Biocube 32 Setup

[Jdo2010]

Hi All!

 

This is my first saltwater aquarium, so pardon me if any of my concerns or comments are minor! 

 

I set set up my aquarium yesterday evening, bought some live rock, and some dry coral. Got some RO salt water from the local tropical fish store, as well as some chemipure elite filtration media, fluval pre filter in a drawstring bag to avoid them falling all over my filter, and I got Arag-alive sand. Do I have enough water falling into my filter unit in the back?

 

Added my live coral, sand and water, and of course it was a bit cloudy. Today, I woke up to see my tank is clear! I am wondering about what looks like salt lines along the walls of my tank. Should I just let it cycle a few more days? Or should I buy one of the magnet cleaners and just wipe it off? I am attaching pictures for clarification... Any tips or advice would be amazing!! Thanks in advance! 

 

Josh.

[StevieT]

Wipe the glass now with a new micro fiber cloth, or a wiper on a stick.

 

Yes pick up a magnet cleaner in the future

 

Great picture of how that stock filter basket sucks, look at upgrading it

[Jdo2010]

Thanks Stevie! What do you recommend upgrading to? 

 

[Hobbs]

I use poor man's filter floss (polyester filling like what you put in pillows from craft store) and activated carbon and ceramic rings in little cloth bags underneath it. I've had no problem in the past with this set up

 

 

[Krzydmnd]

I also got a biocube 32 up and running recently. I dropped in the InTank brand media rack and it's much more stable than stock.  It also allows room for a skimmer if you go that way. 

 

I also JUST finished installing Steve's LED mod and OMG it's a huge improvement over stock lighting. . If you are fish only stock is OK but it makes my green pipe organ coral look like a new animal compared to stock.  And the bluefish controller for it is awesome.  Good luck! It's a nice tank with some extra effort. .

[FISHnChix]

19 minutes ago, Krzydmnd said:

I also got a biocube 32 up and running recently. I dropped in the InTank brand media rack and it's much more stable than stock.  It also allows room for a skimmer if you go that way. 

 

I also JUST finished installing Steve's LED mod and OMG it's a huge improvement over stock lighting. . If you are fish only stock is OK but it makes my green pipe organ coral look like a new animal compared to stock.  And the bluefish controller for it is awesome.  Good luck! It's a nice tank with some extra effort. .

Sorry to high jack this post but what are your light settings? I just ordered the same kit and was wondering what to set them at to start..

 

+ one on the intank media rack though..I do feel it is a bit expensive for what it is.. however it is really well made . And every time I pull it out to change the media I'm reminded of the quality and am glad I didn't try and jerry rig a media basket myself...

 

 

[Krzydmnd]

I used the default bluefish settings to start (this will be an option as you setup the software).  it mimics the sunrise, sunset, clouds and weather patterns in the Fiji Islands region, offset to your time zone.  You can select any other geographic region for default settings and also make your own. I just installed it an hour ago so I'll let it run like this for a few days and slowly tweak it to my liking. . I LOVE it so far. . Only thing to remember is that the kit is only blue and white while the software for you Phone has like six channels.  You'll only use the first two I believe.  

 

One panic moment I had was that I couldn't get the controller to sync with my phone at first.  I was about to tear it down and reinstall stock lights until I heard back from Mfr, but I finally figured out that the software wouldn't connect to my phone on the 5g wireless band of my router so I switched over to 2.4 and it connected instantly.  

[Stillblind]

I know this post has aged some, but how do you feel about the lights now?

[Krzydmnd]

22 hours ago, Stillblind said:

I know this post has aged some, but how do you feel about the lights now?

I love the Steve's LED upgrade! The blues are way better than stock and my few corals seem to have adapted pretty quickly although I am still in the process of ramping the lighting up slowly.  It does seem to make the tank run a degree or two hotter but that's easily remedied.   The bluefish controller works great for me and allows for a lot more flexibility than the stock controller. 

 

Current configuration under daytime schedule. 

[Stillblind]

Looks good!