Chris and Amy's BioCube 32 Build

[Copingwithpods]

Looks like you are on your way. Having recently addressed the temperature issues in my biocube 29 I know how easily heated and easily cooled these tanks can be.

Quick question about the clowns freaking out, was the incoming water temperature matched?

 

[ChrisKSB]

Looks like you are on your way. Having recently addressed the temperature issues in my biocube 29 I know how easily heated and easily cooled these tanks can be.

Quick question about the clowns freaking out, was the incoming water temperature matched?

It was not! Rookie mistake...I was thinking that might be what freaked her out so bad! That wont happen again...

 

[Copingwithpods]

It was not! Rookie mistake...I was thinking that might be what freaked her out so bad! That wont happen again...

That's most likely what did it, I know if I don't heat my incoming water Temps hover in the mid 60s which adding that straight into the display is a huge shock.

No harm done though, these are the perfect times to make these mistakes, better now then a year down the road when the tank is chalk full of corals

Edit: I'll share my cautionary tale about when even best practices fail.

I usually do 5 gallon water changes, plug a heater and powerhead into a powerstrip to mix and heat new water and walk away. My heater (Cobalt neotherm) has blinking lights that shut off when the desired temperature is reached. One day I plugged both in and walked away, when I came back the heaters lights were off so I assumed(don't do that) water was ready and carried out my water change. Instantly fish freaked out and all corals retracted and showed signs of serious stress. When through an emergency checklist testing Salinity and Alkalinity. Temperature never occurred to me as I trust my heater and it would have done its job if I would have checked that the outlet I plugged it into was switched on in the first place. I thought I was doing everything right but Murphys law finds a way. I now double check temperature with a digital thermometer.

 

[ChrisKSB]

OK...I know everybody on the board is just waiting for another update on my build! I am not one to disappoint!

I turned the temp down a notch...wanted to shoot for just a bit cooler....

My Sicce Syncra "Silent" 1.5 came in today - still not silent but a bit better than the stock pump! Going to wrap in the oxo silicone tomorrow and will report back!

CUC, Fred and Wilma (the clowns) all seem really happy. Getting some green and orange/brown algae on glass and around the tank.

Date	Temp	Salinity	PH	Ammonia	Nitrite	Nitrate
03/06/2020	79.5	1.026	8.2	0 PPM	0 PPM	10 PPM

Ordering the Salifert test kits for Phosphate, Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium tomorrow...will start monitoring all of that as well now.

Anyone actually here....reading this? Think I'll order a Royal Gramma and a Yellow Watchmen Goby next week....thoughts for or against at this point???? I have no LFS, so gonna give liveaquaria a shot on this.

My refugium light from InTank and my MP10 should show up soon...just need to source some Chaeto! Seems out of stock everywhere?

Next purchase - backup heater!

 

[Copingwithpods]

All is looking good, just make sure that goby can't jump out. If you run no lid it might not be today or tomorrow or a few weeks from now but believe me it will jump. Not because of a problem with your tank but because these fish are used to deep water and will dart upwards. In 40 feet of water darting up 4 feet makes no difference but in our very shallow tanks it means the launch themselves across the room.

Atleast I'm watching and reading intently. Having just set up a 29 I'm always curious as to what others do with their biocubes.

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

Looks like your on the right track. There are a lot of challenges in these all in one biocubes but they can be great tanks it just takes time. You will have to upgrade the light if you wanna see any real coral growth. I have a royal gramma in my biocube it’s a great fish.

 

[ChrisKSB]

Levels are all still exactly the same - Nitrate wont seem to go down past the 10 its stuck at.

I received my Salifert phpophate test kit today - measured at 0 - not sure that can be correct. I have a lot of algae on rocks/sand/glass...

Made some changes -

Added the MP10WQD and put it in Lagoon Random mode -

I put my empty InTank fuge basket in the first slot and the filter media basket in the second slot in back.
In the fuge basket I hung a 200 micron filter sock, really hoping to filter out all these floating particles!!!
The media basket still has the Purigen and the ChemiPure Elite in it...

Any comments/thoughts...words of wisdom....criticisms?

 

[Copingwithpods]

Tank looks good, nice aquascape

 

[ChrisKSB]

UPDATE

Added a Royal Gramma, Yellow Watchmen Goby and two Nassarius Snails today -


Heres the YMG - It was really pale whiteish when arrived, but starting to color up a bit now. I need to work on better pictures in the future.

Wasnt sure if this snail was dead, hasn't moved an inch. There is an antenna poking out now - maybe there is hope! The other snail quickly ran off and buried itself!

 

[PacoPetty]

Levels are all still exactly the same - Nitrate wont seem to go down past the 10 its stuck at.

I received my Salifert phpophate test kit today - measured at 0 - not sure that can be correct. I have a lot of algae on rocks/sand/glass...

Made some changes -

Added the MP10WQD and put it in Lagoon Random mode -

I put my empty InTank fuge basket in the first slot and the filter media basket in the second slot in back.
In the fuge basket I hung a 200 micron filter sock, really hoping to filter out all these floating particles!!!
The media basket still has the Purigen and the ChemiPure Elite in it...

Any comments/thoughts...words of wisdom....criticisms?

I have the InTank media basket with Filter floss on the first shelf, marine pure gems in media bags on the second and third shelf, and a bag of Chemi-pure elite on the bottom shelf. Next, I have the InTank fuge basket with Chaeto and a grow light on a twelve hour schedule opposite the DT light schedule. In the return chamber I upgraded the pump to a Sicce Syncra 2.0 with two random flow generators. I also added a Hydor 750/850 gph powerhead because I felt like I needed more flow in the back of the tank. If you flip-flop your media basket and your fuge basket you will be able to do away with that filter sock by replacing it with a square of filter floss which you can easily replace every three or four days or as needed. My tank is much more stable since I added the fuge basket with Chaeto and grow light. I do an 8 gallon weekly water change and all of my parameters are good.

 

[ChrisKSB]

I've switched the baskets back around...that filter sock idea didn't pan out!

I've heard thru the grapevine that algaebarn will have chaeto in stock Friday...Got everything ready for it, hoping to buy!!!

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

I've switched the baskets back around...that filter sock idea didn't pan out!

I've heard thru the grapevine that algaebarn will have chaeto in stock Friday...Got everything ready for it, hoping to buy!!!

Don’t chase the numbers too much. Nitrates at 10ppm is just fine, plenty of reefers keep theirs between 10 and 20. Mine hangs around 5 to 10

 

[PacoPetty]

Don’t chase the numbers too much. Nitrates at 10ppm is just fine, plenty of reefers keep theirs between 10 and 20. Mine hangs around 5 to 10

+1 It’s really hard not to chase numbers so don’t get caught up in that.

 

[ChrisKSB]

Just did my first test with the new kits -

I'm in no rush, but would you introduce anemones, softies or corals etc at this point?

 

[ChrisKSB]

Well...in the last 9 months or so, it was a battle of GHA! In the past 3 months or so, I just gave up the fight and let it take over the tank!
My clowns LOVED it...I hated it. It got to the point where I didn't even want to clean the glass.

Still doing regularish water changes (every 2-3 weeks)... Pulling clumps of GHA off rocks and out of sand each time.

With the tank coming up on its first birthday, I'm recharged and ready to battle! Did a DEEP clean over the past two days! Pulled every bit of GHA I could get and scrubbed all the rocks with a toothbrush. For the FIRST time, I vacuumed the sand/gravel (that was dirty!!).

Tested Phosphate and Nitrate just now. Nitrate shows 0 and Phosphate is at .54.
I just added a new bag of Purigen and a bag of ChemiPure Elite in the back.

Question, should I see if the DEEP clean and the new ChemiPure bring down the Phosphate? Would you just go ahead and start adding something like Phosguard or something?

I think I can sit here and actually see the GHA growing back!

 

[BaysEndReef]

Keep up the fight. I know it can get discouraging at times. Once you get nitrates and phosphates back under control, maybe add to the CUC? More snails and crabs? Maybe a lawnmower blenny? What do you use for top-off water? RODI?

 

[ChrisKSB]

I wish I had a LFS...but gonna order some more snails/crabs from LiveAquaria! Shipping is sooo expensive for such a small priced item...oh well.

I use distilled water, purchased from local Water Store. I live in a small Mobile Home and don't have room to setup an RODI system. You think I should do a Phosphate test on the distilled water?

I'll keep up the fight, thanks for the reply!

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

Treat it with reef flux (flucanozole) and then add 3 to 5 emerald crabs. Your battle with all algae will end at that point

 

[ChrisKSB]

Figured out that I was testing wrong with my new Hanna Phosphate checker! I'm now getting a reading of .04PPM, which seems like a good place to be.

GHA still grows back the day after I toothbrush all the rocks...will just keep up with the water changes/deep cleans etc.

 

[hllb]

Figured out that I was testing wrong with my new Hanna Phosphate checker! I'm now getting a reading of .04PPM, which seems like a good place to be.

GHA still grows back the day after I toothbrush all the rocks...will just keep up with the water changes/deep cleans etc.

Good luck. It's been a LONG battle for me, about 14 months now, and I finally feel like I've got it under control. I still get some, but less and less comes back from my manual removal.