Nicks 29 gallon biocube

[Oneslowsaleen]

Well I started a post in general forums but figured I'd move it to here. I recently was involved in bad car accident that I some how survived , unfortunately it left me paralyzed from chest down. Being paralyzed took me away from my true love cars which I will be getting back into again , and hopefully running my own shop from a chair again. With all this time on my hands I needed to do something to keep me sane so I started a 29 gallon biocube . I have owned numerous fresh water tanks and a 125 gallon reef tank before.

As far as the tank goes this is what I have so far

Coral life 28 gallon biocube / stand

Stock 265 gph pump

Finnex 100 watt digital heater

Replaced bio balls with crushed live rock

20 lb Hawaiian black live sand

17-22 lb Fiji rock ( bought it dry)

Instant ocean reef crystals salt

Coral life protein skimmer ( not sure if I'm going use yet)

I will be adding power head in near future!

I have the lights on digital timers( if my times are off please let me know)

Actinic light 10 am-10pm

10000k 12 pm-8 pm

Moonlight LEDs 10 pm-4am

 

Now the tank has been running for a week I tested parameters just to see

Ph-8.0

Kh-4.3 Meg/L or 12 dkH

Nitrate-20

Nitrite-.5

Ammonia-2+

Salinity 1.025(will be 1.026 after few water changes )

Temp bounces from 79-82 ( need to find away to keep it under 80 , any advice????)

 

As far as stocking goes I'm not 100% sure yet, I'd like to do a seahorse but that limits me to tankmates and I'll have to get temperatures way down plus I think my tank is too small.

[Dreichler]

Sorry to hear what happened man... But i have a true passion for cars too, I'm 17 and personally bought myself i nice little '12 si coupe, and threw some bolt ons in it.... fun little car... as for the reef game, this is honestly the best hobby I've gotten into, and i hope you start to get a feel for it again as well... the tank is definitely still cycling, so wait a bit longer, you want that ammonia at absolute zero, and the nitrate/nitrite as close to zero as possible... some advice id say is get some purple coraline rock, smaller pieces so its easier to set them where you'd like... i would run the blues from 10:00am-8:30pm, and the whites from noon or 1:00pm-4:30pm... the whites are whats gonna cause bleaching, so limiting them is a little beneficial... i also personally don't run moonlights as i feel nothing really "sleeps" then... to keep the temp under 80, its a little hard to explain, but in the middle chamber, or wherever the water flows into the chambers, put a small USB powered fan aimed right over the top about 3 inches above the water coming into the chambers.... thats what i did to cool my water, then just buy a cobalt 75W heater, set it to 76-77 and it'll go on when needed, and off when needed automatically... stock is all personal preference, but in my opinion, nothing beats the relationship between a clownfish and an anemone, but i wouldn't buy a clown that isnt hosted to one.... when you go to the fish store, try and find one that is already in the tank with an anemone and hosted to it... hope everything goes well man, and let your tank cycle a little bit more.... i see your in North Carolina, have a cabin on Sugar Mountain...

[Oneslowsaleen]

I just went on a shopping spree I purchased

 

Few pounds of tonga branch I want to see if I like it in my tank.

Eco tech power head

2nd thermometer just to be accurate

Few other misc items to help with maintenance

 

I will be testing the parameters this Sunday hoping it'll be closer to where I need it be to start adding a clean up crew.

 

I Added a pic of my Aquascape before it was put in the tank just so you can a get better Image, plus everyone loves pictures not that one is great.

[Rduboid1117]

Good luck with your new tank. I love my biocube 29. I have the InTank media basket and fuge and they really help keep nitrates down once your tank has stopped cycling. I'm using chemipure elite, purigen, and filter floss in media basket. Then cheeto macro algea and led fuge light next to it.

[Dreichler]

ya InTank basket should be the first thing to do before anything, will double the quality of filtration, forgot about that....

[ReeferFreakerGeek]

Love the scape and how you planned it!

[Oneslowsaleen]

Yea compact cars with a little extra power are fun , I had a ford contour with a Ford Escape motor in it (poor mans m3) once ,lol .I'm glad I was in my everyday car and not my mustang cause I would not be here .

 

 

Ok so I looked up the Intank fuge and media basket I'm going go that route. I have few questions though . Should I have any crushed live rock in any the chambers as well? Also in chamber one I'd like to run a protein skimmer what one would you recommend I believe my choices are tunze 901, aquatic life 115, and innovative ghost ? Prefer it to be quiet as tank is in my bedroom. I have my heater in chamber 3 with return pump (finnex digi 100 watt ) . Dreichler I took your advice and change the settings on my lights, I think I may add a retrofit kit before I add corals and go LED. One other thing I'm thinking about is ATO ? I figure do everything rite the first time around.

