Super Grover's BioCube 14

[jgaepi]

BioCube 14 started August 3, 2014.

Before set up, converted stock lights to Steve's LED 10k retrofit kit with Typhoon Controller. Soon after replaced with a Radion XR30. So glad I did.

At set up:
- 6 pounds Miracle Mud
- 15 pounds Arag Alive basic sand
- 13 pounds Fiji Live Rock
- 10 gallons of actual water
- Eheim Jager 50w heater

Week 2 added:
- Converted stock return pump to Maxi Jet 900
- Installed JBJ 1/15hp Chiller w/ installation kit
- Added Koralia 240 circulation pump

Week 3 added:
- Tunze Nano ATO controller & pump
- InTank media basket with (top) floss, (middle) Purigen, and (bottom) Blue Life Clear FX Pro

Week 4 added:
- ReefCleaners basic clean up crew
- Added Second Koralia 240
- Added Hydor Wavemaker

Week 5 added:
- 2 juvenile black clownfish

Week 6 subtracted/added:
- Subtracted both Koralia 240 pumps
- Subtracted Hydor Wavemaker
- Added Vortex MP10w ES pump
- Added Neptune Systems Apex Controller

Week 7 added:
- Small Emerald Crab to deal with algae outbreak

Week 8:
- Swaped out the Ikea cabinet for a TechCraft cabinet. Mostly real wood. Already scratched the top dragging the BioCube across but patched it back to 95%. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BWTS22/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Week 9:
- Added a Trachy, a Fungia and an ORA Mint Povona from UniqueCorals.

Week 12:
- Added a Blue Hammer and an Orange Hammer from my LFS.

 

Week 13:

- Added a Light Purple Symphyllia, "Beautiful" Blastomussa, Jedi Mind Trick Monti & a bunch of Zoas.

 

Livestock:
- Pair of Juvenile Black & White Clownfish
- Emerald Crab
- Electric Blue Hermit Crab
- Red Hermit Crab
- ReefCleaners Snail CUC

Corals:
- Assortment of Zoas
- ReefGen Zoa Tree
- Superman Paly
- Pink Zipper Paly
- Sunny D Paly
- Blue Agave Paly
- Ultra Orange Yuma
- Mixed Color Ultra Yuma
- Frogspawn
- Glowing Blastomussa
- Bubble Mushroom
- Watermelon Discosoma Mushroom rock
- Cespitularia Sp.
- Mixed Color Acan Lord
- Rainbow Acan Lord
- Super Orange Leptoseris
- Papaya Cloves
- Glowing Tumpet Coral
- "Malibu" Favia
- Purple & Green Fungia
- Blue Trachy
- ORA Mint Povona
- Blue Hammer
- Orange Hammer

- Light Purple Symphyllia

- "Beautiful" Blastomussa

- Jed Mind Trick Monti

Maintenance Regime:
- Replace floss every Sunday
- 30 percent water change every Sunday
- Use Nanomag to clean walls as needed

FTS 10/18/14

[DVaDeR77]

Let's see some pics.

[jgaepi]

Let's see some pics.

 

While I definitely need some practice taking photos of an aquarium, I added my first shot. My clean up crew is working on that brown algae, along the baseline glass, as we speak. I ordered a Radion today to replace my hood so hopefully that will allow me more control of light settings and will open up the top. I am interested to see how it looks when it is installed.

[jgaepi]

Early reflections of my tank:

- With the BioCube 14, it is easy to see why people upgrade so fast.

- Smaller back compartments = Tougher to get things done and move things around

- Quick and early modifications = $$$ adds up quickly

 

I know a lot of people started with photos and descriptions from Day 1. With my future tank, I will try to do that. My earliest issues with my BC14 was it got hot so quick. Even with the LED mod. Less water heats up quickly. A chiller was the solution but it came at a cost. I wonder if a 50g tank would have less of an issue?

 

My wife and kids are already commenting on "what do you mean we can only have 2-3 fish in the tank?" But then mention of a larger tank so soon is a non-starter subject.

