beginner with a 14 gal biocube

lili13

lili13

Member
The damsels are only there till our tank is ready for a sea horse (our eventual goal) I know it takes a long time to get a tank ready for them, we just wanted something to look at in the mean time, I know they are easy keepers.
And yes we will be returning them as soon as they are no longer needed.
Are our water results I posted up there ok? We are going right now to get 6 more snails ( we have 5 or 6, I think one might have died..and a crab taken over...lol) maybe one or two more hermits and MAYBE a cleaner shrimp...my fiance wants to name it Jacques...ha ha ha.
We are also going to get some filter floss and maybe some LR rubble...still weighing the responses...
thanks again...you guys are great!!
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
Pick up a mag float, it will scrape that glass clean in no time. You will want to rearrange your rocks so you can get to all parts of the glass. Looks good so far, might add some more rock but definitely a good start.
 
lili13

lili13

Member
Really?? Awww we love our rocks like that cause it's like a little cave
we went and got six more snails, a porcelain crab, a peppermint shrimp (named Pepper Brooks..lol) and a really tiny feather duster that attached itself to a clam shell. OH and a very very tiny starfish that had crawled out of the LR at the LFS that my fiance has wanted since our first visit...
everything is looking ok right now...we went and got a timer for our lights, got it home and noticed it was only a two pronger
...that's what you get for not looking first... I'll see what we can do about moving the rock, I hate to disturb things when there's animals in there... we're going tomorrow to another store to see about a coral or more polyps or something...SO MUCH FUN!! My fiance wants to return the damsels and get two clown fish for now cause they're cuter than the damsels, but I'm not sure about it yet...I don't think I want to get an anemone because when we get a seahorse, I've heard they can be harmful...
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
I am no seahorse expert, but it is my understanding that you want to start with essentially a sterile tank. Meaning no live rock, live sand, or anything. Check out the seahorse section and ask some questions, they could send you in the right direction. 2 clowns would be the maximum amount of fish that I would put in a 14 gallon, even that is pushing it though. Clowns have a high bioload for being a smaller fish.
 
lili13

lili13

Member
Oh, you said you had submersible lights in chamber 2 to run when your moonlights are on...are those the blue lights? Should they be on all night? Everyone's been telling me that the lights should only be on for 8-9 hrs total...or are moonlights something else totally?
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
Yeah, the moonlights are the really tiny blue lights (2 of them), I run them opposite of my actinic lights, so about 14 hours. My refugium light I run on that same schedule.
 
lili13

lili13

Member
um...you run them opposite your white lights? I don't know any of the technical terms, sorry...lol. Should I be doing that, too? Or is what I'm doing ok?
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
Ok, there are 3 sets of lights. The long U-shaped tubes are the daylight bulbs. The white one is a 24 watt 10k bulb. The blue bulb is a 24 watt actinic bulb. Then there are the 2 tiny moonlights. My actinics turn on at about 9am. My 10k white bulb comes on about 10:30am. Then it turns off at about 6pm. Then my actinic bulb goes off at about 7:45pm. As soon as the actinics shut off, both the refugium 10 watt submersible light and my moonlights come on, until the next day when we do it all again
 
lili13

lili13

Member
LOL thanks so much, that really helped. I posted that last post and got an eye roll from my fiance cause he knew all that and I felt a bit dumb, but I'd rather feel dumb and know than not know...we never kept those moon lights on, but I will now cause I like them!! Subie, you are so nice to help with all of this! Thanks again!
Do you think a plate coral would be ok in this tank?
 
lili13

lili13

Member
We saw a really nice one today, but gonna look at another store (pricing seems a bit high at this particular store) tomorrow. Do you find with your chaeto in the second chamber that you have to trim it? Does it tend to grow fast? When we went to the LFS they told us not to touch the bio balls as it may cause a cycle...thoughts?
 
nissan577

nissan577

Active Member
no. i had bioballs in my tank for like 4 days and once i bought my chaeto i switch it and it cause no problem! btw the tank looks really great! i love the rock! i hope you get metal halides so you can get the corals you want!
 
lili13

lili13

Member
Also, I think I've got myself pretty much convinced now that I'm not going to be doing seahorses in this tank for a few reasons. First of all, I have been told it is a bit too small. Second of all, I knew seahorses were a lot of work, but never how much...now I do. So I'm thinking whenever I go on maternity (in a few yrs) I'll get a new bigger tank going...because I'll have the time...
Nooooowwww just to figure out what to put in this one!!!

So many options! Corals are first though...
 
lili13

lili13

Member
The bioballs? I also have to find a store around here that sells chaeto...that might be an issue...
 
nano-newb1983

nano-newb1983

Active Member
If you cant find any cheato at LFS you can always get some on SWF.com, or once im ready to prune mine again i could prolly send ya some. Not sure if it will make the trip to canada tho, its very cold out
 
lili13

lili13

Member
Ya, I hear ya!!! haha I'm going to look around today and see who has what. I am very hesitant to order anything online especially in the winter. I would prob have to wait until Mayish...ugh the cold north...lol
 
lili13

lili13

Member
We went and got a devil's hand and a stick looking thingy. lol It has ployps..oh a gorganian??? I think. anyhoo, they're floating away in their little baggies right now, the hand looks a bit green, but we had to drive a half hour to get it home...it's starting to get a bit of colour as we are adding more of our water...
The gorganian thing the guy said it was dying, so I want to see if we can get it to come back...doesn't look TOO bad..we'll see! I'll keep you updated as we go...
We've also decided to take our damsels back soon and get something else with a bit of personality..not sure what yet though...what would work good ina 14 gal??
Water change time!
 
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