dormreefer Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Welcome to my thread which will follow my Biocube 14 from setup throughout its life! CURRENT FTS; Latest News: 11/3/2012 MP10es added, Koralia's return, Phosguard to replace ROWAphos for clams sake My Maintenance Schedule: Small water changes spread across the week to maintian 1ppm nitrate. Water testing usually takes place on Sunday with a retest on Monday if needed. Reef Nutrition "Reef Blend" 5-10 drops daily for clams and corals, fish fed Cyclop-eeze and P.E Mysis. Glass scrubbed 1-2x a week, FF replaced 2x week, ROX/Phosguard replaced every 2 weeks. Current water parameters: Salinity- 1.026, no swing with ATO Temp- 79 degrees F pH- 7.8-8.0 depending on time of day Ammonia- 0.00 Nitrate- 1.00; for clams benefit Calcium- 450 Dkh-12 Phosphate- 0.00 Tank: Oceanic Biocube 14 Sand- 20lb Black Sand Rock- 12lb Reel Reef Lighting- Day: Panorama Pro Modules 1x 12k/445nm, 1x 445nm Night: 1x Coralife Blue strip Controller- Reefkeeper Lite with 2x PC4, SL1- Pinpoint pH probe Filtration- inTank basket; Filterfloss/Purigen/Filter Sock with BRS ROX and Phosguard Main Pump- MJ900 Circulation- MP10es Reefcrest 50%, Nightmode 8 hours 50% Heater- 50w ViaAqua controlled by RKL to 79 (0.2 hysteresis) ATO- Avast Nano, 1 gallon RO/DI in stand, pump Aqualifter Tank Inhabitants - 2x- Oscelleris Clown, one ORA misbar (Coral) the other standard (Nemo ), added 8/19/2012 1x- Yasha Hasha Goby (Santa) Inverts- 1x Cleaner Shrimp (Jacques) 1x Randall's Pistol Shrimp (Santa's Little Helper), paired with Yasha Hasha Clean up crew- 2x Blue legged Hermit 1x Trochus Snail 3x Astrea Snail 5x Bumble Bee Snails Corals- 4-Headed Green torch coral 1x Acropora Digitata 1x Pulsing Xenia Colony 1x Blue Mushroom 1x Orange Mushroom 1x Orange Montipora 1x Orange Aussie Acan Zoa/Palys; Dragon Eye Purple Death Fire and Ice Colony Green People Eater Purple People Eaters Thanks, DormReefer Old News: FTS-October 10/30/2012 Two Koralia 240's added, RKL iTemp probe failure , rescape #3 10/29/2012 Super Ultra Maxima!!! 10/16/2012 Switched from CPE to Filter Sock with BRS ROX and Rowaphos 9/29/2012 RKL installed! 9/26/2012 Panorama Pro Modules Installed 9/23/2012 All LEDs bought from Hardware classifieds can't wait 9/17/2012 Alk issues, 15dKH 9/06/2012 Added several more corals, few snails and started minor dosing plan 8/28/2012 All tested levels sitting great other than a little Phopshate 8/25/2012 Randall's Pistol Shrimp (Santa's Little Helper) added! 8/23/2012 Yasha Hasha Goby (Santa) added! Latest FTS 8/22/2012-Note the blur is due to my iphone FTS 8/19/2012 Original Intoduction; Hey Guys, I am about to move back up to school for my Sophomore year. I successfully kept a pico reef last year but decided I needed to go a little bigger this year. So after weighing up the pros/cons of quite a few tanks I decided to go for a Biocube 14, which I picked up for quite a steal! The tank and stand are both brand new the cube is actually the newest PC/LED version. I have already done a fair bit a research and aside from filling and testing the tank I have removed the false bottom in chamber 1, enhanced the overflow to chamber 2 and added a MJ900 instead of the stock sun pump. I hope to get the tank filled with salt this Saturday on move-in day and get progressing as soon as possible! While I have several salt tanks back home I was wondering what would be the most efficient way to cycle/get the tank set up and going as soon as possible (I'm a tad impatient ) Anyways enough talking here's the plans; Link to comment
dormreefer Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 Picked up 20lbs of sand and 12lbs reel reef rock today Link to comment
owenj Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Picked up 20lbs of sand and 12lbs reel reef rock today Sounds like your tank is coming along nicely. My $.02 on a jawfish- do a forum search on them first. I was looking into getting one at first too, but the blue-spot appears to have a poor track record for successful keeping. A pearly (yellow head) jawfish would probably do better & people appear to have better luck with them. Link to comment
dormreefer Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 I appreciate the response and did look a bit further into Blue spots, I feel that it probably isn't the most practical if its only a dorm tank and am likely going to stay clear of them. Just wondering what other small fish to put in the tank aside from clowns, maybe I'll stick to a watchman goby! Also while looking through the forums the media basket seems to be a hit on here and I hope to order one shortly, anyone care to share their opinions on chaeto v chemipure Link to comment
1.0reef Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I would just get 2 clowns and a small goby. Or 1 clown, 1 jawfish, and 1 goby Sounds like a nice tank! to NR to Link to comment
fretfreak13 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I'll be following! Putting together my first dorm tank this year too, although I start spring semester. Mines only 6.2 gallons, though. Question for ya though. Mine has an optional stand to purchase like the biocube does (mines from micro reefs). Do you think its nessicary due to lack of space in a dorm to have its own stand? I havn't been in my potential dorm yet to see if my desk can even hold a fishtank bigger than a beta bowl. Should I just dish out the extra 300 something now and get the stand? haha Link to comment
dormreefer Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 I'll be following! Do you think its nessicary due to lack of space in a dorm to have its own stand? I havn't been in my potential dorm yet to see if my desk can even hold a fishtank bigger than a beta bowl. Should I just dish out the extra 300 something now and get the stand? haha To be honest I got my BC brand new off Craigslist for a steal, at 300 bucks I'm not sure if I'd go with a stand either. Last year I had a set of drawers which was very sturdy and could probably hold a few hundred pounds so a decent sized nano no issue. It's all about space also, a stand is fish only space. I'm living in an apartment so its not a true "dorm" and space is a little better...I guess what I mean to say is that it's your decision but 300 seems a lot, whats the dimensions? Link to comment
fretfreak13 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 At least I think it was 300. It was taken off of the website it was originally on and I'd have to special order it now. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=299321 this is my tank at the moment, except I have the tropical version, not the temperate. I'm in a freshman dorm, so its pretty small.. =( Link to comment
dormreefer Posted August 19, 2012 Author Share Posted August 19, 2012 At least I think it was 300. It was taken off of the website it was originally on and I'd have to special order it now. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=299321 this is my tank at the moment, except I have the tropical version, not the temperate. I'm in a freshman dorm, so its pretty small.. =( It shouldn't be to hard to make one yourself? Much cheaper too! What are you keeping in it? Cold water Link to comment
fretfreak13 Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 It shouldn't be to hard to make one yourself? Much cheaper too! What are you keeping in it? Cold water No, he makes a tropical version of the same tank without the chillers. Tis your average nano reef. The only reason I'm so interested in the stand is because it exactly matched the canopy of the tank...I guess its just my own issue on asthetics. Haha Link to comment
dormreefer Posted August 20, 2012 Author Share Posted August 20, 2012 I got the fishes yesterday! Figured since I had liver rock/sand and seeded filter media that my small pair of clowns wouldn't do much to the water quality especially as i'll be doing w/cs 1-2x a week. Quick question however has anyone ever disabled the fans on the biocube? Mine's running below 75 degrees with both lights and id like to get it warmer/quieter. No, he makes a tropical version of the same tank without the chillers. Tis your average nano reef. The only reason I'm so interested in the stand is because it exactly matched the canopy of the tank...I guess its just my own issue on asthetics. Haha Oh ok haha, had me wondering for a second there. Link to comment
Flaming Reef Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 In the older biocube if you open up the hood of the biocube you can disconnect the fans by hand. Just follow the cord to where they are plugged in. But I would be very careful because if your lights aren't cooled properly they will die out faster, esp the moonlights. You'll probably be running too cold at night anyway. Get a heater! You'll need it for the water changes. Are the fans making noises? Congrats on getting your fish. Did you end up going for the snowflakes? Link to comment
21093r53 Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 make sure no drunk girls try to pet nemo, unless it guarantees you getting some Link to comment
dormreefer Posted August 20, 2012 Author Share Posted August 20, 2012 Are the fans making noises?Congrats on getting your fish. Did you end up going for the snowflakes? Thanks I'm happy to finally get this tank up it sat empty most of summer. The fans make noise but I think its just standard air movement noise, still loud but I guess I'll adjust to it. I actually ended up getting an ORA Misbar and a regular, yet extremely bright colored, clown. I did want to go with the "designer clowns" but my roomies want fish and they wanted them yesterday! Plus they offered to drive make sure no drunk girls try to pet nemo, unless it guarantees you getting some I agree, but I don't think the GF would approve lol Link to comment
Flaming Reef Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Again this was for the old biocube but I've had Oceanic replace my fans maybe 3 times for free. Not sure how it will work with Coralife. They can also tend to get dusty super fast so maybe a wipe down would help? Ha, well since they offered to drive....we need some pics! Link to comment
dormreefer Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Pics are up! Shrimps and Corals are in! Managed to get lots of corals for extremely low prices today one store had 40% off! Also picked up some "Reef Fuel" kinda bought into the LFS sale pitch but the store was fantastic and their corals were amazing, any thoughts on the stuff? Link to comment
fretfreak13 Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Looks fantastic, but I need some coral pics to be satisfied. Never heard of it, maybe someone else can chime in. Link to comment
dormreefer Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 Added Yasha Hasha Goby and 3 Astreas today...However my Cleaner Shrimp decided to eat one of my Trochus -.- inTank basket purigen, CPE and floss arrived and installed and water parameters are stable! The basket is a work of art btw! Lastly hung a curtain for blackout purposes in my room so I can sleep in late, it also works perfect to keep outside light out of my tank! Link to comment
fretfreak13 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Very cool. does the inTank basket fit into your back compartments, or is it hidden in the display? Link to comment
dormreefer Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 Very cool. does the inTank basket fit into your back compartments, or is it hidden in the display? The inTank basket occupies chamber 2, just remove bioballs and make the waterfall from chamber 1 to the chamber larger and from there its place and go! I've read a lot of good about it combined with the CPE and Purigen so we shall see! Link to comment
dormreefer Posted September 6, 2012 Author Share Posted September 6, 2012 Added several corals over the last week or so. Finally picked up some Pulsing Xenia today! Pics soon! Link to comment
dormreefer Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Hydroids appeared on the glass today. Pretty sure its just a sign of my tank maturing. Nothing to worry about? Link to comment
fretfreak13 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 The little jellyfish lookin ones? They're fine, they'll eventually starve out and go away. Link to comment
dormreefer Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 The little jellyfish lookin ones? They're fine, they'll eventually starve out and go away. Yep little snowflakes on the glass Link to comment
dormreefer Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 Well the hydroids are gone! Alk has been crazy high recently and the cause is still somewhat unknown but everyone is happy and healthy so no stress. LED LIGHTS coming soon! 445 and 12k/445 panorama pro strips with 2 power supplies should all arrive soon, hardware classifieds rocks! Link to comment
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