Aaron G's Biocube 29

[Aaron Gustafson]

Recent FTS. Still working on the left hand side, but it's close to done.

 

[sirreal]

Really nice 29 cube. i have one but not running now. I ran one for 4 years and loved it. The question about the tunze 9002 yes it will fit fine but you need the upgrade cup. The stock cup wont fit. I ran the tunze and media basket in the middle chamber but wanted to use the middle chamber for fuge. Never did. I have an 8g bio now and love it but miss my 29. such a simple setup that works so well. I could grow anything in mine

 

[sirreal]

Oh and I just wanted to add. Watch your xenias. That was the downfall of my 29. They started dropping babys everywhere. Some will say if you keep them on an island they will be fine but I did that and pieces would drop and get behind the rock work and all the sudden I had it everywhere

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Yeah, I run a refugium in compartment 2.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Oh and I just wanted to add. Watch your xenias. That was the downfall of my 29. They started dropping babys everywhere. Some will say if you keep them on an island they will be fine but I did that and pieces would drop and get behind the rock work and all the sudden I had it everywhere

I am pretty good about trimming them. I have had several "bushes" in the last year and I clean out areas now and then. Right now I have them pretty isolated and I have a pretty decent technique for getting them off the rock when they do crop up.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

I have made a few new additions and have redecorated a bit.

These palys were sold as Blue Agaves but I don’t think that’s right. The zoas underneath I don’t have a name for, but when I got them they were tiny. They have gotten about 2x as big now and are finally spreading. Below is my pink rock flower nem and to the right is our sun coral. Green blastomussa in the background along with some Scarface Zoas, Daisy Polyps, and Oxides. At the left edge is some tubipora musica.

New Rainbow Acan Lord with teal, purple, gold & orange. Gorgeous!

I swapped the location of the sun coral and the Dragon Soul Favia and he seems much happier now. He’s now tucked up against the Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoas and the Devil’s Armor Palys. Purple Hornet Zoas and Green Button Polyps are in the background:

My Forest Fire Montipora Digitata is continuing to grow and spike. I love this piece. Check out those polyps!

I have trimmed these Oxide Zoas significantly at least 3-4 times now. They grow like gang-busters in my tank. I am hopeful the Emerald on Fire Zoas I put in the middle will be able to catch up at some point. And that’s a Superman Blastomussa (blastomussa merletti) on the right.

 

[Scubafrog]

Great looking cube. I just filled up a 29G Biocube Labor Day weekend. This will be my first SW tank and love the inspiration and ideas that your tank gives.

What type and quantity of snails do you have? I noticed quite a few in the Acan picture. I purchased a small package of ceriths, nassarius, and nerites from reefcleaners.org as I didn't want them to starve as all I have so far is diatoms in my 1 1/2 week old tank.

Thanks for all the great pictures.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

I don't know about quantities, but I have a lot of stuff from reefcleaners. I like the dwarf cerinths, zigzag periwinkles, and dwarf planaxis. I also have a few bumblebee snails and a wide variety of nassarius and turbos.

Then there's the hermits: a bunch of blue legs and a single red.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Oh and I have a variety if nerites.

 

[Scubafrog]

Thanks. I received my snails yesterday and am very happy so far. I just bought a 20G package from reefcleaners to start.

Can't decide on if I'll add hermits or not. Definitely would like to get a cleaner shrimp.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Beware the banded coral shrimp. They're jerks.

 

[newatsalt]

Great tank. Love the variety. Was wondering what kind of lighting are you running?
Thanks

 

[homegrowncoral88]

Those oxide zoas are doing amazing. Great looking polyp extension on the digi as well.

 

[newatsalt]

Thank you for your detailed response. Very informative. Was curious on your feeding regimen for your corals. What is your technique? Your coral looks very vibrant.

 

[Scubafrog]

All my Nerite snails huddle up in the upper left hand corner of my tank and hang out in the third chamber (pump/sterilizer). Is this normal? One of the Nerites even escaped through the electrical cord opening.

I really like the Nassarius and the Dwarf Cerith snails.

 

[Step Johns]

Greating looking tank. I also have a biocube 29 so this is some great inspiration to try and make mine look even half as nice as yours. What sort of tank maintaince do you do on it? Such as water changes or dosing?

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Thank you for your detailed response. Very informative. Was curious on your feeding regimen for your corals. What is your technique? Your coral looks very vibrant.

Sure thing.

I feed 2-3 times a week. We have a Mandarin Dragonette, so I usually supplement the live pods with Nutrimar Ova and bottled pods. I target feed the blastomussa, sun coral, and leptastrea too. I will occasionally target the SPS and others with Coral Accel.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

All my Nerite snails huddle up in the upper left hand corner of my tank and hang out in the third chamber (pump/sterilizer). Is this normal? One of the Nerites even escaped through the electrical cord opening.

My Florida Nerites seem to escape more. The grouping is common. Just throw them back in when they get out.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Greating looking tank. I also have a biocube 29 so this is some great inspiration to try and make mine look even half as nice as yours. What sort of tank maintaince do you do on it? Such as water changes or dosing?

I do a 10 gallon water change about every 2 weeks with Reef Crystals and once a month I take everything out of the back and scrub it down with a toothbrush before vacuuming. I rarely vacuum the display area, but I have a pretty deep sandbed.

I dose for alkalinity and occasionally pH, but that’s about it.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Here are my Red People Eaters above a hitchhiker LPS of some sort: