New Biocube 29

mtbenino

mtbenino

Member
I just bought my wife a 29g biocube, we plan to make it a reef tank with corals and only a few fish.
What is the general rule of thumb for LR I think it's 2lbs per gallon right, and as far as live sand what would be an appropiate amount.
my next question is this, do I need a protein skimmer and is the standard lighting enough or will I need to change it.
 
silverdak

silverdak

Active Member
I believe the normal rule of thumb is 1.5lbs per gallon. so in a 29 gallon like 40-45lbs of LR would probably be good. I have the 14G biocube and have about 25-28lbs of LR in it. IMO its really personal preference, tank really full looking of LR or minimal with lots of corals and stuff.
 
mtbenino

mtbenino

Member
well we are going to do coral so we will see. I think I have read some of your thread about the 14g
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
Yup, about 40 pounds of live rock should be perfect. The lighting on the Biocube 29 is sufficient for softies and some lower light lps coral. For sps, clams, anemones and some of the higher light lps you would want to upgrade to halides or individually reflected HO T-5's. It is a nice tank, congrats
 
mtbenino

mtbenino

Member
I am headed to the LFS today to see what they have for LR and go from there. I don't know all the terms for corals but my wife and I are sold are making this a small reef probably more corals and things and only a few fish.
 
mtbenino

mtbenino

Member
I went to the LFS today and picked up my sand (fiji pink), salt. There LR is 8 dollars and 13 dollars per lb not sure if that is a good price or not. But as soon as I get my LR situation figured out I will need to buy some. Trying to figure best way to arrange it, I have seen a few designs I like. I will also put a korilla 1 in there as well for some more flow.
 
silverdak

silverdak

Active Member
I have seen it in my area fully cured for $6-8 per pound. if you wantg to keep it cheaper, get say 20lbs of LR and 20 lbs of base rock. the base rock is white or gray most times. the base rock will become alive after about 6 months. I have pictures somewhere to prove it....
 
d-dzel

d-dzel

Member
Originally Posted by mtbenino
http:///forum/post/2896793
I went to the LFS today and picked up my sand (fiji pink), salt. There LR is 8 dollars and 13 dollars per lb not sure if that is a good price or not. But as soon as I get my LR situation figured out I will need to buy some. Trying to figure best way to arrange it, I have seen a few designs I like. I will also put a korilla 1 in there as well for some more flow.
Hey Mtbenino, I just got a 29 biocube as well and just started it.
Around my area I found LR from $3.99-12.99. I just bought a nice 10lb one for $5.99/lb which has a lot of purple on it.
Currently, I might buy a nice base rock that I saw, it's more like a fake rock, but my LFS has some on display and the became LR in a matter of months (3-4 he said) and it looks pretty nice, mostly because of the design they have. They are about the same price of LR, but you just need to give it time. I'll post a pic of one that I found at my LFS.
 
mtbenino

mtbenino

Member
Well I was looking on craigslist yesterday and a guy has 150lbs for sale from 2-4 per lb so I am going to call him today and see what he has left and go take a look at it. It's from an established tank he is breaking down so we will see.
 
silverdak

silverdak

Active Member
alright I found the pictures.. first one is of base rock, you can see how white it is and what not, most of the LR is under neither
its not a FTS but you cal still see how much white is in the pictures, this picture is from the side and shows the left side of the tank

this is a FTS of what it looks like now, you will find very little to no white in there. the left side of the tank is what you can see in the first picture so you can see a difference.

this is after about 6 months or so. hope this helps you save some money!
 
mtbenino

mtbenino

Member
I really appreciate it, if this guy has good rock for 2-4 per lb then I can afford that, just not 13 if you know what I am saying...I am hoping to have some pics up later if all goes well.
 
silverdak

silverdak

Active Member
ya defiantly If I found someone local with rock for $2-3 a pound I would have jumped on it. but base rock at $2 per pound was more in my price range
 
mtbenino

mtbenino

Member
SilverDak,
Thanks for youe help. I talked to the guy and I am going to meet him in an hour or so, we will see what he has left. If this doesn't pan out then base rock is probably the way to go with some LR also to seed it.
 
d-dzel

d-dzel

Member
Here a couple of pics of the base rock that I'll be using, hopefully they'll turn into LR like SilverDak's
The front view; I like how flat it is and it has a great support on the bottom, I'll be able to put anything I want to over this one

The bottom:
 
mtbenino

mtbenino

Member
I got the deal of the century guys. I bought 50 lbs of LR for 100 bucks. Pic coming as soon as I get it up, going to do that now.
 
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