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When I was younger I wanted to be a marine biologist. My father used to take me snorkeling when we lived in the Caribbean and I remember seeing all these coral fans and fish and just loved it all. I felt alive in the ocean. As a teenager, I always wanted a fish tank and never got around to it, as a young adult I traveled too much. Now that I'm finally settled in life, I am excited to start on this journey with my first saltwater tank. I am writing this to not only ensure I do not repeat past mistakes but also can help others on this journey, happy to share my experience so you can take what you need from it. I started on October 28, 2023. Cycled the tank with pre-packaged saltwater, treated rock, and live sandbed along with a quickstart kit my LFS provided. Tankaray cycled over three weeks and I then ran off to the LFS to get my first habitants. 3 weeks after cycling on Nov 17, 2023 we added: 1x Ocelaris Clownfish - Allin 1x Cleaner Shrimp - Pepe 3x Snails (do not remember the types) 2x blue leg hermit crabs All along I was testing weekly with a RedSea Marine Pro test kit for all the parameters. I couldn't quite figure out the alkalinity one so I just skipped it but did focus on the core of Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and PH. During November I also watched a ton of videos and read Facebook group posts and forums to decide what to do with the sump. Filtration In the first chamber, I removed the stock filter and placed my heater, I'm not going to share what it is because I do not know the name of it. It's cheap, and honestly, I'm stuck with this for now until it breaks. It is bulky and the temp setting doesn't really work so I'm always messing with it to ensure the tank is at 78 degrees. I would recommend the cobalt nano heater, I have one of those and use it to heat the water for the water changes. I will throw that one in my tank once the one that is there dies. In the second chamber, I have added the InTank media holder for the Biocube. I got this because I wanted to ensure that water was going through the media. For media, I have: Filter Floss - At the very top above the media basket Filter Floss - First Section AquaChar - Second Section Aquarium Biofilter Media Spheres - Third Section In the third chamber, I have the stock pump and left the sponge at the bottom between the second and third chambers. I have read some people removed this and added other media filters, which I may do later in the year when I decided to clean out the pump. By the beginning of December, I started doing a few new things: Started mixing my saltwater using Coral Pro Sea Salt Mix Testing for phosphate, alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium using the RedSea Coral Pro test kit Given things were stable through November and December I got a little too impatient and went all in on adding another fish, coral, and an anemone. I did this all within a week! Big mistake. On the week of Jan 7th, I added more rock to the back of the tank to create hiding space for any new fish I purchase but I also added... 1x - Yellow Watcham Gobi from my LFS 1x - WWC Midnight Daisy Polyp 1x - WWC Rainbow Bubble Tip Anemone 1x - WWC Muy Verde Birds Nest I am pretty sure anyone who has experience with a saltwater tank will be tearing me apart with these additions. My first mistake was the gobi. The gobi passed away just a few days later, he was stressed by the clownfish and the hermit crabs, and he could not find a safe space at all in the tank. So I'm sure he passed from stress. My second mistake was the Birds Nest, I read that this was a beginner SPS and saw many others who had success with it. However, my tank is not well established and honestly, I should stick to LPS and Softies with a Biocube lighting. Third, my lighting schedule was horrible, I was not running the daylights at all, so that was probably what took out my bird's nest, whereas I thought it was the parameters that were very good. RIP Houdini. During this time I also purchased a wavemaker to ensure that there was enough flow in the tank. On the positive side, the BTA is doing GREAT! He found a spot immediately when I put him in, moved over slightly just once, and has not moved since. He inflates and deflates like they all