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BioCube 14 Gallon


xDetroitMetalx

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xDetroitMetalx

Hello,

 

Let me start with a fish keeping history

 

I worked at a very good LFS in Kalamazoo, Michigan for many years during my University. I got most of my equipment and knowledge from there but also a good chunk for reading and posting on forums. The things I have kept are as is. Mind you, this is not to create a backbone for myself but at the same time I am constantly learning and am thankful for any tips or criticisms in any of my tanks.

 

In order:

 

Fresh Water:

 

55 gallon planted angel tank

55 gallon African Peacock Cichlid tank

20 gallon South American Tetra tank

 

Salt Water:

 

7 Gallon Wennerae Mantis Specific

20 Gallon FOWLR

30 Gallon Reef (greatest accomplishment)

 

Long story short I built that 30 gallon salt set up. It's still running strong and I've had no casualties. It was a pleasure making such a fun system. Sadly, I left Michigan and now live in Oregon and left it behind. My father is now keeping care and enjoying it. Thankfully for him he didn't have to go through the hard part of establishment. Well, my fiancee and I are really missing having a tank in our home and I've been looking into a biocube system.

 

My goal for the tank is mainly rare zoas and maybe some other small corals like mushrooms. As for fish I'm looking at a Yasha shrimp goby w/ pistol shrimp, maybe a possum wrasse for some worm control and lastly maybe a twin spot blenny for some algae control.

 

I was thinking of going with a 29 gallon cube but after pricing everything out in the long run the 14 gallon is the way to go for my goals. With the double the tank comes double the substrate, salt, live rock and livestock. That in turn means double the money. I just want something cheap, fun and challenging. I already went pretty crazy with my last set up that my father has now inherited (MP10 pump, HOB Eshopps refuge and their new HOB line of skimmers). Now I just want something smaller which makes selection of livestock more focused on the final product. I'm thinking the tank would make a nice home for a pistol shrimp / goby.

 

Let's not jump too far ahead though, I ordered the 14g BioCube and it should be here by the end of next week with all the things to get the cycle going. Right now I'm looking into sites to order roughly 16-18 lbs of live rock. So far price / ease wise liveaquaria is the easiest to get such items.

 

Any thoughts on my plan of live stock, cycling tips, and fun modifications to do to the tank is appreciated. I did find MediaBasket which seems to make a very good product for the BioCube.

 

Thanks ahead of time.

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Hello
:welcome: to Nano-Reef.com!

 

I was thinking of going with a 29 gallon cube but after pricing everything out in the long run the 14 gallon is the way to go for my goals. With the double the tank comes double the substrate, salt, live rock and livestock. That in turn means double the money.
I see you ended up with the BC14. You should be able to have fun with that.

 

Right now I'm looking into sites to order roughly 16-18 lbs of live rock. So far price / ease wise liveaquaria is the easiest to get such items.
If you haven't, in addition to LiveAquaria, check out the following live rock vendors:

Premium Aquatics

Sea Life Inc.

Reef Cleaners

 

And you can save some money by substituting half of it with dry rock from:

Marco Rocks

Bulk Reef Supply

 

Any thoughts on my plan of live stock, cycling tips, and fun modifications to do to the tank is appreciated. I did find MediaBasket which seems to make a very good product for the BioCube.
I always like to see larger tanks for fish, so I like your selections better for the 29 gallon tank. However, they don't look too bad. I'm less sure about the goby; you might send a PM to animalmaster6. I'm almost thinking an Orange Spotted Goby (Amblyeleotris guttata) might work better, but I really don't know. :unsure:

 

Just be patient while the cycle becomes established. Testing ammonia levels will tell you when you are ready for some livestock (then add slowly).

 

Yeah, inTank can set you up nicely. :)

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I have a BC14 and, while some days I wish I had more room to play with, for the most part it has stayed within my budget and offered just the experience my family was looking for. I had 16 pounds of LR in mine but it looked like overkill. I took a chunk out and probably have 12-13 pounds now. I currently have a pretty nice list of livestock that will survive the stock lighting. By far my favorites are my pom pom crab, skunk cleaner shrimp, and perc clowns though! I hope your tank turns out awesome!

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xDetroitMetalx

Regarding the fish: Orange Spot Goby can get 3" in length, wow! I'm a huge Goby / Shrimp fan and had one in my 30 gallon. I'm only figuring this combo will be great with a 14 as they borrow and create tunnels rather than swim around. The goby I had previous was a Hi Fin Red Banded Goby which is "suitable" for 10 gallons and only gets 2" in length (Let's just call this 14 a 10 gallon tank after we calculate substrate and rock taking up water area). I've always thought a Yasha Goby would be a cool fish to have as they only get 2" as well but the minimum recommendations on tank size I've seen is 20 gallons, most commonly 30 gallons, and I wonder why that is but can't find any answers.

 

As for the size I could have bought a 29 gallon, it would been harder on the budget but in reality I know what I want and I'm hoping the 14 gallon will suite my needs well. I've already went pretty crazy on the last set up, tried things and failed so I'm pretty much out of the curious side of things. Also, for some reason, I find the smaller SW fish extremely interesting over the larger fish. I have no idea why. Also, corals are really really cool but I've always been fascinated with the variety of Zoas there are and always thought having a small tank dedicated to them would be awesome.

