Heifinator's Biocube 14g

[heifinator]

Introduction

I wanted a salt water tank. parents had a 500g tank built around our kitchen when I grew up but it was time to start my own.

 

Now I'm addicted and blame nano-reef. Thanks everyone

 

This thread will be how I document all the mistakes I make and hopefully I can help others not do the same!

 

Initial Cost

A lot of people ask about cost. One of the most important things I have learned is not to be cheap. You get what you pay for and in this hobby reliability and quality are the most important things!

Biocube 14g 179.99

Koralia nano 240gpm 29.99

Maxijet 900 pump 19.99

Coralife Digital Thermometer x2 12.78

Purple Up 11.99

Jager 50w heater 24.99

Purigen 100ml 8.29

USA Dual Timer 11.49

5x4 Python Net 4.99

Chemipure 11oz 13.99

Hydor FLO 9.99

Python Mini Siphon 3.99

Coralife Salt 50gallons mix 19.99

Mixing Bucket 6.99

Magfloat 9.99

RO/DI Filter 139.99

Biocube inTank media basket 43.99

Filter floss 6.49

3.24 Lighting upgrade 94.12

 

Grand Total Before Biological Additions: $644.03

 

 

All updated information will be posted below as it comes. The only things updated on this main post will be full tank shots! All other pictures and news will be in new posts!

 

Livestock

Corals

Hammer Coral - Euphyllia paranchora

Starburst Polyps - Briareum sp.

Green Fluorescent Mushroom - Actinodiscus sp.

Candy Cane - Caulastrea furcata

Taro Tree Coral - Capnella sp

Hairy Mushroom - Rhodactis indosinensis

Green Zoanthids - Zoanthus sp.

Orange Zoanthids - Zoanthus sp.

Neon Acropora - Acropora spp.

Galaxia - Millepora alcicornis

Red / Green Blasto - Blastomussa Wellsi

 

Clean up Crew

Nassarius Snail - Nassarius vibex (5)

Dwarf Cerith - Cerithium sp.(15-20)

Florida Cerith - Cerith floridanum(3)

Nerite - Nerita(4)

 

Inverts

Pierre - Skunk Cleaner Shrimp - Lysmata amboinensis (R.I.P December 2011 - March 2011)

Blue Leg Hermit Crab - Clibanarius tricolor (3)

Scarlet Hermit Crab - Paguristes cadenati(2)

 

Fish

Poseidon - True Percula - Amphiprion percula

Colonel Sanders - Yellow Watchman Goby - Cryptocentrus cinctus

Fernando - Six Line Wrasse - Pseudocheilinus hexataenia

 

Full Tank Shots

Full Tank Shot - July 28th 2011

 

Full Tank Shot - March 31 2011

 

Full Tank Shot - March 13 2011

 

Full Tank Shot - March 7 2011

 

Full Tank Shot - January 26 2011

 

Full Tank Shot - January 19 2011

 

Full Tank Shot - January 13 2011

 

Full Tank Shot - January 3 2011

 

Full Tank Shot - December 30 2010

 

Lessons Learned

1.) Destroy Algae the moment you see it. I'm currently fighting Bryopsis sp.and Gelidium. Even with 0 phosphates you are not safe. They find a way to live if introduced. BE CAREFUL! If you look at my FTS you can see that it isn't completely over running my tank. That is due to hours of work weekly to fight it back. Along with a low photo-period!

 

2.) WATER CHANGES!!!! I went 2 weeks once without one and noticed a significant drop in coral health and overall tank health. If you keep a heavily stocked tank like I do, its alright. But do weekly water changes!

 

3.) Clean your filter floss every couple days. If you forget you will get an ammonia spike. Thankfully I caught mine before it did any damage!

 

4.) Tree coral is annoying. But not as bad as the haters claim. If you want it, get it. Be prepared to be picking out little pieces rooting in other places though!

 

5.) Cleaner shrimp are the greatest thing ever.

 

6.) Don't get a Goniopora. I did absolutly everything to keep it healthy. It did good for a while. But there is just no way to save them... 90%+ just will not eat in captivity. I put mine alone in a QT tank and it still wouldn't eat anything. Tried over 10 kinds of food.

[Gobby]

Sounds good....what have you decided to do for sand? Something I found alot easier to do then to use a mixing bucket is to pickup a few of those 2 1/2 gallon water jugs with the spigot on the front from Walmart. They are rectangular in shape. and have a 4 or 5 inch opening on the top for filling and a handle.They are food grade as they are usually used for drinking water, etc. I have 2 for RO/DI, and 3 for mixing my water & salt. I hook up my MightyMite filter and fill everything up after water changes weekly. I have a heater & powerhead that I use to mix & heat the water prior to adding to the tank. The spigot allows me to add the water slowly so I don't agitate the tank to much. Works nicely for nano tanks.

