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A first-timer's tank thread! (29g biocube)


Lizz

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first FTS:

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10/03/14:

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current FTS (05/19/15):

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-------------------------------------original first thread post below:

 

.....totally clever and catchy title, huh?

 

i find the process of jumping in on this forum and starting a thread for myself way more intimidating than starting my tank, to be honest!! but here i go anyway.

 

so where to begin? well, i've wanted a aquarium for the past few years but only gotten serious about in the past couple. finally the perfect combination of time and money presented itself and we decided to make this happen. the tank itself is a coralife biocube 29.

 

i've already done a few modifications:

 

-changed the stock pump to a MJ900 two days ago

-added a hydor flo rotating deflector

-put in a koralia 425

-took out the bioballs

-added an in-tank media holder and an in-tank refugium insert to the back chambers

-ordered an LED retrofit kit from steve's LED (which shipped today!)

 

here's what else is going on in the tank:

 

-approximately 20-25 lbs of key largo dry rock from marcorocks

-20 lbs of fiji pink carabsea live sand

-1lb of live rock from a LFS (to seed)

-poly filter floss/chemipure elite/purigen

-a mini back chamber refugium w/ chaeto (and it's own light)

-an eheim 75w heater that i haven't even used yet because the temp has settled at a pretty consistent 79.7 degrees.

 

here was my tank on day one after adding everything. pea soup (sorry about the iphone pics for the first couple shots. i'm now committed to using my 'real' camera from here on out):

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i was surprised how quickly it started to clear up, though! here it is again after only a couple of hours:

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that was my first aquascape. which i thought looked pretty cool but after a couple of days i realized it could potentially have some water flow issues and also didn't have a lot of variety for coral placement. i left the base pieces where they were (as i placed them before adding sand and didn't want to disturb that foundation) but completely overhauled the rest. it doesn't look as cool (IMO) at first glance, but i think it's a better setup overall (real camera photos

finally!):

 

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it's a bit hard to tell but there are lots of shelves and tunnels and archways and stuff. also if you look at the sand in the main cave, you can see how the light is able to reach the floor through all the different canyons which makes me think i wont have water flow issues.

 

also, please pardon my epoxy. :flower:

 

i also discovered i have a pretty cool little hitchhiker on my chunk of live rock!

 

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a cute little purple zoanthid! i do not know what kind it is, but i like it. i'm not a big fan of the ultra bright neon zoas i've seen out there, so this monochrome purple buddy is right up my alley. it sort of looks like a second polyp is sprouting? that extra little lump wasn't there last night!

 

so this where i stand after a week. some brownish algae is starting to form on some of the rocks and on top of my sand bed. i missed out on testing for most of the week because the morning after we filled the tank, we left town for a wedding. then i realized the dumb test kit i ordered didn't have ammonia or nitrate. both of which i got yesterday. then today i realized i didn't have a nitrite test kit either. ugh.

 

so i didn't record my test numbers yesterday (dumb!) but i'm keeping them in a notebook from here on out (smart!) and here's what i've got:

 

8/21/14:

 

PH- 8 (it was 8 yesterday too, i remember)

Ammonia- sort of in between .5 and 1 i'm pretty sure it's lighter in color (lower #) than yesterday

Nitrates- sort of in between 10 and 20 and i'm pretty sure this one is DARKER (higher #) than yesterday

 

correct me if i'm wrong in thinking that maybe my ammonia is dropping and my nitrates are starting to spike? i can't really be sure until i test again, but i think that's right? i dosed the tank with dr. tim's all in one + ammonia not really expecting it to give me a magically short cycle/being prepared to wait it out but also not complaining if it did speed things up.

 

so yeah! i think that about covers it for now! if not, let me know what else i need to add! haha.

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I like the scape and that is a cool hitch hiker! Keep looking, I am sure that there is more. There definitely is a new polyp about to come out. Be patient and let the tank cycle and you will be good to go!

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:welcome:

 

To N-R.com

 

Lay your fears to rest, we don't bite usually.

 

Looks like your off to a good start. I've never used the Mr. Tim's stuff so I can't say I know how it works. I would find it incredible if you are that far along in your cycle. Also it will take time for your bacteria to populate the dry rock. For right now just keep testing and collect more data. Only a handful of tanks ever get cycled in under two weeks.

 

Nice scape! Now hurry up and wait!

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Don't feel bad about being intimidated. I've had saltwater tanks 20 years, reef tanks for 15 or so and I was terrified to start my own thread. Turns out that folks are pretty nice on here and there are a lot of really helpful folks with a lot of knowledge and experience. You look like you are off to a great start and I will be following.

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thanks for the welcome, guys! like i said, i'm prepared to wait quite awhile if i have to for this thing to fully cycle. as much as i want to have cool stuff in there i have an even stronger desire to not deal with that cool stuff dying on me because the conditions weren't good enough. i'm also a pretty big proponent of not doing things half-assed (hence all the $$ i've already dropped on this thing. whoops!) besides, i have more research to do on clean-up crews. everyone has an opinion and they're all vastly different it seems. :blink:

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Welcome Lizz. Looks like you are off to a good start. Check out the Biocube resource thread in the AIO forum.

