Cycling a new Biocube 32

[brandon429]

I hope that video sets your reefing perspective permanently. That Sir is a bare fishbowl, just under ten years running, with some of the most high end sps we keep in reefing. no filters, no plumbing, a fishbowl reef with corals sitting in it and just bubbling for thousands of days

The reason thats a heck of a framing agent is because it shows how true basics run the most delicate corals on the planet. not the most $$ array of gear, but simple water changes, no dosing, always high quality feeding, can run a small reef forever. thats my friend Maritza's 8 yr pico fishbowl. they're not buying up every doser and param test on the market, the system isn't really tested for anything since regular water changes just work. thats a neat way to start reefing; hands on, working it like a garden with in/out water changes and simple high quality feed.

moving up from there is all the fancy additions, designed to reduce water change work. They're not required to reef, though

i guarantee you that many multi thousand dollar reefs cannot grow all those corals; straying away from the basics too far also wont work we can see in post numbers.

But anyone who sets up a pico reef and runs it like we do-success in just the basics. your reef will work for years on just weekly water change of some degree and light feeding, its nice to know you dont have to go all $$$ at the very start to keep the exact same corals they do.

 

[Katrina71]

Another newly question. What should my filtration media be? I have filter floss but would like to know what to add to the other two chambers? I want to make a fuge later on with an intank media basket but I’m starting out small.

I really like the 5.5 oz bag of chemipure blue. Be sure to tie it into a shelf of the Intank media basket.

 

[Katrina71]

First thing on the agenda, upgrade to the sicce syncra 1.5 pump.

 

[Daniel266jz]

UPDATE-
Did my water change yesterday and here are my parameters. Please let me know if i am able to add my clownfish today. I only have filter floss and my temperature is at 79 degrees (tested with two thermometers). I have my light schedule set but have not turned them on.

Alkalinity- 11dKH
Nitrate- 5ppm( see comment on nitrite below)
Calcium- 460-470ppm
pH- 7.8-8.0 fluctuations
Nitrite- 15ppm(this went down but nitrates are also low, will this cause a spike in nitrates and will that hurt my fish?)
Ammonia- 0ppm( this was after dosing 2ppm the night before)

 

[Daniel266jz]

UPDATE-
Did my water change yesterday and here are my parameters. Please let me know if i am able to add my clownfish today. I only have filter floss and my temperature is at 79 degrees (tested with two thermometers). I have my light schedule set but have not turned them on.

Alkalinity- 11dKH
Nitrate- 5ppm( see comment on nitrite below)
Calcium- 460-470ppm
pH- 7.8-8.0 fluctuations
Nitrite- 15ppm(this went down but nitrates are also low, will this cause a spike in nitrates and will that hurt my fish?)
Ammonia- 0ppm( this was after dosing 2ppm the night before)

Phosphate - 0.25ppm

 

[brandon429]

Yes a a fish will live, but once you add it the system will be infected with disease with about an 80% chance of fish loss within the first six months. The only way to prevent fish death using today's best science is in the fish disease forum here, you'll have to read up on timing required after completed cycle using fallow and quarantine in order to decide when you can add your first fish. Be sure and spend just one hour reading in our fish disease forum. Most threads being worked are from those that skipped the protocol or didn't know about it. Only ammonia matters in stamping a cycle complete plus you added a one day cycler two weeks ago, that's how we know it's ready.

No parameter can undo your cycle including nitrite, we have been lied to about that so we can be tricked into buying more bottle bac.

 

[brandon429]

Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis

A forum for discussing treatment and diagnosing saltwater reef fish.

www.reef2reef.com

you need to be able to answer these questions from reading or posting questions in there before you add fish if you want them to live:

-how long does my tank have to sit fallow before adding fish

- what kinds of things can I add to the new tank to build it up for enjoyment *before* going fallow

-what type of treatment do clowns require while awaiting end of fallow period

-after fallow period and fish prep, what if I want to add more coral or snails or other hard scape items, do they have to go through fallow prep in another tank? (Yes)

as you can see, it’s easier just to put a fish in a new tank it’s why people won’t bother with this complicated fish prep. But in six months if the fish is dead, it didnt do any good skipping the required preps. Do searches for velvet disease, parasites and ich or cryptocarion and you’ll see where my 80% ratio comes from.

 

[Daniel266jz]

Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis

A forum for discussing treatment and diagnosing saltwater reef fish.

www.reef2reef.com

you need to be able to answer these questions from reading or posting questions in there before you add fish if you want them to live:

-how long does my tank have to sit fallow before adding fish

- what kinds of things can I add to the new tank to build it up for enjoyment *before* going fallow

-what type of treatment do clowns require while awaiting end of fallow period

-after fallow period and fish prep, what if I want to add more coral or snails or other hard scape items, do they have to go through fallow prep in another tank? (Yes)

as you can see, it’s easier just to put a fish in a new tank it’s why people won’t bother with this complicated fish prep. But in six months if the fish is dead, it didnt do any good skipping the required preps. Do searches for velvet disease, parasites and ich or cryptocarion and you’ll see where my 80% ratio comes from.

Thank you very much for the input- I want to get my nitrates and phosphate under control a it better. Would some chaeto fit into the standard Biocube 32 Rack? I also think i might wait for the fish and do my research on the diseases and quaratine while i monitor my parameters.

 

[brandon429]

yes that chaeto will be ok, ive kept some too up under the hood of a small tank I once had its neat because it houses pods etc.

 

[brandon429]

*I was hoping the fallow thing wouldnt sway you away from solid preps. its today's top reefing science


the cool part of the hassle is, you can fill your tank up with wonderful corals and moving animals, everything shy of fish, then just wait 76 days and add fish that have been quarantined, you can even buy quarantined ones and not have to do that part!

thats the most solid reef one can assemble in 2020, you're doing that. That bowl above is no boring visual to have to look at for 76 days, thats what neat about the prep is you dont have to have a boring tank while you wait for pathogens to die off due to no host (76 days average)

 

[Daniel266jz]

Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis

A forum for discussing treatment and diagnosing saltwater reef fish.

www.reef2reef.com

you need to be able to answer these questions from reading or posting questions in there before you add fish if you want them to live:

-how long does my tank have to sit fallow before adding fish

- what kinds of things can I add to the new tank to build it up for enjoyment *before* going fallow

-what type of treatment do clowns require while awaiting end of fallow period

-after fallow period and fish prep, what if I want to add more coral or snails or other hard scape items, do they have to go through fallow prep in another tank? (Yes)

as you can see, it’s easier just to put a fish in a new tank it’s why people won’t bother with this complicated fish prep. But in six months if the fish is dead, it didnt do any good skipping the required preps. Do searches for velvet disease, parasites and ich or cryptocarion and you’ll see where my 80% ratio comes from.

I was reading up on fallowing and i dont think i quite understand. It says it is a method for treating parasites when you have fish already and you would then remove the fish and fallow your display tank. How would i use this method on my new tank with no fish?

 

[brandon429]

thankfully its a very easy system while a very annoying wait lol

the important takeaway is simply that fish go in 76 days after the very last hardscape item you add to the tank. so for weeks/months you add and feed corals, shrimp etc. change water, be active in hand guiding algae off these new rocks don't let them self infect and become wrecked. be lifting out the rocks and killing off the algae directly / creatively vs altering your water column to try and starve it.

you get to learn the basics of recurring care, quality feeding, and guiding algae out of the system as you build up a decent looking and active tank, just with no fish.

then when you've added things/color such that you are ready to fallow/prep for clowns you simply add nothing more for 76 days, then add a quarantined clown and that's it.

all future additions of hardscape items need to be ran through fallow before adding to your tank, or the entire process is stopped. hardscape items vector in disease. 76 days without a host (fish) kills most of the common diseases rampant in that forum.

of course fish health, feeding, genetics, and tank conditions matter to long life but this prep is first step if you want the strongest hedge for fish safety.

feeding your tank the high quality frozen reef feeds avail won't break the fallow period, only adding a host does or adding an item not passed through fallow with active disease agents attached.

freshwater fish adding is so easy/add healthy fat fish to a good tank they're fine. marine is all weird with these medical isolation preps and stuff.

 

[Daniel266jz]

thankfully its a very easy system while a very annoying wait lol

the important takeaway is simply that fish go in 76 days after the very last hardscape item you add to the tank. so for weeks/months you add and feed corals, shrimp etc. change water, be active in hand guiding algae off these new rocks don't let them self infect and become wrecked. be lifting out the rocks and killing off the algae directly / creatively vs altering your water column to try and starve it.

you get to learn the basics of recurring care, quality feeding, and guiding algae out of the system as you build up a decent looking and active tank, just with no fish.

then when you've added things/color such that you are ready to fallow/prep for clowns you simply add nothing more for 76 days, then add a quarantined clown and that's it.

all future additions of hardscape items need to be ran through fallow before adding to your tank, or the entire process is stopped. hardscape items vector in disease. 76 days without a host (fish) kills most of the common diseases rampant in that forum.

of course fish health, feeding, genetics, and tank conditions matter to long life but this prep is first step if you want the strongest hedge for fish safety.

feeding your tank the high quality frozen reef feeds avail won't break the fallow period, only adding a host does or adding an item not passed through fallow with active disease agents attached.

freshwater fish adding is so easy/add healthy fat fish to a good tank they're fine. marine is all weird with these medical isolation preps and stuff.

Thank you very much for the explanation. I will do a fallow period. So i will be able to add corals and shrimp along with cleanup crew correct? Just being 100% sure?

Agian thank you!

 

[brandon429]

yep for sure, we can track your cycle beginning here and use it in a cycling article Im rounding up examples for


we shouldnt add fast, we can add slow but the start time is here indeed. if you go to the pet store and spend twenty bucks on starter coral frags, any typical starter coral, buy some rod's feed for corals or roti feast live refrigerated pods, buy some type of cold quality reef feed and bring home with some starter corals and a handfull of cerith snails. put them in, and begin light water changes weekly and feeding the corals right directly squirt it on them with pumps off a few hours before the water change, feed lightly, and dont feed daily it'll charge your system up with algae fuel.

since the rocks are barren mostly, there's not much of a coral feed web in there but you can begin anyway since hq feed fills in. after a few snails, twenty bucks in starter coral frags, input them and lets track them for a week then we'll buy more. we slowly build up fun stuff till we're ready to stop for 76 days, then that fish is a go.

 

[Daniel266jz]

yep for sure, we can track your cycle beginning here and use it in a cycling article Im rounding up examples for


we shouldnt add fast, we can add slow but the start time is here indeed. if you go to the pet store and spend twenty bucks on starter coral frags, any typical starter coral, buy some rod's feed for corals or roti feast live refrigerated pods, buy some type of cold quality reef feed and bring home with some starter corals and a handfull of cerith snails. put them in, and begin light water changes weekly and feeding the corals right directly squirt it on them with pumps off a few hours before the water change, feed lightly, and dont feed daily it'll charge your system up with algae fuel.

since the rocks are barren mostly, there's not much of a coral feed web in there but you can begin anyway since hq feed fills in. after a few snails, twenty bucks in starter coral frags, input them and lets track them for a week then we'll buy more. we slowly build up fun stuff till we're ready to stop for 76 days, then that fish is a go.

Okay I’m all for it. I will see if I can make it to my local fish store today, if not we will have to start tomorrow. I want to get an intank media basket and put some chaeto into a small refugium.

 

[brandon429]

Here is the exact progression your tank is about to come upon:


things looks smooth and easy first two weeks of stocking, and a couple feed + water change cycles. These are Cpr oxygenating refreshing events, work em as you will. you can’t over do feed/water change events, but since you don’t want constant work weekly will suffice.

the more feed/ water change cycles you do, over months sustained, the quicker you grow corals and coralline which specifically exclude algae. Look at all the lps corals for sale in a pet store. No algae where coral flesh is....whole store. mouth area for example. Algae can only abut corals attached on hard skeletal areas and on certain sps but not many. Zoanthids routinely have attachments they don’t count (rough skin inclusions) all others tend to exclude.

ergo, lps coral flesh is a 100% algae excluder and every tank shows it. When you have a rock with aggressive brain corals spreading, not just sitting there because you’ve now done forty feed/change intervals, you’ll have no algae on that rock at least. See how algae control is expected due to bright white rocks and new feed? It’s not bad, that’s fitting until you make the rock purple by keeping ground open for coralline and not letting algae take over, by force. Permit no algae take over, you can back off in two years which is the time commitment for not starting with live rock. You get to control your hitchhikers though, and not strip oceans with dry rock so thats a plus.


dont react to or even measure params other than temp and salinity for a few months, my strong recommend. I’m fourteen years in testing only those. You can test and react endlessly and still grow corals, but if you’ll do hands on weekly feed and easy partial water change, a few gallons nbd, you will have a guaranteed system given normal running/ no children add soap to the reef etc lol


Each day, corals happy as they’re target fed, without excess waste, weekly. Don’t add phosphate removers, that chaeto is a fine plan. It contributes to feeding by housing small bug planktors once they’re cast off into the tank. algae will start kind of quick after two weeks, that rock isn’t covered in coralline. youll lift the rocks out and kill/scrape/burn with jet lighter/apply Kalk or baking soda paste then rinse / on and on. Twenty ways to make an algae rock not an algae rock. This is your reef gardening. And in the end you’ll have a large reef with corals like that tiny reef above.

somewhere in there we‘ll stop and add fish lol


***adding one fish, and then another as you progress slow isn’t like hard scape fallow. You don’t have to wait 76 days between new fish if you’re adding qt fish, see how that’s not so bad? hard scape items, new corals after the fallow, those have to come from fallow systems if you are going to maintain isolation technique but it’s worth it, this is why most reefers have multiple systems. Nice start for sure, you did great

 

[Daniel266jz]

Here is the exact progression your tank is about to come upon:


things looks smooth and easy first two weeks of stocking, and a couple feed + water change cycles. These are Cpr oxygenating refreshing events, work em as you will. you can’t over do feed/water change events, but since you don’t want constant work weekly will suffice.

