Periette's Reef (14g Biocube)

[Periette]

Well, I wanted to start a journal of my progress so here goes. I am in the initial stages of cycling - rock just went in last night (25 lbs., yep, of Tonga Fusion from Pacific East Aquaculture). Since I live in Baltimore, shipping was only $15 overnight (yay!) so I'm really happy with the shape and what will become of the coraline/color. It's pretty cool looking. Pics follow further in thread. I am not new to the hobby; however, this is my first attempt at a nano. My previous experience was a 125g SPS reef and a 55g sump/refugium. I had to break it down when I moved to the east coast 2.5 years ago. Naturally, I caught the bug again but since I live on the 3rd floor and am space-strapped, I opted for a nano. So, my story begins...

 

Here was my initial attempt for a stand. I wanted something that could fit the space and store all of my intended equipment (auto top off, Aquacontroller Jr., auto water changers - from fellow nano-reefer's mod, electrical and so on). The sizing looked good but it was no where near stable enough and I quickly realized this wasn't going to cut it so back to the store it went.

 

 

Since I like to overwhelm myself, I scheduled the rock to arrive nearly simultaneously with my new entertainment center's delivery, which was my new solution for housing all of the equipment (expensive but brilliant). I picked it up at Pier One along with the new stand. I strongly recommend having a party with two cats, two delivery men, and a box of live rock - makes for a very exciting Friday evening, let me tell you. Oh, and then there was the complete reorganization of all of my wiring for the TV/DVD/Cable/Speakers - and I'm no AV girl! I had to take a picture AND mark every cord - still took me about 2 hours to get everything in place and, frak, my TV's heavy. All of my reservoirs/top off/water exchange/electricial, etc. are stored in the lower part of the entertainment center. Here is the new storage all set up.

 

 

So far, here is my equipment/livestock list:

 

Equipment

· Oceanic 14g Biocube

Modifications:

-Chamber 1 exit - larger to allow more flow

-Removed bioballs; installed Live rock in all chambers

-Upgraded to Maxijet 1200 in chamber 3

-Intend to add small bag of media after skimmer exit w/Purigen and Chemi-Pure and Seagel for water polishing - after cycle is complete)

 

· Sapphire Aquatics Nanoskimmer NC12 in chamber 2

· Maxijet 1200

· Hydor Flo (not yet installed)

· Eheim-Jager 50 watt heater (not yet installed)

· Aquacontoller Jr.

· Nanotuners 3.24 Lighting/fan upgrade (72 total watts: 10k, Actinic, 50/50)

· ATO for auto-top off

· Reef dosing pump for auto saltwater exchange

 

Livestock

· 25 lbs. live rock (Pacific East Aquaculture)

· 12 lbs. Tropic Eden Aragasnow

 

Now, on to a few tank pics of my aquascaping. The rocks are partially resting on the back wall (only touching a few places, which was unavoidable in a tank this size, I think). I am going to put an extra powerhead (still researching) behind the rock running along the back wall but I want it hidden so it will be small. I will be picking up some Aquamend from Home Depot to solidify the structure, though it's pretty stable right now.

 

Moonlights:

 

Actinics:

 

Full lights front:

 

Full lights angle:

 

Full lights left side (it's not a rock pile, BTW):

 

The entertainment center is on the right side of the tank and so it's not fully exposed. I can view it but can't get a full side pic. That's it so far! I will update later when something more interesting happens (don't want to bore the world w/my daily parameter readings).

[BytheSea]

Nice rock work I like the caves you have made with the rock.

[Periette]

Thanks, BTS. It sort of took shape because I never could build a structure outside the tank - I just let my creative juices go and that's how it ended up, which I like very much. There are plenty of hiding places (good for the inhabitants but I'll be on a search, I'm sure).

 

Just got done moving wires around after drilling some new access holes in the back of the entertainment center. I'm about to order some new water containers because the ones I bought from Walmart aren't going to fit like I want. $$$ more and more and more.

[zach9824]

I like that rock work! Your cave looks better than mine...

[Periette]

, Zach. Here's how it looks now after moving some things around. It really looks like a skull, I think but will be better for placing corals with a few more nooks and crannies than before. Ignore crap pic quality - taken w/my Sure Shot.

 

 

Test results:

 

Ammonia <.25

Ph 8.2

Nitrite .5

Nitrate 15

[Periette]

AND finally got my refractometer in - salinity was WAY high - frakkity frak frak. I did an emergency water change with a low-salinity mix. Thankfully, nothing's in the tank or I'd be flipping out.

 

Taking it slowly.

[Periette]

Well, all's leveled out now. SG is 1.024. Now, I'll have to see, if anything survived the high salinity. No matter, really. I'm going to pick up some live sand so that will add the pods and such.

 

I also went ahead and installed the Tunze Nanostream 6025. It's pointed right at the rock and there's a lot of action in there now. I think I will have it turn off automatically at night and leave it on for a portion of the day (6-8 hours maybe). Can't wait for my Aqua Controller Jr. to get here so I can automate everything! My auto-top off is working flawlessly, as well. My next project is to get the auto salt water exchange set up because I will be gone for 2 weeks and would like to keep everything nice and steady.

[PseudanthiasVentralis]

I love the rockwork...

[Periette]

Thanks, PV! It's changed a little bit more due to the placement of the Tunze Nanostream. Nothing drastic but I had to balance a few things out then I used some Aquamend to give the rock more stability.

 

Well, I've also been wrestling with my Sapphire Aquatics NC12 skimmer in the 2nd chamber. I was originally using the sturdy plastic shelf (originally in the chamber) but it raised the level of the skimmer too high so the lid wouldn't close and it didn't skim properly, anyway. I emailed Kyle from Sapphire and he mentioned another BC owner using the shelf that "floats", which I tried. It worked but tentatively because it didn't hold well and the skimmer would often fall down along w/the float shelf - just couldn't hold the weight. So, long story short, I decided to cut apart the original (sturdy) shelf and get it to a size similar to the float one. After much flying plastic, I got it done and now the skimmer is steady and not going anywhere. Whew! Glad I can retire that bit of pain and thank God for my Dremel. Hmm, I might be able to put some Chaeto back there now that I know my skimmer's not going anywhere...

 

Now, if I can just get my heater to stick to the wall in chamber #1, I'll be happy for atleast 15 minutes.

[Periette]

Okay, an update! The Tunze Nanostream is out. I had to pull it because it was too much flow. I'll keep it, though, for another tank - I imagine I'll eventually get a 29 or 30 gallon at some point.

 

Well, the tank cycled fairly quickly. So, after letting it hang out awhile empty except for rock and sand, I went to pick up a small CUC from my local reef store today. I added 10 nassarrius snails, 2 orange turbos (very small - will trade in when they outgrow the tank), 2 blue leg hermits, 1 small emerald (same on trade-in). Everthing acclimated well and all are working on cleaning up the tank.

 

Here are some pictures:

Inside the hood (upgraded lighting - now 72 watts; Chamber #3: Maxijet 1200 for return to Hydor Flo, float switch to ATO; Chamber #2: Sapphire Aquatics NC12 skimmer, live rock rubble, Purigen on top of rubble, shaved down large shelf to place skimmer - floating shelf would not support, expanded plastic to accommodate skimmer; Chamber #1: Eheim-Jager 50w heater, Ph-probe, temperature probe, expanded overflow - may need to make smaller):

 

Supplies/electronic equipment storage at bottom of entertainment unit (still need to connect tubing and set up auto-saltwater exchange - reef dosing pump to the right):

 

ATO w/pump:

 

Electronic set up (Aquacontroller Jr., ATO, DC-8 and heavy-duty powerstrip plugged into GFCI):

 

Final aquascaping (moved/added rock back to block/reroute Hydor Flo to avoid blowing sand out of the front left corner):

 

Buster the busy, enterprising emerald crab:

 

Frick or Frack (one of the orange turbos - cool!!!):

[RayWhisperer]

Love the orange turbo.

 

Put that Tuze back in! If your crab can hold on, it's not enough current!

LOL!

[Periette]

Yeah, right! It was a whirlwind in there and I figured I'd give my future Tailspot Blenny a break!!!

 

So, cool. I ended up w/3 blue hermits - 1 is super tiny and in a nassarius shell. Everybody's busy cleaning up the junk even though I don't have a big amount. Sand looks pretty good.

 

I have the skimmer shut off right now because I think the epoxy has freaked it out. It's either that or the flow is too high coming from the overflow. I might have to score a piece of acrylic and glue it back to ease it up a tad. Hmmmmm...

 

I also placed an order w/Fraggle Reef last night for some zoos, a candy cane and a few other things - all very small. Saves me the trouble of having to frag too quickly. It's gonna be great to have more color in the tank!

[RayWhisperer]

Blennies are strong swimmers, it wouldn't have a problem.

 

As for the skimmer, I don't know how the BC's are set up.... But, I will say, let the tank be for a month or so, then turn the skimmer on.

[Periette]

Okay, that's no problem. I have everything (except my fans - hey, I should put them on the AC Jr., too, now that I think about it) on the AC so it's an easy on/off. I am so happy I bought another one to control the tank as it makes life so much easier.

 

I'm having a problem calibrating the Ph probe so will be calling Neptune for some insight.

 

The problem w/the skimmer that I'm having (was okay before the epoxy) is that it's filling up too high so blows the top right off and water just spills everywhere. Since it was working okay before, I can only assume it's the epoxy. However, no worries since things are looking good. The Purigen bag polished the water straight away and it looks really great. The bits of algae and other matter are being addressed by the CUC so all's going well.

 

I'm not opposed to the flow of the Nanostream but it was HUGE in the tank. That part was bugging me more than anything. I still love the PH but will most likely use it in another tank where I can hide it.

[RayWhisperer]

It's kinda late now, but you could have done something like this..... Minus the fuge.

[Periette]

Yeah, I realized that too late. However, I think the MJ12 puts out quite a bit of flow. I will plan for more in a bigger tank. I'll tell you what I'd love to do is put a Hagen Aquapure on the back for a fuge...I am just unsure of how it could be done well given the electrical lines for the ballast/lights, how I'd fit it in w/the skimmer and lastly, the water line is really too low in the last chamber to accommodate it. I love the idea, though, but guess it's better suited for a standard tank.

 

Oh well. I can't have EVERYTHING.

[clifford513]

Tanks looks great!

[jcvkang]

how do you like the nanocustoms upgrade 3.24 with the R2 mod? i just ordered it and will be waiting for it to arrive in the mail. your input will be appreciated. thanks!

[rleon3003]

I love that rockwork!!!! it looks good!

[rayraynlindy]

Yes,yes, please tell... how do you like the light upgrade? I am so looking forward to getting the extra cash to order one. I have been waiting for another biocube 14 owner, it seems that everyone seems to go wqith the 8 or 29 and there aren't tons of biocubes out there yet. Yeah, I have a Rio 600 with a hydor flow in my tank and it is doing wonderfully so the MJ 1200 should be plenty on it's own. Oh yeah and my skimmer does the same thing but I have the cheapy fission nano skimmer. I set up my tank on Nov 6th and I now have crazy live stock and quite a few corals in it. Everything is doing well. Oh yes and the tailspot blenny thing....have ya seen one in person. They look cool online and I have been planning on getting one. I wanted to get an opinion from someone who had atleast seen one in person though. Yeah, so get back to me on the whole light upgrade. Here's a pic of the tank.

[Periette]

Hi, everyone. I really like the lighting upgrade! Installing it was fairly easy, I'd say - I did it myself and only had a small issue w/the fans but that was because I had the connector turned backwards! An easy fix. Now, there's plenty more light in the tank and the corals I have look happy so far.

 

As for the tailspot blenny, no, I haven't seen one in person, unfortunately. There was a thread on here for blennies and I saw some more pics of the little guys. They are my favorite blenny so I am still planning to get one.

 

Hey, your tank looks very pretty, Rayraylindy. I'm planning to add some xenia because it looks great for movement. I've been thinking on placement because I don't want it to take over the world. Sand's a good idea but I don't have too much real estate there.

 

I'll post a FTS later today when the lights come on but my frags are very small!

[jimbro]

Tank looks great Periette, esp the rockwork. Dont forget the closeup shots of the frags too

[serkel]

ya pics plz pics yaya

[Xpistos]

What fish store do you go too. Have you ever been to exotic aquatics?

[RaSooch]

The tank looks great. I also have a 14g BC and did the same upgrade to the lights but opted to stay with the stock moon lights. I also have the sapphire NC12 in the second chamber and plan on getting the HOB 14" fuge once it becomes available.

 

Kepp up the good work and I look forward to seeing more.