Jackal's Biocube 16 LED - 3 Years In and Counting!

[SkolVikes]

8 hours ago, Cpl_Wiggles said:

Skol - I had GHA in my BC16. Bought Pencil Urchin. That beast blowed through every rock, nook, and cranny and eliminated all traces of GHA in less than a week.

Then he proceeded to chew on cord covers, plow over coral, and generally raise hell in my tank until I took him back to LFS.

 

Proceed with caution. 

Thanks for the advice. I may “rent one” until he takes care of business and then bring back. 

 

I upgraded the filtration and added a hydro425 power head for water flow and hoping that will keep things moving better.

[SkolVikes]

New FTS:

- cleaned the glass with a new scrapper (the dolphin flipper I think it’s called) worked wonders on getting off the coralline that was building on the glass.

- added pump

- went on aptasia hunt and did a big eradication this week.

 

Skimmer pump (oceanic bio cube skimmer) just quit in me last night so now looking into mods for that skimmer (longer tube and better pump). Any pump suggestions from those that use one?

[SkolVikes]

One other thing I have been meaning to ask. Maybe a dumb question...

 

I have glue to secure coral to rocks. When/how do you guys glue the coral? 

 

Glue on the frag then put into water quick to location to secure?

 

or do you do it during water changes when the water level is less?

 

this of course gluing frags to rockwork that can’t be removed.

 

thanks for the help. 

Sorry to hijack 😬

On 12/17/2018 at 6:03 PM, Jackal227 said:

I finally got a picture of this elusive guy: 

He rarely comes out during the day but I found him hanging upside down on the rock. 

 

As for the corals I always like to see how much they grow over time. 

 

The Cyphastrea is starting to encrust the rock now.  I think that it'll look really nice after it covers the rock. 

2 months ago: 

Today:

 

I'm also seeing some growth out of the purple Monti.  The growth pattern is interesting, it's kind of a cross between branching and entrusting. 

2 months ago: 

Today:

 

Blue FTS:

Awesome looking color in the blues!

[Jackal227]

16 hours ago, Cpl_Wiggles said:

Skol - I had GHA in my BC16. Bought Pencil Urchin. That beast blowed through every rock, nook, and cranny and eliminated all traces of GHA in less than a week.

Then he proceeded to chew on cord covers, plow over coral, and generally raise hell in my tank until I took him back to LFS.

 

Proceed with caution. 

Mine might avoid my GHA because it's a picky eater or maybe it's because I spoil it with algae sheets: 

[Jackal227]

7 hours ago, SkolVikes said:

 

The tank looks good. 

 

That's a nice looking hammer there.  Is that an anemone up top? 

 

7 hours ago, SkolVikes said:

I have glue to secure coral to rocks. When/how do you guys glue the coral? 

Use any super glue.  The gel style is easiest to use.  I recently started using polyp labs glue.   It's a little pricey but it sets very fast under water and I'm very happy with it. 

 

I typically will cut the frag off of the plug (for aesthetics) and glue it directly to the rock.  Apply the glue out of the water then hold onto the rock until it sets.  It can be applied under the water no need to drain the tank.  The salt water actually helps the glue set.  If you are unsure there are plenty of YouTube videos showing this. 

[vlangel]

Looking good!

[Jackal227]

55 minutes ago, vlangel said:

Looking good!

Thank you

[SkolVikes]

On 12/20/2018 at 8:19 PM, Jackal227 said:

The tank looks good. 

 

That's a nice looking hammer there.  Is that an anemone up top? 

 

Use any super glue.  The gel style is easiest to use.  I recently started using polyp labs glue.   It's a little pricey but it sets very fast under water and I'm very happy with it. 

 

I typically will cut the frag off of the plug (for aesthetics) and glue it directly to the rock.  Apply the glue out of the water then hold onto the rock until it sets.  It can be applied under the water no need to drain the tank.  The salt water actually helps the glue set.  If you are unsure there are plenty of YouTube videos showing this. 

Thanks for the info. That is what I was doing but wasn’t sure if that was the best/Normal way.

 

Yes it is a rose bubble tip. Had for about two weeks. It’s eating and has settled into the spot...so far so good.

 

My son picked out the hammer coral at the LFS and named him “hammery”...he’s pretty unoriginal with names lol

[Jackal227]

During my maintenance today I found two more aiptasia growing in the middle of my new Zoa frags.  It looks like these are the culprits for the other one that I found.  I haven't used aiptasia-x directly ontop of a coral before so hopefully the Zoas will be ok. 

 

I also found one of my Ricordea mushrooms had detached and was laying ontop of my RFA.  I reattached it to the rock with my other mushrooms.  It gave me the opportunity to space them out a little further.

[Jackal227]

The Zoas are back to fully open so the aiptasia-x didn't do any harm.

 

The  fallen Ricordea is doing well too.  We'll see if it starts opening wider now that it has more room around it. 

 

I noticed yesterday morning that my RFA was moving on the sandbed.  It may have been pissed from having a mushroom laying on it.  I was heading out of town so I didn't have any time to mess with it.  I'm not sure where it moved to, but it's currently MIA.

