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I think I might have been doing things wrong for a long time


amanda18

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Ok, so I realize this maybe better directed to the beginners forum but in truth I am not a beginner. I have kept a 10 gallon tank for about a year and a half. However, this recently broke and I purchased a 14 gallon biocube. So the reason for my post is that I am new to having a biocube. My real predicament is concerning the chambers. My lfs advised me to keep the stock in all chambers. They have never steered me wrong, so I went with it…but now after trying to find answers to my vacation questions I have come across the idea that I might be doing this terribly wrong, well at least according to this forum. Here are my issues…my tank has always been extremely successful and I have not lost any fish anything else…Here are my questions:

1. Should I really replace the bio balls with live rock rubble and if so how many pieces and what size. I am confused on the concept of this. I understand why to do this opposed to the bio balls and the issues they cause but exactly what filtering purpose do they pose in the chambers that the live rock in my tank is not already doing.

2. How many fish are recommended for a 14 gallon tank…so far I have a true perc, a scooter blenny and a yellow goby. The only other fish I want is another perc. Is this possible to add at this time?

3. In the first chamber do you use the filter cartridges made my oceanic or something else?

4. In the third chamber do you use the sponge on the bottom?

5. How often do you generally replace all of this?

6. I have never used sand in my tank…I have always used crushed coral. This was the advice of my lfs. I have never had any problems… can I continue to use this?

7. Where do you place the heater in the tank? In a chamber or on the back wall like a typical tank…

8. The water I am using is and always has been simple tap water dechlorinated and allowed to stand overnight then I mix the saltwater mix and wait to check the salinity when ready I do partial water changes…

I think this should do it for my questions. I am sorry for the long post. I just don’t understand that by reading all the other posts why it seems like I have been doing something wrong but yet I have had a perfectly healthy tank for a year and a half?

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Short answer: If your tank is doing well, don't change anything.

 

1. Should I really replace the bio balls with live rock rubble and if so how many pieces and what size... exactly what filtering purpose do they pose in the chambers that the live rock in my tank is not already doing.

 

They add some volume in which denitification can occur. I don't advise doing this unless you have a very good reason to do so.

 

6. I have never used sand in my tank…I have always used crushed coral. This was the advice of my lfs. I have never had any problems… can I continue to use this?

 

Of course you can. People around here don't like it but if it has worked for you, you can keep using it.

 

8. The water I am using is and always has been simple tap water dechlorinated and allowed to stand overnight then I mix the saltwater mix and wait to check the salinity when ready I do partial water changes…

 

Most people will have a knee-jerk reaction something like this: "WTF?! Tap water! That'll kill your tank or lead to terrible algae blooms!". In reality, some tap water can be used in marine tanks but most contains NO3 and PO4 too high to be useful for us. If your tap water doesn't cause you problems, then you don't have much to worry about.

 

As far as the new SW additions, as long as all the salt is dissolved and the pH is stable, it is safe to add. If you wish, you can agitate/aerate it for an hour or two to equilibrate the dissolved gases with the atmosphere. I trust you match the temp before adding it? Not critical, but a stable temp is generally regarded to be a good thing and it will affect your specific gravity reading (if you use SG).

 

...why [does it seem] like I have been doing something wrong but yet I have had a perfectly healthy tank for a year and a half?

 

Because "rightness" and "wrongness" are relative terms, especially in this hobby. Everyone has an opinion but it rarely backed up by data. If what you do works for you and your tank, don't change. If you run into problems or you and your tank move to a new place, then reconsider your practices.

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supreme_spork

1. "live rock rubble" is an all-in-one fad, mostly snake oil. the purported goal is to get additional live rock mass in your tank to give a boost to your filtration capabilities, but the reality is that the benefit is usually slight and the risks that it will simply serve as a detrius sink are high. as for bioballs, they host bacteria that breaks-down ammonia and nitrite, but they also collect detrius and therefore can contribute to higher nitrate levels than you want in your reef aquarium. IMO, it's best to skip both bioballs and rubble. the live rock in your tank should be sufficient to meet your filtration needs as long as you don't stuff your tank fuller than you should.

 

2. 4 fish are pushing the limits of a 14g. why not just stay with what you have if everyone is happy and getting along?

 

3,4,5: best answered by biocube owners, but there are lots of ways to organize AIO chambers and many are valid. think about how water moves from one chamber to another and what happens at each stage and go from there.

