Dosing

Dosing:

• 1/2 cap each: Kent Tech*CB (A) and Kent Tech*CB (B)
• 1 drop: Lugol's Solution (Iodine)

Maintenance

Peformed a ~4 gal water change. Removed about 1 cup of algea.

Applied Epoxy a number of places to hold Live Rock frags in place for the Xenia to attach to - I have way too much as I haven't been harvesting it lately.

Feeding

Feeding:

• 2 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• NO DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton (because the tank has enough algea in the water
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods

Updated May 06's postings with pictures, and enhanced comments.

Feeding

Feeding:

• 2 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• NO DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton (because the tank has enough algea in the water
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods

Maintenance

Pulled out the old one and put in the first half of a new 4x8 Poly-Bio-Marine's Poly Filter.

Weekly dosing

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capful
• Kent Marine Concentrated Iodine Supplement - 1/2 capful

Feeding

Feeding:

• 2 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• NO DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton (because the tank has enough algea in the water)
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods

Maintenance, Cleaning, and water change

Cleaned the glass - which needed it bad!

Righted the yellow and orange Sun Corals (Tubastrea sp., or Epitonium sp.) which had fallen over.

Peformed a 4.5gal water change, which was really needed! Removed about 1 cup of algea.

Weekly dosing, and Feeding

Dosed:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capful
• Kent Marine Concentrated Iodine Supplement - 1/2 capful

Feeding:

• 2 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods

Weekly dosing

Dosed:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capfulK
• ent Marine Concentrated Iodine Supplement - 1/2 capful

Feeding, water change, observations, maintenance

Feeding:

• 2 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods
• 1 cube of Mysis shrimp

The yellow and orange Sun Corals (Tubastrea sp., or Epitonium sp.) look very good after the feeding.

Both Peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) showed for food, although not sure if one ate.

Still no sign of the Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica).

Performed 2.5gal water change. Pulled out the old one and put in the first half of a new 4x8 Poly-Bio-Marine's Poly Filter.

Moved the rock with the Orange Ball Corallimorph (Pseudocorynactis Spp., probably P. Carribbaeorum) into the cave under the main rocks, after two tries I couldn't quite get it to stay where I wanted it so I'm not sure where the polyps are; it'll get re-arranged in about a week when I move the tank anyway.

Traded-in remainders, purchased FW tank

Traded in the remaining liverock, plus my existing credit, for:

• Eclipse 3 Gallon Acrylic Aquarium System (for a Freshwater tank)
• 3 fake plants
• "background" paper
• "art" rock (sand)
• Decrative rock

I'll use this a replacement tank for my son when I move my Nano cube.

Identification of unknown Anemone/Corallimorph

A couple days ago a White/translucent/clear Polyps/Anemones, notably with "balls" on the end of some of the tentacles was noticed. The helpful people at http://www.nano-reef.com/ have identified it as a:

• Orange Ball Corallimorph (Pseudocorynactis Spp., probably P. Carribbaeorum)- sometimes incorrectly credited as an Anemone, should be fed, mostly reef safe, but can get big enough (6") to eat fish or mobile inverts (neither likely in most aquariums) or even attack nearby sessile inverts, may spread rapidy, fluoress under blue light. P. Carribbaeorum opens at night, and the Indo-Pacific species opens anytime. See http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/invert.htm

Of note, some have suggested it is a pest anemone (like Aiptasia) called the Majano anemone.

Additional inhabitant found, plus feeding, and turned the midday lights back on

Found the following in the "travel" tank after work and rescued it:

• 1/3" Tan Starfish (Class Asteroidea) - this makes 3.

Feeding:

• 2 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods

Lighting: Changed the Actinic "mid-day" lights down to just 3 hrs. New schedule:

• 0600-2100: "Daytime" 2 x 36w 10K/7.1K Combo PCs (72w total)
• 1200-1500: "Mid-day" 36w Blue Actinic PC, and T-5 (10W) Actinic Blue (46w total)
• 100-0600: "Nighttime/Refugium" 9w Blue Actinic PC, and 9w Daylight PC (18w total)

This also has the effect of turning on the the ICA Chiller circuit. I'll increase the midday lights again every week.

