New 29g BioCube Build

Cooper32803 · May 27, 2012

So I am just starting this tank (my first SW) so bear with me :bigsmile: I just set it up and this pic is of it before adding the rest of the live rock I found today. The live rock in the pic is Haitian live rock that I used for the base of the structure. Will post more pics once the sand settles after rearranging the rock and adding the new Fiji rock I bought today. That is if I don't rearrange the rock again and again, but I will take pictures after each time and input/advice is always welcome!!

revsgirl · May 27, 2012

:clap2: Looks great!! Congrats on joining the SW family!! Just let the community know if you have any questions!! Good luck! Can't wait to see its progress!! Happy reefing!

Cooper32803 · May 27, 2012

revsgirl said:
:clap2: Looks great!! Congrats on joining the SW family!! Just let the community know if you have any questions!! Good luck! Can't wait to see its progress!! Happy reefing!

Thanks! Its a start (however boring of one it is lol) As soon as the tanks settles I will take a pic of the new Fiji, Fiji Branch and Totoka live Rock I added today. Some great pink colorations on the branches I bought, hopefully it stays that color! :smile:

Saltgator · May 27, 2012

Great 1st start. Trust me, I've rearranged every one of my system's rocks a ton of times!! It happens. Good job so far.

sprinklerdudes · May 27, 2012

hey I love bio cubes I have two of them , any thoughts on what you are planing for livestock?

Cooper32803 · May 27, 2012

sprinklerdudes said:
hey I love bio cubes I have two of them , any thoughts on what you are planing for livestock?

Not sure yet. I love the look of Mandarins but hear they can wipe out a small tank of food easily, so until I have bought and intalled the refugium from inTank thats out... I know I defintitely want to get into corals, but have to keep it to simple corals until I have upgraded the lights since I am currently running with the stock lighting...

Saltgator said:
Great 1st start. Trust me, I've rearranged every one of my system's rocks a ton of times!! It happens. Good job so far.

I know myself and I know I will be rearranging this quite often the next few weeks! LOL

Anyone have any thoughts on Dr. Tim's One and Only... I saw it being used on youtube and thought that might help boost the bacteria and lessen the cycle?

Cooper32803 · May 27, 2012

OK sand has settled for the most part... so here are the updated pics...

Frontal view with Hatian rock on the bottom and premium Fiji Rock on top and in foreground

Left side view with Totoka Rock

Right Side view with Branch rock (love the pink on them)

Questions? Comments? Concerns so far? :bounce:

PS- Sorry for the iPad photos, but it's better than the ones on my phone lol

wysiwyg · May 27, 2012

looks good very nice start

revhtree · May 27, 2012

Sweet rock! Nice!

nicodim55 · May 27, 2012

Just a small suggestion, either take some of the rocks out or build some sort of a cave instead of just having them on top each other. Gives your fish some sense of a natural home when they can get in and out of caves:neutral:? You have some nice pieces of rocks there you can work with

Welcome and good luck with the addiction lol:wink:

BarbH · May 27, 2012

Looking good :thumbup: With the fact that you are starting with live rock I wouldn't worry too much about using a bacterial supplement, should have enough bacteria from your live rock. Do you have a test kit for checking the levels of your ammonia nitrites and nitrates? Also the other thing I would suggest is if you are planning on using a quarantine tank that now is a goods time to think about setting one up. Doesn't need to be anything fancy.

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Cooper32803 · May 27, 2012

nicodim55 said:
Just a small suggestion, either take some of the rocks out or build some sort of a cave instead of just having them on top each other. Gives your fish some sense of a natural home when they can get in and out of caves:neutral:? You have some nice pieces of rocks there you can work with Welcome and good luck with the addiction lol:wink:

There are three caves in there as of now (middle bottom, right middle and left middle) and I was thinking of getting one more longer curved piece to build a bridge of sorts across the top to create another cave but wasnt sure if that was going to be too close to the top of the water or not... What do u think? Should I have more cave systems than that?

nicodim55 · May 27, 2012

I think you need to open up the holes more? To give it depth on the last pic it looks like 2 big pieces are just leaning on the other rocks. I would take the small pieces out on the bottom front so u have a sandbed

Cooper32803 · May 27, 2012

nicodim55 said:
I think you need to open up the holes more? To give it depth on the last pic it looks like 2 big pieces are just leaning on the other rocks. I would take the small pieces out on the bottom front so u have a sandbed

That is something to keep in mind about opening the caves more when I am sure to be rearranging in a couple of days... As for the small rocks in the front, I was doing that so if I got xenias (which I do want) they might stay localized on that rock rather than taking over the whole tank... I dunno if it was a good idea, but that was my thought process... :smile:

nicodim55 · May 27, 2012

At the end of the day it is your tank:nerd:. Do whatever that looks good to you because you're the one who's mostly going to enjoy looking at it. As for the Xenia rock I like my Xenias to grow on the back of the tank.

REEFKEEPER10 · May 27, 2012

Nice job. Now your a old salty compared to someone that doesn't have a tank yet. I see you upgrading with in a year. Lol

Cooper32803 · May 27, 2012

nicodim55 said:
At the end of the day it is your tank:nerd:. Do whatever that looks good to you because you're the one who's mostly going to enjoy looking at it. As for the Xenia rock I like my Xenias to grow on the back of the tank.

I heard that xenias can grow anywhere which is nice for a noob like me, but I do want the look of them. I know is a beginner coral, but I love the look of the pulsing of the xenias... something serene about it for me. I saw them at my LFS and since then have been wanting them in a tank to watch as I fall asleep. Crazy? Maybe... LOL

REEFKEEPER10 said:
Nice job. Now your a old salty compared to someone that doesn't have a tank yet. I see you upgrading with in a year. Lol

LOL I dunno if I would go that far, but I would say that I know I will be upgrading within that time frame... maybe even getting rid of one of my freshwater tanks. I cant stop the cichlids I have from hybridizing which is frustrating and I am the kind of person who can't knowingly let a baby fish get eaten... Hopefully I can rehome them with the disclosure that they are more than likely hybrids... But who knows...

jonbar1 · May 27, 2012

Looking good! Next comes the expensive part....

I've always secretly loved Xenias as well. The first time I saw one was in a basket floating in a raceway of a local coral greenhouse. That rhythmic pulsing had me sold, expecially from a big clump in natural light viewed from above. Needless to say, like many reefers, my tastes changed and my lone frag got rehomed with someone else. Now over 6 years later I'm slowly converting a standard 29g AGA into a softie tank from an algae covered FOWLR. I once again have Xenia and a small Kenya Tree and hope they cover every square inch of the rock in that tank.

Cooper32803 · May 27, 2012

jonbar1 said:
Looking good! Next comes the expensive part....

I've always secretly loved Xenias as well. The first time I saw one was in a basket floating in a raceway of a local coral greenhouse. That rhythmic pulsing had me sold, expecially from a big clump in natural light viewed from above. Needless to say, like many reefers, my tastes changed and my lone frag got rehomed with someone else. Now over 6 years later I'm slowly converting a standard 29g AGA into a softie tank from an algae covered FOWLR. I once again have Xenia and a small Kenya Tree and hope they cover every square inch of the rock in that tank.

I assume the expensive part u mean is the stocking? Could also figure the light reconfiguration I want to do as expensive (want to switch to LED) I do plan to renovate the bioballs section into a new setup with refugium and what not in the next month or so (but that isn't bad I don't think)

Cant wait to get some corals in there and something to move with the corals... I know patience is a virtue... But I keep going to the different stores around here oohing and ahhing and want them now! LOL Yes, Veruca Salt has nothing on me! :bounce: