Dailyn's Biocube 32

[DailynJ]

Hey all!

I'm new to saltwater, but not new to freshwater. I've kept aquariums for as long as I can remember, of all kinds of sizes. Whenever I was a kid, my mother set up a saltwater tank, long story short it didn't go so well. I hope to create something far better than that. I've been doing research for two months now and am excited to say I am now an owner of a Coralife Biocube 32. I ordered it off of marine and reef during their 15% Black Friday sale. Right now I'm just waiting for my dry rock and RODI system to get here before I get the tank wet.

 

[billygoat]

Let me be the first to say... congrats on your sweet new aquarium! Can't wait to see where you take it. 😊

[DailynJ]

I got my reef saver dry rock today and my 5-stage typhoon RODI unit. I set the tank next to the couch, with the front facing where I sit so I have the best seat in the house. I have the stand backwards so I can still use the cabinet. It might look a little dumb but it works! I hope to get the tank wet in the next few days. I ran my RODI unit and it took 40 minutes to fill one gallon. Is that a normal rate? I hope there's something I can do to make it run faster or else it's going to take around 21 hours to fill up my tank. I'm looking forward to getting the aquascape and sand in tomorrow.

[FISHnChix]

10 hours ago, DailynJ said:

I got my reef saver dry rock today and my 5-stage typhoon RODI unit. I set the tank next to the couch, with the front facing where I sit so I have the best seat in the house. I have the stand backwards so I can still use the cabinet. It might look a little dumb but it works! I hope to get the tank wet in the next few days. I ran my RODI unit and it took 40 minutes to fill one gallon. Is that a normal rate? I hope there's something I can do to make it run faster or else it's going to take around 21 hours to fill up my tank. I'm looking forward to getting the aquascape and sand in tomorrow.

Yea rodi systems are super slow.. yours should have a gallons per day rating on it.. and there are other variables like water pressure and water temp..  

 

Oh and I would reccomend expoxying your rocks together once you find a scape you like.. imo no matter how well you think are stacked you will knock it over during maintenance if not glued together somehow haha.. 

 

 

Happy reefing!

[Gravity]

Looking forward to your build!

[Frag Factory]

Looks like an awesome build in the making 🙂

 

 

[tofer]

Congrats on the tank  looking forward to your progress . I also have  one and enjoy it greatly and enjoyed the ups and downs of keeping a small piece of the sea  in my home . I will make a suggestion that maybe you should put the tank on the stand the right direction for wiring purposes  and have a side view of the tank . Please don't take this suggestion the wrong way it is your tank and your vision . I wish  i would have moved mine further away from the wall to give me more room to run and organize my wires better . 

[DailynJ]

10 hours ago, FISHnChix said:

Oh and I would reccomend expoxying your rocks together once you find a scape you like.

I found a scape I liked and tried putting it in piece by piece and couldn't recreate it. So I took the rocks back out and once I recreated the scape I super glued the rocks together using Gorilla Glue gel super glue. I read that it was safe for reefs and I like how it dries clear.

[DailynJ]

4 hours ago, Gravity said:

Looking forward to your build!

 

3 hours ago, Frag Factory said:

Looks like an awesome build in the making 🙂

 

 

Thanks guys! I'm really excited for it. I'm hoping I can get some clowns a little after Christmas.

[DailynJ]

23 minutes ago, tofer said:

you should put the tank on the stand the right direction for wiring purposes  and have a side view of the tank

I plan on using stick-on hooks to help with the wiring. The tank is plenty far from the wall and my couch so I should have enough room to wire things. I can access the holes in the back of the stand in between it and my couch. I'm going to see how it goes because it was my dream to have it face me and so far wiring hasn't been an issue and I love still having access to the cabinet. 

[DailynJ]

I ran my RODI unit all day today into plastic storage containers.

 

 

Whenever I got home from thanksgiving celebrations, my boyfriend helped me put my glued together scape into the tank. I then added around 2" of CaribSea Arag-Live Special Grade sand. 

 

 

Since I got home, I've been mixing my RODI water with Red Sea's Coral Pro salt mix using my two Aquamai wavemakers.

 

 

Hoping to get the tank filled tomorrow to start the cycle, but who knows if that will actually happen.

[Xanthine]

On 11/27/2019 at 11:25 PM, DailynJ said:

I set the tank next to the couch, with the front facing where I sit so I have the best seat in the house. I have the stand backwards so I can still use the cabinet. It might look a little dumb but it works!

When I first saw the picture with the backward stand - I was like, ok yeah that is a bit silly looking...interesting choice.

However now thinking about it for a minute, I am intensely jealous of how your main tank observation spot will be super comfy. 

Really like your scape too! Welcome to the marine biocube fam! 

[banasophia]

Congrats on the new tank!! I’m excited to see you here in the forum, as well as on Instagram! 

 

So... I think the most important thing is that your tank makes you happy, and I 100% agree with making it so you can easily view it from your couch. 🤗 That being said, have you thought about putting it where the side table is, facing outward in the more usual fashion, but then positioning your scape so it looks good from the side and the front? I think with a bit of rearranging, you could have the best of both worlds, with a great front row view and placement in the room so the whole room looks nice. 
 

I just went through the same issue with my 32, trying to figure out where the heck to put it... it’s hard making it so you can see it well but it also fits in with the rest of the furniture. ☺️🤗

[DailynJ]

19 hours ago, banasophia said:

I think with a bit of rearranging, you could have the best of both worlds, with a great front row view and placement in the room so the whole room looks nice. 

I know we already discussed this on insta, but I really am happy with how it is right now. I have great access to the back for maintenance and I'm not particularly worried about the aesthetics of my room. I had the scape I did in mind forever, so I didn't really want to change it to be viewable from the side. I really appreciate your concern and your advice thought!

[DailynJ]

22 hours ago, Xanthine said:

When I first saw the picture with the backward stand - I was like, ok yeah that is a bit silly looking...interesting choice.

However now thinking about it for a minute, I am intensely jealous of how your main tank observation spot will be super comfy. 

Really like your scape too! Welcome to the marine biocube fam! 

Yeah it does look a bit silly, but I have great access to all the cords and stuff in the back, which is absolutely great because I've dealt with trying to wire things or remove things for cleaning and it being such a pain because the back of the tank was close to the wall. This gives me a lot of space on every side to work with it, which I've been loving so far. And honestly, the filter area is really cool looking, so I really don't mind seeing it. Hopefully being able to see it will help me siphon out the rear chambers when they get dirty. 

I really wanted to be able to get 100% out of my tank since I'm spending so much $$ on it. I figured it I placed it somewhere else, I wasn't going to get the same experience out of it, so I knew it had to be by my couch. I've had my scape in mind ever since I started planning the tank, so I didn't want to change it to view the tank from the side. So directly facing me was the best choice!

[WV Reefer]

 

27 minutes ago, DailynJ said:

Yeah it does look a bit silly, but I have great access to all the cords and stuff in the back, which is absolutely great because I've dealt with trying to wire things or remove things for cleaning and it being such a pain because the back of the tank was close to the wall. This gives me a lot of space on every side to work with it, which I've been loving so far. And honestly, the filter area is really cool looking, so I really don't mind seeing it. Hopefully being able to see it will help me siphon out the rear chambers when they get dirty. 

I really wanted to be able to get 100% out of my tank since I'm spending so much $$ on it. I figured it I placed it somewhere else, I wasn't going to get the same experience out of it, so I knew it had to be by my couch. I've had my scape in mind ever since I started planning the tank, so I didn't want to change it to view the tank from the side. So directly facing me was the best choice!

 

It’s sort of like a peninsula-ish cube...... love it! 😃

 

Any other plans for livestock aside from the clowns?

[DailynJ]

On 12/1/2019 at 11:37 AM, WV Reefer said:

Any other plans for livestock aside from the clowns?

I plan on getting naked clownfish, a clown goby, a yasha goby and tiger pistol shrimp pair, and a pom pom crab. As far as the clean up crew goes I plan on getting cerith, trocus, and nassarius snails, a blue leg hermit crab, a emerald crab, a fighting conch, and a skunk cleaner shrimp. I'm debating on if I should get a peppermint shrimp or not because I've heard they can help prevent aptasia from even colonizing a tank, but also that some don't even touch aptasia. 

[WV Reefer]

14 minutes ago, DailynJ said:

I plan on getting naked clownfish, a clown goby, a yasha goby and tiger pistol shrimp pair, and a pom pom crab. As far as the clean up crew goes I plan on getting cerith, trocus, and nassarius snails, a blue leg hermit crab, a emerald crab, a fighting conch, and a skunk cleaner shrimp. I'm debating on if I should get a peppermint shrimp or not because I've heard they can help prevent aptasia from even colonizing a tank, but also that some don't even touch aptasia. 

That’s a solid list. 

 

out of the two Peppermint Shrimp that I have had neither of them ate aiptasia 

[ECLS Reefer]

58 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

That’s a solid list. 

 

out of the two Peppermint Shrimp that I have had neither of them ate aiptasia 

I had a peppermint pair in the SCA that ate all the aptasia and then both died. I have a new peppermint in the Evo and so far it hasn’t done a single thing towards knocking down the humongous aptasias growing in there. Lazy bugger.

 

This should be a pretty and active tank when you get it stocked!! Good luck!

[Adam_B]

Congrats on the new tank! I'm looking forward to how this turns out, especially with that nice looking rock layout. It looks like there's a lot of good real estate for coral, and it looks like the rock is even laid out nicely for optimal viewing from the comfort of the couch.

[DailynJ]

22 hours ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

 

This should be a pretty and active tank when you get it stocked!! Good luck!

Thank you! I'm really looking forward to getting the livestock and coral!

[DailynJ]

22 hours ago, Adam_B said:

Congrats on the new tank! I'm looking forward to how this turns out, especially with that nice looking rock layout. It looks like there's a lot of good real estate for coral, and it looks like the rock is even laid out nicely for optimal viewing from the comfort of the couch.

Thank you! I tried planning out what coral I wanted to go where to fit the scape. I have a great view! Hopefully it being so close to where I always am will help me see some of the more elusive inverts I plan on putting in the tank!

[DailynJ]

23 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

out of the two Peppermint Shrimp that I have had neither of them ate aiptasia

Of course not. Well I might not go for the peppermint shrimp and save that stocking space for something else I might find along the way. I was thinking about possibly adding sexy shrimp, but they are really expensive where I live and I know bigger things can bother them/eat them.

[WV Reefer]

2 hours ago, DailynJ said:

Of course not. Well I might not go for the peppermint shrimp and save that stocking space for something else I might find along the way. I was thinking about possibly adding sexy shrimp, but they are really expensive where I live and I know bigger things can bother them/eat them.

Sexy shrimp are fun to watch. Mine travel in a pack and take turns fighting and chasing each other. 😄

[DailynJ]

1 hour ago, WV Reefer said:

Sexy shrimp are fun to watch. Mine travel in a pack and take turns fighting and chasing each other. 😄

Do you have them with fish and other inverts or in a species only tank?