Bedside Biocube tank log

[dedragon]

best to wait for ammonia and nitrite to drop to zero. If im being honest I never test nitrite even in new tanks though, youre most likely safe to add 1 fish once ammonia is zero

 

[dedragon]

ive had 2 six lines in the past and never again will i get them they nipped the fins of all my fish

 

[dvgyfresh]

Wait is this true....? Because afaik for freshwater it's pretty nasty and can kill fish decently quickly.

Ye I’m lazy to provide link , but many studies concluding nitrite is not nearly harmful as it is in fresh

 

[BelieveInBlue]

best to wait for ammonia and nitrite to drop to zero. If im being honest I never test nitrite even in new tanks though, youre most likely safe to add 1 fish once ammonia is zero

Ammonia is at zero as far as I can tell. I only have the API test kit but I compared the water from my tank to fresh saltwater I made with RO/DI water and they look identical, so I'm assuming ammonia is at zero (and probably has been for a few days now).

ive had 2 six lines in the past and never again will i get them they nipped the fins of all my fish

Yea That's what I've heard too; will def try for a pink-streak wrasse if I end up needing/deciding to add one.

Ye I’m lazy to provide link , but many studies concluding nitrite is not nearly harmful as it is in fresh

Found a couple articles and a bunch of forum discussions. Seems like the tank's ready for livestock... But just in case I'm going to give it until tomorrow morning and then do another round of tests and maybe a water change if I need to.

 

[BelieveInBlue]

So parameters look good. Ammonia 0, nitrites 0.2, nitrates 5, pH 8.2, kH 9.6, Mg 1480, Ca 490. Time to head to the LFS for some CUC, a couple fish, and a few pieces of cheap beginner corals to test the tank with.

Live footage of me heading to the LFS:

PS: I hate the API ammonia kits for saltwater. Results look slightly green even when I tested it with freshly made salt water...

 

[dedragon]

u shudnt have to test ammonia very soon so dont worry. salifert, red sea pro, and hanna checkers are great test kits for other parameters. Also I would stick with buying 2 very small clownfish for at least the first week. You dont want to overload the tank too quickly

 

[dedragon]

maybe 1 small frag of zoa or mushroom to test but again go slow

 

[CavalierReef]

Yeah you got a really nice tank. I was just telling the OP to consider upgrading the power compacts to LED sometime in the future. Eight months to a year is a nice reference.


Color fading is just visual but trust me you want your corals colors to pop. Some corals really need higher par to thrive, try to stay away from them until you upgrade your lights. Do your research before you buy anything.

I too have a 32 Biocube with similar stocking as you plan. At the 9 months mark all euphillia, a pipe organ and even a bird's nest at the top of the tank are doing well. Take your time and have fun. Note to TheRealAFISHionado; modern 32 Biocubes already have LEDs

 

[TheRealAFISHionado]

I too have a 32 Biocube with similar stocking as you plan. At the 9 months mark all euphillia, a pipe organ and even a bird's nest at the top of the tank are doing well. Take your time and have fun. Note to TheRealAFISHionado; modern 32 Biocubes already have LEDs

You are right CavalierReef... I was looking at my 29 with power compacts when I made the comment.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Great start, looking good.

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Quick update. Film algae and diatoms have come in. I've refrained from cleaning the glass for now to let the snails eat their fill. Growth seems to have slowed down as well. Probably because there are zero nitrates and zero phosphates. I've upped my feedings to try and get a little them both up a bit, but it just refuses to go. Hopefully that changes soon because I'm terrified of dinos.

Water parameters as of this afternoon:
Mg 1620
Ca 530
kH 8.8
nitrates 0
phosphates 0
pH 8.0
salinity 1.026
temperature 77.4F

Current stock list:
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 blood red fire shrimp
1 left handed hermit
1 scarlet hermit
4 red leg hermits
4 tiny blue leg hermits
3 astrea snails
4 banded trochus snails
6 cerith snails
2 nassarius snails
2 turbo snails

2 clownfish (1 orange, 1 black)
1 banggai cardinalfish

3 hammer corals
1 frogspawn
1 favia
1 favites
1 acan lord
1 candy cane - currently in the process of splitting a new head
4 small zoa colonies

I didn't really intend on getting that many corals, but I found an amazing deal on craigslist and my local hobbyist forums that I just couldn't pass up (also I apparently have no self control). Everything appears to be doing well so far, but I think I'm done buying more corals for the time being (although if somebody else offers me a 5 head hammer frag for $60 I won't say no).

Current plans for the next couple of weeks:
- couple more fish, depending on availability: firefish goby, royal gramma, springer damsel?
- more shrimp? Funnily enough I've never been into freshwater shrimp tanks. I think it's because saltwater shrimp are more like individual pets. Thinking of adding another skunk cleaner, since apparently they're hermaphroditic and form mated pairs. Also thinking of getting a banded coral shrimp. I hear these guys can be kinda mean? Will have to do more research. Apparently the yellow banded variety is a different species and not as aggressive as the normal ones so that's probably what I'll go with if I can find one.

And lastly heres a picture of the tank. I swear I'll clean the glass someday soon(tm).

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Good news everyone! I'm starting to see coralline algae growth! Unfortunately, it's on the front glass, which means it has to go Hopefully the rest of the tank starts to get encrusted soon. Also, one of the candy cane's heads is starting to split. I'm thinking once it's fully split that should be a good time to add more LPS. I'm thinking a piece of duncan and maybe a torch or frogspawn if I can find a good deal on one.

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Update!

Did a water change earlier today and cleaned the front panels. Scraping off coralline algae physically hurts me, but I see a couple spots on the side and back walls so I'm not setting back growth by a ton.

The fish are doing well. I adjusted the powerheads a bit as the flow was too unidirectional and some of the corals weren't reacting well to it. They're much happier now with one small exception, but I'm sure a couple minor adjustments and things will be perfect.

The purple hammer is growing a new head in the back, and the large head on the candy cane looks like it's close to splitting. I'm thinking once that head finishes splitting I'll add some more LPS, and maybe another zoa colony? Also looking into maybe a GSP wall? I hear they can be a nightmare to remove though so perhaps not.

The rasta zoas still refuse to come out. I'm probably going to move them again next week, although I'm debating if I should just take it back to the lfs or something? The other zoas are doing well; the watermelons are multiplying decently well and I'm hoping they'll hop off the frag and onto the surrounding rocks soon.

I placed an order for a royal gramma, another cleaner shrimp and another fire shrimp, which should arrive Thursday or Friday. I'm also on the lookout for a springer's damsel, although maybe a yellowtail or azure would do? I chose springer's specifically because I hear it's the least aggressive damsel. I hear the other Chrysiptera species are all fairly docile for a damsel.

 

[BelieveInBlue]

R2R wouldn't let me upload the full vid for some reason so I had to cut it down. Water's also clearing up nicely. Carbon definitely seems to help. I think once this bucket is empty I'll swap from IO Reef Crystals to something else, probably Tropic Marin?

 

[BelieveInBlue]

well the supplier never shipped the gramma or shrimp so I'll have to wait a bit (LFS says couple weeks) for them. They did get in some springeri damsels though so I picked one of those up, plus a duncan and a porcelain crab.

I read that they don't actually need anemones, and it was only 20 dollars so I figured it was worth a shot. I feed reef roids 3-4 times a week for the corals, and I figure that should be plenty for the crab too?

Damsel's been in the tank for a couple days and is already eating frozen mysis and flake food so that's a good sign.

I love that the duncan looks like a little anemone. One of the heads is massive; here's to hoping the other 5 heads also get that large.

 

[count krunk]

uploading to youtube then linking or embedding in your post is the best way for videos on this forum. Pictures show up larger if you copy/pasta the img code from a host site like imgur as well.

 

[BelieveInBlue]

uploading to youtube then linking or embedding in your post is the best way for videos on this forum. Pictures show up larger if you copy/pasta the img code from a host site like imgur as well.

Is there no way to put the video right into the comment like with pictures?

 

[count krunk]

I'm not sure honestly. I know you can embed with YouTube

 

[BelieveInBlue]

Well let's try. I've spent too long lurking on youtube to break my streak now.

Picked up another blood red fire shrimp and another skunk cleaner today. Skunk cleaner is an absolute unit, but they're all getting along thus far. The two cleaners are hanging out together, but the blood reds are still under different overhangs. No signs of aggression yet at all so here's to hoping it stays that way.

Did a water change today too after adding the shrimp. Rastas weren't doing well even though it's been a month, and I couldn't figure out why (nothing came out of a dip with CoralRX, other zoas and corals doing well, parameters tested fine), so I decided to cut my losses and threw them out in case whatever was wrong with them spread to the other zoa colonies.

The dang clowns won't stop bothering the purple hammer, though it seems like the hammer is starting to Stockholm Syndrome itself into accepting the clowns. As long as they don't hurt the polyps, do whatever I guess. Silly butt fish...

Also decided to glue the duncans to their permanent spot. I love how much duncan corals look like little anemones. One of the polyps is also pretty large. Hopefully the clowns decide to leave the hammer alone and try to host in the duncan instead?

Also FTS:

 

[BelieveInBlue]

I assume this is a good sign, but out of curiosity, does this happen to anyone else? Everyone shrimp and most of the hermits I buy molt within 48 hours of being added to the tank. In fact, all 4 shrimp have molted overnight after being introduced, causing me to wake up to a nice heart attack as my foggy morning brain confuses the molted skin for a dead shrimp.