Biocube 14 Journal

[Chewy954]

Hi everyone, this was my first post back in 3/6/17, but it went unapproved so I am reposting it.

==

Hello Everyone.

I purchased a Oceanic BioCube 14g Kit w/ Stand for $100 late February 2017 for my first Salt Tank.
I've had fresh water as a kid, but nothing recent.
This will be my journal to document the build process of my Environment.

March 4th, 2017:

My shipment of the LED Retrofit came in and I decided to install it today.

Here's my kit's list:

12" TrueLumen Actinic Pacific Blue LED Strip - $34.48
12" TrueLumen 12k Diamond White LED Strip - $36.82
Power Supply - $15.00
Dual Ramp Timer Light - $37.86(Repackaged New from Amazon Warehouse)

Total: $124.16

The dual ramp timer light has connectors to control both LED colors on a light schedule, I minimized the amount of connectors used and it is the cleanest way you'll ged LED's in you're hood. Plenty of light. Checkout my photos for min and max brightness!

1% Minimum Brightness:

100% Maximum Brightness:

I'm even able to reuse the holes where the power ballasts ran through for the female connectors, it looks retail:

Putting the kit together myself, I was able to not only upgrade from manual dimmers to a digital one w/ timing abilities, and I saved a few bucks

Doing this retrofit I was able to eliminate a lot of large component and went from 3 plugs to 1 for the lighting system. I lost the fans, but LED's produce less heat, and I can always add some better ones in later if I really need it.

Please drop any and all recommendations you have for me with this. I have a stock pump and am considering upgrading that as well, just not sure to what yet.

Thanks for following me.

 

[Chewy954]

March 10th, 2017:

Some upgrades have arrived!

Cobalt MJ900 Pump - $28.25
Hydor Deflector Attachment - $11.99
50 Watt Heater
NanoMag Glass Cleaner
Salinity Refractometer

I setup the new pump & deflector attachment.
Damn, that baby is one sweet addition. Circulating Flow > Stationary Flow.
I live in South Florida, so the 50w heater is just for emergencies at the current time.

March 18th, 2017:

I went ahead and purchased 8 LB of Live Haitian Rock, 20 LB of Live Sand, and natural sea water for the tank and set her up.

Lighting is set to a 12/12 schedule. White LEDs turn on 1 hour after Blue LEDs and also shut off 1 hour before.

March 29th, 2017:

Filtration upgrades have arrived!

inTank has some sweet additions for this tank.

inTank Media Basket
inTank Fish Saver

Filtration Media Used:
Chemipure Elite - $9.99
Seachem Purigen $8.70[url]
[url=http://amzn.to/2nShNJo]Filter Floss - $10.99

I purchased some Reef Glue and glued the loose rocks down.

Now this baby is set!

Here she is in her glory.(SPOILER INSTAGRAM FILTER IN USE )

After this I went ahead and purchased a cleanup crew.

6x Blue Legged Hermit Crabs
5x Snails
2x Nassarius Snails
1x Emerald Crab

April 5th, 2017:

I've had my eye on a Pistol Shrimp & Watchmen Goby pair and was able to find a Tiger Pistol Shrimp at my LFS for $19.99. No goby but, I snagged him up none-the-less.

Check this little guy out digging up his new home.
https://youtu.be/cmy_0Wh-xi4

April 8th, 2017:
I found a Bluespotted Watchman Goby at All Pets Emporium for $19.99!
I'm stoked. She/he is a little one, 1inch. He's taken to my Pistol Shrimp, seems like a
successful bonding!

Here is my blue spotted watchman goby.

I'm extremely happy! I plan to add a pair of white wyoming clownfish in a few weeks if all stays on the up and up.

Cheers everyone.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Nice , go slow, your tank still very new, i would wait another month before adding the clowns. I have a yellow watchman goby as well n 5 clowns in my 29g cube. I would keep an eye on the truelumen led, i use several, the three led ones n they all die after a few months. Maybe the longer one is built better? Another choice is look into the reefbreeder wifi nano it might fit inside the hood if you already modified it. Plus you have control of 6 channels n can do dusk to dawn.

 

[Chewy954]

Thanks for the advice. I'll go slow. I'm not in a rush.