 

Over the next few weeks, I will try to discuss my reasons for adding and then subtracting different equipment. Maybe it will be an asset for those trying to maximize their BioCubes.

 

Lastly, I am a little luckier in that I have a little bit of discretionary money although I have a hunch that will disappear quickly.

[jgaepi]

I have been trying to get a picture of my new emerald crab over the past few days. He finally came out to munch on some algae. I am building up to taking photos with a macro lens but in the meantime, I was happy to finally snap a picture of the little bugger.

 

[jgaepi]

Note to self - ensuring return pump is on is critical ...

 

Accidentally changed a setting in Apex and realized that my return pump was off for nearly 24 hours. This didn't allow the chiller to work so temps rose to 80 degrees and now I have an algae outbreak. Looks like dust all over my sand so I assume diatoms. I had just overcome hair algae so I figured I was in good shape.

 

Assuming my tactical cuc squad will knock it out.

[jgaepi]

On the bright side of the day after the pump issue is at least I came home to find my new Radion. Part of my build out for tank 2 but I will break it in over the BioCube.

[AbeHeinkel]

Looks amazing man. Definitely gonna follow along this thread and watch it mature.

[jgaepi]

For starters I need a new FTS will do that tonight!

 

So in the last two weeks I have added a Blue Trachy, a Purple & Green Fungia, and an ORA Mint Povona all from Unique Corals. Another fantastic order!

 

 

I also continued to be nervous about my Ikea cabinet. When the kids even looked at the tank, the cabinet swayed. So I purchased a (mostly wood) cabinet from TechCraft. Very nice. Very sturdy. Highly Recommended. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BWTS22/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

 

Based on this new cabinet, I finally pulled the switch and ordered a 29x18x12 custom low iron tank from PicO. I am also in the process of ordering a BAO cube sump. I had ordered a Reef Octopus Mini 80 sump but it was 1" too long for the new cabinet. The BAO sump is obviously more expensive but will fit perfectly and can be customized a little. http://buildinganobsession.com/cube-sump/

 

I will need more rock and unsure if I should pre-cure more live rock or go dry rock from a place like ReefCleaners?

 

It will take approximately 10 weeks to receive the PicO tank so I will take any and all suggestions for planning and executing the switch over.

[jgaepi]

I just placed me order from John of ReefCleaners for 30p of dry rock for Tank 2. I currently have 14p of LR in the BioCube and will want about 40p in the 28g PicO custom.

 

Anyone have suggestions about using some Purple Up in a paint bucket w/ a heater and a small pump? Or should I just keep it dry until the tank comes?

[jgaepi]

Topic of the day is what should I use to bond my dry rock together in advance with? And then yesterday's topic of coloring up the rock in a a paint bucket for a few weeks before it will go in my tank?

 

Sometimes I worry that I am just talking to myself out here.

[ClaireRenee]

Hi, I am a total noob, but I can help with the material to use for joining dry rock... I used JB WaterWeld from Home Depot, this is a plumber's epoxy. Fluval makes a similar product as do a few other aquarium companies. I haven't used the fluvial brand yet, but looks very similar. I will post a picture of the packaging.

 

These products are a two part putty epoxy. In order to use them you cut a small chunk off of the roll and massage the two parts together. It will then harden in 3-10 minutes depending on the product. The thing to remember is that this is not a glue... it will not "stick" two pieces together, it should be thought of more as a product that creates a hard collar around the joint between two rocks. While doing my rock-scape, I mixed small lumps of putty and pressed them one by one around the joint, covering both above and below the joint. If you have medical or accident experience, think of it as making a little cast, you want to stabilize both above and below the "break."

 

I don't know if this makes any sense, feel free to tell me if it doesn't and I will try again.

 

i

[Sk8n Reefer]

The new tank sounds fun- what are you planning for lighting?

