RIKennedy Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 So I have been wanting to do this for some time now, I just reciently moved and I don't have a tank of any kind. I've had planted freshwater setups in the past but never saltwater. I've been reading on this forum for about 2 weeks and just cant take it any longer! So after much research I decided to go with the BioCube 14. I ordered it last night! I'm really excited. When I get it I plan on taking out the back filter media (as advised) and converting it into a refugium. I'm also going to try and add another PC light in the hood plus a couple fans. Should I go with nanocustoms upgrade? and refugium light? or is it easy enough to do it myself? (I'm pretty good with DIY stuff...) I want it to look good and clean though... I'll also be swapping out the pump for a MJ900. I want to do just basic corals: mushrooms, zoos, probably a hammer I'll probably also add a Yellow Watchman Goby and maybe a couple Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish What do you think? Should I mod the tank in any other ways? should i look into a skimmer? Will Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish work in a BC14? Suggestions? Comments? Ideas? I'm a Noob to SW so anything will help.... and does this forum have a spell check? Link to comment
TUDIZZLE Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 wut es dis spel chek u speek uf? Link to comment
ringfinger Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 The nanocustoms lighting upgrades look nice, are somewhat easy to install yourself, and actually improve heating issues because of the fans included. That being said, you would be ok with the stock lighting based on the coral choices you have made, but an extra bulb definitely wouldn't disappoint either. I say do it if you have the money. Use firefox. It has a spell check add-in that is always running. Best thing ever. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ Those 3 fish are a little much in my opinion. I would just get 2 instead. I say it's borderline, others will say it's fine. The Sapphire Nano Skimmer from nanocustoms is a perfect fit. It will help, but is not a necessity in a 14g IMO. Once again, if you have the money... The upgrade to a MJ900 is a good choice. A Hydor-Flo would be a good idea as well. I like a little extra flow, and also have a Rio 180 in addition to the MJ900. You may need to cut a little plastic between chambers 1 & 2 to allow more water through after upgrading the pump. There are numerous threads on doing this. Link to comment
bigpaul2600 Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Yeah I had to widen the overflow from chamber 1 to 2. also if you want to avoid micro bubbles and the MJ-900 running dry ignore the min/max lines on the side of the tank and make sure the water level in chamber 3 is up to the elbow on the return line. Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 15, 2007 Author Share Posted October 15, 2007 Thanks for the suggestions, it is really appreciated. I am definately going to cut the back chambers for better flow... I will also look into getting a Hydor-Flo to put on the other side. I really just want to do everything right the first time so I don't spend money fixing things or having livestock die. Also, thanks for the water filling suggestion, I've heard a lot about these "bubbles" should I look into getting an ATO? how often do you have to fill your tank back up?? Link to comment
ringfinger Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Even leaving the "feeding-door" open on hot days doesn't amount to much evaporation. I just keep a couple gallons of distilled water on hand. If you someday go open top with a MH or something, then an ATO might save you some trouble. Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 15, 2007 Author Share Posted October 15, 2007 Ok cool, so it's not a big problem... I was also wondering... I have an RO hooked up to my kitchen sink. Will water from this be my best bet? or should i go by some distilled water? Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 15, 2007 Author Share Posted October 15, 2007 and the Hydor-Flo is just an attachment I put on the MJ900 right? does it just hook right in or do i need an adapter of some kind? Link to comment
Chipsreef Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Hydor-flo attaches to the pump output in your display, comes with proper fittings. RO water is a necessity, use it for everything. If you want your system to be as hands free as possible get an ATO system. Personally I would purchase the best lighting possible now your corals will appreciate it more and in the future you will have the option to keep higher light demanding corals. Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 yay! so my tank will be here on Monday 10/22/07! I'm excited! I can't wait to get started... I have decided to go with metal halide lighting but I'm going to wait to buy/install it until my water has cycled and my tank is ready for the Clean up crew. ...and I have more money... At this moment I'm thinking about this for my metal halide: http://www.illuming.com/catalog/product_in...products_id=283 and going with the 14K bulb I was also going to try and retro-fit it into the hood, which means I'll have to and add a few fans and make my top sort of frankensteinish. oh yeah, and after I add fish (prob 3 months from now) I might get that saphire skimmer made for the Biocube 14. I hope this all looks good! let me know if you see anything wrong with my ideas... Link to comment
dopamine Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I have a new BC14 too! I would love to upgrade lighting in the future! not now cause this has been so expensive so far. is there a cover that goes inbetween the MH lights and the water? and you take out all of the stock lights? or do you leave actinics? Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 I have a new BC14 too! I would love to upgrade lighting in the future! not now cause this has been so expensive so far. is there a cover that goes inbetween the MH lights and the water? and you take out all of the stock lights? or do you leave actinics? I was thinking I could just use the existing cover between the lights and water. I don't have mine tank yet so I'm not quite sure how it's going to work, and It is hard to visualize without it... you can buy a regular glass top to replace your hood for using MH lighting like the sunpod. I will definately be posting pictures of everything as I go.... Also, I was going to try and leave one actinics in there with the MH but we will see... it may get too hot in there or there might not be enough room.... Link to comment
dopamine Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I was thinking the MH lights would melt the plastics cover that is currently on there, but the glass would work. I guess I will worry about this down the road when I get the mulla. Cant wait to see how you go about yours. Link to comment
