34gal Solana pipefish, goby cube

Yesterday i purchased and today after work i brought home a 34gal Solana all-in-one cube tank by Current-USA. its a beautiful tank but i was a bit supprised when i realized it was 34 gal and not 25, called a Solana not an Eco cube... huh... whatever 9 more gallons and such a similar design i bet they are the same product just different sizes.

Alrighty heres some pics for ya





man that takes alot of desk space.... being two inches bigger really does make a difference



my plans so far are to have this tank set up for Pipefish, tiny gobies and tridacnid clams. (just maxima and crocea due to size) as far as corals go i would like to have this tank dominated by zoanthids but adding corals is a slow process so i cant even begin to guess what this tank will look like in a year...

tomorrow i need to
-fill the tank with tap water to test for leaks.
-look into the light situation. i am going to use my 250w halide but i would also like to have some moon light type leds for sunrise/sunset
-Draw up plans for a 2.5 gal QT tank
i plan on coming up with the aquascape i like and drilling holes through the rocks and adding fiberglass rods to hold them in place, and adding the rock to the tank. no more landslides killing off things in the night :glare:
tenative stock list again with the comon names next to the scientific

Pipefish:
Doryrhamphus excisus (Bluestripe Pipefish) <------ For sure
Corythoichthys haematopterus (Dragonface Pipefish) <- was told by an experienced individual that both species can get along well in the same tank

gobies:
these two are similar enough that it more or less depends on whats in stock at the time... but its one or the other
Amblygobius rainfordi (Court Jester Goby, Rainford's Goby)
Amblygobius hectori (Hector's Goby)
Coryphopterus personatus (Masked Goby)
Eviota pellucida (Gold Neon Eviota Goby) <---- for sure
Trimma cana (Red Striped Goby) <---- for sure

discordipinna griessingeri (spikefin goby, Flaming Prawn Goby) I really like this one but its so tiny i worry it may be picked on or eaten.. i will have to read more into this....
Stonogobiops yashia (Yasha Hase Shrimp Goby) second choice after discordipinna griessingeri
Stonogobiops nematodes (Hi Fin Red Banded Goby )
Amblyeleotris wheeleri (Wheeler's Watchman Goby)
Paragobiodon lacunicolus (Panda Goby) <---- saw one in a super nano today while picking up the tank.. i never realized how neat they look. so this one is a maybe.

other suggestions:
Serranus tortugarum (Chalk Bass)
Apogon leptacanthus (Longspine Cardinalfish, Threadfin Cardinalfish)
Coryphopterus glaucofrenum (Cave Transparent Goby) <----- does this one sift the sand like a Valencienna puellaris (Diamond Watchman Goby)??
Inverts:
Lytechinus vaniegatus (pincusion urchin)
Echinometra la****er (rock boring urchin)
Neopetrolisthes ohshimai (porcelain crab)<--- only if i cant get the blue spot porcelain crab
Petrolisthes spp. (blue spot porcelain crab)
Scarlet hermet crabs 2 <--- maybe
Thor amboinensis (sexy shrimp)<--- maybe
Lysmata debelius (fire shrimp) <---- not sure about these
Tridacnid maxima
Tridacnid crocea

thats a tenative list so far, i need to go through and check who will get along with who and who eats what, how big they get and such fourth.
well i am excited to have a tank again

Alright, the tank has offically passed its 24 hour leak test

so far i really like this tank, it runs very quiet (an airpump is probally as loud or louder) and is pleasing to look at even when just a glass box full of tap water.
the skimmer though... that is a mess that i will have to work out later. i have a strong hunch that it will never work well as to empty it you take off the entire top and then when you put it back in you have to mess with it again to get the right foam level... its also noisy so if i do use it it will be on a timer so it runs while i am at work then shuts off while i am home.
anyhoo...
Here is the rock i had to work with before

and here is the rock i dug up today. i forgot i had it :scratch: (its wet because i was spraying it with the hose) its not to much more but it was just enough


and heres a scape that i conjured up with it. making a scape for this tank has proved difficult. i wanted to have at least two inches between the glass and the rock so that i can clean the glass easier. but that means that i am stuck with a working space of 15"x15"x15" and thats hard to not have any shadows yet make wide flat places for crocea clams




i duno if i am happy with it but thats the result of playing rock tetris for several hours.. i may rework it a bit..

The water cleared up as much as i think its going to until the biological filtration takes hold and i start doing water changes sooo heres some pics.. enjoy








carbonated water worked like a charm to remove the cloudiness from the water




Heres my next challenge... i want to make a hood to shield the halide from lighting up my entire room, blinding me and my animals, and to hide the cords and moonlights. but i dont want to have the hood touching the tank so it will be hanging 7 or so inches above the tank from this celing... that light may or may not be in the way... i kind of think its fine where it is.

