com

[MizTanks]

Hey you guys what's up with ya'lls tank these days??

[medwards]

Well still been nursing the tank back. We replaced my wifes flame angel with a new flame angel. The cocoworm is doing great. Two full heads that look great. Moved some of the zoos to a growout tank downstairs. Algae is better but not under control yet. Pepermints have worked wonders on the aiptasia. Would love to take pics but we cant find the charger for the camera. Ill find it soon, I want to get pics of the frag/growout tank. And Im going to be starting a upgrade from my 72 gallon to a 135 gallon. Hope to have that running by may of next year. Ill keep the bio cube set up though. I love this tank. Plus you cant sell a bio cube. everyone wants to give you a $100 with all the live stock. So Ill keep this tank up and running.

[MizTanks]

Would you believe me if I told you that our LFS sold an 8g bio cube fully stocked for 500$-yup they sure did! Glad to see y'all didn't give up and are actually upgrading!!! Can't wait to see what's coming!

[cg5071]

i am doing the same with my coral frags and rocks. picking them up and "brushing their teeth" every few days. i have always had algae but with setting up a new tank and moving rocks around and going with a halide too, there is alot to scrub. when i knock the algae back some the kole tang and lawnmower blenny go crazy on the new shorter stuff. hehe they dont like each other so they are always working in opposite corners. keep up on it. it takes a bit to start doing it but when you are done cleaning for the day you are happy. at least i am. i thought all your corals looked good also.