Jump to content
Premium Aquatics Aquarium Supplies

Banshee's 14G BioCube


banshee

Recommended Posts

Nope. Both clowns and the goby are accounted for. I have all snails minus 1 accounted for at this very moment and 4/5 hermits visible at the moment. I saw the pom pom crab yesterday and both emeralds were seen today. The BTA and the mini mini are both there and so are all the corals. So unless some kind of huge invisible HH died the only thing I can think of is the silver side chunk that the BTA dropped.

If you still get reading you cannot account for, take it to the LFS to get the water tested. I was getting crazy high nitrate readings for a couple of weeks -- bizarrely high, between 40-80!! I kept doing water changes, screwed water up and lost all my shrimp -- finally brought water into lfs and the nitrate readings were practically 0 -- turns out there was something wrong with my testing kit or the tubes I was testing in. We never did figure it out., Did find out my salinity was waaayy low and we think it's because one of the salt waters was probably fresh, and that likely threw the tank for a loop. Anyway, unless you're dosing to help bacteria, I think the frequent changes could be problematic, too. Just an idea!

 

Cool scape -- I need to figure if I could do an off-center while not losing the bivalves I've got. Also, I just found a slew of little feather worms yesterday! A couple dozen, but they are very small, brown in color. I didn't even realize they were there. I'm not going to make any real changes though until the semester is over. We're in the last 2 weeks, and it's just too crazy for me to be careful about anything else!

 

BTW -- LOVE all those mushrooms :wub:!

Link to comment
  • Replies 757
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Stop changing the water. What are the EXACT reading you are getting right now. It may just be a overnight spike that will go away but we need to know the test readings.

 

So many frequent WC can cause a decrease in nutrients and therefore bacteria will have no food and then your Bio filter starts to die off. You may just be having a mini cycle as you started feeding more to get the Xenia fed. It'll be okay deep breath. ;)

Excellent advice right here.

 

Sounds like a mini cycle from the anemone feeding. How's the tank doing today?

Link to comment

I agree with having a lfs check params, take back anemone, 2 emeral crabs and a Pom Pom seem like a lot of crabs. I'd lose at least one emerald...they will pick on fish or corals when they don't have enough to eat and your tank isn't very big. if you keep having nitrate problems, get a skimmer or get rid of the goby.

 

I would highly consider getting a larger biocube. I had problems With keeping nitrates low and hair algae. I found a used 29g biocube on craigslist for 100 dollars. I transferred everything over, didn't have a cycle and my nitrates never ever go above 5 and my corals are super happy! I have 3 fish like you, corals and crabs... Do a 4g water change every 2 weeks. The solution to pollution is dilution.

Link to comment

Tank is better today. I did a 50% WC and then ran params.

pH: 8.0

Ammonia: 0-0.25 (not quite perfectly 0 yet)

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 5-10

Phosphate: 0

 

As for the numbers of CUC I have I think I have a good balance and one or both of the emeralds may move to my pico shortly. I don't want to get rid of them completely in case I ever have bubble algae again. I've heard 1 crab per 3 gallons or so. By that rule I'm perfect. Hermits can be higher and snails can be as many as 1 per gallon. With 5 hermits (may be more like 7, I haven't seen 2 of them in a couple weeks) and 8 snails I really don't think I'm overloaded. The BTA and mini minis may add bioload due to feeding them but 1 piece of silver side really shouldn't have caused the cycle I'm seeing. It's no different than a snail or hermit dying and that shouldn't affect the tank at all.

 

I really think going from 2 water changes a week to one while adding additional feedings caused it. I think now that the bioload has increased the bacteria are catching up and things will be fine in a couple days. Thankfully I haven't lost anything due to the mini cycle so it's just a good lesson that your tank can be too clean. :happy:

Link to comment
Tank is better today. I did a 50% WC and then ran params.

pH: 8.0

Ammonia: 0-0.25 (not quite perfectly 0 yet)

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 5-10

Phosphate: 0

 

I really think going from 2 water changes a week to one while adding additional feedings caused it. I think now that the bioload has increased the bacteria are catching up and things will be fine in a couple days. Thankfully I haven't lost anything due to the mini cycle so it's just a good lesson that your tank can be too clean. :happy:

 

 

HA yeah! You need some decay for the bacteria to feed on but too much allows for WAY too much Ammonia and Nitrite. I clean once a week, no issued. I have been considering seeing if I can go every 2 weeks here as everything is stable and happy......

