[BC14]Troy's Journey

[Troy.Roberts]

Hello everyone,

This will be my first post on this forum. I've been reading this for about a month now and learned a tremendous amount of information. First lets start off with a little information about me. I'm originally from Panama City Florida and didn't leave there until I was nineteen years old. I joined the Air Force and was stationed in Germany for two years. I then got orders to good ole' SoCal. I've been at Edwards in the Antelope Valley since November of '09. I wanted a hobby and my major is Marine Biology. What better hobby than a Nano reef? Enough about me, lets get to this Biocube and my plans and setup for it.

First Ima upgrade the lights to Nano Customs 3.24 72W. I plan on cutting the excess plastic in chamber one to increase flow and throwing a Stealth PRO 75W heater in there and install the inTank Media Basket in chamber two. Typical media floss in the first basket, Chaeto in the second with a 4w JBJ Nano-Glo LED Fuge light, and the third I plan on Chemi-pure Elite. I'm going to upgrade the return pump to a Maxi Jet 900 powerhead and throw a JBJ Digital Temperature 2 Thermometer with 41" Probe in. I'm also gonna go with throwing in a Hydor Koralia Nano 240 inside the aquarium. Then proceed to attach a top-it-off kit from Premiumaquatics.com; plan on using RO/SeaChem Reef salt water and various SeaChem additives to keep all my levels to where they need to be. Carib-Sea ARAG-Alive Bahamas oolite (Ultra Fine) is the live sand I plan on using with some aqua-cultured live sand as well along with 13 pounds of Live Rock from Premiumaquatics.com I haven't ordered anything but the aquarium yet as to see if I need to change anything.

So I guess this is my startup and am not really planning on anything happening until around Mar-Apr of '11 timeframe but just want to make sure everything I'm planning on sounds good to people who know what's going on....

Everything sound coessential guys?

[blajoie]

Sounds pretty good. I'd do a bit more reading on the lights though. The stock hood just gets so hot as it, and adding another bulb will only make it worse. Maybe get a sunpod? Or some LEDs?

[nanoreef11]

Hey Troy, welcome to nano-reef.com. Sounds like you have been reading a lot on this site and that's really good to hear. Most people who start up a brand new tank just dive in with no knowledge or research about the hobby. Problems arise later on down the road when stuff starts dying and they dont know why. Anyways on to your tank.

 

The mods you are deciding on sound great. I have about the same setup minus the light mod and cheato. They are definitely good things to add to the tank. I am currently from Bakersfield and had my tank setup there for over a year and it gets hot during the summer months. The biocube stock runs hot and might require you to upgrade the fans or even purchase a chiller.

 

Look forward to seeing this tank grow and let us know if you have any more questions.

 

Jon

[Troy.Roberts]

Sweet! Bakersfield is pretty close! Maybe I could get a frag from ya when everything settles, wink wink. I don't pay my electricity bill so my place stays at 76 degrees all day long. Think that will be a problem? If so, I might look into some fans. I'm gonna go super slow when I set it up, so hopefully I'll be able to tell if I'm going to have problems with heat. I work at night too, so can monitor the temperature during the hottest part of the day.

 

What do you two think of getting the AquaticLife Light Swing Arm 150W HID Fixture ? Think it'd be a better option; or maybe Current usa's Nova Extreme Pro T5HO?

[nanoreef11]

Hey Troy, I used to live in Bakersfield. I now go to school in Long Beach and still have my chiller. Tank is always 77-79 degrees. If you keep your air at 76 degrees you should be okay. Might require a fan mod which is super easy to do. I wouldn't worry about upgrading the lights to a metal halide unless you are planning on keeping SPS in there. For a beginner I wouldn't recommend it. I have been in the hobby for over 3 years and my tank has been up and going for over 2 years now and I havnt even touched SPS. They can be pretty pricey and with me in school, I move often (at least once a year). So I would hate to spend all that money to move my tank and stress out the coral and have it die.

 

The t5 option is good because you will be able to increase the amount of watts over the tank but then again the question is what kind of corals you want to keep. I tried building my own canopy and installing metal halides but felt that it was just took much light for the tank and defeated the purpose of having a biocube because of the stock hood. I like how it looks from a distance with everything enclosed and self contained (minus my chiller haha). Great tank and would definitely recommend it to anyone. I can't wait till the day comes when I can upgrade though. Gonna be a couple years.

 

I like answering questions and helping others learn about the hobby so keep shooting questions over.

 

Jon

[Troy.Roberts]

Nah, I plan on LPS only. So I guess with what you're saying Ima go with the T5. I like the Kenya Tree, Frogspawn, Zoa's!, and GSP's. Thanks for all the help dude. I'll update when all the stuff gets in, gotta get christmas outta the way 'fore I get to orderin'.

[nanoreef11]

Yea I have seen good growth with LPS under my stock lighting. Just keep the bulbs changed every 9 months and you're good. T5 would look really cool on the biocube though so let me know how it goes. Christmas for family then Christmas for you I see? Haha

 

Jon

[Troy.Roberts]

Or course.