beginner with a 14 gal biocube

[lili13]

Hi all! My fiance and I purchased a 14 gal biocube the first week of January. Since getting and setting it up, we have added some snails and hermit crabs first. A week after, we got a blue damsel to help it cycle. Then a week after, we got a domino damsel and some polyps. We test it regularly (about every three days) and have done two water changes. Our levels (Ca, PH, Nitrites, nitrates, etc) all seem to be fine, we haven't changed any of the stock parts in the tank...but all of a sudden after we added the second damsel and polyps there is a bunch of green algae. The tests are still all where they should be and I did a 50% water change the other day, but it came back!!!
Does anyone know what I can do to make it go away?!?! We are wondering if it's the lighting, because it is about 5 ft away from a window...but the curtain always stays closed so I don't think it would affect it that much....any ideas???
Also, I have been reading on some forums like this and some people say to take whatever is in the second chamber at the back (some bioball or something?!? Like I said, I'm a beginner) and put in some live rock rubble, what does this do and should I do that?
Eventually we want to get a seahorse (like in a year or more) so we know we have to get rid of the damsels (our fish store takes fish back here so we can return them for credit) so does anyone know what we should be doing with regards to that?
Cheers

Lili

 

[happitylogan]

welcome

 

[lili13]

Thanks...now I jsut need some advice...lol

 

[mustang1979]

I have a 14 gal biocube also. I have 3 clownfish, a tiny stonefish, a small anemone, a hammer, a featherduster, peppermint shrimp and a bunch of snails.
My advice on the algea is get more snails..... Maybe somebody here can tell you something else but I perfer the natural way...

 

[lili13]

Thanks! Did you have an algae problem too at the beginning? I would rather use a natural way too, and I keep hearing about LR rubble in the middle chamber and some other things....have you modified your back chambers at all?

 

[nitschke65]

Welcome Lili13

People have made plenty of mods to the built in filtration of their biocubes, but I think the general consencus has been that live rock rubble in the second chamber is not the greatest way to go because of the detritus that will collect on it and the fact that it will be difficult to clean. (At least that's my opinion.) Don't rush into anything. Your bio-balls will be just fine for now.
You say that you're keeping the natural sunlight from hitting the tank, but how long are you keeping the pc's on? Are they on timers? Have you adjusted the ammount of artificial light to see if there's any changes?

 

[subielover]

Originally Posted by mustang1979 http:///forum/post/2926485
I have a 14 gal biocube also. I have 3 clownfish, a tiny stonefish, a small anemone, a hammer, a featherduster, peppermint shrimp and a bunch of snails.
My advice on the algea is get more snails..... Maybe somebody here can tell you something else but I perfer the natural way...

As for the OP's question, could you post all of your water parameters? Are you doing 15% weekly water changes, using ro/di or distilled water? How long are your lights on, should be a max of about 10 hours. Basically to get rid of the algae, you will need to step up on your overall maintenance. You will want to go out and pick up a product called "elbow grease" you use this grease to take out your rocks and scrub them in saltwater outside of the display. You will want to repeat this process until the algae is very very minimal. Mexican turbo snails will eat hair algae but it needs to be small or close to the rock. I assume it is hair algae, but a picture would really help.
As for fish, I wouldn't add any others if you plan to keep the damsels. If you decide to take the damsels back then we can go from there.
As for coral, you can keep softies and some lps. SPS, clams, and anemones are out. The stock light is suitable for softies and lps only, just want to repeat that. Check out my Biocube 14 thread to see what corals work.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/327043/subielovers-biocube-14-diary
Good luck, welcome and post some pictures

 

[subielover]

Forgot about the back chambers...
In my back chambers I have built a mini-refugium in place of the bioballs. I will give you a quick rundown of how my back chambers operate.
Chamber1(if standing at the front of tank, chamber all the way to the right)
Bag of purigen
Bag of chemi-pure
Chamber 2
Drip tray still in place
False floor removed(all you have to do is push down on one side and remove.
10 watt submersible light(runs when my moonlights run, about 14 hours a night)
Wad of chaetomorpha(macro-algae that "eats" nitrates and phosphates)
Chamber 3
Upgraded the stock return pump to a maxijet 900
50 watt Visi-therm Steath heater
Also for extra water circulation I have a Koralia 1 on the opposite side of where the return pump exits. Both of the powerheads are pointed towards the surface of the water.
I keep about 17 pounds of live rock in the display. I only have 2 fish, a ocellaris clown and a sixline wrasse(who will be getting replaced with a yashia haze goby.) As long as you keep the bioload low, a Biocube 14 will work very well for a reef tank. Any questions, just ask

 

[lili13]

My parameters are all within range, I made sure...we had been keeping the lights on for 10 hours but we've reduced it to 9 hrs, two hours with just the blue, then 5 with both the blue and the white, then two more with just the blue. We don't have a timer, but we are getting one tomorrow. Just so we don't have to run back and forth from work

.
the algae isn't really on the rocks, more the glass and the sand. It's just liek a green haze and looks gross...lol. I have been cleaning the glass with a scrubby pad to remove it almost nightly. I guess we might have to step up the water changes to 15 % weekly...I'll post some pics in a bit so you can see what I mean!!
thank you so much!!

 

[subielover]

Yeah, for the parameters post the actual numbers

Definitely get timers, as it makes lighting a no-brainer. What are you feeding and how often? Every other day is recommended, and only what the fish can eat in under a minute or so. Also a mag float is a valuable tool to remove algae from the glass, you can get one at just about any lfs.

 

[lili13]

the only thing we've added to the tank is the heater which is suction cupped horizontally to the back wall at the top. My fiance was afraid to put it in the back chambers b/c the water doesn't go to the water level line..so some of the heater is out of the water...is this ok to do anyways? If so, it will def. be getting moved...although our little domino damsel loves hanging out around it...I'm sure (s)he will live without it to hide from the blue damsel...

 

[subielover]

The back chambers should be filled all the way up. The lowest chamber should be chamber 3 and the water line should be right up to where the return pump tube exits. Put the heater in the 3rd chamber.

 

[lili13]

So when I came to take pictures of it, the algae wasn't as bad!!! haha Weird, but still there, I'm just sorting through pictures because my camera is finnicky, and they're a bit foggy because I had to stir the water up as two of my polyps had fallen off...it's really bare because we don't want to add anything to it prematurely and kill anything...so I'll get them up in aminute

 

[lili13]

The third should be all the way up there?? When we fill it to the max line, it's only about half full...(I'm an optimist I guess...lol) So is it ok to not worry about the max line and over fill that?

 

[subielover]

Yup, ignore the max line. Where are the pics?

 

[lili13]

Resizing as I type...and I have the parameters...
Ca- 440 ppm
KH-140-200 ppm
PH-8.2
nitrite and nitrate - 0
Ammonia-0

 

[lili13]

Yay Pictures!

Keep in mind we are going VERY slowly because it's hard to wade through all the info on what's best and also at the LFS each person tells us something different, hence me trying this cause you guys know what works! Here we go...
my cat really likes to paw at the fish

and wouldn't she like to get in there too!!

 

[d-dzel]

Originally Posted by Lili13
http:///forum/post/2926633
Yay Pictures!

Keep in mind we are going VERY slowly because it's hard to wade through all the info on what's best and also at the LFS each person tells us something different, hence me trying this cause you guys know what works! Here we go...
my cat really likes to paw at the fish

and wouldn't she like to get in there too!!
My rabbit does that with my fish in my biocube

Looks good!

 

[lili13]

Thanks!

The algae just grows on the walls and it comes back fairly quickly...I don't know what to do to get rid of it or if it will bugger off eventually on its own...I wiped it this morning whne I said I was going to get pics, and about an hour later, as I was posting them, I could see it faintly where I had wiped

so frustrating...but maybe it's just part of starting out??? Would it be wise to get those purigen (is that what it's called??) thingys to put in my back chambers?? And are the carbon filters ok, or should I also be using some filter floss maybe in the second chamber? Ahhhhhhh lol so many questions!! Thanks for all the help!

 

[halostalker]

first Bioballz are bad in some situations at least for us nano's,
adding LR to the back chamber is great don'r worry about the detrius, the extra bacteria and sponges that grow there help a little, obviously if u added a little light back there and added a plant to grow and take the food of other algae that would other wise grow in ur tank.
Feel free to add the heater only the bottom 1/3 really need to be covered in water but i have a feeling u have more water then that.
Filterfloss is great i use it bc it just catches big stuff u really dont need, just make sure to clean it like everycouple of dayz(i clean mine everyother day), i just rinse it under the tap No Problem). Anything else u wana run is no problem, carbon, or anyother pads would only help at this point.
i would take the damsel out unless ur sure u can deff catch it bc they are quick.
i Understand ur algae problem and its just a natural process sure u can minimize it with clean water like Ro/di, more water changes, less feeding tank, or fug.
But at ur rate just keep in there and u will worry less and less as other algae form that out compete the one growing on the glass. snails are a big help. also keep alot of water flow in the tank.
Keep up with ur tests and please tell us wat they are we r all here to help

Just keep enjoying ur tank ur doin a great job Watch as the life in ur biocube gets more complex its really fun to watch

P.S. water changes are ur friend, best thing u can do to a tank so get used to doing weekly ones u will be happy with the result it gives