 

Glad all is looking more normal. ;)

Link to comment

Thanks Kat. I hope I have it figured out right. Keeping the bioload too low in the beginning is the only thing I can figure out.

Link to comment
Thankfully I haven't lost anything due to the mini cycle so it's just a good lesson that your tank can be too clean. :happy:

I'm so glad everything is better today. And plus one to the above :happy:

Link to comment

good things are lower...the most important thing is keeping stable parameters. having constant swings like you have been having is because of too much bioload. id put that goby and an emerald in your pico asap

Link to comment

I think your bioload is fine. Those gobies are so tiny I can't imagine it having a large impact.

 

How often are you feeding your BTA? and what size pieces? If they are given too big on chunks they can puke them up later which can cause a problem in a smaller tank. While I know my BTa is a bit smaller than yours, I have just been feeding mine mysis while it's been settling in. I think since I have had it I have fed it twice.

Link to comment
good things are lower...the most important thing is keeping stable parameters. having constant swings like you have been having is because of too much bioload. id put that goby and an emerald in your pico asap

 

constant swings? I haven't budged from zeros until 2 days ago! And a goby and an emerald are not going to cause a mini cycle. In fact I haven't seen my green clown goby eat anything but pods since I put him in and he's only about an inch long. He can't be anywhere near the bioload of the two clowns.

 

I think your bioload is fine. Those gobies are so tiny I can't imagine it having a large impact.

 

How often are you feeding your BTA? and what size pieces? If they are given too big on chunks they can puke them up later which can cause a problem in a smaller tank. While I know my BTa is a bit smaller than yours, I have just been feeding mine mysis while it's been settling in. I think since I have had it I have fed it twice.

 

I've fed the BTA twice since I've had it. I usually break a single silver side into 4 pieces and then give one to my mini mini and 1-2 to the BTA. The last quarter just goes back into the container for later use. I haven't fed mysis since I got the BTA so maybe I'll go back to just mysis for a week or two and save the silver side for when the rest of my mini minis arrive.

Link to comment

Those rics look awesome!! Glad to hear everything is calming down. To many rics at once?

 

 

 

And have you noticed the LEDs are keeping the temp down?

 

I was looking at getting the Panorama Pro LED Module 24V- 19 W 12K White/445nm Royal Blue & 445nm Royal Blue/Magenta instead of the RGB one you got

Link to comment
TeflonTomDosh
Those rics look awesome!! Glad to hear everything is calming down. To many rics at once?

 

 

 

And have you noticed the LEDs are keeping the temp down?

 

I was looking at getting the Panorama Pro LED Module 24V- 19 W 12K White/445nm Royal Blue & 445nm Royal Blue/Magenta instead of the RGB one you got

That's what ecoxotic suggests for this size tank, will allow for you to keep anything. And B, I'd get an extra heater if I was you. I have a 20 gal trashcan filled with ro/di water, a powerhead and a heater. Keep that water handy and at the same temp as the tank :)

Link to comment
Good to hear things are getting stable again. I really like the rics. I'm planning on a bunch of them in my tank.

 

They really are awesome! My first coral was a ric and now I am obsessed with them!

 

Those rics look awesome!! Glad to hear everything is calming down. To many rics at once?

 

And have you noticed the LEDs are keeping the temp down?

 

I was looking at getting the Panorama Pro LED Module 24V- 19 W 12K White/445nm Royal Blue & 445nm Royal Blue/Magenta instead of the RGB one you got

 

Corals don't usually add bioload. Its more likely to be the nem. The temp is down. About a degree cooler since I switched to LED. Usually 78.x at all time now. Your choices sound good. I'm planning to add another 12k/445nm so that I can have SPS eventually.

