Toast’s 16 Gallon Biocube - I Went to Japan 🇯🇵⛩ and Almost Crashed my Tank Edition

[Toasteh_ghost]

Hey guys! I’m brand new to the saltwater aquarium world and, after a lot of research and lurking, finally decided to set up a nano reef using a Biocube 16. I’ve already gotten a ton of great advice from people on this forum and am excited to be able to document my journey with everyone!

 

Tank: Biocube 16 LED

Setup Date: 1/26/2019

Rockscape: 12-15lbs live rock from the LFS

Sand: CaribSea Aragonite Fiji Pink Sand (10 lbs)

15lbs Nature’s Ocean Bio-Activ Aragonite Live Sand, Natural White

Heater:  Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm, 50W. Located in Chamber 1.

Powerheads: VorTech MP10

Additional Equipment: Green Killing Machine, 9W. Located in Chamber 3.

Filtration: Poly filter, Chemipure Blue

 

Livestock: 2x “Lightning Mocha” Ocellaris Clownfish (“Kona” & “Kopi”)

1x Bicolor Blenny (“Steve”)

1x Cleaner Shrimp (“Pierre”)

2x Scarlet Hermits

1x Tailspot Blenny (“Tony”)

1x Helfrichi Firefish (“Penny”)

 

Corals: 1x Green Toadstool Leather

1x Australian Torch

1x Australian Sage Hammer

1x Pipe Organ

1x Floridea Ricordea

1x Blue Cespitularia

1x Violet Cespitularia

1x Daisy Duke Zoanthid

1x Red Gonipora

1x Candy Cane

1x Green Birds Nest

1x Blue Sympodium Polyp

1x War Paint Scolymia

 

Upgrades and Modifications: Removed false bottom from Chamber 1. Replaced stock media basket with inTank Media Basket. Upgraded return pump in Chamber 3 with Cobalt MJ900. Removed partial wall between Chambers 2 and 3 where sponge used to be to make additional space for MJ900 and UV sterilizer in Chamber 3. 

 

Miscellaneous Equipment: 25W Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm Heater for heating up water for water changes, refractometer, Zacro digital aquarium thermometer, API Master Saltwater Test Kit, Salifert test kits, Phosphate Ultra Low Hanna Checker

 

 

The Journey so Far: Live rock, live sand, ~11 gallons water from LFS, and one bottle of Biospera were added on 1/26/2019 to start cycling the aquarium. I couldn’t find a rockscape I really liked so I kept rearranging the rocks, but I finally settled on a rockscape I liked a week later! After one week of cycling, I had the following parameters:

 

Temperature: 78F

Salinity: 1.021

Ammomia: 0ppm

Nitrites: 0ppm

Nitrates: 40ppm

 

I wasn’t very happy with the salinity levels and was surprised considering it had come from the LFS, but I was super happy that the cycling was going so quickly! A quick trip to Petco to buy some boxed water and a 50% water change later seemed to fix most of the problems. After the water change I had the following parameters:

 

Temperatre: 78F

Salinity: 1.025 (goal is 1.026)

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrites: 0ppm

Nitrates: 20ppm

pH: 8.0

 

Since everything is progressing so smoothly I’ll be performing a final water change and putting in livestock tomorrow. I’ve had my eye on a gorgeous lightning mocha ocellaris pair that I reserved today. I also ordered the following clean up crew from ReefCleaners:

 

10x Dwarf Ceriths

4x Florida Ceriths

3x Nassarius

4x Nerites

 

Eventually I plan on adding a Watchman Goby and Pistol Shrimp pair in addition to an Emerald Crab and Scarlet Hermit. I’m still figuring out what corals I want, but a few of my top choices for now are torch corals, toadstool leathers, kenya trees, green duncans, blue sympodium polyps, pulsing xenias, and green star polyps.

 

 

4/6/19 Full Tank Shot

[Jackal227]

I like the scape.  I look forward to watching how the tank progresses. 

[sadie]

looks good, I like the rock work.  I was just doing some research on the wachman goby and pistol shrimp.  Not sure I would like the mess they make, though they sound fun to watch.  

[Toasteh_ghost]

I got my two “lightning mocha” clownfish from the LFS yesterday! They seem to be settling in quickly. I floated their bag for ~15min to let the temperature equilibrate and started adding 2oz of tank water to the bag every 5 minutes for about an hour. At first the two clowns wouldn’t leave one corner of the tank, but after a few hours they were exploring and riding all of the currents from my powerheads. 

 

Today was also the first day that I ran my lights on their full timer. It looks like my tank temperature starts off at 78.4 F and climbs up to 80.6 F by the end of the day.

 

I also found the CUTEST goby at another LFS. I’m hoping he’ll be around for a while so I can add him to the tank in a month or so.

 

My clean up crew should be here by Friday. Fingers crossed that they all arrive in one piece and acclimate well!

[sadie]

They are nice looking.  I'm not usually into the different clown fish, but I like those.  Do they have names?

[Friendly]

the scape immediately made me think of the two aliens from Sesame Street, LoLoL!!!

[Toasteh_ghost]

17 hours ago, sadie said:

They are nice looking.  I'm not usually into the different clown fish, but I like those.  Do they have names?

I stuck with the mocha/coffee theme and named them Kona and Kopi! I fed them frozen mysis shrimp for the first time yesterday. I’m not sure what else I’m going to feed them to supplement the mysis though. I’m also thinking my flow in my tank might be a little TOO strong because a few of the mysis pieces the clowns didn’t eat flew around in circles in the tank the minute I restarted all of my pumps. Oops.

 

15 hours ago, Friendly said:

the scape immediately made me think of the two aliens from Sesame Street, LoLoL!!!

I can’t unsee this now lol!!! It doesn’t help that my puttying job on the left rock looks like a five year old Play Dohed it too haha. 

[Friendly]

2 hours ago, Toasteh_ghost said:

I stuck with the mocha/coffee theme and named them Kona and Kopi! I fed them frozen mysis shrimp for the first time yesterday. I’m not sure what else I’m going to feed them to supplement the mysis though. I’m also thinking my flow in my tank might be a little TOO strong because a few of the mysis pieces the clowns didn’t eat flew around in circles in the tank the minute I restarted all of my pumps. Oops.

 

I can’t unsee this now lol!!! It doesn’t help that my puttying job on the left rock looks like a five year old Play Dohed it too haha. 

it also sosrta looks like the blob monsters from Calvin & Hobbes too. LoooL! 

[banasophia]

Wow looks like you’re off to a great start! Love your fish.

[Toasteh_ghost]

Five Week Update

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 2.5ppm 

Salinity: 1.025ppm

Temperature: 78.4-79.1 F

 

Fish Added: Bicolor Blenny

Inverts Added: Cleaner Shrimp

 

I’ve had the tank up and running for five weeks now and everything in the tank seems to be doing well! I added a Bicolor Blenny (Steve) and a Cleaner Shrimp (Pierre) at the three week mark. Both were very shy at first, but now the Blenny frequently hangs out on top of the rocks and swims around with the clowns. He’s still a little nervous whenever I get close to the glass and look at him. I’m hoping that will change since he’s so dang cute and quickly turning into my favorite fish. The cleaner shrimp claimed the main cave as his main spot and hangs out there upside down about half the time 🙄 He’s a hoot the rest of the time - climbing around on all of the rocks and “punching” the blenny with his feet whenever he gets in the shrimps way.

 

I went through a diatom bloom shortly after I added the clownfish. Around the three week mark I noticed what appeared to by cyano, but it disappeared after a water change and hasn’t come back yet. Hair algea began appearing on my rocks at 4 weeks and continues to be a nuissance. Some of my snails even have hair algea growing on their shells. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’m debating dropping in a hermit crab or emerald crab if it continues to persist.

 

I also found a feeding schedule that I’m happy with and the fish seem to love. For the first few weeks I fed PE Mysis every other day. Once I added the Blenny, I began varying up their diet a lot more. Now I rotate out feeding Formula One pellets, frozen PE Mysis Shrimp (soaked in Selcon or Garlic Guard), New Life Spectrum Pellets, and frozen Emerald Entree and feed 5 days a week. I also supplement every other feeding with Algea Extreme to make sure my Blenny is getting enough veggies in his diet. 

 

Hopefully I will start adding corals soon if everything keeps going well. I’m planning on hunting down a Green Toadstool Leather or some Zoas next weekend 🤩

 

[Toasteh_ghost]

3/24/19 Update - New Aquascape, Corals, and a PolypLabs lens!