 

People are very helpful on this site. Do not be afraid to ask questions.

 

David

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hmmm so i just tested and it seems PH is still at 8 but both ammonia AND nitrates are lower today. does that make sense? to be quiet honest, the testing/chemistry part during the initial cycle is the one thing that really confuses me. i know my levels need to be at zero before i add anything, but i am still pretty confused about what the common trajectory for the numbers is leading up to that point. also comparing test tubes to color charts is harder than i expected. i know you're supposed to judge them against a white background but is that holding it in front of a white background or laying it against a white background? the colors look completely different for each.

 

yesterday's tests:

8/21/14:

 

PH- 8 (it was 8 yesterday too, i remember)

Ammonia- sort of in between .5 and 1 i'm pretty sure it's lighter in color (lower #) than 8/2

Nitrates- sort of in between 10 and 20 and i'm pretty sure this one is DARKER (higher #) than 8/20

 

today's tests:

8/22/14:

 

PH- 8

Ammonia- sort of in between .5 and .25 but closer to .5

Nitrates- sort of in between 5 and 10, but closer to 10.

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Cycle should go like this ammonia>nitrite>nitrates. Ammonia spikes then nitrite then nitrates, once you have zero ammonia and nitrite and detectable nitrates the cycle is over. Dont worry about testing ph right now.

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i unfortunately managed to miss ordering a nitrite kit but i'll have one for tomorrow's testing and going forward. i'll just assume that since my ammonia is going down, my nitrites are likely going up right now. i hate that i somehow missed that i needed to test that too and don't have that data for the past couple of days. oh well!

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okay so i finally have a nitrite test. it looks like the reading was .5 (when you lay it against a white surface it looks like .5, when you hold it above a white surface it looks like .25 but i'll go with .5 just to be safe).

 

my ammonia is reading at .25 but i've been reading up on the API ammonia kit and a lot of people report lots of .25 false reads so whooo knows. i'm not going to worry about it too much until my nitrites are for sure down to 0 since it seems like that is much more crucial.

 

also, USPS says my LED retrofit kit is scheduled for delivery today! i'm not quite sure i believe that (we've got notoriously bad postal service here) but here's hoping! if it shows up, i'll have the most beautifully lit diatom bloom on the block! haha

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so suddenly my ammonia and nitrite is testing at zero!

 

nitrate is up so that tells me my cycle is coming to an end. ordered a CUC from reefcleaners.org and will have them by the end of this coming week. will also spend this week browsing some LFS for our first fish. i think i'd like to start with a pair of ocellaris clowns.

 

the LEDs did not show up yesterday despite the tracking still saying they should have. the tracking also has not updated since the 21st and despite supposedly paying for full insurance, the tracking info says it's only covered for $50...which is slightly concerning. i don't know if the latter is typical or what? either way i'm going to give it through tomorrow before i start to get really worried since weekends + usps = always a mess.

 

so yeah! hopefully this boring thread with minimal photos will start to get more fun and interesting soon!

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Nano sapiens

Yes, now the fun begins! :)

 

Welcome to NR. You've pciked the best place for Nano tanks and a rather decent crowd, too.

 

There is a lot more than meets the eye going on in any reef tank and things tend to happen much more quickly in Nanos vs. large systems. Key words in this hobby are 'Stability', 'Patience' and 'Consistency'. Once you get a handle on how to keep parameters stable and have a good mainteance routine, look into the various 'cycles' that occur in a reef tank (nitrogen, carbon and phosphate) to get an idea of what the substrate and all those products you are using are actually trying to do.

 

Best of luck and don't be shy asking questions.

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okay so yesterday dove deep into LED hell. we chose a "99% complete" retrofit kit from steve's LEDs because of a promised 10 minute installation needing only two tools we already had (wire cutters and a screwdriver).

 

well. i don't know how to say this, but steve's product description page is a straight up lie...or misleading if you want to be nice. not only did it not take 10 minutes (try several HOURS), but it required MAJOR modification to the hood using a dremel multitool that wasn't exactly easy. the instructions provided online were also severely lacking and difficult to follow. hopefully the product themselves ends up making up for how entirely frustrating and unpleasant the entire installation process was. if my husband jacob wasn't generally handy and familiar with basic wiring/electronics work, we'd have really had a problem.

 

anyway, here are some pictures of the process:

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jacob modifying the hood. this part SUCKED. bits of melty black plastic everywhere. LOUD as heck and really gross, stinky smoke.

 

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figuring out the wiring...plus the LEDs themselves!

 

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annnnd.....we have light!! it's a miracle!

