Proudgeek Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Hello all. My name is J and I live in South Florida. Long story short, I've always wanted to have a SW aquarium. I've had FW in the past but nothing fancy... and it's been quite a while. Nowadays, my kids are older ( but still with me) and HPDE (my other hobby) only happens every so often. After visiting a recommended LFS and drafting a scary nano reef budget, I was not sure this was something I wanted to formally commit to. All the research on sites such as N-R up to last weekend begged the same questions... Are you sure you want to do this and are you willing to spend this kind of money just to find out? I decided to search around craigslist last weekend and I came across a great deal on an Oceanic 14G biocube with stand, NIB protein skimmer, spare coralife bulbs, and other accessories that I could not pass up. My initial budget was cut down to 1/3rd How could I say no. I had to give this a shot! So this is my 14G Biocube thread... Will upload photos and more details shortly. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 Day 1 - Picked up all the equipment, validated the configuration, and ran 1g of white vinegar with tap water for 24 hours to clean the system. Day 2 - Cleaned all the coraline from the back and all other parts of the system. I then ran tap water through the system overnight. A friend from the office recommended MarcoRocks for dry rock... I had debated LR vs dry and had pretty much decided for dry as I am in no rush and I figured it would be safer to avoid hitchhikers.... One less thing to worry about I guess. I also came across 6g water canisters for $6.99 at kmart and ordered 2 of those for local pickup as I had decided to keep it simple and get RO and SW from the recommended LFS. Day 3 - Flushed all water and dried the tank and all other components. I also moved the tank to its permanent location away from direct sunlight. Ordered the MarcoRocks' nano kit - 20lbs of dry rock and 20lbs of sand and an API SW test kit from Amazon. Finally, I picked up the water containers from kmart. Day 4 - I filled both containers with SW after work and went home to fill up the tank as much as possible. I either filled up the containers over their intended capacity or the 14g biocube is more like 11g. I had SW left over. Day 5 - Both the rock and the test kit were waiting for me when I got home. Put a 1 1/4" layer of sand (21 cups) and still had about 1/4 of the 20 lbs left over. The MarcoRocks kit also came with Dr Tim' bacteria and ammonia for cycling the dry rock and tank. All rock was individually packed and got home in perfect condition. Day 6 - Began playing around with rock design. All my research led me to a fairly simple design with plenty of water for fish and private locations for others to enjoy. Both my kids approved one of the designs but was waiting for the water to clear up before putting the dry rock in the tank. Day 7 - The water was much clearer in the morning and it was time to put the rock in. I also swapped the bio balls with dry rock. After making sure things were up to par, I started the tank cycle by puting 2.5 capfuls of Dr Tim's One and Only and 13 ammonia drops in the tank. Let the games begin. Day 8 - TODAY! The tank water is now clear! I am very happy with the overall process so far. Just this evening, I ran the first water tests and so far so good. Ammonia up as per the normal process. I have been researching on what fish to stock the tank with, CUC, and other equipment improvements such as lighting. I will leave that for another day... Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Good start. What are your plans for your live stock? I would try to make like a cave between your rocks. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Day 9 - Water tests reflect no change. For fish, my research tells me that an ocellaris clownfish and a yellow clown goby will keep it simple and have personalities I would enjoy. There are other fish I like but they are either shy, grow too big, are too aggressive, or are a bit higher maintenance (feeding,,etc) that I would prefer. For cuc, astra/nassarius snails and a cleaner shrimp. For corals, I like pulsating zenias, torches, mushrooms, and zoes. I am starting to create a short list based on color combinations and budget. I enjoy researching these quite a bit but there are so many and the learning curve is fairly high. I have a cave in there but if you are mentioning it, it may not be big enough to be functional. Thoughts? Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 Today I ordered a Steve's led's biocube retrofit kit with the 12,000K Super Full Spectrum led combination. I am also about to order some arduino shields in order to build my own led controller. The goal is to have these components ready to go by the time the tank cycles. Link to comment
wildbill79 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Awesome start! I have a BC14 as well. They are really easy. They will limit some of the upgrades that you can do, but they are nice little tanks. I will be following. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Thanks! Equipment-wise, the LED upgrade is most likely the bigge$t upgrade I can do on the BC and I am addressing that up front. We'll see how this evolves. Very excited! Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 Nitrite going up and ammonia starting to come down... Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 So the Steve's LEDs retrofit kit got here yesterday and it is now installed. Very happy with the results. Ammonia is now at 0. Progressing... Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 So the BC finished its cycle while I was out of town last week. Finally, the day had come. Last night after work, I went to the LFS I've decided to use as my 1st choice for livestock. It turns out they had a nice weekday sale going on -- 15% off fish and frags. I ended up picking up a pair of true perculas as my son and I had agreed and two zoa frags, one "Miami Hurricanes" and an all red one which is unidentified at this time. I will post photos once they open up. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 Sorry for the crappy photos. Will take some new ones with the dslr once things open up. Here's the pair. They ate on day 1 and are happily swimming together. She's in charge for sure. The zoas. No ID on the left and Miami hurricane on the right. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted October 25, 2014 Author Share Posted October 25, 2014 Latest addition. It is at a safe distance so it won't be stinging anyone anytime soon . I also picked up frozen mysis shrimp... Link to comment
owenj Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Nice looking tank. CL can be hit or miss, but looks like you got a winner here, and without being saddled with the previous livestock Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 Thanks! I got a really good deal. I am about to post a bnib skimmer and two sets of replacement bulbs that are of no use to me. I'll even get cash back . I'll be using that for a koralia 425. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 So I've been looking for yellow clown goby since day one. After visiting my acceptable and nearby lfses non stop, I called a few of the far away ones and got a hit. One had one! I drive up after work and it happened to be a citron clown goby instead. Tricked...shame on me. Well, he gave me the puppy face and he is now enjoying the cave in my tank He looks happy... Curious and checking out all sides of his new home. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share Posted November 1, 2014 He's out and about and my female TP lets him be. Very pleased!! Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted November 3, 2014 Author Share Posted November 3, 2014 The citron had refused to eat since Friday. Based on my research, I understand these gobies often come stressed from their journey and may need to be trained to eat prepared food. My TP clowns love both the dr g's mysis and the Thera+a pellets but the goby had looked the other way at dinner time. Yesterday, I decided to try something new. I picked up some dr g's brine to try that before moving to live brine - hoping to keep things simpler while giving him a chance to eat. Well, today he ate 1! Success. He did not look happy at all but I guess hunger will influence a fish's dietary preference after all. Will go back to pellets/mysis for the clowns tomorrow and give the goby more brine. Wish us luck. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted November 3, 2014 Author Share Posted November 3, 2014 There is a frag swap in ft lauderdale on Saturday and I'm hoping to pick up a few new frags for the cube. I already received my seachem reef dip from amazon so I'm ready to go. Link to comment
owenj Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Nice. I just picked up a citron clown goby over the weekend. Mine got all excited chasing flake food around though, so hopefully yours broadens his horizons too Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Looks Nice! Im running almost the same set up on my BC14. I got steves retro kit on and a fuge in the back! Cant wait to see more! Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted November 4, 2014 Author Share Posted November 4, 2014 Nice. I just picked up a citron clown goby over the weekend. Mine got all excited chasing flake food around though, so hopefully yours broadens his horizons too Thanks. Let's hope so! It is stressing me a little... Really like his personality. My GF's daughter just named him Popeye Your tank is very nice! Looks Nice! Im running almost the same set up on my BC14. I got steves retro kit on and a fuge in the back! Cant wait to see more! Thanks. The led kit is great. Next step is to start gluing corals to rock. We'll see how that goes. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted November 4, 2014 Author Share Posted November 4, 2014 So the clowns had a great pellet party and the goby ate just one brine. We'll, one is better than zero I guess... Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 Big progress. Popeye ate three brine shrimp today! Also, the diatoms were driving me crazy so I added phase 1 of the CUC -- two nassarius snails (Tom and Jerry) and 10 blue leg crabs. Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 Popeye is eating 3-4 brine on a daily basis. We are both happy! Well, went to a frag swap today with my son and came home with this... And after all newcomers got dipped, it was dinner time! Even the lobo ate some brine tonight. Here it is: Link to comment
Proudgeek Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 Popeye is now eating like a bandit. The new acan, however, has been losing its shape. What would this be related to? Growth, too much light or flow? I just turned off the koralia and lowered the led from 50% to 33%. I don't think its water quality as all tests pass with flying colors and I just did a water change. The only test I have not done is salinity and I should get the testing tool tomorrow from amazon. The frogspawn is also not extending as it had during the last 10 days or so. Thoughts? Dip related? If you look to the left of the acan, there is a bit of brown hair algae which I vacuumed today. I know I need to be patient but... Link to comment
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