klimfish's BioCube 14 - Lots of mods/upgrades!

[klimfish]

Hello all, here is my Coralife BioCube 14 so far. I wanted to post this to get some suggestions and just kind of show off :bdaysmile: This is my first aquarium in over 8 years, and also my first attempt at saltwater. I did A LOT of research on this forum, youtube, and some LFS's in my area, and I finally have had the tank set up with pretty much every extra add on I thought would be necessary for about five days now. The modifications and equipment are listed below, as well as the most recent water test results. If anyone has any questions about where I got my equipment, or why I chose a specific piece please don't hesitate to ask or PM me oh yeah, there are pictures too.

Mechanical Equipment:

AI Prime LED lighting system w/ 12" flex-mount (set at 1300K w/ 3 hour ramp time, 12 hour cycle, 50% overall power)
Cobalt Aquatics MJ900 (replaced stock pump in chamber 3)
Hydor-Flo rotating attachment (for MJ900)
Koralia Nano 425 (seems like a maybe too much flow?)
Jager 50w heater (in chamber 1)
inTank Media basket w/ filter floss, purigen, chemi-pure elite (chamber 2)
Digital thermometer
BioCube Algae Scraper (are there better ones?)
Saltwater test kit/Reef master test kit
Refractometer

Biological equipment:

11lbs live rock (will probably add about 1-3 more pounds. I am waiting for the perfect piece to catch my eye for my particular aquascape)
~13-14lbs Carib-Sea live Bimini pink sand
10 gallons of pre-mixed LFS saltwater

Modifications:

Replaced stock pump with MJ900, and replaced stock outflow with Hydor-flo
Made small cut between chamber 1 and 2 to allow the inTank media basket to fit properly (it was easy, there areplenty of youtube videos on this!)
Removed hood completely

My goals for the tank include a variety of coral, 3-4 small fish, and some fun and functional invertebrates.
Softies, LPS, SPS and Acros when I'm ready and the tank is established.

Most recent test parameters as of 24 hours ago:

Salinity: 1.024
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0.25ppm
Nitrate: 0.0ppm
Temperate: Fluctuating from 77.5-78.7 degrees Fahrenheit

Problems so far:

Temperature: When I first filled the tank and was using the stock hood, the temperature would stay constant around 84 degrees . I removed the hood and upgraded to the AI prime. Problem fixed B) . Temp now stays at a solid 78 with a slight variance depending on the time of day. Never goes below 77 or above 78.7

Salinity has been varying from 1.023-1.025 due to evaporation on this now open-top tank. I am working on dialing this in with top offs of either RO or saltwater depending on how my refractometer reads.

Diatom bloom: Not really an issue, but it does look ugly!

Most recent updates:

05.30.2016

I am currently waiting on the tank to finish cycling so I can buy my CUC. I'm thinking the 15 gallon package from reefcleaners, unless my LFS can offer me a comparable deal. I am leaning towards snails only for now, or maybe 1-3 red-legged hermits if I can find them. There is definitely a diatom bloom happening right now, which is OK with me as the CUC will have plenty of food when they arrive!

Now some questions:

I feel like I have A LOT of flow for this small tank. Will this allow me to keep softies, LPS, and SPS with my current pump set-up? My Koralia 425 is pointed towards the front glass/surface. I understand that I may have to place coral in certain places of the tank depending on their needs, but I would hate to limit myself from some of the very beautiful and colorful soft and LPS coral.

My pH is also always on the low side: 8.0. Is there a simple way to raise this to 8.2 or will 8.0 be just fine?

I feel like a need a couple more pieces of live rock. Right now I have 11lbs in there, but I think 13 could be better. Thoughts?

As for the AI prime, I really like the 13K color. Will this provide adequate growth/color for my coral or should I go to the 14k?

Finally, I notice how far down in chamber 3 my MJ900 is. Would it be smart to cut and shorten the tube connecting it to the Hydor-flo and moving it slightly higher in the chamber?

Thanks for following along! PLEASE comment with questions, suggestions, and advice!

