Gene's BioCube 14g - New to Great

gene80

gene80

New Member
Hey everyone. I just received my BioCube 14 from the "it" store and thought I'd start my thread. I had a 7 gallon reef tank before but was in school so water changes were unfortunately less than recommended.
I want this one to be good so I'd appreciate your help.
So I guess I'll begin with the initial stats.
---- Price: $135.99
I picked up 14.6 lbs of live rock for the LFS.
100W Marineland Heater
Temp: 79-81 F
NH3: 0
Nitrites: 10 ppm
Nitrates: 0
pH: 8.0 - 8.1
MJ900
Stock: Lighting, Bioballs, Carbon Filter, and Blue 3rd Chamber Screen
I give props to "The Fish Store & More" in Atlanta. Those guys have been extremely helpful so far.
Below are some initial pictures:
It's on my desk at work so room tempature is always at 72 Degrees, which is nice... Although bringing 10 gallons of RO water up in the elevators can be a little akward.




 
gene80

gene80

New Member
The tank conditions were absolutely perfect today so I decided to go ahead and add a few critters so everyone in the office, including myself, had something to look at.
Things I found that came on the LR:
Tiny Green Crab - Stays in this little hole so I've not gotten a full look/shot of him yet.
Unidentified worm - This thing was very very skinny but extremly long and seemed to be coming in and out of very small holes in the LR.
Bristleworm - I saw at least one today.
Aiptasia - I think my count is up to 5 or 6. They could be some sort of small Polyp that came on the LR but I'll stick with Aiptasia.
Things added today:
2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp - One was slightly aggressive towards the other. Hopefullly they calmed down after I turned the lights off and fed them.
10 Turbo Snails - Big Snails
3 Caribbean Crabs - Was told not to add to many crabs or they'd be dining on my Snails.
Misc. Free Zoo Polyps: I placed these guys '3 or 4 polyps' in a plastic dish I found in the supply room used to hold whiteboard magnets. I also broke up a few small pieces of new limestone hoping they'll grab on. Anyone have any recommendations or adivce on how to attach a single polyp. Is it worth the trouble?
 
gene80

gene80

New Member
Wanted to give a brief update:
I would appreciate feedback from anyone with the 70w Nanotuner Upgrade.
The shrimp, crabs, and snails are doing well after a few days in the tank. The shrimp stopped fighting after that first night.
I've been reading posts religiously on both saltwaterfish.com and nano-reef.com to get ideas on what to modify and what to leave alone.
Current Upgrade List:
MJ900
Nanotuner 70w MH Upgrade (Just Ordered)
Upgraded Fans for Increased Heat Exchange
Electronic Temp Display
Future Upgrade List:
-Replace bioballs with marble sized pieces of LR in chamber 2.
-Remove stock carbon filter and purchase loose carbon and bag from LFS to be used 5 days a month.
-Place filter floss over drip tray
-Cut stock blue large debris filter in half
pH is still a little low for some reason. I'll be doing a 25% water change tomorrow so maybe that will help stabilize it. The coralline algae are going absolutely crazy.
The loose zoo polyps I had couldn't stay still long enough to attach to the rock I had in the dish so I replaced it with pea gravel. Hopefully it attached over the weekend.
I'll post some new pictures tomorrow.
 
gene80

gene80

New Member
I need some help identifying a strange worm and some different types of red algae. I've never seen a worm like the one below. It's got a bright orange head and then black stripes with a red line on a white body.
Also, look at the different types of red algae. Are any of those types bad for the tank?
I finally got around to exchanging the bioballs with pieces of LR. More rock fits back there than you would imagine. I didn't have enough to fill the entire compartment so I left 10 or so BB on top inbetween the crushed LR and the trickle water catch. I also added a small bag or Purigen to the 1st compartment with the heater.
One of the loose zoos I was given finally attached to a piece of small rock. Hopefully it will begin to multiply. Does anyone know how long it takes a single zoo to split? I'm going to visit the LFS tomorrow and pick up a couple of fish and corals to finally add a little life to the tank. (Wanted to make sure the water was good before I stocked)
Any advice on additional water flow would also be appreciated. I like the cave but it creates a dead spot for water flow and detritus is starting to gather.
MH Light Mod should get in tomorrow!





 
L

lbaskball

Guest
Looks like you got alott of bubble algae.
You should get some good clean up crew to get rid of all that algae unless of course you like the algae. The pink algae is good. It is called coralline algae. Hair algae, bubble algae, and any other algae in your maintaink can be bad if it over grows and usually grows over corals. Get some good clean up crew and it should take care of it. Emerald crabs are known to eat bubble algae.
 
L

lbaskball

Guest
By the way, your rockwork looks really cool. I really like the cave.
 
gene80

gene80

New Member
All in all I love the light! It's really blue and I can already tell the colors on the few polyps of zoos I have are brighter. I upgraded the fans as well, which are a little louder, and the temperature stays between 79.6-80.5. I have to replace about 3/4 of pint of RO a day which is a little more than before.
I'm looking forward to getting my Rose Bubble Anemone for the clown. I'm thinking of also starting with a few colors of zoos, pulsing xenia, red sponge, rics, some gorg, and maybe a bird’s nest. I like the idea of gluing a small frag of xenia to the back tank wall.
The bad news is that the instructions are terrible and seriously wrong in a few sections. They also used the wrong drill template for my light housing so it didn't match up with the stock hood as claimed. I think it took me around 4 hours to install. Maybe this should encourage people to send the hood off rather than DIY. I've requested a partial refund. STILL LOVE THE TANK! I'm a little addicted.
"First of all we'd like to apologize for the difficulties you encountered during the installation. Unfortunately the instructions you had were originally created in October of last year and were based on the prototype model. The confusion with the Workhorse 3 ballast was completely my mistake as that ballast is not used during the install as you discovered. I had unintentionally included that in the instructions and didn't catch the mistake.
If you can provide us with specifics regarding which parts and instructions are incorrect this would be a great help in correcting the problem. If you can provide pictures that would be nice as well.
All of your input is valued and helps us to improve our product line.
Thank you for your support and patience."
I'll post a few pictures tomorrow.
 
cichlidkid

cichlidkid

Member
The only problem with xenia is that once it gets splitting you'll wish that you had never bought it in the first place
 
mpls man

mpls man

Active Member
GENE80
where did you get the nanotuner light your refering to? i herd of that light from the lfs today and cant remember the web site.
 
oak

oak

Member
Uh Gene80 I am not a mod but I don't think you are aloud to post links to other websites that sell aquarium supplies.
 
boog

boog

New Member
Originally Posted by cichlidKid
The only problem with xenia is that once it gets splitting you'll wish that you had never bought it in the first place
I agree with you on this!!
 
gene80

gene80

New Member

Originally Posted by cichlidKid
The only problem with xenia is that once it gets splitting you'll wish that you had never bought it in the first place
How often do you have to frag it? I like the pulsing but if it's going to be a pain then I'll look for something else.
Here are some new shots of the tank. I finally got some corals.
New Additions:
Bubble Coral
Random Anemone (Wanted RBA but the one in the store was sick looking, not worth the $100 the LFS wanted)
Small SPS frag
Emerald Crab
Hopefully the clown will decide to host soon. How long does that usually take?



 
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