Oceanic BioCube 8 gallon nano!

[severum mama]

This is my birthday gift from my BF. I moved the contents of my 5.5 gallon nano into the BioCube last night, which unfortunately took about 5 hours.

The tank has PC lighting, one 18W 10k bulb, and one 18W actinic; plus, 2 built-in lunar lights. It's fan cooled, has external ballasts, and has separate switches for timers, which I plan to get soon. I went ahead and replaced the bio balls with LR rubble, but other than that am running the system with no modifications. The build quality of the tank seems really nice IMO. Here are some pics:

Zoo's

Rhodactis

Leather

Full tank shots:

Both bulbs

10K

Actinics

Lunar lighting

I'm excited to see how this will progress for me, although I'm holding off on new additions for a bit due to the move. The pics don't do it justice, especially the glow under the lunar lights!

What do you guys think?

 

[roka64]

I like it! Are you planning on a fish and some inverts?

 

[Sadielynn]

Sweet loving the rics

 

[Devilishturtles]

Awesome! I love the scaping!

What are your future plans with it?

 

[severum mama]

Thanks guys!

I'm not too sure what my future plans are for the tank as far as fish... I may decide to do just shrimp and coral, as I'm not sure I have the room for a fish. I kept a clown goby in the 2.5 for a while, then upgraded to 5.5, but I lost him unfortunately. So I'm thinking I may not add fish... but as you know it is tempting lol. I can get bumblebee shrimp and sexy shrimp easily, so I am considering those. But since the tank was just moved, I will hold off on new additions for a bit. Most of the LR I have came out of the original 2.5, which I set up in April, but it has moved twice since then. How long would you all wait before adding more coral? And do you have any cool suggestions? I've been considering a small frogspawn, small fungia plate, small candy cane, and of course more zoo's! But other than that, are there any other cool corals that I'm forgetting?

I realize that the coral I just listed will outgrow the tank, but that's no problem for me. I'm about to purchase a 50 gallon (36x18"), get it drilled, and start a reef with it so I'll be able to move stuff over by the time it gets too large.

And BTW, I was under the impression that I have rhodactis mushrooms and not ricordeas- if I'm wrong about this then I got an INSANE deal on them, lol. I thought I didn't have enough light for actual ric's. As always, any thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Sadielynn]

Nope those are rics /yumas care to share the weath LOL They look SPECTACULAR !!!Rics/yumas will usually adapt to many diffrent lights( rhodactis are in the same general family ) ... You could get away with 1 small fish like a goby , fire fish , or a small clown fish.... I would not put more than a clown and one small one in ... As for the corals they will out grow ,but you can frag them ....Plates are IME difficult and can move ...every thing else will be fine tho ... I have some true purple (yes they are really purple it is not the lighting ) Candy canes that I love .... it just split to 4 heads from the 2 that it had been .... I have 2 colonies of zoas for sale if you are looking for zoas (they are under PCs ....) I have them posted here in the classifieds they are about 5 inches or so ...

 

[An t-iasg]

I think the tank looks great! All this came out of a 5.5 gallon? I love the color of those little button polyps (2nd pic). If I get inclined toward SW, I'm thinking of a cube setup too.

 

[Sadielynn]

I think the tank looks great! All this came out of a 5.5 gallon? I love the color of those little button polyps (2nd pic). If I get inclined toward SW, I'm thinking of a cube setup too.

DO IT! come to the salty side

 

[severum mama]

Yeah, COME ON OVER!!!! hehe.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Looks great Sev!

 

[An t-iasg]

LOL...Well, I did attend MACNA XIX and I'm already registered for MACNA XX!

 

[Sadielynn]

LOL...Well, I did attend MACNA XIX and I'm already registered for MACNA XX!

Well then you are on your way to the salty side ......come join us

 

[severum mama]

Here's an update, 6 days after the move. The leather looks a lot happier now- I've seen a lot of polyp extension lately.

I tested the water yesterday.
SG= 1.025
pH= 8.0
ammonia= 0
nitrite= 0
nitrate= 10

Right after I snapped that pic, I did a water change, as I am looking to keep nitrate under 10.

I decided that the leather was too close to the top, so I moved it over a little bit. I'll post updated pics when the corals aren't so irritated about the water change, LOL.

 

[laniloo]

Beautiful! I love the setup and balance of colours.

 

[Sadielynn]

I still love the yuma /rics can I have some LOL

 

[lando]

Looking great!

 

[roka64]

Nice, what's the coral in the middle, nest to the leather?
Is that a bumble bee snail?

 

[Sadielynn]

Roka those are rics/yumas ... and nice ones at that ... that she refuses to share

 

[Devilishturtles]

Lookin awesome

 

[severum mama]

Hey guys, thanks! I couldn't get on last night for whatever reason....

Anyway, I've been told by an expert that the coral in the middle is a rhodactis species. I've been told by others that it is ricordia, so I guess I don't know lol. And yes, that is a bumblebee snail, actually I have 2. I've had them since the 2.5 gal in April. Is that a bad thing?

And Sadie- I have no problem sharing, ROFL! I just got them a couple weeks ago and at any rate, I don't know anything about fragging! I'm sure we could arrange a trade at some point in the future.

And I have fantastic news- I'm in the process of acclimating a frogspawn right now. I was advised that it would be safe to add since I've had most of the LR in various incarnations since April. I'm super psyched and I'll get pics up as soon as it looks normal, lol.