Coralife BioCube 29g Build

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H-O-L-Y crap! I finally got the bugger!! Earlier tonight he was up front and we tried to grab him (see earlier post). Then, he was straddling my yellow cucumber and I couldn't tell if he was trying to eat the cucumber or what was under him. Tried to grab him with a gloved hand, but as soon as he saw my hand he boogied out.

Then, I happened to look at the tank and the green grass stalk-thingy in the front of the tank was pulled from the sand and it looked like it was being pushed/sucked into the gave by the flow. I reached in and tried to grab it to put it back and all of a sudden there was strong tension pulling it the opposite direction, and moving fairly quickly! That's when I realized the crab had it and was pulling it into the cave and all the way between two rocks at the back!! That's when I saw him struggling at the back of the tank because he couldn't get it through the rocks, but was still holding on.

So I reached in and grabbed him and yanked him out of the tank. And it took more effort than I expected! Strong little sucker!

Here is the green thing he had. I had to re-bury it in the sand.
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Also, earlier when the lights were still on, I got a pic of the small coral that is starting to open up a little.

Does anyone know what this is?
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It is called sea mat.......I collect it in the Keys.....
Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com
 
Thanks homer. I already pay for an image service, so I'd rather use that (if I can). I just have to figure out how to share images publicly and haven't had a chance to look into it (I know it's possible).

Why pay for anything? Photobucket is free, and has an app so its super simple to use from your mobile.
 
Why pay for anything? Photobucket is free, and has an app so its super simple to use from your mobile.


I already pay for Picturelife as my photo service (for several reasons). I have unlimited storage and all my photos and videos automatically upload to it, so the photos I am using are actually already uploaded there.

However, if I can't easily figure out how to share images publicly (by default everything is locked down), I will use photobucket just for tank stuff.
 
Just two quick updates.

1) Now that my tank is up and running with some life in it, the skimmer is working as it should. The micro bubbles would still be a problem, but the InTank media basket and some polyfill resolve that issue.

2) I decided to set the tank temp to 78 degrees (in all of my tanks). Since doing this and having the cooling fans installed and being able to see temp swings for a while now, my temp never seems to go above 79.6, and never falls below 78.4.

PS - I went topless on the QT tank and temps are staying steady there as well. The clowns look good, are eating and just about never leave each other's side (yay!).
 
Sounds good. What temp were you running before? I shoot for 78, and in the winter 77ish. In mid summer the tanks get up to 81ish, but the corals don't seem to mind too much (and they're very sensitive to temp swings).

Hopefully the AL works the microbubbles out over time, we'll see. That's annoying though. Nano skimmers are never perfect, but hey, at least their production is decent these days. They used to make microbubbles while not making effective skimmate...
 
Sounds good. What temp were you running before? I shoot for 78, and in the winter 77ish. In mid summer the tanks get up to 81ish, but the corals don't seem to mind too much (and they're very sensitive to temp swings).

Hopefully the AL works the microbubbles out over time, we'll see. That's annoying though. Nano skimmers are never perfect, but hey, at least their production is decent these days. They used to make microbubbles while not making effective skimmate...


Before I had anything in the tank and was just trying to get familiar with how things would run, I had the temp set at 76. The skimmer seemed to raise the temp substantially (into the 80's during the day when the lights were on), so I bought those cooling fans. But then I read some things (can't remember what) that suggested 78 is a better temp, so I changed it to that before I put my first shipment of TBS rock. It's nice to see that the fans are doing their job and keeping the temp swing to a minimum.

The AL skimmer is already pulling some decent skim, so that's good. It seems a little temperamental, but hoping it settles down a bit over time. And the media basket with polyfill seems to block the bubbles now.
 
Please let us know how the AL is working out Tim - I'm eyeing a BC29 and I haven't heard decent reviews of any skimmer capable of fitting in there. Fingers crossed this one will work out for you. :D
 
Please let us know how the AL is working out Tim - I'm eyeing a BC29 and I haven't heard decent reviews of any skimmer capable of fitting in there. Fingers crossed this one will work out for you. :D

FWIW I've run both the Aquaticlife 115 and I'm currently running the Tunze 9001 (was given to me), and if I weren't so lazy, I would switch back to the AL115. The Tunze, while I love Tunze, just is a pain in the butt to dial in and get to stay dialed-in. It's definitely one of those skimmers where it's either skimming too dry or it's overflowing and you have to empty it daily. At least in my experience so far, about 3 months. The other 9 or so months of my tank being up, I used the AL115, and I never had to fuss with it.

I'm still working on the Tunze because I want it to work because Tunze as a brand is great, but man this thing is almost impossible to dial in for consistency. It's also frustrating that I'm having to adjust the airflow as a means of controlling the skimmate. I always prefer water level, but there is no fine water level control, only air control.
 
Please let us know how the AL is working out Tim - I'm eyeing a BC29 and I haven't heard decent reviews of any skimmer capable of fitting in there. Fingers crossed this one will work out for you. :D


I like the fact that I was able to fit it in the first chamber without any mods (aside from the small notch I cut out in the side of the hood so I could use the hanger). The first chamber has a consistent water height.
 
FWIW I've run both the Aquaticlife 115 and I'm currently running the Tunze 9001 (was given to me), and if I weren't so lazy, I would switch back to the AL115. The Tunze, while I love Tunze, just is a pain in the butt to dial in and get to stay dialed-in. It's definitely one of those skimmers where it's either skimming too dry or it's overflowing and you have to empty it daily. At least in my experience so far, about 3 months. The other 9 or so months of my tank being up, I used the AL115, and I never had to fuss with it.

I'm still working on the Tunze because I want it to work because Tunze as a brand is great, but man this thing is almost impossible to dial in for consistency. It's also frustrating that I'm having to adjust the airflow as a means of controlling the skimmate. I always prefer water level, but there is no fine water level control, only air control.
I hear you.I'm a big fan of Tunze, but I've never head anything great about the 9001.
 
Subscribed. Looking at going back to a BC29, Great looking tank so far!


Thanks!

The TBS package is pretty amazing!! No cycle to speak of, and all of the CUC are doing an amazing job of keeping the tank very clean.

It really seems like a little self-sustaining piece of the ocean. Of course, I don't currently have much in the way of corals yet to start using up the elements, but still pretty awesome.
 
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