My 12g Nanocube (Take 2)

[riff]

Trying this again. My first attempt looks like an empty post for some reason.

Hey everyone -- just starting out in this hobby so feel free to call me a super noob. I got my live rock and other hardware from Jim & Russ (House of Fish) this Saturday. They delivered to my place and helped me set up the tank up for a very reasonable price. The rock is beautiful and came with all kinds of hitchhikers (more on that later). I highly recommend House of Fish!!

Okay, now to the tank. I am running it with stock lighting, the sponge that it came with, and a 50w stealth heater. No thread is complete without pictures so here you go (I need to upgrade my camera so I apologize for the quality of some of the pics)

Here is the tank:

I have counted about five snails. Here are a couple pics I took of them:

And now for some other life - not 100% sure what these are -- but research has given me a couple clues. I'd appreciate any help in identifying these:

Mini Brittle Stars ?? - I have tons of tentacles popping out of the live rock. Here's a pic of one.

Is this a button polyp?

No idea what this is -- is it bad??

A bristle worm, I presume.

I've found some other interesting stuff that I'll post pics of later. I believe there's a mysid shrimp in there, but he likes to hide all the time.

I tested the water today. Here are the results:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 5-10
PH: 7.8
Temp: 80.4

I love the tank so far! I can just sit and watch it all day long. I can't wait to add more stuff to it (don't worry -- I plan on going slowly). Comments and suggestions are most very welcome.

 

[House of Laughter]

riff, thanks for the props and man that looks nice

yes, button polyp and a small piece of green poccilipora (SPS)

Must have attached awhile ago when I had it in that tank. Sorry for all the hitchhiker the freebies :splitspin

Enjoy it a good luck.

House

 

[marki24]

Yeah that is a bottom polyp

 

[riff]

Ahh, thanks for the help identifying the green poccilipora (SPS). I was told that I can't have SPS with the tank's stock lighting. The tank came with 2 24W CF lamps. So will it most likely die? :sad2:

 

[rookie07]

I dont like sponges in those nanos, b/c, when you try to take the sponge out, youmust squeze it, forcing out all the "crap" that was in it.
I had a 24 gl aquapod for about 5 months(before upgrading) and I had nothing in those back chambers except my heater and skimmer(skimmer is a must).
MH lighting really increases the type of corals you can get, but then you also need a chiller...it just never ends...
Frogspawn and Hammer are cool corals, i think you can get them w/ CF lights.

I think your camera is fine. Personally I'd wait on that till the end.
Im also new in this hobby, since aug 07. So, I might be an idiot, keep that in mind.
Best of luck,
Phil

 

[riff]

I'm not a huge fan of the sponges either. I've heard people use filter floss instead. I'm considering picking up some of that. I moved some of the rocks around today and found something new!! :spin:

Any clue what it is:

 

[DonCisco]

Get rid of the sponge, it is nothing but a bacteria magnet. Get a skimmer ( I have the saphire aquatics), I have the floss and it works fine. you can always get some LR rubble, and put in one of the holes in the back. I've had a 12G Aquapod... for almost 2 yrs and it is great

 

[House of Laughter]

DON!!! Good to see you man!

Riff, it's a tube worm - forgot that was on the rock- did I bury it when we scaped? and did you rescape?

Lets see the pics.

House

 

[Bob 1000]

Wow all of the things on your rocks I have as hitch hikers also.. And after 2 years I find out on this thread that the green tentacles that were in my sump for a year are green pocilloporas.. Thanks I have 2 of these

 

[riff]

Hey there, I did move some rocks around. I wanted to get the polyp and sps more light. I'm not that happy with the new aquascaping. I'll do some readjusting and take more pictures soon.

Is a skimmer really a must? I've read lots of threads that say you don't need a skimmer with this tank (so long as you do regular water changes). Also, I never really noticed the tank cycling. Ammonia and nitrites have stayed at 0. Nitrates are at 5-10. Any ideas on what's happening?

On another note, I found a huge creepy worm today. I think it's over 6 inches. Is it fine to keep or should I get him out?

Keep the advice coming!

 

[House of Laughter]

Riff, it's Jim /House

whao, there's that bristle worm -

Some people hate em, some people like em - I personally like em and have em in every tank (display and holding). JMO - up to you if you want to get him out - for sure you won't be able to keep a natural predator of them (wrasse) as the tank is too small.

Enjoy!

House

 

[jejton]

Nice start, welcome to the club. I had a nano at work for almost a year. They are fun but if you stock it past the bare minimum, you'll really have to keep up with the water changes, and if you upgrade the lighting, you'll have to be good with top-offs or use an ATO. Besides this great site, there's another one dedicated to nano's - www.nano-reef.com ( mods is that allowed, if not, just delete ) where you can get some good ideas. Many of the people there skip the use of a skimmer and rely on the LR and good waterflow ( you might want a PH in the tank to give better and random flow ) . In the back, alot of people just keep some lr rubble in one chamber and maybe some chaeto in another.

 

[riff]

Thanks for the tips. I know about the other forum, and I've been reading there as well as here. I'll leave the worm in the tank. I wouldn't want to try catching him anyway. I found a couple more things today:

This has been sitting in the same spot all day today. No idea what it is.

Some brown tentacles coming from under a rock:

And lastly, I believe an asterina star on the glass:

 

[aaron23]

hahah veryyyy cool thread and post of pictures. GREAT START!!! Buying that rock from HOF seems to have been very beneficial.. All of these hitchhikers are outstanding i remember when i use to stare at my tank for all of the little workers in my tank gosh it was fun

those brown worm things crawling are spaghetti worms they're great and very beneficial

 

[rookie07]

I had the sapphire aquatics skimmer also(I wasnt a huge fan)
You should get another powerhead for the display, I had a koralia. (I even upgraded the original pump in the rear chamber, doubled the GPH) thats what I did.
Some LR rubble in the rear chamber is a good idea. I would think cheato would die without alot of lighting(I mean hours not strength).

Make sure you buy extra shells when you eventuall buy hermits, I didnt do it for a while, and I kept putting it off, think of it in advance, and you can get some very nice shells.(Just a thought)

 

[riff]

A new day, more things and more questions!

I saw this star-like thing crawling on the sand yesterday.

And today I find an asterina star?? attached to a snail. Is he hurting the snail. Should I pick him off?

And I also found what I believe is a stomatella varia.

 

[reefman]

your setup looks good. not surprise with hof help.
the bristle that size may b a problem in the future n the ast. star can mutiply quick n infest the tank. do some research on the hitchhiker sticky here.