Elitists biocube journal

[Elitists]

Hello all,

 

 I’ve been into saltwater nano tanks sense 2018 but due to living in a apartment I didn’t want to take the plunge. Well now I own a home and I’m very excited to start journey and document it.

 

 First I must give credit where it is due. Thank you @Jackal227for your very well documented and researched journal. It has paved the way for me. 
 

Tank: Biocube 16 gallon

 

Saltbox: Red Sea coral pro salt

 

Aquascape: 17lbs Caribsea life rock

 

Sand: Caribsea Arag-Alive Fiji 

 

Lighting: Stock

 

Powerhead: Hydros 425

 

Filtration: Intank media basket with Filter floss, Purigen and Seachem matrix. I plan to add chaeto when I add the CuC, hoping to get a stable copepod population.

 

Heater: Eheim Hagar 75 watt with ITC 308 temp controller 

Tank mods: Removed false door in chamber #1, removed tab between chamber #1 and #2

 

Planned CuC: Spoke to John at reef cleaner and was suggested 

 -10 dwarf ceriths 

 -3 nassarius vibex  

 -4 Florida ceriths

 -3 hermits 

 -3 nerites 

 

Planned fish:

 -Pair of clowns

 -1 Neon blue goby if I can create a stable copepod population 

 

Planned coral:

 -Zoa’s

 -Primarily softies

 -Hammer, Frogspawn and Torch

 

Longterm plan: I hope to use the knowledge and experience gained to set up and maintain a 80 to 100 gallon in the near future

 

[Elitists]

While I was waiting for the last few items to arrive. I decided to do a water leak test. The tank set overnight and ended up with a inch long crack on the inside towards the top, I contacted amazon and they are sending me a new tank. The kicker is that I get to keep the one I already have so I’m ending up with a extra light and pump. I will have everything by the middle of the coming week so looking like Friday I will start the cycle. 

[banasophia]

Congrats on the new tank! I still love mine after 3 years. You may want to considering a different third fish... I have a blue neon goby and love him but almost never see him as he really likes to chill in crevices in the rock. A yellow clown goby or tailspot blenny are nice options that you would see a lot more. 

[Zer0]

My vote is for tailspot blenny. Such cool fish with great personalities! Good luck on your journey!

[Elitists]

10 hours ago, banasophia said:

Congrats on the new tank! I still love mine after 3 years. You may want to considering a different third fish... I have a blue neon goby and love him but almost never see him as he really likes to chill in crevices in the rock. A yellow clown goby or tailspot blenny are nice options that you would see a lot more. 

Thank you, very excited to get it going. I’m not sure I’m sold on a 3rd fish yet. Just seen the neon gobies are known to clean tank mates and hangout on the rock as well as eat copepods. I will definitely check into those other 2 fish you recommended 

[Elitists]

@banasophia and @Jackal227 Ok so the new tank is in and I will be setting it up in the coming days. I have 2 questions one is, do I use some sort of glue to bind my aquascape or is it good to just stack. Also I’m looking into setting a fuge up and I’m liking the jbj nano glo light. Will the magnet fit properly in chamber 2? It doesn’t seem that big, I am using the intank media basket as well. What material should I use in between chamber 2&3 to prevent cheato from being sucked into the pump.

[Jackal227]

1 hour ago, Elitists said:

@banasophia and @Jackal227 Ok so the new tank is in and I will be setting it up in the coming days. I have 2 questions one is, do I use some sort of glue to bind my aquascape or is it good to just stack. Also I’m looking into setting a fuge up and I’m liking the jbj nano glo light. Will the magnet fit properly in chamber 2? It doesn’t seem that big, I am using the intank media basket as well. What material should I use in between chamber 2&3 to prevent cheato from being sucked into the pump.

If it's stable then there's nothing wrong with stacking the rocks.  Personally I've always glued mine to get the shapes that I wanted but it makes it harder to work on. 

 

I'm not familiar with the nano glo light but just check the overall dimensions and measure the chamber. 

 

I removed the coarse filter between the two chambers and I'm using a piece of sewing mesh that's shaped to fit the opening.  It worked well to keep the chaeto out.  Any sort of filter floss will work but you'll have to change it out regularly. 

[banasophia]

Agree with Jackal on the scape and I don’t have a refugium in my tanks so I’ll have to defer to him on that. 

[Elitists]

Well the cycle has started. I know the rock work is basic but it ended up being way more difficult to come up with something than I though it would be. It’s 16lbs rock, I am using dr.Tim’s as well. The salinity is 1.024, temp is 79.6

[Murphs_Reef]

Rock work is fine in my book, when it's covered in coral it will.look totally different anyway 👍🏼