So far for my janatorial staff i am planing on once my tanks cycle levels out:
(thats right, for everyone reading this that's either new or doesnt know, "cycling" your tank never ends its a constant well cycle, it just takes time to get it going and stable)
1- Lytechinus vaniegatus (pincusion urchin)
1 Echinometra la****er (rock boring urchin, Short Spine Urchin)
2- Paguristes cadenati (Scarlet hermet crabs)
a few Nassarius sp. (Nassarius Snail)
1- Strombus spp. (Fighting Conch)

and the order i am thinking about adding them to the tank in are as follows
2- Paguristes cadenati (Scarlet hermet crabs)
a few Nassarius sp. (Nassarius Snail)
wait a week or more
1 Echinometra la****er (rock boring urchin, Short Spine Urchin)
another week or so
1- Lytechinus vaniegatus (pincusion urchin)
6 months or more to let the sand bed mature
1- Strombus spp. (Fighting Conch)

i think that should do it for a clean up crew, but if anyone feels otherwise let me know..

anyhoo on to the fish.
i dont know what fish i should add first, but heres the list ive wittled down to. (again waiting until the tank stabilizes before adding anything)
Pipefish:
Doryrhamphus excisus (Bluestripe Pipefish)
Corythoichthys haematopterus (Dragonface Pipefish)
gobies:

Amblygobius rainfordi (Court Jester Goby, Rainford's Goby)
Eviota pellucida (Gold Neon Eviota Goby)
Trimma cana (Red Striped Goby)
discordipinna griessingeri (spikefin goby, flaming prawn goby)
Stonogobiops nematodes (hi fin red banded Goby )
Paragobiodon lacunicolus (Panda Goby)
other suggestions:
Serranus tortugarum (Chalk Bass)
Apogon leptacanthus (Longspine Cardinalfish, Threadfin Cardinalfish)
ive recently been looking into Assessor flavissimus (Yellow Assessor, Golden Basslet, Flavissimus Basslet, Yellow Basslet) as a fish to fill the open water space in the tank, does anyone have any experience with them?

Right on Keith, how soon do you expect to add a critter to it and what is the first to add?

um, i am pretty sure by monday i should be able to start slowly adding stuff. i think i am going to start out with as i said 2- Paguristes cadenati (Scarlet hermet crabs)
and a few Nassarius sp. (Nassarius Snail)
as for fish the first ones i will probally add are tryssogobius colini (tiny dartfish) i forgot to add those to the stock list.
http://www.animal-image.com/MarineFi...MGo_Ap15AE.php

hopefully i can find someone who can order them and hopefully they arent expensive

Contact Les at www.wetpetshawaii.com he may be able to find them.

how much would shipping be from Hawaii be?

The LFS near by i beleive orders from a company called Quality marine and they carry that fish... though wild caught and i dont know about the availability..

I just got a few fish from Les and shipping to me was like $20

He is cheap on shipping

humm... then i may see what else he can order in as well.. should i say you sent me?

LOL yeah he knows me.

Pipefish

Have one of these pretty cool to watch!!

So the carbonated water clears up the cloudiness?

yessir, though i have no idea how... ask Spinycheek... hes the one who suggested it

Humph thats pretty cool

Wow thats cool half to remember that one

Thats is a cool trick. I think spiny explained how it worked before but i cant remember

Originally Posted by spinycheek

Because I was getting frustrated with the lack of results from countless water changes trying to wash 110 pounds of sand, I looked for a better method. Remembering that CO2 reacts with calcium carbonate to form soluble bicarbonate, I tried a little experiment with adding CO2 to dissolve the colloidial calcium carbonate that makes the water so cloudy, this is what I found:
First I tried using sparkling water (carbonated water) since I had an unused 2 liter bottle of it. I grabbed two glasses of the cloudy wash water. To the glass on the right, I added about 1/3 cup sparkling water. To compensate for dilution, I added 1/3 cup regular tap water to the glass on the left. As you can see, the sparkling water did a remarkable job of clearing up the cloudiness:

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the 29 gallon tank before adding the rest of the sparkling water to it, but it also drastically reduced the cloudiness. I didn't have quite enough sparkling water to finish the job, so I went to the grocery store and got a couple pounds of dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide gas). I plopped the dry ice in the tank and waited til it disappeared, just as I'd hoped, the water got super clear!! This really saved a lot of time and effort and frustration.
Added dry ice, you can see the cloudiness of the water

After Dry ice:

yeah heres his explination

yep, that would be the explanation.

Thanks Keith and spiny