My Pet rock (aka What can I do with stuff sitting around)

[Felix T Cat]

I'm keeping my eyes out for a nice nano cube at a decent price locally and sitting here with a 12 gallon Eclipse AIO, bag of live sand unopened, spare heater, box of salt water salt and 2 very large pcs of bleached coral (from the previous owner of the 46 g I made freshwater) collecting dust soooo

I'm thinking of setting up a pet rock tank with this pc of coral, picking up a few small pcs of live rock locally and letting it do it's thing while I keep an eye out for a cube setup and then transfer everything over when I find one. The light in the eclipse is a F15T8 right now.

I'm guessing I would need an additional powerhead to improve the flow in the tank (which could always move to the new setup later) but does anybody else see any issues with my idea ?. I'll either be picking up an RO unit or grabbing some water from the local store to start with

I'm guessing it will take a while for the coral to "live" from a small amount of live rock and the live sand but is there any reason I couldn't add some small shrip or hermits to the tank for activity while I'm waiting ?. I know that fish or real corals would be a VERY bad idea until I get the cube.

I'm not in any kind of hurry for it, but figure that this would be a great pc of live rock in the end and would be far cheaper then buying a new pc. Am I out to lunch with the idea that the coral would get good growth on it ?

EDIT: forgot pic
http://www.thefelixfamily.com//images/Eclipse12g/12g%20rock.jpg

[Nolapete]

Looks like a great base to glue a bunch of frags to.

[redfishblewfish]

I’d get that block–of-a-rock curing so that when you get your cube, you're all set to throw it in the tank. Get-r-wet now!

[severum mama]

I'm guessing that the rock you have pictured there has dried out... if so, it will become live as you seed it with smaller pieces of live rock. You're right that you won't be able to add any coral for the time being.. the lighting on the Eclipse will be woefully inadequate for even softies. But, you're also right that you can get this live rock going in the Eclipse tank, and have it ready to go whenever you find a cube setup that you're interested in. I agree that you should add a powerhead for added circulation.

Just as an aside... I hope you're aware that the Cube tanks with the PC lighting will only provide you with enough light to keep softies like leathers, shrooms, zoas, etc., as well as some easy lps like candy cane and frogspawn. The only way you'll be able to keep any sps is if you find an HQI cube setup. Have you tried Craigslist? I see all in one setups listed all the time.


Good luck! :)

[Felix T Cat]

I'm keeping a constant look on craigslist, unfortunately AIO's aren't on very often in my next of the woods.

Thanks for the feedback though. I think this weekend i'll mix up some water and get it going.

Oh and it was dry for over a year when I got it so definitely not live anymore. The other pc I have is really cool as well but won't fit in at the same time unfortunately.

[severum mama]

Have you tried ebay for local pickup? True, I see more ripoffs than anything there, but I guess it's worth a shot. :)

Also, just so you know, occasionally you run into a sweet deal at a lfs so keep your eyes peeled. I got my Biocube 8 for 99.99 after $25 mail in rebate. The same shop had the Biocube 14 for $149.99 and the 29 for $199.99 (after rebate). Well worth it IMHO.

[Felix T Cat]

Oddly enough right after this I found a 12G Aquapod for sale locally I'm going to pick up and start with this coral (lol, measured the coral and I think it will fit).