 

There is a bit of algae growing on my rocks and I hate looking at it , being there is no CUC in the tank can I use a toothbrush to clean them a little?

Thanks in advance for any advice/help!

[HarryPotter]

Yea compact cars with a little extra power are fun , I had a ford contour with a Ford Escape motor in it (poor mans m3) once ,lol .I'm glad I was in my everyday car and not my mustang cause I would not be here .

 

 

Ok so I looked up the Intank fuge and media basket I'm going go that route. I have few questions though . Should I have any crushed live rock in any the chambers as well? Also in chamber one I'd like to run a protein skimmer what one would you recommend I believe my choices are tunze 901, aquatic life 115, and innovative ghost ? Prefer it to be quiet as tank is in my bedroom. I have my heater in chamber 3 with return pump (finnex digi 100 watt ) . Dreichler I took your advice and change the settings on my lights, I think I may add a retrofit kit before I add corals and go LED. One other thing I'm thinking about is ATO ? I figure do everything rite the first time around.

 

There is a bit of algae growing on my rocks and I hate looking at it , being there is no CUC in the tank can I use a toothbrush to clean them a little?

Thanks in advance for any advice/help!

An you don't need LR in the chambers. It will just form a poop-trap and spike nitrates.

 

Tunze Nano ATO is great and only $99

 

Yeah you can scrub off algae on the rocks.

 

I recommend a NanoBoxReef retrofit kit... Its almost complete and an excellent light.

[Oneslowsaleen]

Thanks for the advice, I will be ordering a few things from Intank tonight . Intank fuge/media basket, the proper media, fuge light, a tunze 9001 protein skimmer, and tunze ATO. I also tested my parameters again tonight, they are looking much better . Hopefully in a few days I'll be able to start adding a CUC.

 

Ph-8.2

Alk-4.3 Meg/L or 12 dkH

Nitrate-10

Nitrite-.1

Amm. -0

This is using Red Sea test kit.

[Newstead]

Love your rockscape - I am terrible at that. Love my biocube29 - had a 14 for 3 years til it sprang a leak. Good advice above. I am still running the coralife skimmer I bought with the 14 (didn't know any better) but plan to replace it with the Tunze. Just cannot get it to do snything but run very wet which plays with my salinity. +1 on the media and inTank basket!

[Oneslowsaleen]

Well I put a CUC in consisting of 5 small hermits and 5 snails . I could not stand the site of algae, and these guys are hard at work. I also went ahead and got a retrofit lightning kit from nano box reef/ the t5 set up is keeping the tank over 80 degrees . This weekend I will be installing all my new upgrades and snapping some photos. I did exactly what I said I wasnt going to do and spent a lot of money.

 

Newstead do you have a build thread I'd like to see some photos of especially if those sun corals are in it.

I decided What im going stock with

Corals

- mostly zoas/ploys

-a Dendro or two

 

Fish

-gobie

-purple firefish

- one other small fish I have not decided

 

Inverts

- pistol shrimp

[Newstead]

Looking forward to the pics! We both like the black sand look. I don't have a build thread - didn't join here til after the 29 was up and running. Rarely take fts since mine looks pitiful next to all the great ones I see on here. Here is one from a week or two ago, before I added 5 more little frags. Wanting to do several euphyllia on top and did add a baby purple frogspawn on top. Had to mive the GSP to an ugly frag rock til I can find a better real one. The sun and acan are in front for ease of feeding. The clowns, frogspawn and one snail were all that came from my 14 (a cleaner shrimp made it but died a month after the move). So I am starting over mostly - an aiptasia invasion had killed my softies, the frogspawn was the only coral that survived that. This tank will be 6 months old on the first. Just getting coralline on back wall, powerhead, etc. Just don't laugh at my tank ;-(.

[Oneslowsaleen]

Everyone starts somewhere , I happen to like the tank! The two changes I would make , like you said replace the frag rock rock under your GSP maybe with a piece of tonga shelf with a small base??? And two where your sun coral lies ( which Is stunning) I would put some small rock a little less than 1/2 the height of your main rock creating a little island. I do have quiet a bit of extra rock Fiji, tonga branch ( for some reason I like to hoard rock ) I see your in NC but don't know If your local to Charlotte .

[Newstead]

Great ideas ...the sun is on a little rock to keep the sand from irritating it, but I love the idea of raising it up. I keep looking at Nemo's for a rock for the GSP but haven't found one I like yet in the size I need.

