Bio-cube 29 Gal. HQI Diary

[bodeybb]

Okay guy's, I know that you have all seen this before but i think it might be fun to do.
I just received my new Bio-cube 29 Gal. HQI tank and it has a broken part.

Not a big deal, it was a support for the light. I called the company and they are sending me a replacement part.

So all I have done is fill it up and add salt. I plan on waiting 72 hours to check the salinity of the tank. Since I plan on having a reef tank, I have purchased to two Hydor Koralia #1 Nano Pump 425 gph Power Head Wave. They should be in the tank by the end of the week. I hope this will give me enough water movement for the tank, time will only tell.

I know, not much to look at.

 

[nano-newb1983]

Welcome to the forums, looks like u will have a nice set up soon.. looking forward to seeing it stock up
As fas as the K1"s go, it should be perfect, i have 2 in my 24g and its works awesome

 

[kzoobenjamin]

2 x 425 gph should be plenty for a 29G. A rough rule of thumb is to turn the tank volume over 20x per hour. 29G x 20 = 580. It also depends on what you want to keep in the tank. Some corals prefer high flow and others don't like it.

 

[bodeybb]

All right, I received my pumps on Friday and one was broken, just my luck. I am in the process in getting it fixed. The new light has not come in yet. It should next week.

Now it is time for a question. What type of rock would do the best in a nano tank?

I already think that i need 35-40 lbs. of rock. I have already bought 20 lbs of dried Aragonite rock as a base, so I need about 20 lbs of something else. I also plan on having 3 to 4 inches of sand--10 lbs of Garf Grung and the rest sand (what type of sand has not been determined yet). After the the rock is in the tank i will put the sand in, and just let the tank cycle for 30 - 45 days.

 

[kzoobenjamin]

The type of rock is really up to you, but of course smaller pieces tend to work better. If you get larger pieces you can easily break them with a hammer. I usually intend to pretty well cover my rock with corals in the long run, so I don't bother buying anything other than the least expensive LR. The Premium Caribbean Live Rock 20-25 lbs sold here would work just fine, or if you have a LFS handy you can pick out the pieces you want.

 

[nissan577]

for the sand bro i wouldnt do 3-4 inches. IMO thats just way to much. thats good if you wanna have like a jawhead but if not 2 inches will be fine. a 20lb bag should do the trick. for rocks its always been 1lb per gallon. since you already have 20lbs i would do atleast 7-12lbs of rock. like stated above the rock is up to you. i always like the fiji rock. lots of holes and everything. cant wait to see this baby set up!

 

[bodeybb]

Up and Running

I finally have everything in the tank that I need, except livestock. I have about 30 lbs. of rock(20 lbs of base rock, 5 lbs of Tonga rock and 5 lbs fiji rock) and 30 lbs of sand (10 lbs of Garf Grung on the bottom, 10 lbs of Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Reef Substrate and about 10 lbs of Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Reef Sand). After three days of cloudiness I woke up on Saturday to this.




I was very happy with how everything settled, so I turned on the pumps. Sunday, I was looking at the live rock and found some hitchhikers, baby star fish. My seven year old was fascinated and I had to explain to him what a hitchhiker was. I also had to explain that now we need to wait 30 – 45 days before putting fish in the tank. He was sad because he really wants me to put in a lobster and a shark and a sting ray and an eel. So in my great wisdom I told him we can have a lobster in March, but NO shark, NO sting ray and NO eel. He was satisfied with that. I figure in three weeks I can purchase a cleaning crew package. Take care.

 

[nissan577]

pretty exciting i must say. the 30lbs seems like to much but if thats what you want its fine. everything else looks fine. are you running the filter with bioballs? or are you gonna mod it to make it a refugium?

 

[bodeybb]

Nissan--
Thanks for the post. I have about 1.5 lbs of Fiji in the center chamber in the back for a refugium. I just need to put some sort of Caulerpaceae in it. The 30lbs of sand puts the sand depth at 2 - 2/1 inches high. After eye balling how high 3 - 4 inches would look, i decided lower.