divecj5 Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Congrats on buying the new BC and welcome to another member of the BioCube Crew around here. It sounds like you have a good bit of experience dealing with freshwater tanks so I'm sure you will do great with saltwater as well. As far as lighting is concerned, it is completely up to you of course, but a lot of people on here go with the Sunpods by Current. This place has some great deals on them: Sunpods and it comes with free shipping. It really just depends on if you want to go open top or not as well. I know that I have the 20 inch 150w Sunpod on my 29 gallon BioCube and I couldn't be happier with it. I just have a two fan unit that blows across the surface from the back to the front and the tank stays between 77-78.6 degrees all the time. If you go open top, you might want to look at Auto Top Offs as well. Lots of info. I know but I thought it might be helpful since I was happy with my choice. As far as putting the halide fixture that you were looking at over the plastic that is in the hood, you will definitely melt it if you run it that way. The sunpods and other halide fixtures come with glass that protects it from the water. You DO NOT want to have water get on the bulb since they get roasty toasty. Best of luck to you and I'm looking forward to seeing things come along. Sounds like you have the right attitude of taking things slow and enjoying it as it goes. Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 Thanks for the great info! That is a great price for a sunpod... I'm really thinking about it. but that will be at least a month down the road. The more I think about it, the more I think retro-ing a halide fixture in the hood is a bad idea, I just like the seamless look of the all-in-one tanks. I'm definately going with a closed top though, eigther way... I've read tons of times on here to just take your time and most say the longer the better... I'm in no rush to get fish in there and I'm actually more excited to just aquascape and add corals/frags. I've been thinking hard on where I want things to go... My plan is to add things just once a month, first just sand and live rock, then clean up crew (is this right to add them before the frags and stuff?), then corals, frags and fun stuff (prob for 2 months), then finally some fish. I really want to take my time and make sure all my parameters are good and the system is stable and sound before introducing anything new. I really don't want any crashes, diseases, or organisims dead in this tank, and I'm in no rush... Thanks for everyone's replys! I don't even have my tank yet and I have been helped a lot! This forum is awesome! I can't wait to get started! I'll keep ya posted oh yeah, and I decided I'm going to get a clam at some point, and some LPS so that is why I'm just going to go with metal halide from the beginning Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 Ok, What should I do... get the max jet 900, add a hydor attachment, and modify the back.... or should I leave the stock pump leave the back and just add the Hydor KORALIA Nano - 265 gph 3.5W Reef Pump to the other side? Hydor Koralina pomps I'd really like to hear some opinions... I'm not sure what to do... Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 20, 2007 Author Share Posted October 20, 2007 I think I'm going to keep the stock pump - less work for modifying... and get that Hydor to put on the other side. I should have great low in there! I just ordered my live rock! I got it from Dr. foster and smith, 16lbs... My LFS sells really crappy live rock for 11.99 a lb!!! what a rip off... so I ordered it and it is still going to cost much less even with the shipping rate. I also ordered my sand and a few other things... Next week is going to be exciting! i get the tank on monday, then the live rock, then the sand... yay Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 23, 2007 Author Share Posted October 23, 2007 Woo Hoo!!! the tank came today! one problem though... the Actinic bulb wouldn't light. I was real worried it was the ballast but when I switched the bulbs around the other one lit right up. So the Actinic bulb was just broken... I already emailed customer service @ oceanic... we will see what they can do for me. No big deal though, plans go on as usual. I'll be getting my live rock sometime this week and then it's on! I'll be postin some pics as soon as I get that rock and some aquascaping done. I can't wait! Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 25, 2007 Author Share Posted October 25, 2007 I got my live rock today!!! it looks really good. Is it supposed to stink so bad? haha well, hopefully I can get enough water in my tank to do some aquascaping tomorrow, we will see... My live sand won't be here till monday, should I just wait to do anything? Link to comment
dopamine Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Ok, What should I do... get the max jet 900, add a hydor attachment, and modify the back.... or should I leave the stock pump leave the back and just add the Hydor KORALIA Nano - 265 gph 3.5W Reef Pump to the other side? Hydor Koralina pomps I'd really like to hear some opinions... I'm not sure what to do... I did the mj900 with locline. The mj will push the water through your filtration more and the koralia just moves water around if I understand correctly and with the locline you will get the random flow plus have the upgraded pump that will lower temps as well, which you will need if you do decide to upgrade lights. Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 25, 2007 Author Share Posted October 25, 2007 oh yeah... I forgot that the MJ900 runs much cooler... i'll have to still look into getting it for sure... Thanks for reminding me Is the live rock supposed to smell bad? or did things die on it and that is causing the smell? hmmm, just over-analyzing probably Link to comment
HoomHow Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 That's the sweet smell of things dying .... welcome to your cycle Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 26, 2007 Author Share Posted October 26, 2007 ALL my stuff arrived today!!! It wasn't supposed to get here till monday... It was a great suprise! So the aquascaping began... My water params seem really good but I need to buy new tests for my water as I'm almost out. What test kits do you use? what test kits are best? Here are some pics after hours of waiting for the water to clear up. It's still quite cloudy... as you can see. But my rock from Dr. foster and smith is just amazing the reds greens and purples are great. My crappy camera doesn't taks very good pictures... There is about 15lbs of LS and 16lbs of LR enjoy, EDIT: Day 5 pics. As you can see the water cleared up a lot... Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted October 30, 2007 Author Share Posted October 30, 2007 All is good in the tank... it's been 5 days and still no signs of life... I must have had a lot of die-off from having the rock shipped to me overnight. I checked my water levels today and both my Nitrite and Nitrate levels were through the roof! Do I need to do a water change? or just let it do it's thing? The tests i used were pretty old... and my last ones. I have more coming soon though so I can test all my params. including calcium and phosphate and stuff. It will be very helpful... I will also be replacing the stock pump. Let me know what you think! Link to comment
RIKennedy Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 BUMP... should I do a water change or just wait for the cycle to finish.... all my levels are sky high with nitrates and nitrites.... any help would be great and much appreciated... still a noob here... Link to comment
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