Hi all,
I first started with saltwater tanks about 20 years ago when I got my first part time job at 18. All I wanted was a damsel, clownfish and some coral. But back then, the minimum tank size to be successful was at least 50-70 gallons. So I went ahead and got a 75 gallon tank. Got a big sump wet/dry that had a spinning dishwasher type sprayer that spread water over bioballs. Along with some daylight and actinic bulbs, a venturi skimmer I was off. Little did I know I was building a nitrate factory lol. No internet back then so it was all word of mouth and whatever I read in books and magazines. (yep, we read books back then lol)
Needless to say, the first few months were great and everyone did well but after the first year, doing 25% water changes in a 75 gal tank became tiresome. I was in college so needless to say, although the anemones, hammer/plate/gonieapora were happy, the rest of the tank was an algae farm. So after some serious partying and lettng everything turn brown, I decided to give my stuff away.
A marriage and two kids later, one of my girls asks me, "can we get a pet?" Off to Petco we go
As I'm waiting for the girls to pick out a betta, I'm perusing the isle for a little tank and then what do I see? A biocube! What is this?? I must buy one! Before buying it, I decide to see if setting up the betta tank (2.5 gal) would be fun. It was! So I quickly jump on the web, google biocube, find this site, and a few days later the shipment of goodies arrives.
After reading forums here and there, I get the following:
29G Biocube HQI, stand, Oceanic UV serilizer, AquaticLife mini skimmer 115, Koralia power head, Phoenix bulb (gotta have the blue) fiji pink sand, Chemi pure, seachem purigen, cheato from ebay, maridel test strips, oceanic salt, refractometer, Mighty Mite RO/DI filter
Here's a quick rundown of what happened.
Day one. Setup. Filling water.
Day 2.
Put in shrimp and began to wait and test. fingers tapping.
Day 3
Arggh, I couldn't wait so very noob like, I went and got three damsels
Day 5
Cycle finally started to kick in. No spikes yet but one damsel, dissappeard and the other which didn't look all that great from day one was stuck on the intak. The third was chillin. Some diatoms show up so I order a cuc from reef cleaners. Chaeto arrives. I put it in the fuge.
Day10
The beautiful pictures and youtube vids on the web are drivng me nuts! So quickly I ordered a coral pack from Petsolutions ( Everything shipped alive so no worries w them) and then boom, diatom bloom. Luckly I ordered end of week because they don't ship fri. During the weekend, nitrites and nitrates went nuts. Diatoms were loving it so I let it get as brown as I could so they can use up the silicates.
Day 14
Corals arrive. Luckily I was waiting for a contractor so I was around when the UPS guy arrives. Just in time to put the corals in a diatom soup
Feeling bad, I put in the chemi pure and the purigen into the fuge.
Day 16
CUC arrives, quickly dump them in. I went with the 10 gal pack because the 25 gal pack w 40 snails just seemed like too many for a 29 gal. Luckily I did because the 10 gal pack I orderd came with like 40 snails
Day 19 (Today)
The cuc went to work fast, they really sift that sand. Along with the chemi pure and purigen, most of the algae subsided miracoulously within 2 days. I did a 10% water change yesterday as well.
All the while, Moonie my kids betta was just chillin. 2.5G minibow, Ultrasun bulb, plants gravel and background from petco. Took 15 min to setup. Unlike the biocube this was easy, fun and stress free.
Here are my quick reviews of what I used.
Biocube HQI
+all in one
- didn''t like the stock bulb and not a fan of the bowfront
Miniskimmer
+works well
-had to remove the bottom bracket and jam it in. leaks some bulbs
Cheato
+it's growing so it's doing something
-slow. better for established tanks.chemi pur and purigen work way faster
ChemiPure/purgen
+works fast
- can't recharge chemipure
UV sterilizer
+works I think
- you can't look at the bulb so can't prove that it's even on.
Phoenix bulb
+corals like it. gives a blue tint
-not cheap
koralia phead
+small and has a magnet
-none really
mardel test kit
+strips are super easy to use
-none really
refractometer
+super accurate. comes calibrated three drops in close lid and look
- I use my reg hydrometer to mix for ballpark and usually good enough
MightyMte RO/DI
+Super easy setup and faucet adapter to use in any bathroom sink. 0ppm
-painfully slow. Using warm water would quickly cool by the time there was enough
water. Luckily I have heated floors so the bucket gets heated. Otherwise, I'd be tempted
to mix in hot tap water.
I first started with saltwater tanks about 20 years ago when I got my first part time job at 18. All I wanted was a damsel, clownfish and some coral. But back then, the minimum tank size to be successful was at least 50-70 gallons. So I went ahead and got a 75 gallon tank. Got a big sump wet/dry that had a spinning dishwasher type sprayer that spread water over bioballs. Along with some daylight and actinic bulbs, a venturi skimmer I was off. Little did I know I was building a nitrate factory lol. No internet back then so it was all word of mouth and whatever I read in books and magazines. (yep, we read books back then lol)
Needless to say, the first few months were great and everyone did well but after the first year, doing 25% water changes in a 75 gal tank became tiresome. I was in college so needless to say, although the anemones, hammer/plate/gonieapora were happy, the rest of the tank was an algae farm. So after some serious partying and lettng everything turn brown, I decided to give my stuff away.
A marriage and two kids later, one of my girls asks me, "can we get a pet?" Off to Petco we go
As I'm waiting for the girls to pick out a betta, I'm perusing the isle for a little tank and then what do I see? A biocube! What is this?? I must buy one! Before buying it, I decide to see if setting up the betta tank (2.5 gal) would be fun. It was! So I quickly jump on the web, google biocube, find this site, and a few days later the shipment of goodies arrives.After reading forums here and there, I get the following:
29G Biocube HQI, stand, Oceanic UV serilizer, AquaticLife mini skimmer 115, Koralia power head, Phoenix bulb (gotta have the blue) fiji pink sand, Chemi pure, seachem purigen, cheato from ebay, maridel test strips, oceanic salt, refractometer, Mighty Mite RO/DI filter
Here's a quick rundown of what happened.
Day one. Setup. Filling water.
Day 2.
Put in shrimp and began to wait and test. fingers tapping.
Day 3
Arggh, I couldn't wait so very noob like, I went and got three damsels
Day 5
Cycle finally started to kick in. No spikes yet but one damsel, dissappeard and the other which didn't look all that great from day one was stuck on the intak. The third was chillin. Some diatoms show up so I order a cuc from reef cleaners. Chaeto arrives. I put it in the fuge.
Day10
The beautiful pictures and youtube vids on the web are drivng me nuts! So quickly I ordered a coral pack from Petsolutions ( Everything shipped alive so no worries w them) and then boom, diatom bloom. Luckly I ordered end of week because they don't ship fri. During the weekend, nitrites and nitrates went nuts. Diatoms were loving it so I let it get as brown as I could so they can use up the silicates.
Day 14
Corals arrive. Luckily I was waiting for a contractor so I was around when the UPS guy arrives. Just in time to put the corals in a diatom soup
Feeling bad, I put in the chemi pure and the purigen into the fuge.Day 16
CUC arrives, quickly dump them in. I went with the 10 gal pack because the 25 gal pack w 40 snails just seemed like too many for a 29 gal. Luckily I did because the 10 gal pack I orderd came with like 40 snails
Day 19 (Today)
The cuc went to work fast, they really sift that sand. Along with the chemi pure and purigen, most of the algae subsided miracoulously within 2 days. I did a 10% water change yesterday as well.
All the while, Moonie my kids betta was just chillin. 2.5G minibow, Ultrasun bulb, plants gravel and background from petco. Took 15 min to setup. Unlike the biocube this was easy, fun and stress free.
Here are my quick reviews of what I used.
Biocube HQI
+all in one
- didn''t like the stock bulb and not a fan of the bowfront
Miniskimmer
+works well
-had to remove the bottom bracket and jam it in. leaks some bulbs
Cheato
+it's growing so it's doing something
-slow. better for established tanks.chemi pur and purigen work way faster
ChemiPure/purgen
+works fast
- can't recharge chemipure
UV sterilizer
+works I think
- you can't look at the bulb so can't prove that it's even on.
Phoenix bulb
+corals like it. gives a blue tint
-not cheap
koralia phead
+small and has a magnet
-none really
mardel test kit
+strips are super easy to use
-none really
refractometer
+super accurate. comes calibrated three drops in close lid and look
- I use my reg hydrometer to mix for ballpark and usually good enough
MightyMte RO/DI
+Super easy setup and faucet adapter to use in any bathroom sink. 0ppm
-painfully slow. Using warm water would quickly cool by the time there was enough
water. Luckily I have heated floors so the bucket gets heated. Otherwise, I'd be tempted
to mix in hot tap water.
Last edited:
