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Coral Vue Hydros

Brand new hobby- 32G Biocube Setup Help


AshleyH

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VaporCountry
1 hour ago, AshleyH said:

I did a water test today (day 3.5).... all parameters are zero still. pH 8 and Sp.G 1.024

I think I'll add some fish food as @VaporCountry recommended. What happens if a tank doesn't cycle?

And thank you all for the welcome and compliments to my rock scape... TBH the guy at the LFS gave me some tips lol

You will probably still have a cycle since you didn't have that much live rock. You can grind or crush up the fish food to make it break down faster and turn into ammonia. I would add in that bacteria too, some can cycle a tank pretty quickly and they can't hurt anything. People say its snake oil but I have had success with some brands. Instant Ocean Bio Spira cycled my tank in like 1 week without any live rock or sand. I didn't have much luck with seachem stability though. 

 

Once you get an ammonia reading of about 2ppm I would stop feeding the tank then see how long it takes to break down to nitrite then finally nitrate. You could also get some pure ammonia and use that instead of ghost feeding but you wanna make sure you get the right stuff without any additives in it. I used the shrimp method myself and while it does work its stinky and messy and raises the ammonia too quick. Once your ammonia and nitrite reading go to zero your cycle should be finished. I would then ghost feed the tank with about how much you would feed on a regular basis and see if your tank fully cycles it to nitrate within about 24hrs or so. 

 

Im no expert but from all my reading and experiences this seems like the best way to do it.

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I have a 16 gallon Biocube and also went for the arch aquascape. Started in January, so I'm a bit ahead of you! Can confirm advice on pump upgrade to cool tank (they run warmer) and the variety of filter methods for the back chambers. 

 

Both are on my list for upgrades as 9 months in I want my parameters to be better!

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I really like your rock as well! I have a bio cube 32 as well, let it do its thing for a month, add some fish pellets once in a while. Algae will bloom when nitrates rise, do a 5 gallon water change. then add cleanup crew, snails and crabbies. Wait another month then some corals and a fish or two. Just take it real slow? My filter consists of broken live rock at the bottom of chamber 2, cheato on top of that and a marine land 10k light taped on outside. Had an in tank UV filter I threw in chamber one with my heater. Never have used any mechanical filtration. Lots of little copepods and bristle worms working hard on live rock!  

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21 hours ago, Cpl_Wiggles said:

Can confirm advice on pump upgrade to cool tank (they run warmer) and the variety of filter methods for the back chambers. 

I wonder if I'll ever need to cool the tank... I live in CT so it is frigid here in the winter, and stays below 75 indoors in the summer.

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12 hours ago, AshleyH said:

I wonder if I'll ever need to cool the tank... I live in CT so it is frigid here in the winter, and stays below 75 indoors in the summer.

I'm in Iowa so bigger swings, but 75 degree days have seen 80+ degrees in the tank. I have a 16 gallon though so Science is on your side with a 32.

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I have not needed to cool the tank.  It's been at 81 and my heater is on 78.  Quick swings are harmful.  You should be ok, but get in the habit of looking at the temp.  But I've been around 81 with no problems.  In Michigan we get 100 degree days so it gets hot here.

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On 10/3/2017 at 9:43 PM, AshleyH said:

I did a water test today (day 3.5).... all parameters are zero still. pH 8 and Sp.G 1.024

I think I'll add some fish food as @VaporCountry recommended. What happens if a tank doesn't cycle?

And thank you all for the welcome and compliments to my rock scape... TBH the guy at the LFS gave me some tips lol

Long as it's wet and gets a little ammonia, it'll cycle. ;)Small temp swings or slow ones are ok, you don't want fast swings or temps over, say, 84 tops (and don't maintain at that temp, that is just accounting for summer heat swings).

 

I lived in Hartford a few months, our apartment kept the heat around 80 and it was miserable.

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I'm happy to report the ammonia in my tank finally registered yesterday at 0.25 ppm and today at 0.50 ppm... nitrite and nitrates are still zero. I started adding a pinch of fish pellets once per day and still dosing with Aquavitro Seed. I can see a white film around some of the older food particles on the sand. I also noticed the slightest hint of green on my live rock today. I think these are ok to find?

 

 

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On 10/8/2017 at 10:39 AM, AshleyH said:

I'm happy to report the ammonia in my tank finally registered yesterday at 0.25 ppm and today at 0.50 ppm... nitrite and nitrates are still zero. I started adding a pinch of fish pellets once per day and still dosing with Aquavitro Seed. I can see a white film around some of the older food particles on the sand. I also noticed the slightest hint of green on my live rock today. I think these are ok to find?

 

 

Ya that's just the food spoiling and breaking down, algae growth is a good sign nitrites and nitrates are starting to form!! 

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Just wanted to update: I started an aquarium log and will be posting in there from now on for my updates. Feel free to check it out so far! 

 

 

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9 hours ago, NanoReefMinimalist said:

Turn the light off while cycling.  You don't want a tons of algae. 

Yes I have seen this advice earlier as well and only turn the lights on to take a 1-2x daily peek and for pictures. Thank you.

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  • 2 years later...

I just purchased Coralife Biocube 32.  Can someone please identify which chamber is chamber 1 and which is chamber 3. Obviously chamber 2 is the big one in the middle.  I may seem a little dense, but I’m having to move my fish and corals from a 105 gallon tank due to a leak in the overflow and I’m a little rusty on operating small systems.  Logically it seems to me the pump would be in chamber 1 and the remaining chamber would be chamber 3, but comments on these forums have me confused.  I have ordered an InTank media basket and a thermometer.  I like to use Chaeto as a filtering tool, but if I add the refusium to contain the chaeto, where can I put the protein skimmer? Also what exactly is non pump chamber used for.  Any advice is deeply appreciated because my brain is spinning from all these videos 🥴

Edited by Patticake
Correct words
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