Bonsai Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Hi Everyone! I've always admired Salt Water Tanks, but for the longest time, didn't realize that they could come in a small package. During a trip to the local movie theatre about a years ago, I saw the smallest SWT that I'd ever seen ... a BioCube. Sitting on the Ticket Counter. With Clownfish! This really sparked my interest, but I wasn't really hooked until a couple months ago when I visited my LFS and saw a BioCube 14g on display. I started talking to the staff and finally decided to make the jump - but I wanted to save a few bucks so I bought a BioCube on eBay. It was "brand new, never opened" ... but as you may have guessed, arrived completely shattered (note to sellers, if you sell aquariums on eBay, please pack them better - don't send them in their original packaging with no other padding). Needless to say, I'm still in a PayPal dispute over that item, which has been returned to the seller ... but in the meantime, I purchased another 14G from another eBay Seller, this one came through perfect. Well packed and sealed. I set the tank up with 14Lb of cured Live Rock from my LFS, and I also bought 1Lb of Live Sand to put on top of the other sand in the tank. On Jan 16th, the tank was established with those items and some pre-mixed Salt Water from the store. And yes, I know it looks like a "pile of rocks" ... but there are some nice little caves and such in the center of the structure. I may rearrange once I start looking at placing corals, but for now, I kind of enjoy it So here is how things have progressed so far: Jan 16th - Tank Established Jan 19th - Diatom Bloom on Sand Surface Jan 21st - More Brown Algea Starts to Grow on the Rock Jan 22nd - Had LFS Test Water, came back: Ammonia - 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 5 KH - 10 Calcium - 450 Salinity - 1.025 Phos. - 0.1 Hrm.. Did I have a very short cycle? Is it already over? (not likely, I know) Jan 22nd - Prematurely purchases a small 6 snail clean up crew: 2 - Trochus 2 - Turbo 2 - Nassarius Jan 29th - Had LFS test water again, same exact parameters. Feb 1st - Tested Water Again, still looking perfect. March 3rd - One Cooling Fan Died - but was replaced via mail by Oceanic. May 19th - Other Cooling Fan Died - but was replaced via mail by Oceanic. June 18th - One Light Ballast Died - but was replaced via mail by Oceanic. Soooooooooo, I'm about 2.5 weeks into the tank, I've had a diatom bloom, I have hitchhikers (a couple small Feather Dusters and a couple of Brittle Starfish), but I haven't seen a measurable cycle. Could it be because I used Cured Live Rock and Live Sand that I had a very short cycle before I had the water tested for the first time? Needless to say, I won't be adding fish or corals for at least a couple more weeks ... and I plan on monitoring the pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate every 3 days until I do so. Link to comment
Scroople Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I like it! I love the sand you have, I wish mine was a little bit finer though. The Aquascape looks good too, Im no expert though, but it looks like you may have difficulty placing corals without many flat spaces though. Link to comment
jmorosky Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Did you modify your filter or your nano cube? Link to comment
Bonsai Posted February 2, 2008 Author Share Posted February 2, 2008 Did you modify your filter or your nano cube? I did. I pulled out the BioBalls from Chamber 2, and filled Chamber 2 almost full ... so now all three chamers run near-full. In Chamber 1, I took the stock filter and stripped it down to the plastic. In another thread a few other BioCube owners were talking about buying filter material in a sheet for $5.99 from PetSmart - so I did that, cut it to size, and now my replacement filters are only $0.50 In Other News I'm still getting brown algea covering the sand daily ... the snails clean it pretty well, but it keeps coming back ... and the top of my rocks are turning a dark green ... :/ Link to comment
Bonsai Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 Quick bump ... do the brown algae blooms normally occur only during the tanks cycling process ... or do they occur afterward as well? In the previous post, there are a few pics of the tank as it currently stands. Lots of green algae on top of the rocks, and lots of brown algae on the sand ... Link to comment
Bonsai Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 I'm about 6 1/2 weeks into my 14G BioCube - current inhabitants: - 2 Ocellaris Clownfish - 1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp - 2 Turbo Snails - 2 Nassarius Snails - 2 Trochus Snails - Frag of Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoas ... I have a Frag Pack arriving from Alti's Reef on Tuesday. I'll post a picture when they come in. Here is the current, "before" picture (glass needs to be cleaned). Link to comment
jmorosky Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Do you still have the green algae on the top of your rocks? Did it get better/worse with time? Link to comment
Bonsai Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 Do you still have the green algae on the top of your rocks? Did it get better/worse with time? The rocks have all kinds of color now, actually. There is the nice purple coraline that is growing ... slowly, then there is some Teal color, a some bright green at the top, and some others. Link to comment
Bonsai Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 I received my frag pack from Alti's Reef today. I ordered the "Reef Tank Starter Package" Everything looks good so far, The Zoas are starting to open nicely. Alti's is great, the Package only comes with 6 frags, but they sent me 8! Here are some pictures. The GSP is sloowwwly opening. The Kenya Tree and Anthellia are in rough shape though. Hopefully they'll pick themselves up over the next day or so. Link to comment
Bonsai Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 I found a ball of Bubble Algae ... how do I get rid of that safely? Link to comment
jwhyne Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 I found a ball of Bubble Algae ... how do I get rid of that safely? Emerald crabs have done wonders for my bubble algae, might help yours too. Link to comment
JCBioCube29 Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Nice frags. Tank looking very nice Link to comment
Bonsai Posted March 18, 2008 Author Share Posted March 18, 2008 Some frags I received last week from Alti's Reef - everything is looking pretty good. Link to comment
divecj5 Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Looks like it is coming along nicely. Great starter frags you got there. Keep up the good work. Link to comment
Bonsai Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 The newest addition to my tank. Link to comment
Bonsai Posted April 7, 2008 Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 April FTS ... coming along, slowly Link to comment
Bonsai Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 May 2008 Update Front Tank Shot Ricordeas (Orange, Blue, Purple/Green) Candy Cane & Hammer Coral My first Coral - still growing slowly. Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoanthids More Zoanthids ... Anthelia & More Zoanthids Link to comment
disaster999 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 wow..i like your rock work! very nice! Link to comment
Bonsai Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 May Updated #2 - with the New Clownfish Link to comment
Zombo Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I'm on for the ride - Bonsai and I just discovered that not only do we share a hobby, we share a workplace! Do I get free frags now? Link to comment
Bonsai Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 I'm on for the ride - Bonsai and I just discovered that not only do we share a hobby, we share a workplace! Do I get free frags now? I certainly have some Anthelia you can take. When I grabbed my largest frag and send it to PhishyAly, i noticed there are about 4-6 stalks that have attached to the glass in the same area of the tank. If you want 'em, they're yours! Link to comment
Aqua newbie Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 What epoxy do you use to stick frags to live rock? Link to comment
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