Updated April 06's postings with pictures, and enhanced comments.

Updated March 06's postings with pictures, and enhanced comments.

More on the new Inhabitants - all acounted for!

There was some shifting so I'll need to re-apply some Aquarium Systems/Marineland HoldFast when I buy more.

Amazing, one of the Peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) molted successfully.

Found the following in the "travel" tank this morning and rescued it:

• 1/3" Tan Starfish (Class Asteroidea) - he tells me there were 4-5 total, this makes 2.

Noticed the following "new" inhabitants:

• 5-6x White/translucent/clear Polyps/Anemones, notably with "balls" on the end of some of the tentacles. Hmmm, could be Aiptasia... He thinks they're not and the Peppermint Shrimp always ignored them.
  
  

Also, it turns out he forgot to mention the Powerhead was not part of the deal. Once I get the left-overs to the LFS I'll get it back to him.

Close-up of a couple tiny banded Brittle Stars (possibly Asterina spp):


Close-up of Toadstool leather (Sarcophyton sp.):

New Inhabitants from a friends tank

A guy from my job and his new wife are moving across country, and they weren't able to bring the tank contents of her 12gal Nano cube. For a fair price, here's what I acquired:

• 1x Toadstool leather (Sarcophyton sp.) about 3" tall
  
• 1x Yellow Stripe Maroon Clown (Premnas biaculeatus)
  
• 2x Peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) - will eat Aiptasia spp., but have been known to nip "clams, corals, and other cnidarians", keep well in pairs or groups and will reproduce.
• 2x Scarlet Hermits (Paguristes cadenati)
• He thought there might be some "real" snails, possibly a Bumble Bee Snail, but all I saw were a couple 1/4" mystery snails
• 4x Yellow and 1x Orange Sun Corals - not looking so good - apparently needs direct feeding (Tubastrea sp., or Epitonium sp.)
  
• 3x Smooth red Mushrooms (Zoanthids)
• 3x Smooth green Mushrooms (Zoanthids)

• 2x colonies of Brown Button Polyps w/ white centers (Zoanthids), one 3" across, one 1" across
  
• 1x Large (10") Green Brittle Star (Class Ophiuroidea) - I suspect when I find this in my tank next I'll snag it and trade it in at the LFS as it may chow on my smaller fish.
  
• Botryocladia spp. red algea - mostly juvenile
• 1/2" Tan Starfish (Class Asteroidea) - this wasn't mentioned and I only happened on him.
  

As a bonus I get the powerhead and another 5gal bucket.

The process:

They were removed from the tank and placed into a 5gal "travel" bucket with approximately 3gal of water in San Diego about 11pm Sunday night, and and transfered by car to our job site in El Segundo starting 3:30AM Monday morning. He placed them in my office and setup the powerhead. I took possesion of them around 8am, and placed an arm desk lamp over them - the lights not appropriate really but the Button Polyps seemed to respond.

I left work with them about 2:30am, and once home re-started the powerhead.

I performed a 2.5 gal water change - removed about 1/2 cup of algea (and "saved" 4 tiny stars, but lost at least one). I added 2.5gal of NSW to the water I removed from the tank and then dripped this into the "travel" bucket:

• 3:40pm - at 5gal mark
• 4:35pm - at 4gal mark - took 1/2gal out of the "travel" bucket
• 5:30pm - at 3gal mark - took 3/4gal out
• 6:30pm - at 2gal mark - took 1gal out
• 8:00pm - at 1/2gal mark - took 2gal out, added last 1/2gal

At 8:30pm started reviewing, selecting, and placing new inhabitants. Used a rock hammer to bust up a number of rocks to keep the selections small, as I don't need more Live Rock. I pulled out a bunch of the brown Kelp algea (including a 2" Bristle worm) to make room. Used the last half of my Aquarium Systems/Marineland HoldFast for the new inhabitants, plus 3x LR frags for the Xenia.

Finished 10pm. I was delighted to find I had no fatalities. So they were out of a real tank for almost 24 hrs.

Full Tank view with new additions:


Close-up of various new organisms:

The leftovers include:

• Quite a bit of Live Rock
• A couple small frags of Button and other Polyps
• 1 1/2cup of brown Kelp algea
• 2 large rock anemones (Aiptasia)

All this will go back to the LFS and see what credit I can get for it.

I turned off the "mid day" lights and will re-introduce them slowly as the the 12g Nano had only 48W of light (4W/gal, 40W/Sq.Ft.), and mine has 118W (4.9W/gal, 60W/Sq. Ft.).

Hair worm (Spionids Polychaete Worm):


SPS (possibly Porites?) with growing polyp colony (Order Zoanthidea/Zoanthids):

Feeding, and turned on ICA Chiller

Feeding:

• 2 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods

Noticed that the tank had hit 90-91F the last couple days so I connected the ICA Chiller circuit.

Weekly dosing

Dosed:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capful
• Kent Marine Concentrated Iodine Supplement - 1/2 capful

Feeding and Water change

Feeding:

• 2 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods

Performed 2.5gal water change.

Increased "mid-day" lighting to final state

Upped the Actinic "mid-day" lights by 1 hour. New schedule:

• 0600-2100: "Daytime" 2 x 36w 10K/7.1K Combo PCs (72w total)
• 1000-1700: "Mid-day" 36w Blue Actinic PC, and T-5 (10W) Actinic Blue (46w total)
• 100-0600: "Nighttime/Refugium" 9w Blue Actinic PC, and 9w Daylight PC (18w total)

This is the final state.

Dosing

Dosed:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capful
• Kent Marine Concentrated Iodine Supplement - 1/2 capful

Feeding

Feeding:

• 3 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2cap of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods
• A pinch of Aquatrol Spirulina 20 flakes

Feeding, and water change

Feeding:

• 3 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods & 1 cube of Mysis shrimp - they were eating slowly towards the middle of the amount, so I discarded the last 1/4.

Changed 2gal of water.

Modified dosing, replaced Iodine additive

Dosed:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capful
• Kent Marine Concentrated Iodine Supplement - 1/2 capful

Traded in more Pulsing Xenia

Traded in to Jims:

• 10-12 stalks of Pulsing Xenia on 3 Live Rock frags
• 1 Green Hairy Mushroom on 1 LR frag

Had to replace ~1/2 gal of Saltwater as tank water was used for the transport bags.

Bought:

• Kent Marine Concentrated Iodine Supplement
• Poly-Bio-Marine Poly filter

Feeding, and testing

Feeding:

• 3 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2cap of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods
• A pinch of Aquatrol Spirulina 20 flakes

Testing:

• Temperature = 78.9F
• SG = 1.0255 (unadjusted for temp) (NSW = ~ 1.026, ranging 1.022 -1.035 depending on the "sea") - often aquarists keep it 1.023

Additional dosing

Dosed:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capful

New lighting schedule

Upped the Actinic "mid-day" lights by 1 hour.

New schedule:

• 0600-2100: "Daytime" 2 x 36w 10K/7.1K Combo PCs (72w total)
• 1100-1600: "Mid-day" 36w Blue Actinic PC, and T-5 (10W) Actinic Blue (46w total)
• 2100-0600: "Nighttime/Refugium" 9w Blue Actinic PC, and 9w Daylight PC (18w total

Will increase the "mid-day" lights by 1 hour a week until they are about 6-8 hours.

Replaced Poly Filter

Pulled out the old one and put the remainder of 4x8 Poly-Bio-Marine's Poly FilterInstallation that was cut to 4x4.

Increased dosing, and mushrooms-a-plenty

Dosed:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capfulT

There are now 11 green hairy mushrooms (Order Corallimorpharia) and two more just split.