 

That's what ecoxotic suggests for this size tank, will allow for you to keep anything. And B, I'd get an

extra heater if I was you. I have a 20 gal trashcan filled with ro/di water, a powerhead and a heater.

Keep that water handy and at the same temp as the tank :)

 

I have a 20 gallon tote with saltwater, heater, and powerhead. I keep 4 x 1 gallon milk jugs of RODI for top off and whatever else I need.

 

The emerald crabs were munching on my leather and daisy polyps tonight so I snatched them up and they are now residing in the 20 gallon bin of salt water. Hopefully they'll be okay in there so I'll have them if I ever get a frag with bubble algae again. I gave them 4 pellets so they won't starve. :)

Link to comment
The emerald crabs were munching on my leather and daisy polyps tonight so I snatched them up and they are now residing in the 20 gallon bin of salt water. Hopefully they'll be okay in there so I'll have them if I ever get a frag with bubble algae again. I gave them 4 pellets so they won't starve. :)

 

Told yah.

Link to comment
Told yah.

 

Are you a troll or just a jerk? You told me that the crabs and my goby are causing my mini cycle. I already knew that the emeralds would eventually turn to other food sources once the bubble algae ran out and I already had a plan for that. Now that I saw it happen I acted on my plan and they are now happily residing in my pico which has nothing but mushrooms and GSP. I'm not stupid so if you want to act like I am why don't you take it somewhere else?

Link to comment

You don't have a ric garden, you have a friggen field of them!!! They look great!

 

How does everyone look this morning??

Link to comment
Hmm, this all very interesting. I was looking at the RSM tanks for when I upgrade but I wondered about mods and such. I think I'll do a DIY set up once I have the knowledge, funds, and space. As for now though, you've inspired me to start a pod culture. Hopefully I can save some more money for corals by having a ready supply of tigger pods for my clowns and goby all the time. :) I also plan to try to catch a few white pods from the tank glass and start another culture of them. Should be an interesting experiment! ;)

Hey Sara. Having multiple cultures of different foods would be so cool. However none of these are needed for clownfish or gobies (most gobies) who are pigs and will eat anything. If you're going to set the cultures up then you can keep species that require extra care like pipefish, sea horses, mandarins.

Link to comment
Are you a troll or just a jerk? You told me that the crabs and my goby are causing my mini cycle. I already knew that the emeralds would eventually turn to other food sources once the bubble algae ran out and I already had a plan for that. Now that I saw it happen I acted on my plan and they are now happily residing in my pico which has nothing but mushrooms and GSP. I'm not stupid so if you want to act like I am why don't you take it somewhere else?

 

if you look back, i told you that your two emeralds and pom pom are too many crabs for your tank and they will start picking on coral and or fish for food source. i suggest you move the goby over to your pico because 3 fish is pretty much the limit to those 14g tanks and if its eating pods all day long, it poops all day long creating more bioload than you can handle even with your 10 waterchanges a week. I sorry if i come off as a jerk but you dont listen to good advise what so ever. Small tanks are hardest to keep in the saltwater world and you are doing too much too fast in that tank for a new reefer. slow and steady wins the race...you should know that being a runner.

I'll unfollow your thread and wont say a thing anymore because there is no point to that.

Link to comment

If it helps at all when I had my BC14 I had 3 fish, a yasha goby, purple firefish and a springeri damsel. I had no issues with mini cycles or out of whack parameters and was doing 1 water change a week. That was also my first Saltwater tank. I did go a bit slower(first fish was added after 1.5 months, second added a month after that and so on.) I think you are ok though. I just wouldn't add anything new until everything settles and stays that way.

 

Those clown gobies are so tiny (I use to have one) I just can't see it making a significant impact on the bioload.

Link to comment
You don't have a ric garden, you have a friggen field of them!!! They look great!

 

How does everyone look this morning??