 

[1snapple]

It seems I am late to this, As far as LR, look on craigslist for Tongan Branch liverock. $5 or less per pound is a good price on it. It looks like sticks and is extremely cool looking. If you want. Looks good so far

 

[nano-newb1983]

very nice, im jealous i want that tank.. i looking forward to the build

 

[nissan577]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bodeybb http:///forum/thread/382954/bio-cube-29-gal-hqi-diary#post_3351177
Nissan--
Thanks for the post. I have about 1.5 lbs of Fiji in the center chamber in the back for a refugium. I just need to put some sort of Caulerpaceae in it. The 30lbs of sand puts the sand depth at 2 - 2/1 inches high. After eye balling how high 3 - 4 inches would look, i decided lower.

Bodey,
chaetomorpha works the same as any other type of refugium algae. here read this for your tank:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/338296/refugiums-for-all-nanos
and take our the rubble you have in the back since its a collection for nitrates.

 

[bodeybb]

Will do Nissan

 

[nissan577]

you dont have too, with that smiley im not making you im just trying to help

 

[spanko]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bodeybb http:///forum/thread/382954/bio-cube-29-gal-hqi-diary#post_3351177
Nissan--
Thanks for the post. I have about 1.5 lbs of Fiji in the center chamber in the back for a refugium. I just need to put some sort of Caulerpaceae in it. The 30lbs of sand puts the sand depth at 2 - 2/1 inches high. After eye balling how high 3 - 4 inches would look, i decided lower.

IMO take the rock out of the middle chamber. It will collect detritus and you will never be able to control your nitrates because of it.
Carlos, not a collection point for nitrates, but for the detritus. Through the nitrification process the detritus will break down into nitrates eventually and that will be dispersed throughout the tank. Nitrates do not collect there but are generated there from the detritus being trapped there and not being able to be cleaned out through maintenancefiltering.
Just a clarification.

 

[bodeybb]

Nissan,
I do most of my reading in the morning with coffee. It was not meant as an insult. I really do appreciate the info. Anyways, I was able to read it this morning and it had tons of great info. I do understand why I should take the sponge out, but I don't understand why i should take the LR out. It is currently sitting on the false floor in the second camber. With water continuously moving around it, there is no trap for Nitrates . So I should not have a Nitrate problem, right. Or am I totally wrong with that theory.
Thanks

 

[nissan577]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bodeybb http:///forum/thread/382954/bio-cube-29-gal-hqi-diary#post_3351936
Nissan,
I do most of my reading in the morning with coffee. It was not meant as an insult. I really do appreciate the info. Anyways, I was able to read it this morning and it had tons of great info. I do understand why I should take the sponge out, but I don't understand why i should take the LR out. It is currently sitting on the false floor in the second camber. With water continuously moving around it, there is no trap for Nitrates . So I should not have a Nitrate problem, right. Or am I totally wrong with that theory.
Thanks
if the rock is ontop of the false floor, then it should be fine.

 

[spanko]

Water constantly moves around bio media too, but if you don't keep them clean they accumulate detritus. As this breaks down it ends up as nitrates in your system.
How you going to keep the rock clean?

 

[bodeybb]

Wouldn't the Caulerpaceae absorb the nitrates? I do have a light source against the back window. On the other hand, I don't know how I would keep the rock clean. If I flush out the detritus as a part of my routine maintenance that might work.
Any ideas about a good moonlight that works well with my tank?

It has the HQI light pendent hanging from the back. So, I can't have anything large that hangs over the tank.

 

[bodeybb]

Nissan,
I understand that you replaced the mangrove with the chaeto in your second chamber. But, what do you have in chamber #1 and #3. Bag of absorbent material? If so, what and why? I have a mini protein skimmer in chamber #1 and it seems to be working great but i don't really have much in the tank yet. In the third chamber I have the UV sterilizer connected. It has been off since i put the LR and LS in. I want the tank to cycle properly and having it on would make the tank cycle slower. I think it should be on only a minimal amount of time anyways.