Testing shows low Ca & Alk, and higher pH

Using Salifert Profi Tests:

• Temperature = 78.7F
• SG = 1.026 (unadjusted for temp) (NSW = ~ 1.026, ranging 1.022 -1.035 depending on the "sea") - often aquarists keep it 1.023
• KH = 6.4, Alk = 2.29 Meq/L (NSW = 8 KH and 2.9 Meq/L)
• Iodide = ~0.1 ppm (NSW = 0.02-0.03 ppm)
• Iodate & Iodine = ~0.0 (NSW = 0.03-0.04)
• Calcium = 355 ppm (NSW = 400-425 ppm)
• pH = 8.3 (NSW = 8.1)
• Nitrate = 0.0 ppm as Nitrate Ion (NO3 Ion)

The Ca and Alk was too low, possibly contributing to the pH being a bit high.

I performed a 32oz Freshwater change to lower the SG.

I dosed:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capful

Tomorrow morning is the normal dosing day and I'll again add 1 capful.

I feed them two pinches of Aquatrol Spirulina 20 flakes.

The Starfish has died!

I bought the Sand Sifting Star (Astropecten polycanthus) back on 4/16/05 so its been 13 months. I was concerned yesterday when it was lying upside down and didn't seem to make much progress moving all evening.

I netted it out and it was only slightly deteriorated so I expect it didn't have an impact on the tank. Either way, I should check my water quality.

Water change

Water change:

• 2.5 Gal
• Used the Aqua Medic Reef Tweezers to remove a great deal of various smaller macro algeathat proved difficult to remove otherwise

New lighting schedule, and pictures

Upped the Actinic "mid-day" lights by 1 hour. New schedule:

• 0600-2100: "Daytime" 2 x 36w 10K/7.1K Combo PCs (72w total)
• 1100-1500: "Mid-day" 36w Blue Actinic PC, and T-5 (10W) Actinic Blue (46w total)
• 2100-0600: "Nighttime/Refugium" 9w Blue Actinic PC, and 9w Daylight PC (18w total)

Will increase the "mid-day" lights by 1 hour a week until they are about 6-8 hours.

Banded Brittle Stars (Asterina spp.?):

Bristle worm:

Updated February 06's postings with pictures, and enhanced comments.

Updated January 06's postings with pictures, and enhanced comments.

Feeding

Feeding:

• 3 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2cap of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods & 1 cube of Mysis shrimp - they were eating slowly towards the middle of the amount, so I discarded the last 1/4.

I used the turkey baster to put some of the macro food right into the Blastomussa wellsi colony . Once they "close" around the food, it noticed one of the "babies" is quite large now, almost as large as the smallest of the original polups. Since the "Salvadore Dali" Blasto frag is still wedged by the original colony but I was unable to determine if any of the tissue remains.

Water change, and observations

Water change:

• 2Gal
• Used the Aqua Medic Reef Tweezers to remove a great deal of various smaller macro algeathat proved difficult to remove otherwise.
• Removed about 1/2cup of Brown Kelp.

Observations:

• Saw the Stomatella Snail a day ago but the camera battery was dead so I couldn't get a shot.
• The temperature inside the hood, inside the splashguard, is measured at 116F. That's with 1 original fan, and the ICA fan both running at 9V. Sample taken 8pm with the 2 "Normal day" lights on.

Return to normal dosing regiment

Dosing:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1/2 capful
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1/2 capful
• Lugol's Solution (Iodine) - 1 drop

Feeding, and lighting schedule changes

Feeding:

• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods
• 1 drop of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap-fulls of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)

Upped the Actinic "mid-day" lights by 1 hour. New schedule:

• 0600-2100: "Daytime" 2 x 36w 10K/7.1K Combo PCs (72w total)
• 1100-1400: "Mid-day" 36w Blue Actinic PC, and T-5 (10W) Actinic Blue (46w total
• 2100-0600: "Nighttime/Refugium" 9w Blue Actinic PC, and 9w Daylight PC (18w total

Will increase the "mid-day" lights by 1 hour a week until they are about 6-8 hours.

Water change & maintenance, and feedings

Water change:

• 3.5Gal
• 32oz FW replacement (to lower salinity) Post SG = 1.0245 - no more adjustments necessary
• Used the Aqua Medic Reef Tweezers to remove a great deal of various smaller macro algea (~1/2 cup) that proved difficult to remove otherwise.

Feeding:

• 3 drops of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1 tsp of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• 1 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods & 1 cube of Mysis shrimp - they were eating slowly towards the middle of the amount, so I discarded the last 1/4. The normal bi-weekly feeding will be reduced to just 1 cube/feeder fish.

I used the turkey baster to put some of the macro food right into the Blastomussa wellsi colony . Once they "close" around the food, it was easy to see that there are 7 children around the base. I've noticed some before but now I have a good count.

Since the "Salvadore Dali" Blasto incident had resolved itself, I noticied the other day that the dropped frag still had a live piece of coral on it. I moved it up and wedged it (hopefully) by the original colony.

New lighting schedule

Upped the Actinic "mid-day" lights by 1 hour. New schedule:

• 0600-2100: "Daytime" 2 x 36w 10K/7.1K Combo PCs (72w total)
• 1200-1400: "Mid-day" 36w Blue Actinic PC, and T-5 (10W) Actinic Blue (46w total)
• 2100-0600: "Nighttime/Refugium" 9w Blue Actinic PC, and 9w Daylight PC (18w total)

Will increase the "mid-day" lights by 1 hour a week until they are about 6-8 hours.

Dosing

Dosing:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful (more than normal)
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capful (more than normal)
• Lugol's Solution (Iodine) - none

Feeding, and pictures

Feeding:

• 1 1/2 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods
• 1 drop of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap-fulls of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)

Blastomussa wellsi colony with children - collage:

Testing, and Dosing

Testing using Salifert Profi Tests:

• Temperature = 78F
• KH = 7.2, Alk = 2.57 Meq/L (NSW = 8 KH and 2.9 Meq/L)
• Iodide = ~0.08 ppm (NSW = 0.02-0.03 ppm)
• Iodate & Iodine ~0.0 ppm (NSW = 0.03-0.04)
• Calcium = 350 ppm (NSW = 400-425 ppm)

Alk and Ca are both low, so I did an extra dosing tonight. Still not sure why Iodide shows high, and Iodate & Iodine show very low.

Dosing:

• Kent Tech*CB (A) - 1 capful (more than normal)
• Kent Tech*CB (B) - 1 capful (more than normal)
• Lugol's Solution (Iodine) - none

Mystery "Nudibranch" is something else..., and further comments on the installation

The members over at www.nano-reef.com quickly identified that animal as a Stomatella Snail, which apparently is a great addition to my reef tank. What really seemed similar is many of the pictures I Googled show the same light/dark dashed thin rim around the edge of the shell.

Chris from www.nanocustoms.com replied back to me and explained that the 78W TEC included in the ICA could be run at a ful 12V/5A but they recommended 8.4V/2.5A to keep the heatsink below 105F. Unfortunately he didn't know the specs on the original JBJ blue LEDs.

(Nearly) Complete Installation

Installed:

• Nanocustoms ICA Chiller: Silicone Tubing 16", AC Adapter Variable 3-12v/ 1200mA AC Adapter, AC Adapter Variable 3-8.4v/ 2500mA AC Adapter
• NVM Moonlight Fix: AC Adapter Variable 3-12v/ 1200mA AC Adapter, Dual Harness, 2 Extra LEDs
• 3.36 series Nanocustoms Modded Lighting Upgrade DIY (for 2004 Nanocube 24DX) : w/ Bare Ballast, Additional T-5 (10W) Actinic Blue bulb/bracket/ballast, 1x PowerCompact 36w 10K/7.1K Combo
• JBJ PL36W Blue Actinic PC bulb, linear pin config

Notable:

• See Figures 1- 15 below.
• It took 10 hours to complete
• Was not obvious how to combine installation instructions for the ICA, NVM Fix/expansion, and 3.36 Lighting kit.
• Not sure the original problem (perhaps 1 bad LED) but ending up with two bad. Wired for the two working (1 new, 1 old), and have them operating at 6v.
• 3.36 Kit instructions written for the 2005 model, had to adjust for the 2004 splash guard (See Figures 6-8)
• Insruction Wire colors were different (because its a 2004?):
• End Cap RDX Cable Ballast
• Black <-> Brown <-> Red
• Black <-> Black <-> Red
• White <-> Blue <-> Blue
• White <-> White <-> Blue
• Hood wiring holes/cutouts (left to right from back - see Figures 10, 11, 13):
• existing notch used to route pump cord
• existing notch with pump gromet used for both ICA and FAN power
• 1st RDX existing hole w/strain-relief
• 2nd RDX existing hole w/strain-relief
• 3rd RDX hole w/strain-relief
• 7/16 hole for Size N coaxial panel-mount Jack (RadioShack #274-1576) used for Moonlights (thus avoiding cutting the DC power supply plug cord)
• 3/16" hole was intended for Moonlight leads, but not used
• existing notch on far right used for T5 Fixture, Heater, and Powerhead
• Splashguard was obscured by mineral build-ups. In sink, covered with two papertowels, soaked with vinegar, let stand for 30 mins, and then rinsed thoroughly (see Figure 2 vs Figure 6).
• Chiller and Fans wired to be on with main lights (see Figure 1)
• Used RadioShack (#64-3073) Insulated Telephone Butt Connectors (22-26 guage) for the Moonlight and Fan wiring.
• When installing ICA, used a single #6 lock washer (med. split, zinc) per screw to avoid sinking them to far into the hood (a method of cutting the screws was mentioned somewhere) (see Figure 8)
• Suggest mock-ing up the wiring completely a couple times prior to cutting, etc.
• All the PST power adapters use the "large" plug which is a 2.50x5.5mm
• Remove the ballast Fuse and used that opening for the power cord - the instructions made no specific mention of where the power cord enters (See Figure 9)
• Installed the ICA such that the input came from the Right side connected to the pump via ~6" of tubing into the 3rd chamber (right-most), and the output came from the left via ~10" of tubing wraping around to the tank return nozzel with its "elbow" aimed left. Used wire-ties to clamp down all four ends (See Figure 15).

Questions:

• What voltages are the original JBJ and the Nanocustoms replacement blue LED's?
• What was the small (not for JBJ Remote Disconnect cable) strain relief for?
• Suggestions on sealing between ICA and splash guard. There's an 1/8" gap (See Figure 8).
• How to reduce rattle of the new, more powerful, pump?
• How was 8.4V 2.5A decided for the Switech TEC 78w device?
• Recommendations on phasing in the new extra lighting? And how much total? I was thinking 1 hr of the Actinics the first week, then +1 hour each week until there's 6-8 hours.

Next steps:

• Adjust end caps in ~1/8" so they better clear the inset portion of the splash guard (See Figure 6).
• Need new large strain relief (sized for JBJ Remote Disconnect cable), and use on ballast for new RDX cable.
• Get 2 new Replacement LEDs.
• Put silicon inside the closed end crimps.
• Re-add the Moonlight switch on the hood, to control (when desired) moonlights (See Figure 4).
• Seal 1/8" gap between ICA and splash guard (See Figure 8).

Chiller Observations - ICA 8.4v, Fan 9v (shared with hood fan):

• 4:35pm - 77.7F
• 5:35pm - 77.0F
• 6:35om - 77.4F
• 7:50pm - 77.7F
• Note sure what to make of above - going to leave off as it doesn't need to be on at these temps and it may be fighting the heater.
• 12:35am - 78.0 (main lights off, fans off, ICA off)

Water change:

• 2.5Gal
• 32oz FW replacement (to lower salinity)
• Post SG = 1.0255
• Used the Aqua Medic Reef Tweezers to remove a great deal of various smaller macro algea (~1 cup) that proved difficult to remove otherwise.

Mounted some LR frags:

• 1 large pieces on the top rock by about 5 stalks.
• 1 piece on the original Xenia branching LR as there are 5 stalks there now (again).
• Was able to catch a 1" long Bristle worm and remove it.

Feeding:

• 1 1/2 "feeder fish" by California All Natural Pet Foods
• 1 drop of LiquidLife's MarinePlankton (made with Cyclop-eeze)
• 1/2 cap-fulls of DT'S LIVE Marine Phytoplankton
• ~1/10th tsp DT's Natural Reef Diet (Oyster Eggs)
• One pinches of Aquatrol Spirulina 20 flakes.

Observations:

• Noticed a new hitchhiker - it 1/2"-3/4" long, pale green, and I think it might be a Nudibranch, hanging around my Smooth Orange Mushroom Anemones (Corallimorpharia Actinodiscus) - I wonder what its eating?

• Have an identification for the red algea on the right side of the tank, Gelidium, a nuisance.
• Noticed something bright red, wide, and fuzzy(?) quickly dissapear back into the rocks, amid a cloud of red (that quickly dispersed). A quick search showed that "ink" may sometimes come from Sea Hares (Order Anaspidea, a type of sea slug, ink described as "purple" or sometimes "red"), or Cephalopods (Octopus, Cuttlefish, Squid - but this seems very unlikely). If it is a hitchiker Sea Hare, the good news is they are herbivores, but the bad news is the ink can be hazardous to the rest of the tank! Sea Slug Forum - Order Anaspidea Although I doubt it would be hiding in the rocks.

Figure 1: Modified Nanocube Electical block diagram

Figure 2: Original Nanocube 2004 24DX hood

Figure 3: Original Nanocube 2004 24DX hood heatshield

Figure 4: Original Nanocube 2004 24DX hood wiring

Figure 5: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - stripped down

Figure 6: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - Modifications - splash guard test fit

Figure 7: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - Modifications - splash guard cut around ICA

Figure 8: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - Modifications - splash guard cut around ICA test fit

Figure 9: Nanocube 2004 24DX ballast - modifications

Figure 10: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - complete wiring modifications

Figure 11: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - full modifications electrical and fit test

Figure 12: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - modifications in use on tank

Figure 13: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - wiring modifications from rear

Figure 14: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - modifications wiring "head-end"

Figure 15: Nanocube 2004 24DX hood - modifications ICA Plumbing

Trade-in of livestock, new equipment, and installation

Harvested and traded-in 8 medium Pulsing Xenia (Xeniid) on 4 LR frags, which paid for half of:

• Newtek 8 outlet power strip/7 event 24hr digital timer/alternating day/night outlets, model #SKM703
• JBJ PL36W Blue Actinic PC bulb, linear pin config
• 4x8 Poly-Bio-Marine's Poly Filter

Installation:

• Cut in half the Poly Filter and will install tomorrow night when I can monitor its effect.
• The bulb will be used during the hood construction this weekend.
• Measured opening of the Coralife Mini Aqualight 9" (which has 1 Daylight and 1 Actinic bulb) at 3.25" x 7.75" and cut an outline centered across the back two left sump compartments. A little late I realized the vinyl will peel nicely, so had to use WD40 to remove some remnant adhesive, then Windex to remove the WD40. Used 3M DouLock, "Clear Superlock Fastener" from Radio Shack, to secure the light against this cutout. Will need to apply some foam tape around the perimiter to avoid some light leakage.
• Set the NewTek Timer for daytime lights 6-9pm, and plugged both the Sump/Refugium light and main lights into the timer. The old timer will be used for the mid-day actinics.

Noticed tank water level was low in the sump because of the new surface skimmer, mostly because of the water used to harvest the Xenia. I topped off with about 32oz fresh water. I'll have to take notice of the sump level during water changes and daily top-offs.

Full Picture of the tank:


Window cut into Nanocube tank back vinyl:


View into tank sump - feather dusters and adhesive:


Back of Nanocube with sump light attached: