Beginning Setup, 14gal BC Options

[Lnm130]

It is my first post, and I just picked up a new-to-me Biocube tonight, and wanted to run down what I want to do, hoping you all will pick up anything wrong I may be doing. This isnt my first venture into fishkeeping, nor my smallest, but my first saltwater tank.

This tank has ~30lbs live sand, which has probably been sitting for at least a week, therefore it is now dead sand and will be coming out probably sometime tomorrow. I will replace it with 15lbs live sand...that is really live.

Stock hoods, keeping those, for now at least.

Stock pump, replacing with a maxijet 900 powerhead tomorrow, and will eventually pick up a Koralia 1.

There is a bag of something in chamber 2...chem pure..one of those that is recommended. Will be removing the bioballs still in the chamber and will be adding live rock rubble. (Do I fill it with the rubble? Only a little? Unclear as to how much.) And filter floss as well. Will eventually probably upgrade to a media basket, once I figure out what I need.

Will be picking up some of my live rock (aiming for a total of 20 pounds, right about 1.5lbs per gal.)

Heater in chamber one with the pump.

The tab between chamber two and three has been cut off.

I read that since I am planning on doing regular water changes, a skimmer really isnt necessary?

I tried to read the biocube thread, got about half way and was completely overwhelmed. 13 pages! So I am hoping I am on the right track! As far as future stocking, all I really want is that token clownfish.

Let me know if any of the above seems wrong or anything you would change.

[clownfish617]

Welcome

GET A CLOWN!!!!



only after your cycle of course!

sounds like a very good start, pic are always helpful!

[stvjohnsn]

Don't bother with the rock rubble in the back. Only thing it'll do imo is attract detritus and make it tough to keep clean. Get a StevieT media rack right away for chamber 2.

[Lnm130]

Don't bother with the rock rubble in the back. Only thing it'll do imo is attract detritus and make it tough to keep clean. Get a StevieT media rack right away for chamber 2.

I read through the rest of the bc14 thread, at least what I could understand, and agree. I will be ordering a media rack shortly. Will it impact my cycle if i dont get it in there immediately? I plan on mixing water and filling the tank tomorrow pm. I can mix directly in tank, correct?

And there is nothing you would want to see pictures of, not yet. This little tank is a mess!

[nanoreefnate]

use less sand too. maybe only 15 LBS.

[ajmckay]

Sounds like you're off to a good start. I wouldn't necessarily follow the 1-1.5 lbs of LR per gallon rule just yet. It honestly depends on what pieces you get. Try to get the really porous stuff. You get more surface area for your money. I buy LR in batches from different stores so I can get the pieces I want. Sometimes I even ask what day it comes in to try and get at it first.

I'm thinking 15lbs sand is plenty for a tank that size. Your pump swap is probably a good idea. As is taking out the bio-balls. I would just leave the rubble out and use the media rack if you want to add some carbon, GFO, or chemi-pure plus some filter floss. You can add the media rack and media any time.

Regarding the skimmer, you are correct that as long as you perform regular water changes, probably 25% or more per week you don't need a skimmer. Of course if you plan on stocking a high bio-load, then I would suggest getting one anyways.

Good luck! Check out other member tank threads for more ideas.

[Lnm130]

I texted the guy i bought the tank from (got it tonight, contacted him about it last week sometime) and asked him. The sand, that he is insisting is live sand, sat for a month. A month! And 30 lbs at that! Maybe I'll be adding water this weekend...I have a lot of cleaning to do...

I was hoping that someone would say I didn't have to get my rock at once, I'm trying to find good pieces, and good prices. I'll probably have to wait a week or so on ordering the media rack, but am thinking floss, chaeto (possibly) and the chemi pure. What are the alternatives used for the chaeto, if i chose not to have a fuge?

I don't plan on having a huge bioload, just my clown and maybe a shrimp. CUC, of course.

[lakshwadeep]

to nano-reef.com

This tank has ~30lbs live sand, which has probably been sitting for at least a week, therefore it is now dead sand and will be coming out probably sometime tomorrow. I will replace it with 15lbs live sand...that is really live.

IMO, this is unneccessary as the "dead sand" isn't really dead, and any live sand you buy is not more live than a sand bed (dry/dead) that has been kept for a while with live rock. Moreover, "live sand" that is bagged is likely not very live. What I mean is that any sand bed will become live sand when in a tank with live rock. How old is/was the tank?

[Warehouse41Ant]

+1 to the sandbed stuff. And as for how much, well...I don't know much about the BC14, or what the actual display area dimensions are, but have about 35 lbs of sand in my 20L. 20 LBS dry sand, 15 lbs LS. Works well for me.

No idea on the LR. I used very little but seeded quite a bit of base rock. Might take a bit more time on the cycle, but I loved the base rock I got and probably saved 60-70 bucks in the process. I recommend bulkreefsupply.com's Pukani Dry Rock. Excellent, very porous, and very easy to aquascape. Just my $.02!

to N-R and an expensive hobby!

[Lnm130]

The tank was very young, and did not have time to truly establish. From what I understood, he purchased the tank, had it for a month or two, and then upgraded. The tank has a smell to it, and not the normal salt smell either. Would it be easier just to drain the water, remove the sand, and start over? Or do you suggest I use this sand? Well, half of it, it is way too deep for my taste.

[ajmckay]

When I moved my tank I just scooped it all out into a 5 gallon bucket and rinsed it out a few times with tap water... It killed anything beneficial in the sand, but at least it was clean. That was 1 month ago and it's been "seeded" again.

If I were you I would dump all the water and start fresh. clean out the tank with some vinegar and use a razor to scrape off the encrusted algae. Rinse the sand (+1 to the bagged "live" sand not really being all that living) until it's clean, and then add your rock. Whether you buy all live rock, or buy base rock and seed it with live rock doesn't matter. It will all be the same in a month of cycling. Of course the more LR you have the faster the cycle will be.

[Lnm130]

Thank you for saving me the $15 on a bag of new sand. Since I have so much of it, I will clean half of it and re use it. There is a good bit of algea on the tank, and the chambers need cleaned, so I know what I will be doing tonight. Hopefully, I will start filling the tank on Sat, after getting water from my mother, who has two tanks. Will be grabbing the new pump tonight, do I just place it in there? Or is there a specific way to position it?

Thank you all for being such a help, I was feeling overwhelmed at first, but everything is slowly coming together!

[ajmckay]

Thank you all for being such a help, I was feeling overwhelmed at first, but everything is slowly coming together!

I think we can all relate to that!

Anyways, I can't really help you out with the pump location because I don't have a biocube... I would imagine that you just place it such that it's stable and not touching anything that could cause vibration noise. Since you're just upgrading pumps I would place it in the same location.

As for the Koralia, or any other pump you decide to add for flow (lots of flow is great for a cycling tank because it "feeds" the rock very well when water passes through it enabling the bacteria to do their thing), just place it in a location where the flow reaches as much of the tank as possible. I personally like having 2 pumps angled so that their water streams collide in some way. This helps the water diffuse and produce a more random water movement.

For the water, it's not necessary to get it from an established tank if that's what you're planning. I would suggest filling your tank with regular filtered water (you can usually buy it pretty cheap from a water refill station at the grocery store where you fill your own buckets), but de-chlorinated tap is also fine for the initial filling in my opinion (it will probably contain some nitrates etc. which can help feed some of the stuff on your LR for a bit). Mix the salt, then add the sand, then rocks, set the temp and let it cycle!

*Edit* One final note, be sure to use new razor blades for scraping and swap them out every once in a while so that you maybe use 2 or 3 to clean the whole tank. This is to avoid scratching the glass.

This post has been edited by ajmckay: Nov 5 2009, 05:38 PM

[Lnm130]

Good to know about the tap water. If I fill the tank with tap water, can I mix the salt before the water has been de-chlorinated? Or should I let the water stay in the tank for 24 hours to become declorinated? I also have the Stress Coat declorinator that I use for my freshwater.

[ajmckay]

I would dechlorinate the water before mixing the salt. You can just add in the stress coat instead of waiting for the water to dechlorinate.

[Lnm130]

ok, so i started to drain the tank tonight and i am dairly positive that its crushed coral. There isnt really anything sandy looking in the tank. So. I guess I will be buying that bag of sand.

[ajmckay]

Yeah probably a good idea then. Crushed coral isn't the greatest. Are you sure it's crushed coral? Do an images search to be sure. Aragonite is a medium-coarse sand and would be your best bet in my opinion. Of course there will be some random shells & stuff mixed in. You can buy a bag of dry stuff (again, rinse it well) for pretty cheap. You can also get the live sand stuff by caribsea. Honestly I don't think it's really all that alive... I mean its been sitting on a shelf for who knows how long? I think of it as wet sand... Of course I did buy the stuff because they seem to market the better colorations in it. I got the black/white mix.

[Lnm130]

It was pretty much all shells, probably the size of a pencil eraser, some bigger, some smaller. I sent a picture to my mom and she says its coral. It had a lot of green algae on it.

I just finished draining and cleaning most of the tank. There was actually something still alive, I think it was come kind of pod? It was running around the back filter chambers. Kind of amazing, considering how long the tank has been torn down.

This post has been edited by Lnm130: Nov 5 2009, 11:13 PM