Something else I found is that I might have gone a little nuts with my CUC. I had a big GHA outbreak and threw in alot more crabs & snails then most people seem to have in their tanks on here. At least as far as I can tell from pictures I see on here. Now that I'm adding coral frags, some of these crabs are ####### me off. Nibbling on the corals and the featherduster's tube. I banished the biggest crab to a smaller tank today when I saw him attack the featherduster.

It looks like your going to be having all kinds of fun in a few days. Good luck with your project. Let me know if you need any hermit crabs. ;-)

 

Gobby

[uwwmatt]

 

Remember to take lots of pictures.

[heifinator]

Sounds good....what have you decided to do for sand? Something I found alot easier to do then to use a mixing bucket is to pickup a few of those 2 1/2 gallon water jugs with the spigot on the front from Walmart. They are rectangular in shape. and have a 4 or 5 inch opening on the top for filling and a handle.They are food grade as they are usually used for drinking water, etc. I have 2 for RO/DI, and 3 for mixing my water & salt. I hook up my MightyMite filter and fill everything up after water changes weekly. I have a heater & powerhead that I use to mix & heat the water prior to adding to the tank. The spigot allows me to add the water slowly so I don't agitate the tank to much. Works nicely for nano tanks.

Something else I found is that I might have gone a little nuts with my CUC. I had a big GHA outbreak and threw in alot more crabs & snails then most people seem to have in their tanks on here. At least as far as I can tell from pictures I see on here. Now that I'm adding coral frags, some of these crabs are ####### me off. Nibbling on the corals and the featherduster's tube. I banished the biggest crab to a smaller tank today when I saw him attack the featherduster.

It looks like your going to be having all kinds of fun in a few days. Good luck with your project. Let me know if you need any hermit crabs. ;-)

 

Gobby

 

Im using fiji pink.

 

I do have a couple questions

 

I was thinking of doing either a jawfish or yellow goby / pistol shrimp.

 

Is that sand acceptable for those guys? It says it is but I don't believe what I read on packages lol. Also, are pistol shrimp aggressive?

[uwwmatt]

Im using fiji pink.

 

I do have a couple questions

 

I was thinking of doing either a jawfish or yellow goby / pistol shrimp.

 

Is that sand acceptable for those guys? It says it is but I don't believe what I read on packages lol. Also, are pistol shrimp aggressive?

 

From liveaquaria.com

 

"It [Jawfish] needs to be kept on 5-7 inches of fine soft substrate such as sand of various particle sizes (not fine)."

 

Are you planning on a deep sand bed for your biocube?

[heifinator]

I was told 3 - 4 inches I had never seen 7 inches before. Just curious why would a jawfish need 3 - 4 inches more than a sifter goby or a pistol shrimp. Everything I have read has said they need 3 - 4 inches.

[uwwmatt]

I was told 3 - 4 inches I had never seen 7 inches before. Just curious why would a jawfish need 3 - 4 inches more than a sifter goby or a pistol shrimp. Everything I have read has said they need 3 - 4 inches.

 

 

I have never owned a Jawfish so I can really only speculate. But from the jawfish I have seen in other peoples tanks they like to burrow almost straight down so when they are sitting in the burrow with their heads out they are perpendicular to the tank bottom. Then they sort of shoot straight up for food. My experience with burrowing gobies is that they dig at an angle at the base of rocks to form caves.

 

If you do go with a jawfish in a shallower sand bed you may want to take a look in the DIY forum. I remember seeing a pretty cool DIY jawfish burrow made of pvc with a barnacle for the opening.

[Gobby]

I've read that gobies and jawfish like to have small shells and rubble to support the burrows that they make. I was going to add a YWG and a Tiger pistol, but they died in transit because of a snowstorm. I already had a small pile of shells and rubble ready at the base of the front rocks in hopes of them staking a claim there.

 

Gobby

[heifinator]

So some things have started to arrive.

 

When I install my RO/DI unit what is the best way to test the water to make sure its all filtering properly and I don't have crap water. Want to have a good start

 

TDS test?

[Gobby]

heifinator,

I bought my filter from Air, Water and Ice. They have a handheld TDS meter that I got at the same time as the filter.

http://www.airwaterice.com/c=8n3MdVQTE8m8d...HD/category/10/

 

I also use a fast flush valve which I open for about one minute for each day the filter was not used, prior to collecting new water. I only make 14 gallons of RO/DI a week at the most. I've read that the fast flush isn't needed, but after a couple of months of using the filter I have noticed the TDS jump up a bit until it is flushed and runs a bit....then it drops back down. So I believe it is a good idea if you want to keep the TDS low in you new water. Other then that, just make sure to change the cartridges on schedule.

 

Gobby

[heifinator]

Recieved my first shipment today.

 

Inside I found

 

Biocube 14

InTank Media Rack

Koralia 1

Hydor 900

Filter floss

Mag Float

 

[/url]

 

[/url]

 

heifinator,

I bought my filter from Air, Water and Ice. They have a handheld TDS meter that I got at the same time as the filter.

http://www.airwaterice.com/c=8n3MdVQTE8m8d...HD/category/10/

 

I also use a fast flush valve which I open for about one minute for each day the filter was not used, prior to collecting new water. I only make 14 gallons of RO/DI a week at the most. I've read that the fast flush isn't needed, but after a couple of months of using the filter I have noticed the TDS jump up a bit until it is flushed and runs a bit....then it drops back down. So I believe it is a good idea if you want to keep the TDS low in you new water. Other then that, just make sure to change the cartridges on schedule.

 

Gobby

 

 

I'm not using the cartridges I'm using filter floss instead. Cheaper and everyone tells me it yields the same results, especially considering I'm doing a media rack.

 

Also, is a TDS tester necessary if I have RO/DI water from a brand new filter. I mean I have no issue spending the money if I need it =)

 

I've decided I am planning on at some point having a jawfish (not for a while obviously) What is the best substrate? I was gonna use fiji pink but it doesn't appear to have enough shells / ect in it.

[Gobby]

The cartridges I'm talking about changing are the ones in your RO/DI filter, not in the tanks filter. I use floss in my media rack also.

I think you would want a meter to check the quality of the water you make with your RO/DI filter. A new RO/DI filter is going to give you 0 TDS for a while, but the cartridges efficiency is going to decline with use. It will depend on your raw water coming in and the amount of RO/DI water made...your usage. You could just change your cartridges on a set recommended schedule, but I would want a meter to know exactly when my TDS is starting to creep up. They don't cost much depending on if you get a handheld or inline. Sorry if I wasn't clear before.

 

Quote from link below:

"Depending on the species and the size of the tank, either a single Jawfish or a small group may be kept together. The aquarium must have a deep sand bed with rocky rubble, as Jawfish are prolific tunnelers. Due to their burrowing behavior, be sure that the live rock in the tank is either resting on the tank bottom or is firmly situated on a rock rack or acrylic risers. This is essential if the aquarist is to avoid damaging rockfalls as a result of the Jawfish tunneling under rock resting on top of the substrate."

 

Read more at Suite101: A Jawfish Primer: A General Care Guide on Marine Fish from the Genus Opistognathus http://www.suite101.com/content/a-jawfish-...7#ixzz18lHfISw9

 

I added that link for you to read a bit about Jawfish. There is probably plenty more places out there to read about them. I think thay look cool, but I have never had one.

 

Good Luck,

Gobby

[heifinator]

Question,

 

After installing my media basket the flow in the chambers seemed messed up, let me confirm this is correct.

 

Chamber 1 should be completely full, flowing into chamber 2. In chamber 2 all the water should be directed through the media basket. Outside of the media basket it should be dry except near the water level of chamber 3. From the back window I see falling water going through the media basket, it is not full of water. Is this correct?

 

Chamber 3 is in between the min / max value and chamber 2 is at the same level. Above that level in chamber 2 is falling water.

 

 

Also the chemi pure turned my water brown. I can replace it considering there are no creatures / rock at all. I rinsed it but it still turned my water brown. Will that go away?

[Gobby]

I installed the media basket from StevieT almost as soon as I setup the tank...not long after. My issue is that I cannot run both pumps at the same time because my media restricts the flow too much. I am forced to run in wavemaker mode. If I run both pumps all the time it runs the pump chambers almost dry and shoots bubbles into the returns. I hope someone jumps in here on the subject, because I really would like to know what to do. I have heard that alot of people run floss, chemipure and purigen in the basket. Thats what I am doing. My water level is always to the top of the basket almost to the point of overflowing into the 2nd chambers, hence the restriction I'm talking about. This is with the media clean & new.

Some people are running other things in the basket such as cheato macro algae and rubble rock. I haven't tried that yet. I just ordered a phosban reactor and some phosban because the dreaded GHA is on the hunt again since I started feeding some new frags. I use the JBJ protein skimmer right now with a upgraded air pump. Just in case you go with a protein skimmer...spend the extra money and get a better unit. I know that is off the subject but I just thought I'd throw that in there.

Okay...so let me break down what you are asking. You say "Chamber 1 should be completely full, flowing into chamber 2." Thats correct, but as I stated above, if it flows through the media too slowly you can only run the pumps in wavemaker mode and the basket is close to overflowing into chambers 2. That is in my tank and with my setup.

You then say " In chamber 2 all the water should be directed through the media basket." Well that is not so because chambers 2 are fill by the water flowing through chamber 1 which is the media basket. Chambers 2 should be at the same level...you are correct, because they fill as the water flows through the center chamber. If they weren't...you would have a worse senario then me. I keep an eye on the pump chambers so I know if I need to top off with RO/DI water. Thats my observations so far with that.

I didn't have brown water from using Chemipure. I rinsed it pretty well. Maybe you just didn't rinse it good enough, but I would think it will go away. I hope I didn't sound like I was lecturing you...just trying to give my point of view on what I've noticed. Hope things are clearing up for you.

 

Gobby

[heifinator]

The tank has been running for a week or so now with salt water. The temp has been steady at 78F with the lights on and about 77.5F with the lights off. Had all the equipment running all week and it all seems good.

 

I have noticed that the Maxijet is very strong but also loud. I have removed it and returned the stock pump. I also removed my hydor because of this. So now I just have the stock pump and the koralia.

 

I just added sand about 5 minutes ago and am letting it clear up a bit. Live rock coming tomorrow and then the waiting game begins. Plan on adding a small CuC a couple weeks after the live rock as long as parameters are good by then.

 

[jojoe972]

Sounds good....

 

You might want to try a pico evolution in chamber 3 instead. It is quiet and pumps 300 gph. Also it is much smaller than the 900 and requires less electricity. It losses gph because of having to pump up a few inches into the main tank so I would suggest not adding the hydor flo to this. I love mine and am planning on getting another one for the right side of my tank to put inside the display for more flow. Wanted a mp10 but I think its a little overkill for the size of my tank.

[heifinator]

I may try it. I feel as though the flow is pretty good with the k1 in there as well.

[heifinator]

Just added live rock to the tank. Will post pictures when the cloudiness goes away!

[heifinator]

Ok so the cloudiness has mostly cleared. I bought 15lbs of live rock and somehow only used 2/3 of it. Such a waste =(

 

Anyways wanted to get some opinions on my aquascaping before I leave it permanently!

 

 

 

 

 

I left a lot of shelfs / overhangs for coral but overall its a pretty steep scape. There is also a big cave in the middle that comes out on the side =). Plenty of good places to put my jawfish burrow I made. Still need to add some shell fragments to my sand!

[jojoe972]

I like the aquascape but the real question is do you like it. If you like it then that is all that counts but looks great to me. You keeping the powerhead on that side or switching it to the other side?

[heifinator]

I like the aquascape but the real question is do you like it. If you like it then that is all that counts but looks great to me. You keeping the powerhead on that side or switching it to the other side?

 

Ill be switching it. Its their now because it helped force the sand into the filter when it was cloudy. When I had it under the intake holes it just blew the sand away again lol. But yes I'll be moving it to create more dynamic flow.

[jojoe972]

cool

[heifinator]

Its been about almost a week since I added the live rock and over the last week here have been my parameters.

 

Wed Dec 29

pH 8.0

SG 1.024

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

 

Friday Dec 31

pH 8.0

SG 1.025

Ammonia: 0.5ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

 

Saturday Jan 1

pH 8.0

SG 1.025

Ammonia: 1.5ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

 

Monday Jan 3 (Visible Algae Bloom)

pH 8.2

SG 1.026 (Going to add some freshwater today since I haven't done a top off)

Ammonia: 0.25ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 2-3ppm

 

So now a couple questions / pictures

 

1) Is the algae in the pictures just a brown bloom or is it hair algae? I honestly cannot tell.

 

2) Should I be concerned I never had nitrites? I assume I just had good live rock with bacteria that converted it into nitrate without me seeing the nitrite.

 

3) In another week or so once my ammonia is stable at 0 and I have done a 40% water change is it safe to add my CuC?

 

I'm in no hurry but I've been told once my ammonia is stable at 0 and all my parameters are good I should add my CuC to help with the inevitable algae take over.

 

 

 

[jojoe972]

I believe it looks normal to me and it is not hair algae. If everything looks fine after about two and a half weeks I would add your CUC. If you can wait 3 then go ahead but two and a half should be good if all tests come out good.

[jrock4224]

welcome to reefing ... that is the cycle, next it will turn the sand brown in spots....I get a sand sifting star fish early in the cycle, even though it might not live, i still like that it mixes up the sand alot and keeps it looking better.. check my bc29 thread to see what i am talking about...As for the rocks, my rocks were only brown for a week now there turning green... and i dont believe my eyes but there starting to coraline a little... but there again I am using are form a existing reeftank i recently took down... looks good... dont sweat the things that are going to happen in the next 4-6 weeks...its natural...me personally i add a cuc after about a week....but thats probably why my parameters are higher than yours and i set these up with out ro/di water as a experiemnt for my really large tank...I have a hard time believing yours are so low...ie 0 almost across the board after two weeks.. i have never in the several fresh, salt and brackish tanks i have had had that happen so fast..looks good i like your aquascaping...