[Jackal227]

Well, during maintenance today I located the missing RFA.  It moved across to the other side of the tank and up onto the rock.  It's amazing that I didn't see at all during the journey but it is open so it must like the new spot:

 

 

 

[mpekoske]

Beautiful tank! I’m getting my Biocube 16 up and running as mostly sps... just had a quick question as I noticed at one point you had the icecap 1k... what percent did you run it at and did you run both sides or cap off one? I want more flow and think this would be perfect but just want your input! Thank you

[Jackal227]

1 hour ago, mpekoske said:

Beautiful tank! I’m getting my Biocube 16 up and running as mostly sps... just had a quick question as I noticed at one point you had the icecap 1k... what percent did you run it at and did you run both sides or cap off one? I want more flow and think this would be perfect but just want your input! Thank you

I ran it with just 1 side and at 10-20%.  I liked the controlability of it.  I ran it both vertical and horizontal.   Vertical seemed to do better in the biocube. 

 

What I didn't like is that it constantly moved my sand around.  It would probably be ok in a bare bottom.  It won't go below 10% so it was too much for my setup.  Also it was larger than I expected.  Even with just one side it stuck out like a sore thumb in the biocube. 

 

I still have it sitting in the box and plan on using it whenever I upgrade to a larger tank. 

[Jackal227]

Here's some shots of the flow from the Hydor 425 in the biocube: 

 

Cespitularia located right under the powerhead: 

 

GSP located on the sand bed:

 

Hammer at mid tank shielded by the rocks:

 

I find that it generates plenty of flow for my needs.  The different placements around the tank allow me to regulate it for the different corals. 

 

Edit:  they were animated gifs, but they don't appear to be playing after posting...

[Jackal227]

I'm pretty concerned for one of my Clownfish.  I noticed the male clown was sitting on the sandbed and appeared to be breathing hard:

 

 

It was still upright but mostly staying still.  The rapid breathing is what really had me concerned.  He remained on the bottom for around 30 minutes before he started  swimming in the water column again. 

 

It's been a couple hours since he started  swimming again and appears to be swimming normal now.  Both of the other fish appear fine.  

 

I wonder if maybe he got injured somehow (no visible marks), or if this is a sign of something worse coming. 

 

Other than observing him, I'm not sure what else to do at this point. 

[banasophia]

30 minutes ago, Jackal227 said:

I'm pretty concerned for one of my Clownfish.  I noticed the male clown was sitting on the sandbed and appeared to be breathing hard:

 

 

It was still upright but mostly staying still.  The rapid breathing is what really had me concerned.  He remained on the bottom for around 30 minutes before he started  swimming in the water column again. 

 

It's been a couple hours since he started  swimming again and appears to be swimming normal now.  Both of the other fish appear fine.  

 

I wonder if maybe he got injured somehow (no visible marks), or if this is a sign of something worse coming. 

 

Other than observing him, I'm not sure what else to do at this point. 

Wow he’s a beautiful fish, hope everything is okay. 

[Jackal227]

Well, I'm happy to report that the clown has survived through the night.  When he was laying on the sandbed I wasn't sure that he would make it.  But everything appears normal so far.   I'll get a good look at him in a couple hours when the whites come on. 

[banasophia]

1 hour ago, Jackal227 said:

Well, I'm happy to report that the clown has survived through the night.  When he was laying on the sandbed I wasn't sure that he would make it.  But everything appears normal so far.   I'll get a good look at him in a couple hours when the whites come on. 

Just saw someone post a video on Instagram of their clown doing the same thing... several people replied theirs do this and that they were worried at first, but the fish seems to be fine. 

 

[Jackal227]

2 hours ago, banasophia said:

Just saw someone post a video on Instagram of their clown doing the same thing... several people replied theirs do this and that they were worried at first, but the fish seems to be fine. 

 

Just watched that video.  It looks identical to what I saw. 

[Jackal227]

It's time for a new FTS with the new year.  We're up to 15 months now.  I'm still dealing with a little hair algae on the rocks, but overall the tank is going strong: 

[Jackal227]

Well, during maintenance today I found some bubble algae growing on the side of one of my Acans.  I'm surprised that I haven't seen any up until now.

 

I removed the Acan and scraped off the bubbles hoping that it isn't more elsewhere.  

 

Just in case it is, I picked up a tiny emerald crab and added it to the tank today.  Even if there isn't any more bubble algae I'm hoping that it'll feast on the GHA.  While picking up the crab I also grabbed 4 more cerith snails and a new coral frag. 

[banasophia]

On 1/15/2019 at 2:52 PM, Jackal227 said:

It's time for a new FTS with the new year.  We're up to 15 months now.  I'm still dealing with a little hair algae on the rocks, but overall the tank is going strong: 

Looks so good. Your rockscape is really the best!!!

[Christopher Marks]

Good call on removing the bubble algae with the frag outside the tank, that makes all the difference!

[Jackal227]

16 hours ago, banasophia said:

Looks so good. Your rockscape is really the best!!!

Thank you. 

 

I do like it, but if I could change it I would lower the overhang at the top of the tank down a few inches.  It really has limited me on what corals I can put there. 

 

Also having multiple caves has worked out well.  Watching the Royal Gramma  swim in and out of the rocks is always entertaining.

[MSunkin23]

Hey Jackal,

 

Tank looking solid. Some Zoanthids may be cool up there on the ledge. Might be difficult to see but it is angled towards the front of the tank. Might be a cool platform for a zoa colony.