the more feed/ water change cycles you do, over months sustained, the quicker you grow corals and coralline which specifically exclude algae. Look at all the lps corals for sale in a pet store. No algae where coral flesh is....whole store. mouth area for example. Algae can only abut corals attached on hard skeletal areas and on certain sps but not many. Zoanthids routinely have attachments they don’t count (rough skin inclusions) all others tend to exclude.

ergo, lps coral flesh is a 100% algae excluder and every tank shows it. When you have a rock with aggressive brain corals spreading, not just sitting there because you’ve now done forty feed/change intervals, you’ll have no algae on that rock at least. See how algae control is expected due to bright white rocks and new feed? It’s not bad, that’s fitting until you make the rock purple by keeping ground open for coralline and not letting algae take over, by force. Permit no algae take over, you can back off in two years which is the time commitment for not starting with live rock. You get to control your hitchhikers though, and not strip oceans with dry rock so thats a plus.


dont react to or even measure params other than temp and salinity for a few months, my strong recommend. I’m fourteen years in testing only those. You can test and react endlessly and still grow corals, but if you’ll do hands on weekly feed and easy partial water change, a few gallons nbd, you will have a guaranteed system given normal running/ no children add soap to the reef etc lol


Each day, corals happy as they’re target fed, without excess waste, weekly. Don’t add phosphate removers, that chaeto is a fine plan. It contributes to feeding by housing small bug planktors once they’re cast off into the tank. algae will start kind of quick after two weeks, that rock isn’t covered in coralline. youll lift the rocks out and kill/scrape/burn with jet lighter/apply Kalk or baking soda paste then rinse / on and on. Twenty ways to make an algae rock not an algae rock. This is your reef gardening. And in the end you’ll have a large reef with corals like that tiny reef above.

somewhere in there we‘ll stop and add fish lol


***adding one fish, and then another as you progress slow isn’t like hard scape fallow. You don’t have to wait 76 days between new fish if you’re adding qt fish, see how that’s not so bad? hard scape items, new corals after the fallow, those have to come from fallow systems if you are going to maintain isolation technique but it’s worth it, this is why most reefers have multiple systems. Nice start for sure, you did great

Okay sounds good. My salinity as stayed at a stable 1.025, and my temperature is 78.4/78.2 fluctuations. I have tested my nitrites and they are going down, i also had a spike of nitrates (10ppm) as compared to (5ppm) yesterday. I see my de-nitrifying bacteria are starting to gain speed. I am going to order my intank media basket tonight and some chaeto also, if i can find a light. This is my current setup, chamber 1 is my heater, chamber two will be my intank with filter floss/Purigen/chemipure elite? Please let me know if this will work. Also, am i still able to purchase some corals and snails even with the higher nitrate readings?

Thanks.

 

[brandon429]

/ I'm a non tester. Params don't matter like they say

Work matters, repetition of food in, water exchange.

Testing at the start leads you in circles.

Save it for month eight


My advice w center around only knowing salinity and temp, and weekly water changes of some degree with pumps off accurate no waste spot feeding of refrigerated/frozen coral feed.

The recommend to add corals doesn't factor your stated params, the kits you are using won't line up with readings of other kits, these are guesstimate kits.



Chemipure is a nitrate affector, I wouldn't run it. I can't advise on the thousands of possible combinations outside of the known working steps, too many variables at play to get your money. What's listed above runs fifty thousand pico reefs all consistently, it's the guaranteed working baseline.

 

[Daniel266jz]

/ I'm a non tester. Params don't matter like they say

Work matters, repetition of food in, water exchange.

Testing at the start leads you in circles.

Save it for month eight


My advice w center around only knowing salinity and temp, and weekly water changes of some degree with pumps off accurate no waste spot feeding of refrigerated/frozen coral feed.

The recommend to add corals doesn't factor your stated params, the kits you are using won't line up with readings of other kits, these are guesstimate kits.



Chemipure is a nitrate affector, I wouldn't run it. I can't advise on the thousands of possible combinations outside of the known working steps, too many variables at play to get your money. What's listed above runs fifty thousand pico reefs all consistently, it's the guaranteed working baseline.

Okay, i was only asking to make sure because i was offered a dragon soul favia frag by a friend, shall I make this my first coral along with some snails this weekend and possibly one cleaner shrimp to start my 76 day fallow? I will also pick up some food as you mentioned.


Thank you.

 

[brandon429]

yes that's a perfect start. It will feed assertively its perfect I have a variant of one of those

Additional tuning, to welcome it:

Post a pic of how blue you can get your reef lit here at night in dark room, lemme see it's tone

That favia will not bleach if it's not kept under white light. White light and white rocks will bleach it. But heavy blues, too ugly to photograph blue, turned medium intensity (or if no adjust raise light up to begin acclimating it when he gives it to you) + weekly feeding in the mornings when feeders are out will double that coral in eight years. lol it's a long scope hobby, we measure in decades.