do and seems to be in good health, is not bleaching, etc. I was worried about this as after I purchased him I heard that I should wait for 6 months before getting one. Time will tell but so far so good. Jan 13, 2023 Yesterday, I visited my LFS and discussed the gobi and bird nest, where they agreed with my assumptions regarding my mistakes. They recommended that I go ahead with more softies and SPS at this time, and they ran a water test there as well, which oddly enough were all extremely different parameters than my testing. I think I'll just stop taking water in for testing and keep testing with RedSea as I'm comfortable with how to do that and the numbers are fairly consistent. So, with the green light, I went ahead and added two more corals yesterday! Jan 20, 2024 additions: 1x Jelly Bean Hammer Coral Frag 1x Pink Goniopora Coral Frag 1x Conch 2x Turbo Snails So I'm all caught up with updates. I am slowly trying to get my lights up to 8 hours of daylight, right now I believe I'm running 6 hours of daylight and have good growth showing up on my polyps. I don't want to overdo the daylight as I do not like how the tank looks in those lights at all. Mainly as I can see a ton of algae! Maybe this is just the "ugly phase"?! I never got the really bad ugly phase but again tank is barely three months old so it should show up soon. Oh yeah one more thing, I threw bottles of copepod into this tank about two times. It's been two weeks since we did it before and typically I throw it in, then do not see them at all a couple of days later. Yesterday, we saw a bunch just show up out of nowhere. So that's exciting. I hope they clean up the algae in the tank. Here it is today, under white lights. The dots are the copepods and air bubbles. You can see that the rock has algae all over it but the substrate is not bad. I plan to update this journal every two weeks with progress pictures and any updates. If you have questions feel free to ask, I just ask that you be kind as I'm learning, I know I am doing things wrong so no need to be critical about things. Thanks!
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Hi everyone, thanks for visiting my journal. 🙂 I got started in the hobby to take my mind off of work stress back in February 2018, and set up my Biocube 16 on 3/3. I was immediately hooked and started my second tank, my IM Nuvo 10, on 6/16. I really appreciate all of the knowledge and support I’ve found here. This hobby, and the community, got me through a tough time in my life, so thank you for that! I’ve learned so much in the past few months, and I’ve enjoyed the beauty and wonder in everyone’s tanks. 💛 Recent full tank shots: Biocube 16 (stock LED lights), February 28, 2019 Daylights Beauty Lights Blues Nuvo 10 (AI Prime) Favorite Pics: Biocube 16, Taken 4/23/19 Biocube 16, Taken 5/17/19 Current Biocube 16 Setup, as of 1/26/2019: Light Schedule, Stock LED Lights: LC1 11 am - 9:00 pm LC2 10 am - 9:30 pm LC3 6 am - 12:30 am Chamber 1: Coralife skimmer, temp probe, false floor still intact, tab between chamber1 & 2 still intact (I recommend keeping the tab intact as it supports the Coralife skimmer if you ever want to use one) Chamber 2: Stock media rack, filter floss, Chemipure Elite (for up to 25 gallon), 2 sacks of matrix media Chamber 3: Cobalt Neotherm 50W heater, Chill Solutions chiller pump and hoses, Purigen (for up to 100 gallon) which is sitting in the spot where the small black sponge filter was (if you take out the sponge, save it in case you want it in the future) Original Journal Pics, from August 2018: Equipment Ideas for Beginners: When I first set up my tank, it was difficult to figure out what I really needed to run my tank, so I thought I would post my suggestions here to give people a nice starting point and maybe help you avoid the trial and error process I went through. The 101 Best Nano-Reef Species: How to Choose & Keep Hardy, Brilliant, Fascinating Species Perfect for Small Aquariums (Adventurous Aquarist Guide) https://amzn.to/3HqIf7O Nano-Reef Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Reef Systems Under 15 Gallons https://amzn.to/3X53gKQ Python Pro-Clean Aquarium Gravel Washer and Siphon Kit, Small https://amzn.to/3xwYRq3 Python Squeeze Siphon Starter Aquarium Adapter https://amzn.to/3EjdpNy Milwaukee MA887 Digital Salinity Refractometer with Automatic Temperature Compensation, Yellow LED, 0 to 50 PSU, +/-2 PSU Accuracy, 1 PSU Resolution https://amzn.to/3kbfZhU Coral feeder SPS HPS feeder, short version for marine fish and reef coral aquarium CFT-1 https://amzn.to/3Iy8WJA TAMSCO Hemostat Rochester Pean Forceps Curved 12-Inch, Extra Long Clamp Curved, Surgical Stainless Steel, 12-Inch, Curved Tip Style, Locking Ratchet ** Work great for removing Xenia and Kenya Tree babies if they are spreading where you don’t want them… the brand I use is out of stock, these look similar, and the set includes a straight and curved instrument.