We are just east of Charlotte in Mint Hill so not far at all since Charlotte is trying to swallow Mint Hill :-)

[Oneslowsaleen]

I go to nemos as well. After I do all my upgrades this weekend I'll lay out my extra rock and snap some photos for you maybe you'll see a rock or two you like . I could meet you at nemos one day if you see a rock you like.

[Oneslowsaleen]

So all my stuff came. I'm like a kid on Christmas Day. It be all installed already if I could do it on my own , I have to wait for help. Everything should be In by mon/Tuesday.

Tunze 3152 ATO

Tunze 9001 skimmer

Eco tech mp10 (installed)

Algae free priahana float ( installed)

Intank media basket + media

Intank fuge basket ( returning)

Jbl nano led fuge light

Nano box reef retro light w/ bluefish

Only thing I'm waiting for is an ATO reservoir

 

I bough a few pieces of Tonga as well for a cool idea... I will share once it is done.

 

This is how I'm going set it up in the back fuge in chamber one , 9001 and Intank media basket in chamber two, heater and return pump in chamber three

[Oneslowsaleen]

So we finally got some work done on the tank , it is almost fully set up. Only thing I got left to install is my fuge light and ATO, which is happening tomorrow along with the weekly water testing. I also may be stopping at LFS to get some algae for the fuge maybe a couple zoa frags!

Pictures of the Intank mediabasket and tunze 9001 install , and picture of the hood with nanoreefbox retro fits.

[HarryPotter]

So we finally got some work done on the tank , it is almost fully set up. Only thing I got left to install is my fuge light and ATO, which is happening tomorrow along with the weekly water testing. I also may be stopping at LFS to get some algae for the fuge maybe a couple zoa frags!

Pictures of the Intank mediabasket and tunze 9001 install , and picture of the hood with nanoreefbox retro fits.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DIP THE ZOAS BEFORE ADDING THEM INTO YOUR TANK!

 

Keep this beauty pest free. You have great equipment, make sure a pest doesn't spoil the fun!

[Oneslowsaleen]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DIP THE ZOAS BEFORE ADDING THEM INTO YOUR TANK!

Keep this beauty pest free. You have great equipment, make sure a pest doesn't spoil the fun!

 

Any coral dip you recommend ? I was going go with which ever one my LFS had. I'm also thinking about a cheap 10g tank for QT when I start to pick up fish.

[Dreichler]

i would go for Revive for coral dipping

[Oneslowsaleen]

Well I went to my local fish picked up two frags and two little fishes revive coral dip . I acclimated them , than added the coral dip let them sit for a bit than added to my tank. I also got most of my tank down, there is still some fine tuning to do. I'm waiting on my ATO tank to arrive until then I'm using a lowes bucket. I tried to take some good photos but I'm using a iPhone 5. First picture is setup of the bank of the tank , 2nd and third are of when frags were first added last night , and 4 / 5are of when the lights came on today.

[PieMan2k]

Is that a virety of pink zoas? If so how much did you par for them I would love to get some for my tank when I get it set up.

[Oneslowsaleen]

Yes , I paid quite a bit for them . Soon as I rolled into the fish store I saw them and kept coming back to them so I talked myself into buying them. So today my less than week old mp10 took a shit. I also added a piece of Tonga branch today , I'll take a picture tomorrow to see if guys like it I have mixed feelings.

[Oneslowsaleen]

We fixed my mp10 after eco tech sent me some videos on how to reassemble the wet side of the pump some how the piece holding the fan on came lose.

Well after some research I found out I made a noob mistake what I thought was a zoa frag turns out to be a LPS flower pot coral, from when I been reading they are hard to keep. So I def. should ask before I buy. They seem to be doing well, they're fully open and liking the flow and the new lights I got. Any info on how to care for these ? I'm hoping that they'll do well in my tank. I will post some good pictures tonight.

[Oneslowsaleen]

Well I probably post too much, but I enjoy it lol. Tomorrow I'm doing my first WC.

We tested my water parameters today and took some good pictures .

80 F

1.026 salinity

Red Sea test kit

Ph-8.2

Alk-12 or 4.3 meg/L(should this be up a little higher around 13/14?)

Nitrate 15 ppm

Nitrite-.02 ppm

Ammonia-0 ppm

 

Salifert

Calcium-450 ppm

Mg-1440 ppm

PO4-0

 

The pictures are of my Halloween Zoa , my flower pot, and my newly added piece of Tonga branch. The last is a picture of white spotted Pygmy filefish which I believe is going be my first fish.