 

Anyway, stocking is the least of my worries and much farther down the road, however, it's nice to plan and dream. I realized I forgot to buy a small heater for my initial buy in. I've also been reading that the pump that comes with the 14 BC is of poor quality so I may be looking into one of those while I'm at it. That will be nice because it will give me an extra pump to mix up some salt in a bucket. Any recommendations on a quality pump and heater for this set up? Anything else I'm forgetting?

 

I purchased so far:

 

14 BC

55 Gal Salt

Hydrometer

Hydor Koralia 240

Test Kits

20 lb sand bag

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xDetroitMetalx
Eheim Jagr 50W heater.

 

Maxi Jet 606 return pump.

 

Koralia nano 425 gives better flow.

 

Sweet! After I posted this I did some google searching. I did end up ordering an Eheim 50w, can't go wrong with German engineering right? I also purchased the Hydro Pico Evo 1200 which flows 300 gph but is adjustable. If water level becomes an issue I can dull it down.

 

As for the Koralia Nano 425, are you talking their circulation pumps? If so I was thinking the 240 would be a good start in such a smaller tank.

 

I also ordered 16 lbs of dry Pukani rock from BRS. So I guess my purchases are complete until it's time for a CUC.

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Welcome, my BC14 is approaching the 3 month mark. Feel free to browse my tank thread in my signature.

It sounds like your on the right track and as for the 425 I highly recommend it over the 240. If your upgrading your return pump I also recommend picking up a Hydor Flo deflector.

 

Good luck and ask questions no matter how stupid you think they are it's better to ask then crash a tank.

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xDetroitMetalx
Where did you buy your return pump? I am seeing good prices on amazon.

 

I bought everything off Amazon actually, haha. Items should be rolling in today!

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xDetroitMetalx

I got my first item today, was supposed to be the Hydor return pump but they sent me Dave's order, whoever he is. Apparently he wanted a Fluval U3 but I have it, blaaaaagh.

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xDetroitMetalx

Received the tank, sand and salt. Those items came in perfect! I have the tank filled with fresh right now and waiting to find any leaks. So far so good! I haven't put in the sand yet though, figure I'll do that tomorrow if there are no leaks. At a glance I'm extremely impressed with these all in one systems. It makes me wonder why I bothered making my own 30 gallon set up they way I did!

 

The one thing I'm wondering about right now is the middle section. After looking at it why couldn't I just make that into a refuge with a deep sand bed and use one of those magnetic LED light set ups vs a media basket? If I did put some sand in that middle section could the sand somehow get sucked in the pump? Then the first section would be the skimmer and the last it looks like you could throw in the heater or possibly some buffer bags if I felt like it (although I rarely use them).

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xDetroitMetalx

The sand is in the tank! Waiting for it to clear up to aquascape as BRS came.... Soooo much rock..... I could start another 14g tank. I ordered 18 lbs and the box weighed in at 20 lbs. Very nice looking rock, should create a nice cycle. They gave me six nice chunks of rock and I think I can only use 3 or 4 if I'm lucky. The 20lbs of sand I think is perfect for the Shrimp and Goby when they arrive mid summer, should make a very nice home for them. Right now I'm thinking a shrimp goby pair with a pistol will be my main selection and I may leave it at that for fish.

 

pictures soon, haha.

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xDetroitMetalx

Technically it's day 4 I suppose. I was expecting to have a heater in the tank already unfortunately the company shipping off of Amazon hasn't even shipped it yet. It's been extremely cold in this area and even with the lights on I doubt the tank has been over 70 degrees. The water is cloudy and I'm not exactly happy with the rock lay out as I'm sure it's producing more dead spots than I want. So far not a smooth start.

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xDetroitMetalx

Took all the rock out and broke it into tiny pieces. I tried an aquascape of my original plan and hated it. So I tried another one and hated it. So I tried again and now I think I have one that is unique. Once the water clears up a bit I will finally take a picture, that is, if I don't wake up hating it.

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xDetroitMetalx

I think I'm keeping it like this, lot's of shelves, sorry for the cloudiness.

 

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Thoughts, opinions and critiques are welcome. Now is the time to get it right.

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xDetroitMetalx

The water is very clear today, so I'll post better photos when night rolls around again. Right now the only thing I dislike about this scape is how geometrical it looks, but for how much work I put into it I think I'm leaving it. All in all, that's a very minor issue and with corals being added I bet it will change the shape quite a bit. At first I tried to keep as much rock off the sand as possible to avoid dead spots but no matter what I tried it just didn't work and looked too man made. Also, with a tank this small I just don't think it's possible. There is a lot of rock covering the sand but I have a lot of holes and bridges on the bottom so that water can flow. There is also a large cave on the back wall so that water can flow easy through the back as well. In addition I'm thinking about adding more flow with another Koralia 425 and placing it bellow the return pump on the back wall.

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xDetroitMetalx

WHAT IS ALL THIS ALGAE OMFG?!?!?! AHHHHHHHH! END OF TEH WORLDZ!!!!!!

 

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I'm JK, I know what it is :D

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