Just starting out biocube 29

[Newbireef]

Heres a lil shot of a start anyways i need to buy a power head and sand next thats what my reef buddy tells me hes pretty much telling me step by step because i have no clue about anything

 

[Somuchflo99]

Welcomewelcom nice scape how many lbs of rock do you have and what are your plans mixed reef or fish only coral only detail man details

 

[Newbireef]

I added 10 pounds of liverock a few days ago just to help the cycle go better i forsure want mixed reef gives ya a little extra to look at and the kids love it too i dont know anything at all about this stuff so any pointers at all will help me out this is what my tank looks like right now im on day 30 does it look ok? I want to clean the glass but i dont wanna mess with the cycle

 

[Somuchflo99]

How long have you been cycling for

 

[Newbireef]

The tanks been running for 30 days now

 

[Somuchflo99]

Nice looks like it’s doing well I’ve never heard of cleaning the glass messing with the cycle

 

[Somuchflo99]

But I’ve also never cycled dry rock b4 I’ve always done live rock live sand

 

[Newbireef]

Im pretty sure this is liverock thats what my buddy who owns the local reefshop said, i didnt get to put sand in yet still wanting on shipment

 

[Krzydmnd]

Howdy! Might want to consider adding more rock. A typical ratio is at least one pound per gallon.

And clean away! Are you testing parameters? How are they? My tank finished cycling in about two weeks but I had 30 lbs of live rock and Carib sand to start.

What filtration are you using in the back? It's common practice for Biocubes to remove both sponge filters and just use floss and natural filtration.

You may want to add sand asap also. It will build up its own bacteria that will be important for your tank.

And are you ready to spend $$$? [emoji38]

 

[Newbireef]

Yes i plan on getting more rock and sand, im using a tunze skimmer if thats what you mean by filtration. What can i use to clean the glass a washcloth or something? , i also had purchased these two test kids my local reef shop owner told me to get them. And yes lol im ready to spend money not rushing anything tho as i have a 5 month old baby boy who takes up a lot of my time and money right now , my next purchase is a power head i think its called i need one because there is not enough movement in my tank i have a red bacteria growing on the ground

 

[EuroDriver]

Welcome and congrats! I've run a few Biocubes in my day and loved them. I have a JBJ 28 in my office right now.
You might want to look into getting an InTank Media Basket for your filtration. It's going to make your life a lot easier.

Is your hood quipped with power compact bulbs or LED's? One issue I always had with Biocubes is that because of how well the lid covers everything, they tend to run quite warm. Just keep an eye on your temp.

 

[Aaron Gustafson]

Happy to chip in with advice. Here's the build thread for my 29. I'm about to do a major upgrade and I've burned some money on equipment. Happy to tell you what's been worth it and what hasn't.

FWIW if you're not planning to go heavy with acropora, the AI Prime is a fantastic light. Perfect for this tank.

 

[Newbireef]

Welcome and congrats! I've run a few Biocubes in my day and loved them. I have a JBJ 28 in my office right now.
You might want to look into getting an InTank Media Basket for your filtration. It's going to make your life a lot easier.

Is your hood quipped with power compact bulbs or LED's? One issue I always had with Biocubes is that because of how well the lid covers everything, they tend to run quite warm. Just keep an eye on your temp.

Whats a media basket?

 

[Radman73]

Whats a media basket?

Welcome!

Do a google search for InTank Media Basket. That should get you on the right path. I used one of their media baskets for my first tank which was also a 29gal biocube. Great beginners tank. I'll probably get another someday for upstairs. The media basket makes it much easier to provide good filtration for your tank. I typically ran filter floss on top, chemipure or purigen in the middle basket, and matrix on the bottom. You'll understand once you see one.

I agree that a little more rock is probably warranted but you do want to leave swimming space for fish.

One test kit you don't have is Nitrate. I generally use a Seachem alert badge for ammonia and then test kits for nitrite and nitrate. In your case, if you haven't already, go ahead and test for ammonia and nitrate. Post the results here. If you used live rock, it's possible you won't really have a cycle at all to speak of. Based off the pictures it looks like you are already going through the new tank stages.

Feel free to clean the glass any time. No reason not to. If your ammonia and nitrite come back at 0 you can add 2.5ppm of pure ammonia, not scented or anything fancy, just pure, plain ammonia, and test ammonia and nitrite again. If it's still 0, then your cycle is done and you can add a clean up crew of snails. Since you seem to have an in with a LFS you can likely get them there.

You've come to a great place for research and advice. This forum has a great search feature in the upper right but you can always feel free to post your questions if you can't find what you're looking for.