First Reef Tank. 32 Gallons. Need Advice.

[Kiboshed]

The setup after the purging of the vermetid snails. Like I said, I don't like it as much. Looks more unnatural and the epoxy looks like trash. It's definitely not going anywhere though. Lol

Going to look into a small cleaning crew tomorrow after a water change and check. If everything is still steady going to grab:

3 Trochus snails

6 Nassarius snails

3 Blue leg Hermit crabs

Maybe 1 red leg Hermit crab.

(They are having a discount for every 3 cleaners you buy right now )

Just something small to handle my steadily growing algae.

 

[lubeck]

Tank looks good. Biocubes are fun. Great starter tank. You getting the live rock will help you build the biodiversity a little faster. have you considered adding a fuge in the middle chamber?

It’s a long road ahead. Be patient.

I started my biocube in January and have made a few modifications. Check out my build when you have time. I still don’t run a skimmer but do run 25-35% water changes Per week.


good luck. This forum will be very helpful

 

[Breezie]

Hi! I have a biocube 32 and brand new to the hobby as well. I'm saying 3 weeks in. Bought my tank off Facebook marketplace with a fish, shrimp hermit crabs and a rock flower anemone.....and a flat worm problem. I've done some mods to my tank so far. 3 weeks in, my only thought is reconsider the pulsing xenia. I have it in my tank and after doing some research I hear its like the weed of coral. Because of my flat worm problem I'm going to restart my tank and get rid of the xenia and worms.

 

[Kiboshed]

Hi! I have a biocube 32 and brand new to the hobby as well. I'm saying 3 weeks in. Bought my tank off Facebook marketplace with a fish, shrimp hermit crabs and a rock flower anemone.....and a flat worm problem. I've done some mods to my tank so far. 3 weeks in, my only thought is reconsider the pulsing xenia. I have it in my tank and after doing some research I hear its like the weed of coral. Because of my flat worm problem I'm going to restart my tank and get rid of the xenia and worms.

Yeah going to dip my toe into corals in a few weeks. Thinking of a Cespitularia Coral instead of the Xenia. Also have a very hardy Taro Tree Coral at my local pet store, but I hear that can be as big of a weed as Xenia.

 

[Kiboshed]

So status update.

The tank is going very well. My cycle was done after like week two. Ammonia and Nitrites were 0 every day for over a week. So much life popping up everywhere. Bristleworms, Pods, Sponges, it's really cool to watch.

After two weeks of stable numbers and seeing so much life cropping up in my tank I broke down and did what everyone tells you not to do and bought a couple fish. 2 Banggai Cardinals to be exact. Within 48 hours the bigger of the two of them started relentlessly chasing the smaller one. So I caught the smaller one early in the morning in the dark with a headlamp on and returned it to the pet store. They felt so bad about the situation they said that I could trade it in for a fish of equal value. Only fish they had was a Orange Skunk Clown that was of the same value, but it was part of a mated pair. THE PET STORE SAID I COULD HAVE BOTH! Walked away with two amazing little clows who are super fun to watch dance with each other around the tank. 3 fish for only $30.

Naturally I was very worried about my bioload on such a fresh tank so was doing small water changes every other day.

Didn't matter. My parameters still remained stable and the fish seem super happy after week and already established their little parts of the tank, but still seem to have no problems when interacting with each other.

Diatoms came and are already starting to recede. They never got a good foothold on the rock. Only place it has really stuck around and seems to be thriving is the sand, which I honestly don't mind.

So here it is, my first Saltwater tank to date about a month in:

The Tank:

Intank media basket (Filter floss, Chemipure blue, marine pure cubes)

Heater- Cobalt Aquatics Flat Neo 150w

Cooler- AC Infinity MULTIFAN Mini, Compact 40mm x 20mm USB Fan

Heater Controller- Inkbird 308

Thermometer

Refractometer

RedSea Marine Care Test Kit

Sicce voyager nano 1000

Light schedule:

LC1 (Daylights): 11:00 am to 7:00 pm

LC2 (Sunrise / Sunset): 10:30 am to 7:00 pm

LC3 (Moon Lights): 10:00 am to Midnight


Inhabitants:

2 Orange Skunk Clownfish

1 Banggai Cardinal

8 Astra Snails

3 Cerith Snails

2 bumblebee Snails

1 Blue legged Hermit Crab

Going forward:

Going to let the tank settle and level out for a while. Lots of new life and new equipment in it so just want to let it settle and see where it is at in a couple weeks.

Next I plan on getting an Orchid Dottyback because I think they are beautiful and they might start to leave a dent in my bristleworm population. Then on to Corals after that.

My first three I plan on getting is a Cespitularia up near the top with good flow. A Mushroom Coral somewhere in the middle of the rocks, and a GSP (Pachyclavularia violacea OR Briareum sp.) In the front left corner on the sand bed so it is easy to manage.

Thoughts? Critiques? Moving way too fast?

Idk, but I love it and stuff hasn't gone wrong yet... Knock on wood.

 

[Kiboshed]

Btw that Cardinal never moves lol it sits right there in the highest flow column and doesn't move till I put food in there.

 

[Projectile]

This is the inexpensive RO/DI system I use. It’s slow (hence the cheap price), but it does the trick for smaller systems.

AQUATICLIFE Aquatic Life RO Buddie Plus DI Four Stage Reverse Osmosis Deionization Unit 50 GPD https://a.co/d/bIT7y9R

Hi: Can this rodi be connected under the sink? What extras will the more expensive unit provide?
Thanks