** https://amzn.to/41bDXKr BinaryABC Aquarium Tweezer 48cm Length Straight Type Stainless Steel Water Plant Tool ** I use these almost every day... they are currently out of stock, these look similar.** https://amzn.to/3EincDH Transfer Pipette, 3.0ml Graduated, 5.0ml Capacity, Large Bulb, 155mm, Karter Scientific 206H3 (Pack of 100) https://amzn.to/3xApOci Instant Ocean BIO-Spira Water Treatment for Aquariums https://amzn.to/3kdptZZ Caribsea Life Rock , 20-Pound ** I was able to get individual pieces from my LFS at the time I started my tanks, but if I couldn’t I would order either regular or shapes. ** https://amzn.to/3SaKeC1 Cobalt Aquatics Flat Neo-Therm Heater with Adjustable Thermostat (Fully-Submersible, Shatterproof Design) from 25W to 300W ** I use the 50W** https://amzn.to/3XG9fX6 Jebao OW-10 Wavemaker 132-1057 GPH with Controller and Magnet Mount https://amzn.to/3ICgVVK hygger Mini Wave Maker Magnetic DC Powerhead with LED Display Controller for Saltwater Tank, 1600 GPH Aquarium Water Circulation Pump 5 to 30 Gallon https://amzn.to/3ICgVVK Rubbermaid FG296400ROYBL Roughneck Square Bucket, 12-Quart, Blue ** I use these two gallon buckets (two of them) for my waste water during water changes. (Five gallons a bit too heavy for me to carry/lift.)** https://amzn.to/3EjBPXw 2 Gallon Plastic F-Style Jugs With 63mm Caps, Pack of 4 ** I use these two gallon jugs for getting premixed water from my LFS, or for transferring water from my mixing bucket to my tanks if I’m mixing at home. Clean with vinegar then water before first use! (Five gallons a bit too heavy for me to carry/lift.)** https://amzn.to/3KkF7gW Aquarium Filter Pad - Premium True Dual Density 12" by 72" by 3/4 to 1" Aquarium Filter Media Roll for Crystal Clear Water https://amzn.to/3XG9Nw8 Seachem Purigen Ultimate Filtration 100 ml. Bag Aquarium Fish Tank Filter Media https://amzn.to/3IxUKQK Boyd Enterprises ABE16742 Chemipure Elite for Aquarium, 6.5-Ounce https://amzn.to/3KikQZe Seachem Matrix Bio Media 1 Liter https://amzn.to/3XEtK6l Seachem The Bag Filter Media Bag ** For the matrix media.** https://amzn.to/3YIRyYe Flipper Nano Magnet Cleaner, 1/4 Inch ** For the Biocube walls, I use the Flipper Nano. For the Biocube corners, I use the Two Little Fishes Nano-Mag.** https://amzn.to/3lLWygb Two Little Fishies ATLNM1 Nanomag Window Clean Device ** For the Biocube walls, I use the Flipper Nano. For the Biocube corners, I use the Two Little Fishes Nano-Mag.** ** For the Nuvo 10, I use the Two Little Fishes Nano-Mag daily, and I use the Segarty long handled scraper to clean more thoroughly during weekly water changes (and use the handle to stir the sandbed).** https://amzn.to/3xxvinY HOTOOLME Aquarium Scraper, 25.6” Stainless Steel Scraper Cleaning Razor with 10 Blades for Glass Aquarium Fish Tank ** For the Nuvo 10, I use the Two Little Fishes Nano-Mag daily, and I use the Segarty long handled scraper to clean more thoroughly during weekly water changes (and use the handle to stir the sandbed).** https://amzn.to/3KfYp72 Tripp Lite 7 Outlet (6 Individually Controlled) Surge Protector Power Strip, 6ft Cord, Black, Lifetime Limited Warranty & $25K Insurance (TLP76MSGB) https://amzn.to/3I5tRC4 Tower Manufacturing 30440003 Auto-Reset 15 AMP Grounded 3-Prong GFCI 5-Outlet Adapter, White https://amzn.to/3lLDkau AutoAqua Smart ATO Micro Automatic Top Off System (SATO-120P) ** For the Nuvo 10, I use this ATO. My Biocube doesn’t get any significant evaporation, so it doesn’t need one.** https://amzn.to/3XGaQMA Polyp Lab Coral View Lens (Original Version) ** I prefer the original version.** https://amzn.to/418iVMH
