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Scotty Amen's Coralife BioCube 32 Journal


Scotty Amen

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Welp here I go again...

image.png.5cb9b003217192bfb014133df6d769a8.png

 

32 gallons is still a nano, right?

 

Last year's journal started in January and was my first saltwater tank, an Evo 13.5 and represented my first foray into salt.  It's zoas and fish and I chose easy to keep inhabitants.

 

 

I haven't decided on the theme for this tank, any ideas?  

 

This is so addicting.

 

 

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And another Biocube joins the fray! Love it! Congratulations on your new tank. I can't wait to see what you do with the upgrade. 😉

1 hour ago, Scotty Amen said:

I haven't decided on the theme for this tank, any ideas? 

It's a versatile system with a lot of room to create beautiful and unique aquascapes, so I think you have a lot of options when it comes to stocking choices! One factor may influence your decision making though: are you planning to run the stock Biocube LEDs, or will you be upgrading the light down the road? I know the BioQueen @banasophia is currently setting up a 32g Biocube with the intention of growing SPS under stock lights, so maybe the sky's the limit when it comes to these things!

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3 minutes ago, billygoat said:

are you planning to run the stock Biocube LEDs, or will you be upgrading the light down the road?

Great question / point.  Stock LEDs now, upgraded lights later.

I will check out BioQueen's thread to follow / copy :) 

Thank you!

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@Scotty Amen, congrats on your new tank!! 

 

1 hour ago, billygoat said:

And another Biocube joins the fray! Love it! Congratulations on your new tank. I can't wait to see what you do with the upgrade. 😉

It's a versatile system with a lot of room to create beautiful and unique aquascapes, so I think you have a lot of options when it comes to stocking choices! One factor may influence your decision making though: are you planning to run the stock Biocube LEDs, or will you be upgrading the light down the road? I know the BioQueen @banasophia is currently setting up a 32g Biocube with the intention of growing SPS under stock lights, so maybe the sky's the limit when it comes to these things!

 

Thanks for the mention, and the sweet nickname @billygoat! ☺️🤗.

 

1 hour ago, Scotty Amen said:

Great question / point.  Stock LEDs now, upgraded lights later.

I will check out BioQueen's thread to follow / copy 🙂

Thank you!

 

I do love me my BioCubes! And I really love the lights, specifically, and personally wouldn’t buy this tank if I wanted to go lidless, although I might consider adding an extra light strip down the road to the existing lights for additional color enhancement/PAR for my SPS if needed. 

 

My Biocube 16 was my first fish tank; it grows a wide variety of (non-SPS) corals under stock lights (and was TOTM here when it turned one year old, and is currently featured in Reef Hobbyist Magazine), so there’s a ton you can do with stock lights... don’t give up on them yet!  And if you check out @Jackal227 ‘s Biocube 16, you can see the success he’s having with SPS under stock lights!

 

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12 hours ago, Scotty Amen said:

Welp here I go again...

image.png.5cb9b003217192bfb014133df6d769a8.png

 

32 gallons is still a nano, right?

 

Last year's journal started in January and was my first saltwater tank, an Evo 13.5 and represented my first foray into salt.  It's zoas and fish and I chose easy to keep inhabitants.

 

 

I haven't decided on the theme for this tank, any ideas?  

 

This is so addicting.

 

 

What are you thinking for fish in this tank?

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2 hours ago, Scotty Amen said:

Ooooh maybe this reef theme can be Acans & Acropora?   

How well do Acropora do in the bio? I have to check that out.

Well... I don’t know of people doing acros under stock lights yet, but I’ll be trying primarily acros and montis in mine...  it would be awesome if we both gave it a shot! That being said, the lights may not be strong enough (as in - most people think I’m crazy for even trying, but I want to see how much I can push the limits so I’m giving it a shot).
 

If you want to grow things that are more likely to do well under the stock lights, soft corals, many LPS, rock flower nems, and gorgonians are all great choices that can be done and create an amazing tank. 

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FYI, looks like Caribsea Liferock is on sale, if you’re thinking of using it again in this tank... I swear by Liferock and Biospira. ☺️
 

AFE23CDB-4173-405A-9F0B-C74B258AC077.thumb.jpeg.ba4b77b296959d510a1fa22001937c75.jpeg

 

 

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Haven't done much yet.  Picked out a spot in the living room.

Tested the fans and I set up a light schedule to test that and see how it works (it's nice!)

Next step: build a stand.  I determined a good height for the tank (my wife is short) and hopefully I'll have the stand done this week.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/3/2019 at 1:24 PM, banasophia said:

looks like Caribsea Liferock is on sale

I ordered 40 lbs of this rock for the new tank, and got a bag of Arag-Alive (again in Fiji Pink, I do like that look.)  Also the Bio-spora. 🙂

When the rocks arrive on the 13th I can start the cycle. 😄

 

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2 hours ago, Scotty Amen said:

I ordered 40 lbs of this rock for the new tank, and got a bag of Arag-Alive (again in Fiji Pink, I do like that look.)  Also the Bio-spora. 🙂

When the rocks arrive on the 13th I can start the cycle. 😄

 

Alriight!!! Your timing will be better than mine... I have quite a few things I need (and ordered) for both my tanks and I’ve had to wait due to holiday shipping delays. Don’t think I’d start a tank in late November/December again.😅 Fiji pink always looks nice.

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  • 3 weeks later...

DIATOMS!

 

Catching up,

I began the cycle with some Red Sea saltwater (from the LFS) and began with Dr. Tim's ammonia & 
Instant Ocean BIO-Spira on January 12,

I added a Hygger 300W heater on January 19 and saw Diatoms last night (Jan 22).

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The diatoms have all been wiped out by the cerinth & astraea snails I added last week, courtesy of John at Reef Cleaners.

 

Just to add interest I also threw in a Ninja Star Snail, he's pretty cool too. I got two of those, one for this tank and one for my 13.5.

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Saturday, 2/8

Added two pretty zoa frags to the bottom-middle area. I have no idea what their names are.

 

Also moved the peppermint shrimp from my nano into this tank, he's got the place to himself for now. He's a proven aiptasia eater and the place I got the frags from had aiptaisa ona previous zoa frag I bought from them once, so just in case, Elvis has moved into this building. If there was any aiptasia on these zoas it will be gone by now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 2/7/2020 at 1:14 PM, Scotty Amen said:

The diatoms have all been wiped out by the cerinth & astraea snails I added last week, courtesy of John at Reef Cleaners.

 

Just to add interest I also threw in a Ninja Star Snail, he's pretty cool too. I got two of those, one for this tank and one for my 13.5.

Yeah ninja stars are really good algae eaters, including eating GHA... and look so cool too!

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56 minutes ago, Scotty Amen said:

Saturday, 2/8

Added two pretty zoa frags to the bottom-middle area. I have no idea what their names are.

 

Also moved the peppermint shrimp from my nano into this tank, he's got the place to himself for now. He's a proven aiptasia eater and the place I got the frags from had aiptaisa ona previous zoa frag I bought from them once, so just in case, Elvis has moved into this building. If there was any aiptasia on these zoas it will be gone by now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice zoas! And I’m impressed you were able to catch and move a shrimp!!

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