 

 Wohoo! I finally got my Poly Lab lens so I’m able to take good pictures of my tank!

 

Since my last update, I’ve added a Florida Ricordea, Duncan, Blue Cespitularia, Hammer, Torch, and Green Toadstool Leather. I also redid my aquascape so I would have more room in the sand for corals! I’m really loving the new scape.

 

Some close ups of the corals:

 

Duncan

 

Blue Cespitularia

 

Toadstool

 

Torch

 

I like how the new rockscape allows me to have a corner for my Euphyllias that’s far away from all my other corals. 

 

Unfortunately I’ve been in an uphill battle with algae since my last update. What I thougt was GHA on one of my rocks turned out to be byropsis. I didn’t realize it until it was too late so even though I removed the affected rock from the tank, I’m noticing little strands on other rocks 😔 I have an order of Flucanzole on the way and will probably start treatment with it if byropsis management continues to be an issue. 

[banasophia]

Ah nice, I really like the new scape, and great photos!! I especially love the blue cespitularia.

[Krish87]

Great scape! Looking forward... 🙂

[Toasteh_ghost]

4/6/19 FTS

 

I got some new showpiece corals from the LFS - an Australian Sage Hammer and Australian Torch 🤩 I replaced my smaller Torch and moved my lime green hammer to make room for the new Euphyllias, but my smaller hammer went MIA yesterday. The hammer wasn’t on it’s skeleton anymore and I can’t find it anywhere 😢

 

I also added a Candy Cane, Daisy Duke Zoa, a red Goniopora (which came off it’s frag plug when the plug cracked and is currently chilling in the sand bed), a Blue Sympodium Poly, and a violet Cespitulara. 

 

I had to start a Flucanzole treatment yesterday. I noticed a little patch of byropsis growing on the glass even after I removed the rock where it had been growing. It’s only been 12 hours but the byropsis is already starting to turn brown.

[Krish87]

"Looks great!

 

The hammer wasn't on the skeleton anymore?" Do you still see the skeleton? All you know it might have just contracted. If that is so, give it some time, and it should extend its tentacles back 🙂

[Toasteh_ghost]

Hey guys! It’s been about five months since I’ve posted an update and I’m a little stunned by how much has changed. I struggled a bit during my hiatus, but I learned a lot and feel like I am starting to really understand reef-keeping more and more ☺️ I lost my Cespitularias, Blue Sympodium, and Duncan to brown jelly. It set in quick and the corals were gone within a day. I learned the hard way that my torch coral was too close to my Hammer: my Hammer coral receded and was constantly secreting mucus on the side closest to the torch so it had to be removed. I beat the byropsis only to have a nasty outbreak of what I thought was cyano. I went on a two week vacation to Japan with my husband and after we came back, I had lost a large portion of my snails and my Blenny. It turns out the cyano was actually dinoflagellates that had grown out of control while we were on vacation leading to the snail and fish death. 

 

I went into crisis mode and immediately kicked it into high gear. Water changes, blackouts, and Vibrant dosing did not seem to help the dino problem. I ended up sucking up the majority of my sand bed trying to get them out. Eventually I began dosing nitrates and phosphates to encourage the growth of other algae to outcompete the dinos and...*drum roll*.... IT WORKED! I’m not dino free yet but there’s been a significant reduction in their growth. My corals also seem to be doing a lot better with the increase in nutrients since my tank went from having almost undetectable levels of NO3 and PO4 to reading 2-5ppm NO3 and ~0.1ppm PO4.

 

I added a Tailspot Blenny (Tony) and a Helfrichi Firefish (Penny) after the great post-vacation disaster. I also replaced my sand bed (or what was left of it) with Fiji Pink aragonite and I’m absolutely loving the way it looks, plus it doesn’t blow around like my old sand bed which drove me crazy. 🙈

 

After a few months of feeling pretty lousy about my aquarium, I finally got it in a good place that I can confidently say is sustainable. I decided to go out and treat myself today and bought a War Paint Scoly to celebrate 🤩

 

I’m pretty excited and think I have a good game plan for my aquarium and I’m super excited to get back on the forum again!

 

 

[Christopher Marks]

Glad to hear you're over the hurdle @Toasteh_ghost, the first 6 months are the hardest to get through. That war paint scoly is gorgeous. Good to see you back!