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Tank Specs Display: Coralife BioCube 16 LED, 15" L x 16.75" W x 17.5" H Stand: None Rock: Dry rock from local fish store Sand: Bought with the tank not sure Lighting: Stock Biocube LED & x2 12” 453 nm Actinic Blue ReefBar Heater: Eheim Jager 100 Watt Circulation: Maxi Jet 900 pump Skimmer: None Filtration: Octoaquatics media basket and Intank Media basket water director Filter Media: In the top section of the media basket, I have a biomax media. The second section has little Seachem Purigen and another bag of biomax media, and the lowest/bottom section has Chemipure Elite. Top Off: None Light Schedule: LC1 (Daylights):11:00-21:00 | LC2 (Sunrise / Sunset):10:00-21:30 | LC3 (Moon Lights): 6:00-24:00 Maintenance & Feeding I feed once a day (flake and frozen) and I do a 2.5g water change every 2 weeks Livestock 2 Ocellaris clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) Firefish Goby (Nemateleotris Magnifica) Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) 2 Peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) Coral banded shrimp (Stenopus hispidus) Pom Pom Crab (Lybia edmondsoni) Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab (Paguristes cadenati) 5 Blue-Legged Hermit Crab (Clibanarius tricolor) 2 Nassarius Snail (Nassarius) Coral Pink Kenya Tree (Capnella) Green Kenya Tree (Capnella) Birds nest (Seriatopora hystrix) Pulsing Xenia (Heteroxenia fuscescens) Povona Diffluens Green Sinularia Green Star Polyps (Pachyclavularia violacea) Devils Hand (Lobophytum pauciflorum) Toad Stool (Sarcophyton glaucum) Candy Cane (Caulastrea furcata) Hammer (Euphyilla Parancora) Green Fuzzy Mushroom (Rhodactis howesi) Leopard Mushroom (Discosoma neglecta) Purple Mushroom (Actinodiscus nummiformis) Blue Mushroom (Actinodiscus coerulea) Red Mushroom (Actinodiscus cardinalis) History 08/1/2023 05/1/2023 02/1/2023 01/1/2023 12/1/2022 11/1/2022 10/1/2022 09/1/2022
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After about 6 months without a box of ocean in my life, I'm back in the hobby. We moved in October 2021 and at the time, I was on tank burnout. I felt overwhelmed and had lost the love. The only problem was that reefing in my small town was almost non-existent and those who were in the hobby didn't have the $$ to take my whole setup. Thankfully, a reefing friend said that he'd keep my tank happy and healthy until I was able to sell it or decided to pick it up. Fast forward to about a month ago when I finally had an interested buyer for my 40 breeder. Here's a pic 👇🏼 I kept having second thoughts about selling but I knew that the buyer had a lot of experience and a thriving reef at home. Now on to the reason for this thread!! Little reminders of the hobby were popping up all over my social media and I realized a couple weeks ago that I needed this hobby in my life. Facebook Marketplace found me a great deal on a Coralife Biocube 16 LED and I jumped at the chance. My plan is to keep it simple. Right now, the only upgrade has been a Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5 in the return chamber. I haven't decided on what to do for the middle chamber, maybe a mini refugium? LFS water and rock has been in the tank since April 22nd. I will be continuing to use their water for my weekly water change as they use Fritz Pro (blue box) and it was very successful with my last tank. Also, I didn't want to get another RO/DI unit and make water because that is where my burnout started. My aquascape is a work in progress but is really growing on me. The rock is live and was cured and cycled by my LFS. I'll be going bare bottom for this build because I hated the sand in my last tank. April 22nd: Last week, I added a Hygger wave maker to give a bit more flow and I'm pretty impressed with this little thing. On May 1st I added a Tail Spot Blenny, one of my most favorite nano fish, and an acan frag. Here's the TSB in his hidey hole. The acan was more pink and peach at the LFS but it has a golden look to it in the white light and a reddish look under the blue spectrum. Thanks for checking out my new thread ☺️ Happy reefing🏼✌️
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Hello nano-reef friends! I wanted to write up an intro post and get into the community. I've been lurkin' for a few weeks now and thought it was time to start partaking in the discussion. 🙂 For a quick intro, I've been keeping freshwater tanks on and off for about 10 years now. I was always intimidated by the saltwater side of the hobby because of the startup/ongoing costs and perceived "complicated-ness" of it. I always thought that for a successful reef tank you need a really big aquarium (like, 100+ gallons) with a sump and multiple other products that I'd never even heard of when setting up my freshwater tanks. But then I found this forum and was totally inspired and given hope by the countless beautiful and flourishing AIO tanks that you guys have shared! I loved the idea of having one tank with a section in the back (or side, for peninsula styles!) as a place to keep everything you need. Turns out you don't actually NEED a protein skimmer, reactors, and a separate sump! Anyway, now that I'm a few weeks into my research phase, I've learned a TON and have come to a few decisions about what I'd like for my first little reef: 1. I know I want to have a system with softies and LPS corals. Some that I've really been drawn to are zoas, acans, and gorgonians. I only want non-aggressive species because I hate the idea of my corals hurting each other! 2. I want an AIO system that isn't too big, to make maintenance/water changes as simple as possible (for some reason the idea of making my own saltwater is super intimidating!). The two I have my eye on and am still having trouble deciding between are the Fluval Evo 13.5 gallon and the Biocube 16 gallon. I want something that comes with a lid/lighting built in to reduce evaporation and keep costs down on needing to buy separate LEDs. 3. I really like macroalgae - probably from the fact that all my freshwater tanks are planted and the aquascaping is my favourite part of them. Not sure if I'll include any in my first reef tank, but I'll probably want some down the line for their beautiful colours and added benefits for water quality. 4. I want to keep the filtration as natural as possible (spent a lot of time on Algae Barn's website/blog). I'd prefer to rely more on a refugium instead of a host of chemical media. 5. I freaking love tailspot blennies. Anyway - that's probably enough rambling for now (thank you for reading this far!). Would appreciate thoughts/advice on deciding between the Evo and the Biocube, or any other general advice for a newbie reefer. 🙂
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Well, I feel as if I'm a bit lost while finally starting up my tank. I started it up around 5 months ago, and by this time people usually have coral's and such in their tanks. I had trouble though because as I went forward I found myself having heat issues, so I replaced the stock hood with a AI Prime. It seems to work for the heat and now I have the ability to grow more corals. Along with this, I had to upgrade the tank quite a bit and upgrading this tank was quite costly for me (I'm 14, so other than a monthly allowance, money is hard to come by). I was interested in the hobby since I was 10, and so I had to save up years worth of Christmas money for this! Finally starting this up for me was a dream of mine, and I hope to some day make a living of off this, though its probably unlikely. Anyways, I've been having some mixed issues with how my tank currently looks. I'm on forums quite a bit so I feel as if I have the basics of this hobby down, but when I look at my tank as it is today, I feel like somethings wrong. I currently have it stocked with three trochus snails about four days ago and that's about all. Any advice on what to do next? I still need to upgrade the stock pump but I don't know what to upgrade it with. I'm also confused if the algae growing in my tank are diatoms or hair algae. My current test levels are: pH: 8.0ppm Nitrate: 0ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Ammonia 1.0ppm (Tested today, after finding out I did a 30% water change) Salinity: 1.025ppm Currently, all I'm looking for are tips and information for moving forward. Like, what should I stock my tank with? I've been looking at a pair of Masked Gobies, a Firefish, or a Court Jester Goby. Or types of coral I should look into. So if you have any Ideas as of what that algae could be, or what I could stock my tank with, I would greatly appreciate it.
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Help! I set up my 16-gallon Biocube yesterday and something is wrong with the pump that came with it. I currently have live rock, sand, a fluval fan, and saltwater in the tank. In the back I have media, a heater, and the pump the tank came with. I was expecting a hum noise from the pump but it is very loud. To the point we have to raise our voices to talk if we’re in the same room as the tank. It sounds like a very loud buzzing noise coming from the pump. I’ve tried moving it in the chamber and playing with the suction cups on the bottom of it and the noise still persists. Any advice on what to do or other pumps to try?
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Hello! I recently decided to start my very first saltwater tank. Growing up I had a few freshwater tanks, but they were your “average joe let’s go to PetsMart and get a tank” tank. I grew up on the water and have always had a deep love for the ocean. So much so that I have it tattoo’d on my entire left arm 🤗. Since I’ve never cared for a saltwater mini ecosystem before! I dove into the internet and a few few books to learn as much as I can. It is through that process that I found this site and learned the most. I realized that experience is the best way to learn, but maybe my experience with this can help someone else kickstart their adventure. I ended up going with the BioCube 16 because I love the all in one package and the programmable lights. I would’ve preferred the 32, but weight restrictions with my stand kept me at 16......for now. 😬 Tank:. Biocube 16 gallon Saltwater: Bought from LFS Aquascape: About 5 lbs live rock and 10 lbs dry rock from LFS Sand: 16 lbs Nature’s Ocean Bio-Activ Aragonite Live Sand (about 1 inch deep) Lighting:. Stock LED's Powerhead: Hydor Koralia 425 and Hydor Koralia 240 w/ wavemaker (alternate every 15 min) Heater: Hygger Titanium 50 W w/ Thermometer Biological Filtration: Live Rock (added Dr. Tim’s Nitrifying Bacteria) Chemical Filtration: Activated charcoal, 6 tsp Purigen, 1/3 cup PhosGuard, Chaeto Mechanical Filtration: Duel Density Filter Pad Tank Modifiations: Removed the false bottom in chamber #1 to allow space for the heater; extra biomedia in chamber 1 for QT/hospital tank P.S. I love hearing other people’s opinions and suggestions! Please comment all you want!!! Edited: 3/2/2021 Livestock: Royal Gramma (8/19/19-7/24/2020) 2x Clownfish (9/16/19) 1x Blood Fire Shrimp Corals: Duncan 1x Green/Purple Hammer 1x Toxic Green Hammer 2x Ricordea Florida (orange and green) Ultra Orange Rhodactis Mushroom Blastomussa merletti (I believe, could be wellsi) Green star polyp Frogspawn Candy Cane Plating red Montipora Solid pink Scoly Meteor Shower Cyphastrea JF Burning Banana Stylocoeniella Encrusting white/green Montipora Neon Green Cabbage Leather Rainbow Trachyphyllia Day 3 FTS Year 1 FTS
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Intro Hey everyone, I've done freshwater tanks for the past few years but this is my first foray into saltwater. My fiancée's father has a 120g that piqued my interest and the ongoing pandemic convinced me to pull the trigger on a new project. After considering my options, I went with the Biocube 16g for a few reasons: 1) I like the dimensions and I want to use the additional vertical space compared to other nano tanks; 2) I plan to use the stock LEDs and it seems the consensus on the forums is the presence of the hood minimizes evap so I don't need an ATO system, both of which helped me keep the cost of the tank down, and 3) it was slightly bigger than other nano options and I felt that would expand my livestock options. Just got everything set up and took a quick picture, planning to start cycling very soon. Specs Tank: Biocube 16 gallon Salt Mix: Fritz Reef Pro Mix Sand: Caribsea Aragamax Select Lighting: Stock LED hood Powerhead: Jebao OW-10 Wave Maker When I first put this into the tank it was definitely running louder than expected. I took it out, disassembled it, and just put it back together to see if that would help align things. Worth it, put it back it and it's been super quiet. Now I just have to get the right angle/power combo so it's not pushing the sand out of the corners! Heater: BRS 100w heater (chamber 1) Biological Filtration: ~1/2 liter Seachem Matrix (chamber 3) Chemical Filtration: Chemipure Blue (chamber 2) Mechanical Filtration: Poly Filter (chamber 2) Tank Modifications: removed false bottom in chamber 1; expanded chamber 1 overflow cutout I struggled with removing the false bottom, my recommendation would be to hook something like big curved scaping tweezers in the gap by the back-right corner; you can pop it out with some upward force, then pull it out with the tweezers. I first tried pulling the rails out, which not only did not release the false bottom but also scattered bits of plastic in the bottom of chamber 1, which I then had to pick out of the sand once I started filling the tank. Do not recommend. I also struggled to expand the overflow cutout without demolishing the whole thing. I ended up using wirecutters to make a vertical cut along the side, then a second horizontal cut toward the bottom to cleanly cut the piece off. While this worked better than I expected (after a few attempts), make sure your circulation isn't running when you do this, as I had the plastic go into the second chamber. Luckily it just landed on my filter floss so it was easy to remove. Livestock 2x Ocellaris Clowns (added 05/30/20) 1x Yellow Watchman Goby (added 9/19/20) 1x Pistol Shrimp (added 9/19/20) 1x Emerald Crab (added 3/04/21) Assorted snails (trochus, nassarius, bumblebee) Future Plans 1x Firefish Coral Hammer (added 06/13/20) Zoas (added 07/03/20) Red-Blue Acan (added 07/07/20) Blue Ricordea (added 08/20) Leng Sy Montipora Cap (added 09/16/20) Nirvana Zoas (added 09/16/20) Mandarin Orange Cloves (added 09/16/20) Future Plans Expand the zoa garden Fill out the underside of the right-hand overhang with low-light corals; suggestions? Photos January 2021 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 May 2020
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this thread will follow set up and progression of my mixed reef tank... or at least my attempt at it. this tank sits on our kitchen counter which is why I chose an all in one. Even then there is a tangle of wires and hoses. But it’s discrete enough and my 2 little girls love it so far. 2 months in after initial set up. -upgraded to maxi jet 900 to increase flow -removed coralife UV sterilizer as it might have been inhibiting flow - reduced feeding to every other day - added chaeto to chamber 1 with basic white led desk light lying around house. - running 1 fresh bag of carbon and 2 bags of ceramic rings in stock sump rack chamber 2 -Kamoer ATO one -12 lbs Marco reef saver dry rock -1 or 2 inches live sand Inhabitants: -false percola clown fish - blue neon cleaner goby - high fin red banded goby - tiger pistol shrimp coral: red chalice frag favia frag florida ricordia. currently battling ugly algae tank phase. 😱
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Hello everybody, I’m looking for help/advice in setting up a brand new nano reef tank. So I allowed my daughter to bring some hermit crabs home from Florida and turns out they were marine thin stripe crabs. After much groaning, I find a Fluval 13.5 online and it arrives broken. I’ve already had these crabs is a makeshift container for over a week so I bought a Coralife BioCube 16 from a local fish store at a great price. I set up the cube last night with Arag-Alive Bahama sand and Imagitarium Pacific Ocean water and set the crabs inside. This morning the water has cleared up and I have some CaribSea life rock coming today. The heater is working well and has the water at 80 degrees. I tested the water and got the following with my API master saltwater kit. PH: 7.9 Amonia: .25-.50 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 0 Is this normal? Do I need to add any of these additives I see? Thanks in advance. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
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Hi! So I’m rather new to this and just setup our new nano reef - we are on week four (one week post cycle). Majority of the rock was added upon setup - and a few recently from the same LFS. IVE My question is, does it seem painted? I’m not as concerned about the calcareous algae as I am about it leeching into the water? The live rock tank it came from had some fish, and the rock is still covered in small sponges/live feather worms, as well as a 2 inch brittle star we found, but if I break it open it appears smooth and white. Is this still functional for beneficial bacteria? I’ve included some pics, any advice is appreciated!