 

Much better. The daisy polyps were partially open even with the lights off. My runaway ric ran away again. :rolleyes: I can't wait to get home and see how it's looking now.

 

Hey Sara. Having multiple cultures of different foods would be so cool. However none of these are needed for clownfish or gobies (most gobies) who are pigs and will eat anything. If you're going to set the cultures up then you can keep species that require extra care like pipefish, sea horses, mandarins.

 

My goal is to have a mandarin eventually. I want to practice pod culturing so that I know I'll be capable. Then I'll hopefully set up a larger tank later in the year or next year and buy a mandarin. I buy tigger pods because my clowns love them. The goby only seems to eat pods from what I've seen but I have a ton in my tank so it's okay. I really just wanted to see if I can get some cultures going for practice for future use. My daughter wants a seahorse tank too so that may happen someday if I get into brine cultures too.

 

 

if you look back, i told you that your two emeralds and pom pom are too many crabs for your tank and they will start picking on coral and or fish for food source. i suggest you move the goby over to your pico because 3 fish is pretty much the limit to those 14g tanks and if its eating pods all day long, it poops all day long creating more bioload than you can handle even with your 10 waterchanges a week. I sorry if i come off as a jerk but you dont listen to good advise what so ever. Small tanks are hardest to keep in the saltwater world and you are doing too much too fast in that tank for a new reefer. slow and steady wins the race...you should know that being a runner.

I'll unfollow your thread and wont say a thing anymore because there is no point to that.

 

I'm not asking for you to unfollow if you'll just play nice. I knew what would happen with the emeralds and I had a plan. I followed through on the plan and they are now cleaning up my pico. The GCG is only about an inch long so I don't think he's that much bioload. I know I did a lot quickly but I'm following the same stocking as the tanks I admire and following their maintenance schedules. I've listened to the advice of Gena, SurgicalSense, Candy, and MetroKat and all of it has kept my tank in good shape. Adding the BTA and an additional food source while lessening WC's created a mini cycle but I followed FlCandy's advice and got it under control quickly with no loss of life.

 

As for an update, I tried to move my xenia to the back wall last night. I used a tiny ball of putty and cut it off the frag plug. It was still in place when I went to bed but this morning it is nowhere to be found. Guess it didn't like the back wall either. Now I'm left with an ugly putty ball on my back wall. Stupid xenia. :angry:

 

Mini minis!!!!!!!!! Where'd you get your 3? I'll be in the market for some soon :)

 

I bought them from someone here. I will gladly send you one of each color once my green/red one splits. :) The three that should ship today are split from someone who bought one off Grad's thread in the Livestock forum so you can see pics of them there. Or I think they sent pics to my email. Let me see if I can dig them up!

 

Edited: Here they are!

 

IMAG0345.jpg

IMAG0346.jpg

 

If it helps at all when I had my BC14 I had 3 fish, a yasha goby, purple firefish and a springeri damsel. I had no issues with mini cycles or out of whack parameters and was doing 1 water change a week. That was also my first Saltwater tank. I did go a bit slower(first fish was added after 1.5 months, second added a month after that and so on.) I think you are ok though. I just wouldn't add anything new until everything settles and stays that way.

 

Those clown gobies are so tiny (I use to have one) I just can't see it making a significant impact on the bioload.

 

Thanks Hravanii. I added the clowns quickly and the only reason I added 2 was because I wanted a pair. I was afraid if I waited too long the first one would become female and not accept a new addition. Hopefully that wasn't a big mistake. I really think the mini cycle was because of the BTA and feeding silver sides while reducing water changes. I'll probably go back to two water changes a week (but maybe only 10% each time) to once I start feeding again. I haven't fed the tank since my params went wacky except for some tigger pods since the clowns love them. If the ammonia is totally gone tonight I will feed and then do a small water change before resuming normal activities. Does that sound right?

Link to comment

Those are pretty! If I don't find one between now and the time yours splits...I'll definitely buy one off of you :)

 

Thanks for the pictures :happy:

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions


×
×
  • Create New...