mods on the way for my nano cube 12, any opinions...

[sweetriden76]

had my nano cube 12 crash about 6 months ago, and not it seems ok for the most part, but i just lost a new leather coral...also lost a bangai but it didnt eat from when I bought it till it died 2 days later, all other fish are fine and eating great, water tests good...so I am upgrading the tank since I dont have room for a larger tank...I already have a maxi-jet in it which doubled the flow rate through the filter, now I am adding a rapids canister filter for an additional 80GPH, and also am fitting two more 24 watt 50/50 bulbs for a total of 72watts of PC lighting...sound like a good plan for the nano?

[GuitarMan89]

overall sounds good. I would still be curious as to why the tank crashed and why you lost the cardinal and leather. Did they seem ok in the fish store?

[sweetriden76]

I am clueless as to why the leather died, never opened up after I acclimated it and put it in the tank, maybe I screwed but the acclimation and rushed it, or maybe it just wasnt happy in the tank...the cardinal seemed ok in the store, the owner did mention he fed it some guppies(dunno if thats ok to do or not)but once I got it home it wouldnt eat, showed no interest in brine flake or bio-blend pellet food I have, it died in two days...the three other fish are doing awesome, and so are my conch snail and electric blue hermit...I am supposed to be getting shrimp tomorrow, a skunk cleaner and 3 peppermints...so I'll see how they do...the crab and snail are in great shape so I dont see why the shrimp wouldnt be ok...

hey just thought of something, the owner of the LFS said the leather didnt do good until he moved it to the top of their frag tank, which the bottom of their tank probably is equal to the top of mine lighting wise with the single 24 watt 50/50, maybe it just didnt have enough light...

[baugherb]

Just watch the temp with that much light... I had trouble with 48 watts in my 12 gal nano cube dx.....

[sweetriden76]

thanks for the info baugherb, if it even ends up being half as good looking as your 5.5 I'll be happy, your coral looks amazing, got my canister filter running today, its a TOM mini rapids, works awesome, quiet(cant even hear it) lights were shipped today...anyone know how to get the hood off of a JBJ nano cube without breaking anything...it will be alot easier if I can take it off after I turn the lights out for the night then trying to do it while attached...man will the fish be shocked in the morning when I flip those babys on...oh update on the fish also, recieved my replacement bangai today, its smaller then the one that died which is a plus in my situation, also its eating already(only been in the tank 30 minutes or so)

[baugherb]

Thanks for your kind words...Tilt the top open all the way and pull out at the bottom. The bottom will come towards you and should come right off.. There's a horizontal pin one each side... I worked on mine on the kitchen table...LOL... Makes it tons easier.....

[sweetriden76]

yeah that was kinda my thoughts, get it away from the tank and water, somewhere I can do a decent job at craming everything in there...hopefully I get the lights this week now...the LFS got bought by some new owners who are getting in some very cool stuff coral wise, they are getting in alot of stuff that I havent seen around here in awhile...although I was a little displeased to see two manderin dragonettes in the tank today, I dont think people realize their requirements, although these owners are alot better then the last ones about informing people about what stuff feeds on...so it could be worse...anyway I'll update with pics after I get the lights...

[baugherb]

Sweet>>> Can't waite for those pics....

[omard]

Ummmm, have to agree with baugherb...that is one heck of allot of light for a 12 gallon....
(got to keep eye on or you will cook everything in it. Too much for most softies I think.)

Zoo's, mushrooms, kenya trees and even frogspawn do well in my 12 gallon NanoCube with only the 24w standard setup...even have a couple small anems in it.

My "Mods"

Lots of live rock, regular weekly water changes (at least 3 gallons), cleaning light lens weekly to free of any salt creep.

Replaced pump same as yours.

Carbon bag, piece of poly-filter, and small airstone in back chambers also contribute to increased water clarity and filtration.

Also rinse all filter media weekly when I do water changes....

Water params stay perfect despite being way overpopulated with 5 fish.

2 percs
jewel damsel
watchman goby
rainford's goby
CB Shrimp
Blood Shrimp
misc snails and hermits..

[sweetriden76]

I have a different piece of sponge in the first chamber, different larger carbon bag then the stock one, I do rinse that stuff often to remove large dirt, I have around 10-12 pounds of LR I do want to add more but they havent gotten any nice size/shaped stuff in yet. the 12DX has 48watts stock, and they have metal halide setups for them, so I hope 72watts isnt to much, I only have one ledge close to the surface so I figured with more power I could add corals other places as well. If I need to add another fan to the hood that isn't a big deal, Im pretty good with fabrication and electrical. anyway I'll def. keep and eye on it and do some of the stuff you mentioned and let you all know how it goes...