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Crazy Tiki's Biocube 14


Crazy Tiki

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Here is my attempt at keeping a thread. I have learned a lot from reading about others members aquariums so I hope to continue the cycle and hope to provide some input for others.

 

BioCube 14 - newer version with higher divider to keep snails and fish from back chambers and precut window for center chamber for fuge applications

 

Modifications

- Removed floor of third chamber (right side when facing front) - installed Jager 50W heater

- Removed BioBalls and trays in center chamber - installed Steve T's media rack with Filter floss on top and Purigen in center chamber - third chamber Chaeto fuge setup

- Upgraded Stock pump with MJ 900 submersible pump, removed stock sponge and replaced with 5 oz Chemipure elite

- Led Lighting Upgrade

- Led Fuge Light

- Hydor Flo

- Koralia Nano

- DIY ATO

 

Live Stock

2 Narsius Snails

2 Scarlet Crabs

1 Turbo Shrimp

1 Cleaner Shrimp

1 Red Sea Star

2 True Percula Clown Fish

1 Purple Firefish

 

Corals

Frogspawn, Zoa's, Armor of God Paly, Devils Armor Zoa, Daisey Polyp, Green Star Polyp, Mushrooms

Florida Ricordia (Blue & Orange), Superman Monti, Purple Haze Monti, Ultra Acan Lord, Orange Acan Enchinata, Alien Eye Chalice, Inverse Hybrid Watermelon Chalice, Watermelon Favia, Aussie Duncan, True Montipora Undata, Rainbow Acan, Aussie Prism Favia

15 lbs of Figi Rock

5 lbs of Sand

 

5/19/10

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3/11/10

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10/9/09

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8/21/09

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7/27/09

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Here is my attempt at keeping a thread. I have learned a lot from reading about others members aquariums so I hope to continue the cycle and hope to provide some input for others.

 

BioCube 14 - newer version with higher divider to keep snails and fish from back chambers and precut window for center chamber for fuge applications

 

Modifications

- Removed floor of third chamber (right side when facing front) - installed Jager 50W heater

- Removed BioBalls and trays in center chamber - installed Steve T's media rack with Filter floss on top and Purigen in center chamber - third chamber open for possible Chaeto fuge setup

- Upgraded Stock pump with MJ 900 submersible pump, removed stock sponge and replaced with 5 oz Chemipure elite

- Led Lighting Upgrade

 

Live Stock

3 Narsius Snails

1 Turbo Snail

2 Hermit Crabs

1 Cleaner Shrimp

1 Sand Shifting Sea Star

1 Red Sea Star

2 True Percula Clown Fish

1 Scooter Blenny

 

Corals

2 Frogspawn

2 Zoa's

1 Daisey Polyp

1 Green Star Polyp

1 CandyCane

2 Mushrooms- very bumpy so I think they are ricordea

 

15 lbs of Figi Rock

5 lbs of Sand

 

Future Upgrades

- Hydor Flo

- Koralia Nano

- DIY ATO modification

 

Future LiveStock Additions

- More Zoas

- More Ricordea

- A SPS - my co-worker is going to break me off a frag of his branching montipora

 

Current Pic - Taken 7/27/09

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June

 

 

May

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nice keep up the good work..!!!

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A little summary on my brief history with this hobby

 

I purchased my Biocube 14 from a LFS last May 09. I purchased everything from them - heater, sand, Tonga Rock, thermometer and water. To help start my cycle he took the sand straight out of one of his tanks and gave me 5 gallons of water from his tank. I set up everything that day and ran it. A couple of days later we went out and got a Chromis- I know that it was rushing it but the LFS store said it was a little early but that the Chromis was pretty hardy and that it might help establish the tank.

 

We ran that for two weeks and surprisingly the fish survived so we then went out a purchased the two clowns, scooter, a frog spawn, a zoa, green star polyp and a candy cane.

 

Another week went by ( June ) and we then purchased another zoa, another frog spawn, and two ricordia mushrooms some more figi rock and a yellow box fish.

 

At the recommendation of my LFS we purchased the box fish as it was funny and cute looking. The store did passively warn us that the fish was poisonous but that if it died to immediately take it out of the tank. I picked up the fish on Saturday and all was well for that weekend. When I went to work on Monday I did a little research on this site and to my surprise found a that it is highly not recommended to keep this type of fish in a nano. Read more here: Box Fish Poll

 

So basically the box fish died that Monday and took out my chromis and scooter. I did a 5 gallon water change and was able to save the two clowns. That next weekend the LFS still claimed that you can keep a boxfish in a nano, but they gave me credit for a new scooter.

 

Also had a brief issue with my candycane Candycane Issue

 

After that event I took it slow and did my weekly 1.5 gallon water changes and testing. All my parms are good and my rock is starting to get purple Coraline spots.

 

I was going to do the 3.24 nanotuners upgrade to increase the lighting but I instead decided to do the LED retrofit and that went live last night. I love the shimmer effect and the ability to control the light color. I have the leds turn down to acclimate the corals to the intenser light.

 

Looking to purchase some more zoas and ricordia to add some bright colors and my coworker is going to break off a frag of his branching montipora. I also have a Koralia Nano and Hydor Flo on order and will be doing a DIY ATO for the tank.

 

I am getting addicted to this hobby :D even catch my self looking on craigslist for a larger tank, but am trying to pace myself as I am only two months in.

 

More updates to come

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LED Upgrade Photos

 

Here is my basic Wiring diagram - sorry the best I could do ( I had a post but it crashed)

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Legend:

A) Power Plug

B) Potrans 24V @6.5 Power supply mpja.com

C) DC Power Cord Male Plug willy's electronics

D) DC Power Cord Female Plug (had to call Willys Electronics to order was not on website)

E) BuckPuck with Potentiometer ledsupply

F) 60mm Silenx Fan newegg.com

 

Here is a pic of my led layout- I got a bigger heat sink 7.5"W x 6" deep and the led's are 2.5" apart, but I had to notch out some fins to be able to use the stock switches

 

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You can see the notch better in this pic- I polished the surface Bling Bling B)

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Pic of the hood with the 80mm Silenx fan (newegg.com ) and aluminium potentiometer knobs (ledsupply)

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Pic of finished Led upgrade

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Pic of Tank with Led's at 20%

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Many Thanks to everyone that has posted their LED builds.

 

Specifically: Waterproof (Led Build), MadDevil (LED Build), C Jerome (led build and of course Evilc66

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Just went to a new LFS store last weekend and ended up picking up two new Zoa frags. One of them was called Midnight something and the other was a mixed frag with a green and a pink polyp. Really just wanted the pink one.

 

I also went to my main LFS and picked up two Flordia ricordias (one blue and one orange) and he threw in a free zoa frag (blue on the inside with a red skirt) I tried to get pics of the frags but my digital point and shoot ended up not focusing and the images are blurry - will borrow a better camera to get some better pics.

 

For the new frags I purchased some more live rock- which I added to the center of the tank. I picked out a couple flat pieces and stuck them together with some AquaMend which I picked up at HD for like $3.

 

Also installed a Hydor Flo, which I am happy about getting random flow but at first was very skeptical at the loss of flow. When the flow is directed towards the bottom of the tank the top is perfectly still, but luckily I also purchased a Koralia Nano. This little sucker puts out a pretty good current. It took me a little while to situate it as I didn't want it in the front of the tank- due to cosmetic reasons - but I think I got it in a good position in front of the top intake. Just worried that it might cause an issue with filtration as it is pushing water away from the intake.

 

I am going to probably hold off on any new additions just so things can grow in, unless someone is willing to part with free frags. Currently working on my DIY ATO- will post when done and ordered up a LED and PS for a DIY Led Fuge light.

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Looking really nice! My only thing, what is that rock hanging in the middle of your tank, is that a phallic symbol? :lol: Sorry couldnt resist, you'll never look at your tank the same again.

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Yeah, I originally tried moving the large rock on the right to the center, but my wife wanted to keep the center open - maybe because it reminded her of something ;)

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Wow! You have a really nice tank. How do you keep your sand so clean. Is it the Nar. snails..blenny? I can't really get any of my snails,shrimp or hermits to get in there and clean that stuff up.

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Wow! You have a really nice tank. How do you keep your sand so clean. Is it the Nar. snails..blenny? I can't really get any of my snails,shrimp or hermits to get in there and clean that stuff up.

 

My CUC only composes of 4 snails: 3 Narcissus Snails and 1 Turbo and 2 hermit crabs. But the sand shifting sea star does a great job of moving the sand around as it buries itself from time to time.

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Very nice setup. How is the red sea star doing? Does is seem like it is eating enough? I was thinking about getting one for my 10G but I am afraid it will starve. Although I do have alot of critters in there and I can feed it also. Yours looks like a fromia and I have read alot that the fromias eventualy starve after several months.

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Very nice setup. How is the red sea star doing? Does is seem like it is eating enough? I was thinking about getting one for my 10G but I am afraid it will starve. Although I do have alot of critters in there and I can feed it also. Yours looks like a fromia and I have read alot that the fromias eventualy starve after several months.

 

The red sea star seems to be doing fine, it floats and travels all over the tank, but I cannot really tell if it is eating enough. I do not do any specific feeding for both sea stars, as I figure they just eat the excess food or detritus that I feed the fish. Even the sea star moves around but is mostly buried during the day.

 

I will have to do a search on what traits they show if they are underfeed. My tank is still in the early stages a full 3 months in, but everything seems to be maturing well, and have not had any algae outbreaks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Created a DIY ATO using:

 

-Azoo Battery Air Pump

-Airline Tubing

-Air Check Valve

Low Voltage Float Switch

-Plastic Conainer and Air Tubing Connectors

 

Basically the system pumps air into a sealed container to where the water pressure will force the water up the airhose into my third chamber. Once the water is properly topped off the switch will deactivate to stop the pump.

