29 Gallon Biocube - Suggestions

[Aquatic Dreams]

So I just got a great deal on a 29 Gallon Biocube today. It came with stand, AI Prime LED, Nano Koralia, small Tetra Submersible Heater, Digital Thermometer, Refractometer, Test Kits, Calcium Supplements, other odds and ends and a small pump and hose for pumping water in and out of the tank. (Saves lifting buckets ... YAY! ) It also came with some Fiji rock, an Ocellaris Clown, Sea Urchin, 3 each Nassarius and Trochus snails.

I took out most of the substrate and used some new aragonite that I had. I scrubbed off the rocks as they were covered in algae. I used most of the water that was previously in the tank along with a newly mixed 5 gal. bucket. I'm sure that the tank will likely go through a mini cycle but am more concerned about the lack of the algae for the urchin. While I'm sure there's still enough on the rocks for the Trochus snails I was thinking I should put the urchin in my 46 gal. which is not shy of algae at all. At least until this tank starts to bloom a bit.

Looking for any advice or opinions that you guys have. I will post pics a bit later.

Thanks ... Dave.

 

[unibob]

If you can add a small rock to tank, elastic band a piece of seaweed onto it, and your urchin should be just fine...as long as cycle isn't to much.

Did you scrub rocks inside tank water? Or out of water? just wondering how much die off there will be.

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

I scrubbed the rocks in a bucket full of water that I took from my 46 gal. reef tank. The urchin certainly wouldn't starve in the 46 gal. I just thought maybe I should wait to see if the cube cycled and let it get some growth first before putting the urchin back in it. I was planning to put the clown and snails back in the biocube though.

Dave.

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

OK ... So I ended up putting the urchin in the 46 gal. and it's happily munching away on algae.

Here's a pic of the tank several hours ago ...





And here are a couple pics now ... I'm hoping that by tomorrow all the cloudiness will be gone.







And here's a pic of the urchin ...




Dave.

 

[nathan]

OK ... So I ended up putting the urchin in the 46 gal. and it's happily munching away on algae.

Here's a pic of the tank several hours ago ...





And here are a couple pics now ... I'm hoping that by tomorrow all the cloudiness will be gone.







And here's a pic of the urchin ...




Dave.

Congrats on the new build good luck

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

Can anybody suggest a good little skimmer to put in the filter area of this biocube?

 

[unibob]

Tunze 9002.


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[Aquatic Dreams]

Tunze 9002.

Thanks for the suggestion. Although after doing a bit more reading I may just skip the skimmer altogether. I'm not planning on putting many fish in this cube. I'm going to use it mostly for corals and fragging. I may or may not keep the clown and might get a couple small gobies later on. So from my understanding as long as I keep up with regular water changes skimming may be unnecessary. I also read a couple threads that gave the general impression that most of the nano skimmers don't help that much anyways.

Any thoughts from members' experience would be appreciated.

 

[TORX]

I ran my nano cube skimmer less with great success. Minimal fish packed with corals.

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[Aquatic Dreams]

I ran my nano cube skimmer less with great success. Minimal fish packed with corals.

Yeah ... that's the direction the I'm headed in as well. One thing for sure though. Having this little pump instead of lifting 5 gal. buckets full of water is SOOOO much better. I just need to get an extension cord with an ON/OFF switch to make things a bit easier.

In the BAG-O-STUFF that came with the tank there is an API Test Kit (Now I have 2 of them) along with a separate Salifert Calcium Test Kit. I also have a bottle each of B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System. (Component No. 1 Alalinity & Component No. 2 Calcium) I'm not sure why the previous owner was dosing these as there was no coral in the tank. Any thoughts on when these can/should be used?

Hey ... there's also a full 30 ml bottle of EcoTech Coral Glue!

 

[TORX]

Only dose what you test for. Some people dose just because others do. No need to dose if you have acceptable levels. Just a waste of money at that point.

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[TORX]

Could be due to him using the API kit. I am not too sure how accurate they are when it comes to the big 3

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[Aquatic Dreams]

I'm not planning on dosing for anything unless there's a reason to. I just assumed that the only reason to dose Calcium is if you have corals, critters or algae that need it. There was an urchin in the tank do they have a requirement for Calcium?

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

Do you think I should be expecting this tank to cycle all over again? I used 3/4 of the old water and the original rocks. (Just scrubbed them a bit in old saltwater). However I used new substrate and 5 gal. of new saltwater. And I rinsed the filters in old saltwater as well.

Just wondering if I would be able to put some mushrooms, softies or LPS in the tank or if I should wait to see if it needs to cycle first? Right now the tank only contains the clownfish, 2 Trochus snails and 3 Nassarius snails.

 

[Shooter000]

You will get a cycle, just because of the new sand, using some of the old water and rocks will help keep the cycle to a minimum, but you will see one shortly...I would hold off on putting anything else in the tank other than mushrooms maybe, just dont want to risk losing anything, keep up on water changes and hopefully the cycle will be done in a week or so then slowly start adding things if you see the tank stabilizing,

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

You will get a cycle, just because of the new sand, using some of the old water and rocks will help keep the cycle to a minimum, but you will see one shortly...I would hold off on putting anything else in the tank other than mushrooms maybe, just dont want to risk losing anything, keep up on water changes and hopefully the cycle will be done in a week or so then slowly start adding things if you see the tank stabilizing,

OK thanks for the tip. I was just doing a bit of research as my biocube doesn't have the lid that most of the other biocubes I've seen have. Instead it has a glass top and a couple plastic covers for the filter section. Just found out that it's the Biocube HQI which normally comes with metal halide lighting but this one came with an LED instead. I didn't know there were different styles of biocube before.

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

I'm lovin' this AI Prime ramp up and down feature. Much more subtle than in the pic ...




I also found out that this biocube has a little window in the back for a refugium. I have some Red Bush macroalgae (Gracilaria Hayi) growing in my main tank so I put some of that and a bit of Chaeto that a buddy gave me in. I have a little LED light that I taped to the back of the tank (until I can get some velcro) and put it on a timer opposite of the main light. Here's a very crappy pic. LOL

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

OK .. The Diatoms are starting on the sand bed. There's nothing I can do to prevent this correct? I just have to let the tank do it's thing?

On a side note my buddy gave me some green star polyps that are starting to come out. Don't worry I have them on a separate rock away from everything else. LOL

 

[Shooter000]

Yep just let the tank do its thing, if it gets real bad you can always suck some of it out with a air line.. Keep up on water changes and it should be done mini cycling in no time

 

[monizb]

I have a 29 gal bio with the 9002 skimmer and running eBay led unit along with and tunze auto top off I change water every two weeks I have a yellow tang one clown one Chromis Bangi two cleaners and a pistol shrimp wth a watchman along with snails

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