New to SW. Starting up a BC29 HQI. Advice appreciated.

[neddy191]

After really enjoying FW for a few years I decided to take the jump into SW. I've got a new BioCube 29gal HQI. Today is day 3 after I set it up. Eventually I'd like to do mostly coral with 2-3 fish.

 

Tank/Lighting

BioCube HQI 29 gal

stock MH bulb

100w heater in compartment 1

Koralia Nano 425gph powerhead

 

Salt/Water

I'm using Red Sea Coarl Pro with water from my SpectraPure RO/DI system to SG 1.025

 

Substrate

-Carib-Sea Agra-Alive - the coarse stuff with little shells, etc, not the fine beach sand looking stuff. about 30lbs

-Live Rock I got from 2 different LFS's - one LFS's rock had lots more holes/niches, the other was flatter. About 31 lbs. I can already see a few feather dusters out on a couple of the pieces.

 

Mods:

Removed divider between compartments 1 and 2

StevieT's media rack and fuge - right now only have filter pad in the top of the media rack (planning on cheato in the fuge and purigen/chemipure in the bottom chamber of the rack once the tank is cycled)

10w submersible light for the fuge (from StevieT)

Rio 6HF pump (350gph) instead of the stock

 

Temps have been a little higher than I want about 81.5F in the afternoon before the light goes off. I'm going to try putting a small fan in the lid of compartment 1under the vent slats to try to cool it down. I've ordered a ReefKeeper Lite system to control temps and to have 1 more thing for me to tinker with.

 

I have patience so I'm not wanting to rush into anything. It took 2+ months for my 120 gallon Frontosa tank to cycle and I've got 2-3 years before my Frontosas grow up from the 1.5" fry to mature adults.

 

I want to make the best decisions up front that I can to make a better tank down the road.

 

Questions:

1. Is the coarse substrate ok? A few of the beginners threads I read after buying it say to stay away from crushed coral. I'd like to change it ASAP if I need to before I get too far into this thing.

 

2. Do you think I have enough flow? I was thinking about buying another powerhead and using the wavemaker function of the ReefKeeper (if so another Koralia nano or something else?)

 

3. Any reason to swap out the stock MH bulb for another? I've seen a few people change to Phoenix bulbs and was wondering about advantage/disadvantages etc.

 

4. Any other comments/suggestions appreciated

 

substrate

 

current FTS

[FlCandy]

Nice scape.

 

The substrate looks like the larger crushed coral it's harder to keep clean and shrimp and fish have a harder time burrowing into it, but I like it.

[Rocket]

Agreed with flcandy. ^

 

Burrowing fish will not survive well in this tank. Also detritus can get more easily trapped in the crevices and cause havoc with the nitrogen cycle.

 

The substrate is not impossible to work with, but it will be a limiting factor in choosing fish and certain inverts.

 

On the plus side though, down the line you could house Small Polyp Stoney coral with very high flow. The substrate this coarse will not blow around! A few people on here are doing exactly that.

 

I always recommend new SW Reef members to start with this substrate:

 

 

Seaflor special grade reef sand. I consider it a great starter sand, it is in the middle of the coarse vs fine selection with a grain size of 1.0 to 2.0 mm.

[neddy191]

My fish plans down the road are to end up with 2 clown fish, a jawfish, and maybe 1 other fish. The guy at the LFS suggested this substrate over the fine sand so the jawfish could burrow better.

 

Here's a link to what I think is in my tank Link

 

Should I change it?

[Jai1985]

I have been looking into the HQI as well but everyone keeps telling me that you have to have a chiller to run it at a proper temp. I dont anything about any mods myself as im not the most handy person in the world when it comes to much more than hanging a few pictures or nailing some molding lol but I would like to see how the fan mod works out for you and how you decide to do it. I am still looking for a tank myself and I dont want to be limited on what I can keep due to my lighting. However heat issues are something I just cant deal with. The HQI is a sexy tank and my original choice until I found out about the heat issues. Might still get one if your mod works well so I wouldn't have to run a chiller, let me know how it turns out and congrats on the new tank!

[FlCandy]

The LFS is usually going to tell you what they want to make more $$$

 

It really is to large and rough for burrowing fish to be happy in it, and I know the Jawfish like to dig so...

 

It's your call in the end I would maybe mix it with a finer sand 50/50 ir change it to what Rocket suggested.

 

Just remember the LFS wants to make $$$ off of you and you should take what they say with a grain of salt.

 

LMAO salt/reef haha

 

Looks good though!

[neddy191]

Well, I guess my LFS made some cash off me.

 

I have an account with my nearby wholesale pet supply place (got my biocube for about 50% off retail) so I ordered some of the smaller 1-2mm sand for $20 for a 20lb x 2 case. I'll be replacing it this weekend.

[FlCandy]

It will make for a happier jawfish.

 

Use the other stuff in your sump if you have one or keep it in a closed container with some water, that will keep it live so if you plan on a sump you have some bio material that won't get kicked around in the flow in there.

 

Otherwise looks great.

[Biokabe]

If you do get a jawfish, make absolutely sure the rear compartment is sealed off completely. I don't know if they fixed this in the hqi, but in the original biocube there was about an inch wide opening that an agile fish could jump over... And jawfish are compulsive jumpers. I lost mine after he jumped into the rear chambers one too many times. Egg crate isn't enough either - after his first jump I put up an egg crate divider and he still got through.

 

Also, definitely go with a finer sand for the jawfish.