Another 29g Biocube thread.

[Trixter227]

Im going to use this mostly as a easy place to journal my progress. Well ofcorse a few pointers would be great.

I had this cube runung for about a year before and it went well for about 4 months and i got stung by what i guess was a hammer (bare hands with alotnof scrapes and cuts) and basicly got scared and dident want to sit my hand in the water. So for 7 months i just fed and turned the lights on and off. Btw i still have some of the coral and that fish that was in the tank. Yes roast me about being s poor owner i am just as disappointed as you.
But i got it restarted with live sand and dry rock. I decided to buy the intank media and fuge basket (filter floss, chemi pure elite, and purigen.) Also the Aquatic life 115 skimmer. Add to my list?

Boreeeinng i know its at day 10 i think sadly i have only been seeding with flake and frozen cyclops.

 

[Trixter227]

Actual list.

32lb of dry rock
20lbs of live sand
400gph Chinese powerhead
Intake media basket and fuge
Media: Filter floss, Purigen Chemi pure elite
Aquatic life 115 skimmer(yes with the mod)
Comeing soon: Ai Hydra 26

 

[DustyXB9Reefer]

Welcome back to reefing! I sometimes wish I had done the 29 but I like my baby tank lol.

 

[G8rNation]

steves leds are worth a look into as well if you have any interest in keeping your hood. Ive seen them in both the 29 and 14 and both looked great.

 

[DustyXB9Reefer]

Yeah they're just pricey! I've been throwing around the idea of putting a AI Prime on top of the hood.

 

[ScottMyers123]

Looking good, glad you decided to restart.

 

[Trixter227]

@DustyXB9Reefer i acualy got a nano as well a Im 10gal. That was my original plan, to go with the prime but i got a killer deal on the hydra 26 and its already comeing.

@G8rNation Yeah i was thinking about the steaves kit but agein got the hydra in transit for a good price. I've seen people modding the hood to acualy hold the hydra in it, worth a try i guess.

@ScottMyers123 Thanks i always think my rockwork is terrible haha but yeah im glad too.

 

[BlackFish]

What make n model is that skimmer? Did you have to mod the chamber to make it fit?

 

[Trixter227]

Its the Aquatic life 115 skimmer. All i had to do was cut a small slit out of the hood, mostly bc i wanted to use the hanger not the suction cups but it fits nicely in the chamber. Also this is the coralife biocube.

 

[Trixter227]

I ended up buying some bio-spara i got inpatient. Hopeduly it speeds up the process, and my ammonia has stayed in the upper 3 ppm range for 3 days. Some brown algea spots showing up though.

 

[Trixter227]

Any ideas on a cuc so i can start makeing a list?

 

[Bunnee911]

I removed my back plate and added a fan to cool the tank. Look into an auto top off. Best $100 you will ever spend.

 

[Trixter227]

I removed my back plate and added a fan to cool the tank. Look into an auto top off. Best $100 you will ever spend.

I was planning to remove the hood anyways for the hydra26. And yes i have a few pc fans laying around it gets super hot where i live.

 

[Flameback Pair]

Any ideas on a cuc so i can start makeing a list?

I would hold off on the CUC until you know how much you need. Depends on how much nuisance algae and detritus you have, feeding habits, tank bio-load, degree of nutrient export (skimming and WCs). I would wait until you actually need the CUC first and then start with 3-4 hermits and 3-4 snails and go from there.

 

[Trixter227]

I would hold off on the CUC until you know how much you need. Depends on how much nuisance algae and detritus you have, feeding habits, tank bio-load, degree of nutrient export (skimming and WCs). I would wait until you actually need the CUC first and then start with 3-4 hermits and 3-4 snails and go from there.

This is probably the best explanation i have seen about cuc in general. Hounstly its gonna be a small bioload, im more into coral then fish im thinking

1 - maroon clown (ive had for 1 year)
1 - 6 line
1 - tailspot blenny
1-2 - cardnial fish (herd they like to not be alone?)
This would be a smallish bioload correct?

Filtration is 35+lbs rock, 20 lbs sand, skimmer, filter floss, purigen, chemi pure elite, and refugium with cheeto.

 

[Trixter227]

Yay some algeaaa such fun. Sadly ammonia is still sky high i even stoped feeding it.

 

[Tateopotatoe]

Any updates?

 

[Trixter227]

Yes i acualy ment to updatee but completely forgot.

Since previous the tank filled with alot more algea and my ammonia stayed high 4ppm+
Soo i desided to try the Bio-spara "quick start" to help it out. I noticed significant drops in ammonia in about 6 hours, at the 24hr mark it was roughly 1ppm and finealy around the 48ish it was undetectable and still is. I added 4 snails sadly i cannot remeber the name (Pic below) and 3 Scarlet hermit crabs. The snails have done a excellent job as there is perl white lines across the rock work now lol. Havent added the chemipure elite or purigen just yet.

I ordered the Ai director for the hydra 26 and the hanging kit, im thinking about makeing a plexiglass lid to help with evap, but a question would that filter out some of the light? Less intense? I started running the skimmer at night not much is being pulled from it. Im thinking give it another week or 2 before i add my beloved maroon clown. I will continue to heavily feed the tank so they it may get a large bio filter...

Now i need to get so chaeto. Also these tinnnnnyy little white bristle looking stars came on the snails i could not find anything on them. Size of a dime, pen tip sized main body with 5 small bristled arms, and bleach white.

Snail trail

What kind are they btw? Started with a A i think? If i herd the name is know it

 

[Trixter227]

The stars looked like this dime sized

 

[Flameback Pair]

The snails look astrea.