 

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To hook up the switch I just spliced the float switch wires in between one of the wires leading from the air pump motor to the battery terminals. The tricky part was mounting the switch in the proper location so that it activates and stops properly.

 

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To mount the switch I basically bent a piece of plexiglass tubing and then mounted it with superglue to the inside of chamber 3 (I had created another piece so that i could adjust the height of the switch that attaches with thumb screws, but the space where I mounted the switch is pretty tight)

 

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System works pretty easy, and the switch is pretty sensative as I do hear the pump go on a couple times a day for 15 seconds or so. Usually do not get a lot of evap but on hot days when I have to lift the tank lid and blow air across the surface I noticed that I would need to top off a whole bottle of water. The container I picked was a $2 plastic container from Kmart that holds about 32 ounces.

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More Pics of the Tank - I was able to borrow a Cannon 40D, still need some practice though

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Ricordia and Zoas

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Purple Haze and Superman Monti

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Frogspawn and Candy Cane

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Center Tank Shot

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Mushrooms

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Another Center Shot

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Here are some Antic Light Shots or Radioactive Shots - just my RB Leds B)

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Nice! If the switch fails and the entire bottle is emptied, will it over flow? If so, you might want to make the tube a little shorter (like half way) so it doesnt empty then. I still need to hook up my Tunze Osmo!

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Nice! If the switch fails and the entire bottle is emptied, will it over flow? If so, you might want to make the tube a little shorter (like half way) so it doesnt empty then. I still need to hook up my Tunze Osmo!

 

If the whole bottle empties we are only talking about 32 ounces or 1 liter, I set my water level to the bottom of the square hole separating chambers 2 and 3. I noticed that if the water level is an inch below the square hole it takes about 16 ounces to get it back up.

 

I would of gotten a bigger bottle, like a gallon or so, but was worried about the switch failing, with this smaller bottle it would only fill up the back chamber about 2 inches which would be about to the top of Stevie T's media rack.

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  • 2 weeks later...

DIY LED FUGE LIGHT:

 

-CPU Heatsink - ripped off a old computer at work

-Power Coard - also took from work

-Cree LED

-single Led Driver

-Plexiglass - free from Tap plastics, from the junk bin

 

So I basically just glued pieces of plexiglass together to create a housing, I chose a opaque blue as the backing so that when lit it emits a soft glow. I then attached the led to the heatsink and wired up the driver to the plug and led. I ended up just knocking out a row of fins so that I can place the diver within the heat sink to keep a cleaner look. I insulated the driver or basically wrapped it with this supper insulating tape(rated at 500 degrees) that I found at frys. I was originally looking for encapsulating epoxy but couldn't find it.

 

have it plugged in right now and will try to install tonight. I will just be velcoing it on the back of my bc14 over the bottom chamber(largest) of my Stevie T rack. I have a newer BC14 so there is already a hole cut out of the black paint, will just need to extend it down a couple of inches and then recover the already open area (as the stock cut out is centered between the middle and bottom chamber)

 

Pic of the Heatsink

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Pics of the finished light

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Testing it out right now, been on for an hour and the heat sink is warm to the touch will see how it goes after a couple of hours.

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Also a little update on the tank:

 

I am having a little issue with my Magnesium levels so have been dosing ESC Magnesium for a week. I also picked up some ESV Bionic but stopped dosing due to the Mg issue.

 

My Red Sea Star was found dead on Wednesday and my scooter goby died last week. In both instances I believe they did not get enough food. I only feed my fishes each other day and I know the goby is already pretty hard to feed. I was dropping extra pellets onto the sand bed hoping that they would eat them, but I guess that didn't work out.

 

I also traded in my Candy Canes and picked up an Armor of God Paly, also picked up some extra LR and built some little shelves to place more frags. Will update with more pics probably next week.

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Sorry about your loss. Those stars can be almost impossible to keep in large tanks. The problem is nobody really knows what to supliment for food and they all end up starving. I wanted one for a while but there is no way I could even sustain one in my tank.

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Sorry about your loss. Those stars can be almost impossible to keep in large tanks. The problem is nobody really knows what to supliment for food and they all end up starving. I wanted one for a while but there is no way I could even sustain one in my tank.

 

No worries, He lasted 3 months, but thats twice now that I was given mis information from my LFS (the box fish and the star)

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No worries, He lasted 3 months, but thats twice now that I was given mis information from my LFS (the box fish and the star)

 

It seems that not many LFS know about the fromia stars. Ours wanted some but they couldnt get them, I guess they dont know they are hard to keep either. I trust my LFS but only so far, you know.

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Yeah, I have learned to always get another opinion and not buy on impulse. Luckily for me there are three LFS within 5 miles of my house, and they all seem to specialize in different areas.

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