 

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the typhon controller. the instructions for this are beyond laughable and installing this was the worst! i still need to figure out how to properly program it sometime today. luckily it looks like there are a few threads out there that help detail it.

 

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hooray (for the lights..not my unsightly diatom bloom)! these are the lights at only 25% they are super bright. i have no clue what brightness i should keep the tank at, honestly.

 

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just blues. still at 25%

 

i got the "JMB" special that includes lime LEDs which is full spectrum and claims to have amazing aesthetics. so far so good! here is a before (with stock lighting) and after shot:

 

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in other news, our CUC ships today and should arrive tomorrow (hopefully!) or thursday. we also visited a LFS last night to pick up some supplies and look at fish. now here's the dilemma...

 

so i know for sure i want the first fish to be a pair of ocellaris clowns. a couple days ago i realized i could get one orange and one black (variety!) but then the store had a small pair of orange clowns that were super cute and already friends and i'm tempted to just pick them up instead. they said they would have a black and an orange for me later this week if i wanted them but seeing the ones already there is making me second guess myself. what should i do??

 

we also almost got a torch coral frag, but i decided it was best to wait (which is hard to do!). instead we came home and while jacob worked on the LEDs i did a 5 gallon water change and some general maintenance/clean-up.

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my clean-up crew came today!

 

this experience was the exact opposite of the LEDs...super easy, clear directions (acclimation) and even better than advertised! reefcleaners.org clearly has a stellar reputation for a reason. USPS tried to jerk me around with the delivery and showed up several hours late and then tried to lie about attempting to deliver earlier, but at least it showed up!

 

so far everything seems to be alive and kicking. no unboxing photos because it is 90+ degrees in nyc today and the box was hotter than hades inside and i felt like i needed to get all my new friends outta there, acclimated and into the tank as quickly as possible.

 

here are a couple of shots once everybody was in the water. i'll never call snails slow again...these suckers move FAST!

 

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snail on the glass

 

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hermit crab with a cool shell

 

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another crab...i have no clue what kind they are. i've looked closely and honestly they all look the same to me so far...?

 

 

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it's alliiiiive! those white shells in front are empty shells included for the hermits. the tank already looks totally different a few minutes later...everyone is cruisin' around!

 

one weird thing unrelated to the CUC- it looks like my lone hitchhiker zoa has turned a little brown? i swear it was more purple before. what could this be?

 

ETA: one of the hermits has already abandoned his stock shell for one of the extra ones that was provided.

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ok, here i am talking to myself again....(i think it will be a good record to have down the line to look back on), and big news! our local shop (coral theory in brooklyn) called to let us know they got a new shipment of clownfish in so we went by to take a look and ended up coming home with a pair. one black, one standard orange. both ocellaris, obv. we also picked up some rod's frozen food and a jar of new life spectrum pellets for them.

 

they are drip acclimating in their bags in a cylinder vase at the moment:

 

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as you can see they were pretty stressed out and huddling together at the bottom.

 

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poor buddies. luckily our ride home wasn't too long so they didn't have too bad of a journey.

 

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the drip acclimation setup.

 

since taking the photos a few minutes ago, they have both chilled out a bit and started swimming around the bag!

 

while we wait for the fish to acclimate, here is a picture of a bunch of snails riding a hermit crab:

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so jacob (husband) insisted on letting our 18 month old baby name the fish. he's pretty advanced physically, but his vocabulary is fairly limited. he named the larger black fish "oh no". i compromised and said that the fish could be "yoko oh no" or yoko for short. my cleverness astounds you, i'm sure.

 

the smaller orange fish was then named........."shoe". i was not allowed any modifications so, shoe it is.

 

since we are still waiting, here is a photo of the adorable fish namer in question:

 

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okay so a decent chunk of time has passed since the first pictures were taken. yoko and shoe have officially entered the tank! i've got the lights down to 5% so they can just chill out the rest of this evening.

 

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shoe and yoko!

 

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yoko and shoe!

 

they look pretty big but they are both very small and cute. they're swimming around out in the open and not hiding, which i am assuming is a good sign. they are also sticking together which i am happy about!

 

when should i try feeding them? should i turn off the pump/powerhead for feeding?

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hooray for all the updates! not sure why i didn't get notifications...weird. love the names your son picked out. have you seen Nano Sapien's tank? He has a pair of bw & orange clowns too. keep the updates and pics coming!

 

and yes, definitely turn off the pump when feeding. clowns will eat anything and everything. just go easy on the feeding; they act hungry all the time and they get big fast.

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nano sapien's tank on the featured page was the first time i saw a mis-matched pair and once i saw them i knew that's what we had to have, actually!

 

when we got to the shop, they did have an orange/white snowflake clown that jacob (who i should just refer to here on out as "jk" like i do everywhere else online) liked and said we could get it if we wanted (instead of the black one) but i love the contrast of this particular mis-matched pair so much that i turned it down (turning down a designer clownfish? i know, right?? haha).

 

thanks for the info regarding feeding!

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