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Just making an area to put pictures of my tank as I slowly explore into the hobby. Tank was setup May 4th, 2020. 15.2 pounds of carib sea live rock.
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Hi everyone, New to the hobby and just setup my biocube 16 earlier this week. Used the natures ocean live sand and got 15lbs of cured live rock from my LFS. My tank is currently cycling. I got a 480 GPH powerhead from a friend and installed that yesterday. I had to reposition it numerous times due to it pushing my sand around but, finally found a spot that it does not disturb anything. I do plan on getting corals at some point. Along with the return pump would this be too much flow for my tank? I also feel like I have a lot of live rock in my tank. I can access the sides and back with my gravel vacuum. Does my live rock setup look okay for when I get coral? I'm particularly worried about being able to get anything on the top piece of live rock or is that enough room? Any opinions are appreciated because I am overthinking this 😂 thank you for your time!
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Hello all! Thanks for readimg, I just have a quick question. I plan on filling my biocube 16 tonight and I'm not sure what filtration to run through the cycle. I initially planned on doing filter floss on top, and maybe the matrix media for the cycle? I also have pyrogen and carbon but not sure if it should be added right away during cycle. Also, can someone tell me how the mechanical filtration goes on top? Stupid noob question lol but not sure if it goes on top of this top part, or directly under it? And finally, I removed the sponge in between chamber 2 and 3 and am planning on running some carbon there. Thanks in advance!
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Biocube 16 LED Thread Specs: Biocube 16 LED ~16 lbs Aragalive Fiji Pink Sand (slightly rinsed with saltwater) ~14 lbs BRS Dry Reef Saver rock (used epoxy and coat hanger to stack) Koralia Nano 425gph (replaced) Aqamai KPS Cobalt 75W Neotherm Heater (back chamber 1 false bottom removed) Cycle between, Purigen, Chemi-pure blue, and Chemi-pure Elite Livestock Clownfish x2 Hermits x 3 Turban Snail x 2 Certith Snail x 1 Duncan Coral Torch coral Ricordea x 4 Toadstool Leather Hammer Coral Acan Green Star Polyp Fire Shrimp Maintenance: I do a ~5gal water change every ~2 weeks
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A beautiful feather duster with an amazing bluish base and a brownish orange tips. -
I started my BioCube on February 26, 2018. Although I have had numerous saltwater tanks, this is my first attempt at a reef tank. In the first chamber, I have a Cobalt Neo-Therm and a sack Boyd's Chemi-Pure Elite. The second chamber has an InTank media basket, replacing the bio-balls with MarinePure Media Spheres. The third chamber houses a Cobalt Aquatics MJ Pump. To increase circulation I uses a Hydor Korailia Evolution Nano 240. Finally, on November 24, 2018, I removed the hood and added a Kessil A160WE Tuna Blue. My BioCube is still a work in progress. I am very much open to any and all suggestions.
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These guys put up such a lovely show when feeding. I was lucky to get this shot :-) -
I tried to search for this but kept getting error messages!? I have the retrofit kit plus M for my Biocube 16. I finally got it 90% installed (long frustrating story). What levels/percentages should I start out at? The videos are little help? In the controller setup video it show picking "Nanobox Reef" and then the model. When I go through the steps the controller I can pick the Manufacturer, but no the model? I chose the "Mixed Reef" settings, as i have a mixture. But I can't imagine the percentages should be the same for all tanks??? I'm happy with the look of the lighting, just want the settings to be whats best for my corals. Thank you in advance!