 

6. if you've always used crushed coral and have never had any problems, why are you asking this? :P

 

7. you can place the heater anywhere as long as water is moving around it. people put it in the back to hide it.

 

8. some people can get away with tap water -- especially if you live in an area where the local water supply quality is high -- but generally speaking tap water contains a lot of crap you don't want in your tank. if it's been working for you for 18 months, once again i'll ask: why are you concerned?

 

seriously, if you've had a successful tank running for 18 months then you are way ahead of many of the people who will offer you advice. it sounds more like you're curious about the "why" behind conventional reefing wisdom than in need of suggestions for what to do.

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1. Personal opinions range on this, I don't use LR rubble or bioballs because I feel confident that my LR provides all the filtration I need in my tank and LR rubble is tough to clean so if detritus gets in there it might be staying there for a while since my CUC and I can't get to it.

2. You have pretty much reached your limit on fish. However I would recommend finding a better home for the scooter blenny as they are actually dragonets with similar feeding habits to say a mandarin goby, and can get quite large up to about 5.5 inches, pretty big for a 14 gallon tank! If by yellow goby you mean yellow clown goby then I would trade the scooter and pick up the other perc you want. If it's a Yellow watchman goby then I would think you woulb be pushing it a bit with 2 percs and a YWG.

3. No idea never had a BioCube but I believe it's normally some kind of mechanical filtration.

4. No idea

5. I usually wash the sponges weekly and replace them every two months.

6. Crushed coral is fine, although again this is a little off considering the scooter blenny as they usually prefer a finer sand.

7. Heater in the chamber!! Works well for keeping the display clean.

8. Tap water is very very scary, the TDS (total dissolved solids) tends to be very high and any number of potentially harmful elements can come in tap water, the more common are copper, phosphates, and nitrates. RO/DI is the best way to go in terms of keeping control of your tank. If you are topping off with tap water the TDS in the tank will be ever rising because only water can evaporate leaving the solids in the tank, and then you are adding TDS in the form of tap water.

 

HTH Happy Reefing

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1. If you have a good ammount of live rock already then no extra biological media is needed, the bio-balls won't really offer any extra benefit, where as the live rock rubble will house everything that your bioballs would and provide a place for s/w copapods and other small/microscopic organisms that will grow and your fish can snack on.

2. One more perc shouldn't hurt anything but depending on your actual water volume after your substrate and rock is factored into tank volume. thats about all I would recommend placing in your tank.

3-4. At my store we recommend that no mechanical filtration be used at all on a regular basis as it just keeps your fish from eating anything that gets sucked into the filter. drop a bag of "Seachem Purigen" in any of the chambers and call it a day

5. Never mess with your rubble, and when the purigen turns dark brown read the regeneration instructions. You don't have to replace purigen for 2 years!

6. Crushed is hard to keep clean I would go with caribsea aragonite special reef sand.

7. If you can place the heater in a chamber go for it as long as the rest of your tank stays a good temperature

8. Tap water can have god know what in it. I would only use r/o (r/o + di) if avalible. I would just buy freshwater from your lfs (who should sell ro water) then mix in your own salt

 

hope this helps

ADam

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Well, Thank you to the replies. I know that I should probably just keep going if it is working for me but at the same time I still want everything to be ok for my fish. I was under the assumption that the blenny will not get larger than 3 inches…Does it really get to be 5? Yes it is a yellow clown goby. If I were to swap out my blenny for a perc. Do I need to stick with the same type or different? Same size? Smaller? Larger? Thanks. Also if I continue using my bio balls how often should I rinse them? I am doing it about once every 2 weeks. What is the alternative to tap water besides getting it from your pet store and the machine that distills it for you?

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If I continue using my bio balls how often should I rinse them?

 

Stick with that schedule. If you ever get tired of it, you can always remove them completely.

 

What is the alternative to tap water besides getting it from your pet store and the machine that distills it for you?

 

The machines in the grocery stores don't distill the water (at least not the ones I've seen), they usually RO or DI it. Be careful of the machines that dispense water. People here have found NO3 and PO4 in them and at least one person nuked his tank. Do a search to find threads on this subject.

 

Your only viable alternative to machine water or LFS water is to buy your own RO or RO/DI unit. You could distill your own water, but that is a pain, hard to do right and would cost more in energy that it's worth.

 

Don't listen to people who say not to use tap water unless they can provide reasons that your water is bad. If you have any worries, contact your local waterworks (or water board if you are in the southwest) and request a copy of their yearly water quality report. They are required to perform them and publish the results.

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