[jgaepi]

Hi, I am a total noob, but I can help with the material to use for joining dry rock... I used JB WaterWeld from Home Depot, this is a plumber's epoxy. Fluval makes a similar product as do a few other aquarium companies. I haven't used the fluvial brand yet, but looks very similar. I will post a picture of the packaging.

 

These products are a two part putty epoxy. In order to use them you cut a small chunk off of the roll and massage the two parts together. It will then harden in 3-10 minutes depending on the product. The thing to remember is that this is not a glue... it will not "stick" two pieces together, it should be thought of more as a product that creates a hard collar around the joint between two rocks. While doing my rock-scape, I mixed small lumps of putty and pressed them one by one around the joint, covering both above and below the joint. If you have medical or accident experience, think of it as making a little cast, you want to stabilize both above and below the "break."

 

I don't know if this makes any sense, feel free to tell me if it doesn't and I will try again.

 

i

I was thinking of combining locite w this epoxy. Although I am constantly surprised how expensive locite is.

 

The new tank sounds fun- what are you planning for lighting?

I ordered a Radion because of the limitations of my steves leds. I will try to use it at 10% over the BioCube until I get the new tank up and running.

[ClaireRenee]

I was thinking of combining locite w this epoxy. Although I am constantly surprised how expensive locite is.

 

If you are working with dry rock, there is no reason to use the loctite with it... when your rock or frags are in the water, it sometimes becomes necessary to use the gel super glue, but when it is dry you should be able to use only the plumbers epoxy.

 

 

good luck

[jgaepi]

Radion RMS mount finally comes today. Silly that the Radion box has been sitting collecting dust for nearly 3 weeks while waiting on the mount. The mount is the only way I can use it in my house. Should be exciting to see it up and running.

 

I did open the box finally last night to at least inspect it. I was caught off guard a little by the power supply. I wasn't expecting that and frankly I didn't plan for it within my cabinet. Anyone has creative ways to hide the power supply?

[jgaepi]

I got the Radion up and running last night. The Radions definitely did not "attach" the way the Apex directions explained but they appear to be working. I will take a pix later.

 

I had to gerryrig the RMS mount onto the BioCube because the BC rim is different. But it appears to be working ... Hopefully I won't get any cracks or anything.

[jgaepi]

Managed to get home right at the end of Sunset mode and took a moonlight picture. Seems to have worked properly through the day. Tank already appears cooler and chiller ran less cycles today.

 

[jgaepi]

I used aptasia-x for the first time today on two aptasia hitchhikers. Worked well (thus far). Blew em up. Hopefully no resurrection on their part.

[jgaepi]

Went to my LFS today to buy a coralline rock to help purple up the new base rock for Tank #2. He had in a bunch of new hammer corals. Couldn't resist. I bought a Blue Hammer (double head) and an Orange Hammer (single head). I bought putty and a small rock and very inartistically affixed the hammers onto each side of the rock. Looks kinda silly but it is holding in place. I figure I can put a zoa frag or two on the rock and help fill it in.

 

The hammers can be seen near the top of my tank. Blue is on the left and Orange is on the right. Rock is triangular shape and fits nicely behind the back of my rock structure so only really the hammers can be seen.

 

[jgaepi]

Daily reflection: my ATO bucket smells like pond water. I only use RO/DI water so I assume that is natural. Considering placing a small Eheim 300 pump in the bucket just for circulation.

[jgaepi]

So I got a little carried away with UniqueCorals 3-day special. Now I need to create a DIY frag rack. It is hard to swallow to think the cost of the new corals. But the stuff will be the bomb. And will look great in Tank 2. I just need to keep it all alive until then ...

[jgaepi]

New thread profile picture

[jgaepi]

Received two packages today. Unique Corals (right) and Coral Gardens (left). As usual, UC corals were packed like Fort Knox. Very impressed with CG frag packs as well. Well sealed. Healthy. Zoas have already opened up.

 

[jgaepi]

And here are the items from Unique Corals. Light Purple Symphyllia, this thing is beautiful. And the "Beautiful" Blastomussa. Blasto photo doesn't do it justice.