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Bionoob 29; Frag Pictures


graftobny142

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graftobny142

Edit: Current Full Tank Shots

 

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I recently picked up a used Oceanic Biocube 29 off Craigslist. It is my first tank and something I've been wanting to do for a decade. 

Current Equipment:
Biocube 29
Stand
Refractometer
Koralia Nano?
100w heater

First order of business is finding live rock and sand. Luckily I have a source of RO/DI saltwater near me. Should I choose live rock from an online source, irl store or 'used' off craigslist? Is Caribsea the goto for sand these days? I am near Denver, Colorado if anyone has a good source of live rock!

Once I get the rock, sand and water I will begin a cycle for ~1 month. I'll be testing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in conjunction with a chemistry presentation I am working on. 

Here it is pre-cleaning, I managed to get most of the deposits off with vinegar.

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It begins...

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Filled with saltwater from the LFS, going to make a circuit around the town tomorrow checking out other stores for Live Rock. 


 

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Congrats :-)

Get all living stuff from a reputed store. Else, you'll end up fighting one or other type of nuisance pest. Only a local reefer will be able to help on this front.

 

LR looks good.  Tank looks like new :-). Do you know what you'll be stocking?

Livesand from LFS will be a good thing. Also some type of bacterial additive. Check water params regularly. Wait till diano or green algae pops up.

 

What about lighting ? Filtration ? 

 

best of luck, I am excited to follow another biocube29's build

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graftobny142

To stock I plan on the typical clown, maybe a firefish or six line wrasse. I want to have a nice variety of corals including zoa, frog/hammer, ricordia, etc.

For lighting I plan on putting together an LED panel in the next couple months, until then just stick with the stock lighting. F

On the filtration end I am making a media basket out of acrylic. As to what will go in it that is still in the air. I have a container of carbon that came with the tank so I can at least use that until its empty. Filter floss+carbon+???

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graftobny142

Got a 100w heater running to try and get the tank to around 78-80.

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Also went to a LFS to check rock out. I didn't get any Live Rock but I did get 14lbs of Life Rock/Dry. If I wanted to have ~25 lbs, should I do 5lbs of Cured Live Rock and the rest dry? I couldn't find any % for this around the forum.

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I have a Biocube 29 - build thread is in my signature.

 

I use two Koralia nano 425s and like the flow of the tank.

 

I used Caribsea sand I believe.

 

That's a fine price for the rock.

 

I think any amount of live rock will cure the dry rock eventually.

 

Edit: I used 20 lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink sand

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I don't know of any such percentage. I had used dry rock mostly, later added live rock. My observation was: dry rock has less risk of having pests, but will take more time to cycle compared to live rock. 

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graftobny142
51 minutes ago, xAyanex said:

I have a Biocube 29 - build thread is in my signature.

 

I use two Koralia nano 425s and like the flow of the tank.

 

I used Caribsea sand I believe.

 

That's a fine price for the rock.

 

I think any amount of live rock will cure the dry rock eventually.

 

Edit: I used 20 lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink sand

 

 

I got a 20Lb bag of the CaribSea Arag-Alive Reef Sand! They didn't have any Fiji Pink unfortunately. 

 

Just now, Ranjib said:

I don't know of any such percentage. I had used Dey rock mostly, later I had added live rock. My observation was: dry rock has less risk of having pests, but will take more time to cycle compared to live rock. 



In that case I think I will just grab one chunk of Live from the cured tank and do the rest dry. This CaribSea Life Rock looks really good in person

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graftobny142

Will it be a big deal if I don't get the rest of the rock and ammonia dose in until 48 hours after putting the first rocks in?

 

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With obligatory cat on top.

My refractometer also arrived today, showed salinity at ~35-36. Pretty close to the Hydrometer surprisingly. 

 

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Yes, that should be fine.

 

Good salinity too.

I have found it very convenient to leave enough space around my rock (between the rock and the glass) to fit my small mag float. Clean glass is important to be able to see inside the tank! Keep this in mind while you create your aquascape.

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graftobny142
On 3/4/2017 at 6:47 PM, xAyanex said:

Yes, that should be fine.

 

Good salinity too.

I have found it very convenient to leave enough space around my rock (between the rock and the glass) to fit my small mag float. Clean glass is important to be able to see inside the tank! Keep this in mind while you create your aquascape.

 

Thanks for the tip! I'll be getting a couple more pieces of rock tomorrow. And my test kits arrive Tuesday when I will start the cycle with a dose of ammonia.


The Inkbird Itc-308 arrived today, unfortunately right as the heater that came with the tank died. Is there a goto model or will any eheim/fluval/etc. in the 100+ watt range be fine?

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graftobny142

Changed the aquascape a little, does this leave enough room behind the rock or should I move it up a bit for the future fish?

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graftobny142

Aqueon 100 Pro arrived today and is now hooked up to the controller.

Is it better to adjust the controller+heater so that the heater stays on constantly, or is turned on/off multiple times a day?

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graftobny142

Will I get coralline growth without introducing Live Rock to the system?

 

Look what arrived ! Decided to upgrade the Koralia 1 because it was too big.

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Coralline will only grow if coralline has been introduced to the system somehow. Like, even just coralline scrapings from another tank should allow coralline to grow.

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graftobny142
1 hour ago, xAyanex said:

Coralline will only grow if coralline has been introduced to the system somehow. Like, even just coralline scrapings from another tank should allow coralline to grow.


I was worried that was the case. I was going to use a piece of live rock but I saw too many posts about negative hitchikers. I don't want to have to deal with random algaes/other bad things. 

I'll ask the LFS for a scraping, maybe get a small LR piece and scrub it before introducing to the tank.

Edit: Put the first dose of Ammonia today. I had trouble finding the right amount to get between 4-5ppm. Even with slight adjustments the level would go from under 4 to 6+. Could be due to the large jump on the API Ammonia chart from 4.0 to 8.0

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26 minutes ago, themummra said:


I was worried that was the case. I was going to use a piece of live rock but I saw too many posts about negative hitchikers. I don't want to have to deal with random algaes/other bad things. 

I'll ask the LFS for a scraping, maybe get a small LR piece and scrub it before introducing to the tank.

Edit: Put the first dose of Ammonia today. I had trouble finding the right amount to get between 4-5ppm. Even with slight adjustments the level would go from under 4 to 6+. Could be due to the large jump on the API Ammonia chart from 4.0 to 8.0

I used all live rock, and this is my first tank. I did not get any unwatched hitch-hikers (I was very worried about it as well), but I may have just really lucked out. When I get a new tank, I will use dry rock and cure it myself, although I think the cycle will take a lot longer that way.

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Ammonia is somewhere around 4.0-8.0 ppm, Nitrite is probably >5.0 ppm, Nitrate looks to be about 20 ppm, judging from how the colors appear in the picture.

 

You are using only dry rock, no live rock? And dosing ammonia?

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graftobny142
32 minutes ago, xAyanex said:

Ammonia is somewhere around 4.0-8.0 ppm, Nitrite is probably >5.0 ppm, Nitrate looks to be about 20 ppm, judging from how the colors appear in the picture.

 

You are using only dry rock, no live rock? And dosing ammonia?


Only Dry Rock and Life Rock , dosed once with a 10% ammonia solution with no surfactants/additives

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Looks like the cycle is under way, keep doing what your doing!  Love to follow fellow biocube owners!  

 

I started out with 15 lbs of base rock and about 10 lbs of live rock, was lucky that no hitchhikers made it in!

 

 

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