14 gallon biocube fw to sw conversion

Reef Breeders · Jan 1, 2011

I finally decided to get rid of my last fw all fish (no turtle) tank. its been without a water change for a year, and the water began to turn yellow, so I moved my fish and Im going to turn it into a home for my clownfish and invert eating hawkfish.

In the 10 gallon now

Reef Breeders · Jan 1, 2011

(continued)

The empty cube

The 137 gph pump for the filter

The hood (wtb new lunars)

New home

Custom stand

skinz78 · Jan 1, 2011

Nice!

Reef Breeders · Jan 2, 2011

Its going to be ugly for a couple of weeks. The fish need to be moved today or tommorrow, so Im gonna straighten the params then throw em in. After I add the live rock and sand, Im going to go for an all cap and mushroom tank. I might add a little frogspawn, but Im mostly going to use blues reds and golds for my color spectrum of corals.

VelasCorals · Jan 2, 2011

Looks like a great start. Not sure if the stand is done but it looks a little top heavy. From the picture it looks like after you fill that tank up with a small bump it could tip over. I would add a wood frame of 2x4 around the bottom to mimic the top of the stand.

Reef Breeders · Jan 2, 2011

Im not completely finished with the stand, but as for structure Im done. According to physics, I would need to apply at least 50 lbs of force to tip it over. Im adding the water right now, so hopefully Im right and it wont tip.

subielover · Jan 2, 2011

As said, I would beef that stand up. 50 lbs of force is nothing, if you bump into it, it is going down. Better to do it now than later.

Reef Breeders · Jan 2, 2011

All filled up. 50% display water, 50% new water. Its really a lot more stable than it looks with all of the weight pushing down.

Reef Breeders · Jan 2, 2011

Plus its in the corner next to my 45, so not too much bumping into. Ill update with water params next.

Reef Breeders · Jan 2, 2011

Alright params are as follows:
N03: 0

N02: 0

pH: 8.3

Ammonia: 0

Salinity: 1.026

All others I dont have a test kit for yet. Can I add fish immediately? This is my 2nd saltwater tank, I waited a month for my first fish.

_Alex_ · Jan 2, 2011

I would add sand first and let it settle, then add some live rock. Fish would/should be last.

Reef Breeders · Jan 2, 2011

Its going to be all fish for a while before that, and from what I hear fish dont need that kind of thing for the short term. I need these fish moved now, so no sand or lr isnt my top concern untill I start adding coral.

skinz78 · Jan 2, 2011

If it is right next to your 45g why not drill it and plumb it into the sump "if there is one" and make it all one system? It would be a lot more stable.

subielover · Jan 2, 2011

You can't add fish yet. You need biological filtration, a.k.a. live rock, or live sand, basically some kind of surface area that will support the beneficial bacteria that will break down your waste (ammonia) to nitrates. Without these, the fish will not live. If you were to add the fish now, ammonia levels would rise very quickly. Do yourself (and your fish) a favor and slow down. Get some live rock, wait out the cycle, then add the fish. If you must move them, give them to someone.

Reef Breeders · Jan 2, 2011

I have bioballs in the filter, but Ill add some mature lr to the filter.

Reef Breeders · Jan 2, 2011

I dont have a sump, I have hob filters I believe running a combined 750 gph of filtration. The biocube has a kind of sump behind the back panel. And as for ammonia buildup, I seeded the bioballs and added a pinch of algae covered sand. I only plan on three fish, non of them move too much, and they are my favorite fish, so there is no way I would donate/sell them.

The sand is on hold until I can get to petco, otherwise I would already have that and lr.

Reef Breeders · Jan 4, 2011

All right sand and lr goes in saturday, Im going to add more fish, Im growing out a leaf of green cap in my display. Ammonia is still 0ppm, I do know full well the risks of having no lr and a filter under 2 weeks old. I learned that one back in third grade when the tadpoles I was raising died, so I learned about testing the water and prepping the filter.

Reef Breeders · Jan 6, 2011

The pinch of sand I added has started a healthy algae population, which will hopefully keep the ammonia levels down. Im reading the test now, it says .5 ppm, so Ill have to lower that before adding the f. Percs.

_Alex_ · Jan 6, 2011

man i would not add anymore fish intill you get some kind of rock and live sand in there, your asking for trouble. false percs 1 or 2 will be a huge step up on the bio load without any kind of natural filtration. and adding sand with fish in it can be very stressful if the tank goes cloudy for long.