29g BioCube

Lazydayz · Sep 9, 2019

I have not started seeding yet but will probably in the next month or so. I just added a bunch of rubble rock into the second chamber for the pods to populate in. I have been reading a lot about it, and it seems to be about 80% effective so fingers crossed!

Rjramos · Sep 9, 2019

Jenksreef said:
can you send the link to your build thread so I can check it. I'm sure others would appreciate it also!! Thanks!
[/QUOTE

Jenksreef said:
can you send the link to your build thread so I can check it. I'm sure others would appreciate it also!! Thanks!

AIO Build - Rjramos 29 gal biocube

Here it is, for the Nano in 90 Build! This beautiful tank was won by me and my kids at reefapalooza in Orlando, compliments of Reef2Reef! Thank you Revtree, Revgirl, and all sponsors! We had a great time!!!

www.reef2reef.com

Here it is!
When you hit build contributor on my name it doesn’t show 29 biocube, it shows twin 60’s. I have 3 threads on members tanks, all still running.

Jenksreef · Sep 12, 2019

For those out there, I am curious about adding to my clean up crew. Right now I have 2 emerald crabs and 2 snails. I do water changes on Fridays and by the time its ready for a water change some of the rocks are beginning to show cyano and some diatoms in the sand. I am more concerned with the rocks because brushing the rocks with a scrub is not as simple as cleaning the sand with a siphon. Therefore, what is the best thing to add and how much, considering the tank is a little over a month established?

Rjramos · Sep 12, 2019

Jenksreef said:
For those out there, I am curious about adding to my clean up crew. Right now I have 2 emerald crabs and 2 snails. I do water changes on Fridays and by the time its ready for a water change some of the rocks are beginning to show cyano and some diatoms in the sand. I am more concerned with the rocks because brushing the rocks with a scrub is not as simple as cleaning the sand with a siphon. Therefore, what is the best thing to add and how much, considering the tank is a little over a month established?

Consider blue leg hermit crabs. They are abundant and cheap here in Florida. Also add more snails astreas also from Florida are inexpensive. Your light being constant intensity does not help since you can’t reduce intensity. I found those power compacts built into the hood with 2 fans heated my tank up over 82, hence why I got rid of them and retrograded with LED while leaving the hood stock fans in place. Eventually, you will want corals, and not algae.

Jenksreef · Sep 15, 2019

Yesterday, Saturday September 14, 2019 I picked up a pistol shrimp and two more snails. Right now I only want a Yellow watchman goby and a fire shrimp then I'll be completely stocked until I start thinking about corals. First, I'll need to get a auto-top off before I begin introducing Corals in the tank. Right now I've looked at Tunze Osmolator Nano and a regular Tunze Osmolator. Based on reviews and comments about the product, it seems like the regular version is more reliable than the nano version. A comment or reply with nano auto-top offs would be appreciated. Here are some pics of the tank and a video of the pistol shrimp creating his territory.

Rjramos · Sep 15, 2019

This is the nano version installed in third pump chamber. It hasn’t failed with just float function. The dual security of the other one which I have on another set up is good to have.

This one is slightly larger but it will also fit in chamber 3. The only thing to make sure of with either one, is that the hose is out of the water if there is a power outage or when you turn off the pump to do maintenance. It happened to me during maintenance and spilled a bunch of water siphoning back to the container below. Ruined the driver for the lights in the cabinet.

Rjramos · Sep 15, 2019

Rjramos said:
Consider blue leg hermit crabs. They are abundant and cheap here in Florida. Also add more snails astreas also from Florida are inexpensive. Your light being constant intensity does not help since you can’t reduce intensity. I found those power compacts built into the hood with 2 fans heated my tank up over 82, hence why I got rid of them and retrograded with LED while leaving the hood stock fans in place. Eventually, you will want corals, and not algae.

Jenksreef · Sep 20, 2019

Back again with a little update here. For starters, anemones are some weird creatures. I have been feeding mine a little piece of krill about every other day. Well, I noticed the anemone was nowhere to be found, I didn't know what happened. I looked for him in his spot and he was tucked away. He looked like this:

I was super upset to see him looking like this. I took him out of the tank to get a better look and he was secreting something from his mouth. I removed whatever it was that was there. About an hour or two later he opened up a little more and looked like this:

In the picture above you can see some white stuff in the middle. That stuff is excess krill from a couple days ago. After moving him to a different part of the tank and thinking he was going to die. I realized I was overreacting. I did some research and I honestly think he was just expelling himself from all that was inside him. A couple days later he returned to what he used to look like. A picture of him now:

During his episode I moved him to a different location in the tank. Probably not my best idea as I'm sure he was still getting acclimated but it was an impulse move. Everybody else in the tank seems to be doing awesome. The Clowns have yet to swim in the anemone so I an beginning to doubt they ever will. Either way, they are amazing to look at. The Cardinals are doing fantastic, they eat like crazy and are always excited when I approach the tank. The Pistol Shrimp is simply amazing. Every morning when the lights flick back on he has begun excavating a new part of the tank. In addition to the cave he has already created for himself. He also pops his claw every now and then and its really cool to hear it. There has been a little cyano on the rockwork. I bought two snails this past weekend and they did a great job cleaning the big rock in the middle throughout the week. Depending on how this next week goes with cyano and my CUC, I might purchase two more snails, we will see. Here are some pics to enjoy. Feel free to comment on anything you'd like to question or protest. I don't bite.

Rjramos · Sep 20, 2019

Are you running wavemakers on low? On my 29 1 wavemaker is more than enough at full power. I had initially ran the circulation with the coral life pump that comes with the tank and upped it to a Maxi Jet 1200( 295 gph)

Jenksreef · Sep 21, 2019

Rjramos said:
Are you running wavemakers on low? On my 29 1 wavemaker is more than enough at full power. I had initially ran the circulation with the coral life pump that comes with the tank and upped it to a Maxi Jet 1200( 295 gph)

I have two Koralia Nano 425's. Only one runs at a time and every 15 mins they switch via Hydor smartwave technology. Based on the flow of the anemone and the way the fish swim I think there is plenty of flow throughout the tank. As far as the sump pump goes, I have the factory model and I'm not sure how much flow it creates. I agree that only one wavemaker is needed for a tank this size, I had never alternated between two wavemakers before so I figured why not try it.

Jenksreef · Sep 29, 2019

Checking in here. The first death of the tank has occurred. It is my belief that one of the emerald crabs ventured into unwanted territory and the pistol shrimp killed him. I have witnessed the pistol shrimp snapping at anything that gets close to his cave. He began establishing ground near the anemone and consequently, started snapping at the anemone. I moved the anemone to higher ground. I also purchased two more snails and a lawnmower blenny. The snails I have are doing a great job, it was my judgement that they could use some help so I bought a couple more. I never intended on putting a blenny in the tank but when i went to the LFS they had one and the more I looked at it the easier it was to convince myself to buy it. I have had one in the past and I forgot how lively they are. They are real characters in the tank and I recommend them to everyone. All other aspects of the tank are doing well, the fish look excellent and are acting like they enjoy their space. I am still waiting on a fire shrimp and yellow watchman goby. Hopefully they will arrive at the LFS soon. Here are some pictures for those interested:

Rjramos · Sep 29, 2019

Looking great !

Jenksreef · Oct 25, 2019

Okay, so I know its been a while and I apologize for the late update. The last update was about a month ago, since that update I have accomplished a number of different changes to the tank. Some good, some I'm currently indifferent about. To begin, I purchased a six line wrasse. Yes I am aware that it may not get along with the blenny, fortunately, they have been nothing but supportive of each other as of now. I also purchased a new light. I bought a Kessil a80. I've always envied Kessil's products so I figured I try one. The shimmer is no joke, I also bought a controller and the sunrise and sunset controllability is awesome. I removed the hood from the tank for the light and evaporation rates have changed dramatically. My main question with the Kessil a80 is, will it be enough light for soft and LPS corals? Should I get another a80 or a160? The last and final thing I've done is purchase a fire shrimp, a little bit of macro algae, and a toadstool leather coral. I am also dosing iodine supplements to the tank daily now. The approximate dosage is .7 ml per day. This averages out to about 5 ml per week which is what my LFS guy recommended. Any comments or concerns with iodine dosing are welcome. Other than that I think that's about it. Here are some pictures to wrap up.