I've seen lots of builds w/ success running these LEDs without issue. Hopefully they last! :]

April 10th, 2017:

My Hydor Koralia 425 arrived! I felt I needed more flow, this is the max flow I'd want.
I believe I'm done w/ accessories for the tank.

My Tiger Pistol Shrimp won't stop digging. The rock shifted a bit downwards on one end. I'm thinking of removing the rock, removing everything, and digging it down a little into the rock. Am I being to cautious?

 

[aznflyfisherman]

You need to make sure the rocks are secure, just make sure your not stirring the sand all over the place, guess move it around slowly, either way you might get an algea out break. The watchman goby n the shrimp will dig under the rock works n cause the to shift, so better to secure them or risk it fall into the glass.

 

[Chewy954]

What would cause an algae outbreak?

Excuse my ignorance.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Detritus, left over food, access nutrients that are in the sand bed, if you end up stirring all that up it may cause it, thats y i said to just go slow when securing your rock.

 

[HaKs310]

Your tank is so new you will have algae outbreaks regardless, it's normal. You should be seeing green algae pretty soon. I would not worry too much about the rocks. As long as they're in about an inch into the sand bed you should be okay. That Tiger will move the sand around everywhere so it will just be something to live with.

You're running the MJ900 for return and the 425 in the tank?

 

[MrDemonicAngel]

I love goby+pistol pairs. GL with your new tank

 

[Chewy954]

I'm gonna just leave everything the way it is. I may take the rock out to chip a corner off though that is hitting the glass after the rock settled from the shrimps digging. I'm thinking of making that some rubble to leave on the bottom of chamber 2.

@HaKs310 Yep, MK900 to a Hydor Circulating Attachment and a 425 in tank, it was working out fine as long as I face it upwards. Honestly, pretty weak.
I had to shut it off though, it generated too much heat and my temps hit 81.2.
I've shut it off since and will go ahead and install some fans in the hood to help cool the tank.
I'm thinking of buying 2 fans and installing an intake and exhaust in the rear and connecting the fans to a hot/cold thermostat. Fans on cold side and toss the heater on the hot side.

I'm open to suggestions. Thank you.

 

[HaKs310]

I wouldn't worry too much about it hitting 81. It's the temp swings you want to avoid.

I'm running an MJ900 for return and a Nano 240 in the tank. I'm looking at getting a Jabeo PP4 to replace the 240 though. I had a VorTech MP10 in a custom 40g years back and I loved that thing so want to see what the PP4 can do in in our nanos.

I'm running three fans in my NanoCube. One is used for the LEDs heatsink blowing horizontally across the hood. The other two are in the stock positions, one blowing in and the other blows out.

Have you taken a temp gun and o the hood/LEDs to see how much they are contributing to the heater's temp?

 

[Chewy954]

I ended returning the Hydor 425 for the Jebao SW2. I see people are able to use it fine in 8g and utilize multiple speed settings, it should be great in my tank!

Jebao SW2 - $50.13

That will arrive today.

I went ahead and powered 1 of the original fans(other is dead) near the LEDs with a 12v PSU which will help cool the LEDs, but they really do not produce too much heat.

My temps have stayed around 79.6-80.2 so I think I'm fine, I'd just prefer 1 degree less.

 

[HaKs310]

A video of that SW2 would be awesome! I've been eye balling the Jabeo PP4 which has the same flow rates as the SW2; don't know what's different about them.

That's the temp range my tank is at now. We had 90 degree weather today, tank didn't go.over 80.2

 

[Chewy954]

I'll try to get a video tomorrow. I'm really liking this SW2.
A quick visual, they have different remotes.

 

[Chewy954]

I have added some coral!

Zoanthids!

I purchased 3 different frags from from http://neonreefs.com, this being the largest on a rock.
The others 2 are pods. I have 4 different colorations.

I'll try to get a photo of the others soon.

I am now contemplating adding a 3rd truelumen LED strip. Another Blue LED.

 

[Chewy954]

Quick update:

April 30th, 2017

I went ahead and purchased another 12" Blue Truelumen LED Strip along with a 2 way splitter and plugged it into channel 2, unfortunately it is only giving off 50% power for each of those lights.. not what I meant by a splitter lol. My PSU is 48w@24v... 3x 12" Strips should be 27w which the Dual Ramp Timer handles.

Any ideas everyone?

Thanks