Biocube setup help

[oodog]

Hello! I am brand new to saltwater tanks, I have had many freshwater tanks and have been very successful. However when I saw an advertisement on craigslist for somebody selling a biocube 14 with stand, and fish food and many coral foods and chemicals. (also alot of important equipment like thermometers and a hydrometer.) All they were asking for it was $30!!! It was pretty scratched (barely noticable when full of water) and the stock pump was broken. Luckily I had an extra 400gph pump laying around and fit "perfectly". I was at petsmart a few days before to buy more cichlid pellets and I saw that they had a sale on marine salt, it was a huge bucket that normally cost like $50 and it was on sale for $15! So i got the cube cleaned up and filled with water and started the pump two days ago. Last night I bought a 20lb bag of live sand and ordered 5lbs of dry live rock. I would love any advice to save money (Only 15 and still need to save for a car:lmao Also any advice on getting everything going. Thanks!


Ps, please dont comment on my age and if I will be able to do a saltwater setup (If it helps, I dont go to school because i am taking my classes online and will graduate high school this January)

 

[username in use]

Find your local reef club. Buying frags from local reefers is a great money saver. Also, being young and new, they'll be a great resource of local people to meet and learn from.

What would you like to get out of this tank?

 

[juniorrocketdad]

I'm 16 and got my reef at 14 with money I got from working over the summer, anyone can be successful regardless of age, anyway Craigslist and eBay are great places to find equipment

 

[oodog]

Find your local reef club. Buying frags from local reefers is a great money saver. Also, being young and new, they'll be a great resource of local people to meet and learn from.

What would you like to get out of this tank?

I think it would be cool to have a clownfish or two and a few types of coral like polyps and mushrooms or something, thanks for the tips!

 

[michellejy]

You will definitely need more rock, and you probably want at least one nano-sized powerhead for additional flow (sicce and koralia are both inexpensive and reliable).

Are you planning to try corals or FOWLR?

 

[oodog]

Find your local reef club. Buying frags from local reefers is a great money saver. Also, being young and new, they'll be a great resource of local people to meet and learn from.

What would you like to get out of this tank?

You will definitely need more rock, and you probably want at least one nano-sized powerhead for additional flow (sicce and koralia are both inexpensive and reliable).

Are you planning to try corals or FOWLR?

I would love to get a fish or two, maybe a clownfish? I would also like to get some easier corals to begin with.


I am going to try and sell off a few of my older tanks so I can buy more live rock and a powerhead, Thanks

 

[oodog]

You will definitely need more rock, and you probably want at least one nano-sized powerhead for additional flow (sicce and koralia are both inexpensive and reliable).

Are you planning to try corals or FOWLR?

Hey if this reply repeats, my bad I am new and none of my posts are posting,

But I am hopefully going to get a fish or two probably a clownfish. I would also love to try and keep a few beginner corals.

For more rock and power head, I'm going to try and sell off a few old tanks and order some up

Also, I found that dry live rock is much cheaper and I ordered 5lbs of that, I have the live sand and I plan on buying 1lb of real live rock from my LFS would that be enough to "seed" the rest of the dry live rock? Thanks!

 

[oodog]

My posts wont post hmm...

But my goal is to get one or two fish probably one of those being a clownfish and to try and get some beginner corals

As for the live rock and powerheads I am trying to sell off some of my other tanks so i can buy more, Thanks!

 

[DavidGraves]

14 gallon is cramped for a clown. Check out the nano tank sub forum here there is a lot of info there on biocubes. liveaquaria has a nano fish section with recommended tank size for the fish.

 

[oodog]

14 gallon is cramped for a clown. Check out the nano tank sub forum here there is a lot of info there on biocubes. liveaquaria has a nano fish section with recommended tank size for the fish.

ok thank you, I will do that

 

[Volcmreefer]

I have a small biocube. Buy an InTank filter rack for it. Works wonders for me. I put a bag of Chemi-pure elite and a pack of carbon in it and replace after every other water change. Use filter floss and a sponge on the top section to remove floating organics prior to the carbon and chemipure. I use two Koralia nano pumps for flow.

 

[oodog]

I have a small biocube. Buy an InTank filter rack for it. Works wonders for me. I put a bag of Chemi-pure elite and a pack of carbon in it and replace after every other water change. Use filter floss and a sponge on the top section to remove floating organics prior to the carbon and chemipure. I use two Koralia nano pumps for flow.

Thanks for the advice
Ive seen a few different models, but do you think it would be possible to make a DIY version easy enough?
And also do you use any skimmer or are water changes enough for you ( assuming 20% weekly?)

 

[michellejy]

Hey if this reply repeats, my bad I am new and none of my posts are posting,

But I am hopefully going to get a fish or two probably a clownfish. I would also love to try and keep a few beginner corals.

For more rock and power head, I'm going to try and sell off a few old tanks and order some up

Also, I found that dry live rock is much cheaper and I ordered 5lbs of that, I have the live sand and I plan on buying 1lb of real live rock from my LFS would that be enough to "seed" the rest of the dry live rock? Thanks!

You can seed your rock just by feeding an empty tank, but if you want a bit of coraline algae, any amount of (wet) live rock will help that spread through your tank.

Lots of people keep clownfish in tanks that size. It just depends on the type of clown. Don't get a maroon or anything.

 

[michellejy]

Thanks for the advice
Ive seen a few different models, but do you think it would be possible to make a DIY version easy enough?
And also do you use any skimmer or are water changes enough for you ( assuming 20% weekly?)

I don't run a skimmer. A lot of people have SPS, which requires really pristine water, but soft corals aren't usually as picky. When I took down my 120 gallon tank, I stuck some rock with a toadstool and some mushrooms into a bucket with just a heater and flow but no light. The toadstools and mushrooms survived for months like that. (I don't recommend treating corals like that obviously, but they are pretty hardy for someone on a budget who wants to experiment.)

 

[username in use]

I would love to get a fish or two, maybe a clownfish? I would also like to get some easier corals to begin with.


I am going to try and sell off a few of my older tanks so I can buy more live rock and a powerhead, Thanks

A couple small fish in that tank is fine. And yes, you can do almost all dry rock and just seed it with a small piece of live rock.

Thanks for the advice
Ive seen a few different models, but do you think it would be possible to make a DIY version easy enough?
And also do you use any skimmer or are water changes enough for you ( assuming 20% weekly?)

For that size tank, if you keep it lightly stocked, you should be fine without a skimmer as long as you keep a good schedule of water changes.

 

[michellejy]

Also, if you haven't checked it out yet, look in the nano tank section of these forums. There are a lot of people with the same size tank you have (or smaller) so you can get some ideas for livestock and modifications.

 

[Volcmreefer]

I don't run a skimmer and have Monti plates that are thriving. Just keep up on your water change schedule and use RODI water with 0 TDS and you will be fine. I do a 1 gallon change every week. It literally takes about 15 minutes. I think my tank is about 5 gallons. It's the smallest biocube they made. As far as fish goes, I have a small clown and he is doing fine. Just make sure you don't put in anything that requires alot of room to swim. Happy Reefing!

 

[michellejy]

In a tank that small where you don't plan to keep multiple fish, maybe a gumdrop coral croucher pair (although they can be reclusive) or a dwarf anglerfish (check in the aggressive or nano forums if that is suitable for your tank though).

Just throwing out a couple of unusual options, but I do love clowns.