More pictures incoming once this image uploader stops giving me trouble. anyone have any tips on an image uploading site that will let me post to this site? tiny pic does not work.

Thanks for looking! PLEASE comment with any advice/suggestions/comments/whatever!

 

[klimfish]

Did a test last night, and it looks like my cycle is about completed. I am looking at ordering the 10 gallons clean up crew from ReefCleaners. Does anyone have any experience with them?

 

[klimfish]

Here are some FTS! CUC is coming soon from reef cleaners! I think the 14 gallon hex package will be what I go with.





I also think I am going to add about 3-5 more pounds of live rock. For aquascaping purposes mainly, as I don't like all the empty space towards the front of the tank. I plan on making another "bridge" between the lower two rocks and replacing the top rock entirely.

 

[Cliving1]

I have ordered once from them and was very pleased by the package I purchased.

 

[klimfish]

Well I finally got around to getting some more live and dry rock from my LFS. I really wanted to re-do the aquascape to allow more room for coral, as well as just have more rock in the tank. I think I got around 6 more pounds, and I already had 11. I completely re-did the aquascape, smashed some pieces, removed some others, and basically opened up a lot of room for coral, but also decreased swimming space. There is still a large cave in the back for hiding. The overall design is a lot taller as well. After adding the rock, the water became very cloudy, but it is slowly clearing up. I also have changed out the filter floss a couple times now. It can get this gnarly brown color!

Adding the rock created another cycle in the tank. I tested about 48 hours after adding it, and:

Ammonia: 0.5-0.25
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 5ppm
PH: 8.0

I was at all 0's previously, but this is OK as it is adding to my overall biological filter and making it more robust for the future. My initial cycle was suspiciously quick, anyway...I am nearing my two week mark. Should I do a water change in the middle of this mini-cycle or wait it out?

I have noticed a new type of algae growing, pictured below. I am going to keep my AI Prime off for a few days to see if it goes away, as it does not look particularly friendly. Does anyone have an ID on this? Can't tell if it's a type of green hair algae or Bryopsis?



At this rate I expect to wait about a week to order my CUC from reef cleaners. This hobby certainly tests patience! I just want some life in this thing already!

Here are some shots of the tank! I shot all of these with my AI Prime at 1200K and 100 percent power.

Before the re-do:



And after!



Side view 1:



Side view 2:



Close up of the algae on my Koralia nano. Should I clean this off? What is this?



Top view:



View of back chambers (Chamber 1: heater, chamber 2: inTank w/ filter floss, purigen and chemi-pure elite, chamber 3: MJ-900)



What do you think of the rock work?

 

[joedodge]

I know ya want life in there! But wait!!! I rushed putting corals in my tank and it's been nothing but diaspointment and stress. I love your tank looks really good!

 

[klimfish]

I know ya want life in there! But wait!!! I rushed putting corals in my tank and it's been nothing but diaspointment and stress. I love your tank looks really good!

I've heard patience is the hardest part of this hobby, outside of the price tag!! :lolspin:

Thanks for the advice and compliments. How early did you add coral to your system?

 

[joedodge]

First corals where added around 8 days. I used bacteria in a bottle that came worth my rock and sand kit. And I think I'm fighting a immature tank as they've been in a week but none are opening great

 

[klimfish]

Ah yeah. 8 days is pretty early from what I've read. I think it takes time for the proper nutrients to be established in the tank and for the overall eco-system to stabilize, in addition to the nitrification cycle. I hope your corals make it though!

I'm always second guessing my rock work/aquascape. Does anyone else ever feel like their tank, no matter what rock adjustments, just can't look "perfect"? I almost want to move the very top piece of rock down slightly to create another cave, add some depth...we'll see!

 

[joedodge]

I'm the same way messed with mine on a piece of cardboard the size of the tank for a whole evening then built in tank and it didn't look how I want but looks great but once I added light I have a lot of shadows.....ugh. I'm also one of those people even on the large freshwater tanks I had that thinks there water is cloudy lol

 

[LQT]

Nice set up so far. Consider looking into an ATO. As you begin looking into coral stocking, understand that stability is key to coral health. With the open top and relatively small volume of water in the BC14, you are subject to more evaporation, thus huge daily salinity swings as you have already seen.

Take your time and happy reefing!

 

[OrQidz]

Looking good! I like your choices on setup. The gunk on your powerhead is just the various bits of stuff floating around the tank. The current sucks them in. When you turn the PH off, be ready to siphon them out as they float loose! When I had a BC 14 I also used an MJ 900 as the return pump and it worked well. I had I think one size smaller hydor powerhead.

Be sure to tune in your salinity swings before getting coral. It's odd that the salinity would go down. I'm wondering if you are topping off to inconsistent levels in the tank, and sometimes lowering the salinity? I have a DIY eggcrate thing in chamber 2 on my 29 and I use it as a guide when topping off so I don't over top off. I also run my 29 topless (hmm that sounds funny LOL). Right now it's evaporating about 1/2 gallon per day in warm weather with the fans on. So there can be a lot of change from evap. Make sure you can find a spot to consistently fill to.

Not sure if that is GHA or bryopsis. Both are evil! With a small spot on one rock, I would take the rock out and put some hydrogen peroxide on the algae and scrub it off. You can soak a cotton ball and put it right on it, then scrub with a toothbrush or something. Then rinse rock in clean water. You will get very experienced with algae management with a nano.

I think I liked the cave aquascape better, but it's purely what you like! As long as it's not causing dead spots and you can get in to clean the glass, it's what you like. I tend not to like piles of rock, and I love caves.

Biocube algae magnet. Well, I scratched my 29 with one of these by inadvertently trapping a shard of aragonite gravel between it and the glass. So be careful there. The BC glass scratches easier than my other tanks, not sure if that's a real thing or just me. The curved edge of the BC algae scraper is supposed to make it so you can get the curved parts of the glass but it's not super great at that. I use a scraper or an old credit card (after all, it bought the tank once!) and just a pad for cleaning the glass now.

One last random thought: you can stick the temp probe in the back chambers so you don't have to look at it.

Tank looks good, you're going to have lots of fun!

 

[OrQidz]

Oh, and the rocks are never perfect! I resist the urge to rescape them daily.

 

[klimfish]

I'm the same way messed with mine on a piece of cardboard the size of the tank for a whole evening then built in tank and it didn't look how I want but looks great but once I added light I have a lot of shadows.....ugh. I'm also one of those people even on the large freshwater tanks I had that thinks there water is cloudy lol

Same here, I didn't like too many shadows. They are quite pronounced with the LED shimmer effect. I'm sure I'll tinker with mine a few more times but it's close!

Nice set up so far. Consider looking into an ATO. As you begin looking into coral stocking, understand that stability is key to coral health. With the open top and relatively small volume of water in the BC14, you are subject to more evaporation, thus huge daily salinity swings as you have already seen.

Take your time and happy reefing!

An ATO is definitely something I will look into. I have been discouraged from looking so far because of the price, I haven't seen a decent one under 100 bucks, which after all my initial set up costs, was just a little too much extra to throw into it at once. I am topping off about twice daily with RO water...

Looking good! I like your choices on setup. The gunk on your powerhead is just the various bits of stuff floating around the tank. The current sucks them in. When you turn the PH off, be ready to siphon them out as they float loose! When I had a BC 14 I also used an MJ 900 as the return pump and it worked well. I had I think one size smaller hydor powerhead.

Be sure to tune in your salinity swings before getting coral. It's odd that the salinity would go down. I'm wondering if you are topping off to inconsistent levels in the tank, and sometimes lowering the salinity? I have a DIY eggcrate thing in chamber 2 on my 29 and I use it as a guide when topping off so I don't over top off. I also run my 29 topless (hmm that sounds funny LOL). Right now it's evaporating about 1/2 gallon per day in warm weather with the fans on. So there can be a lot of change from evap. Make sure you can find a spot to consistently fill to.

Not sure if that is GHA or bryopsis. Both are evil! With a small spot on one rock, I would take the rock out and put some hydrogen peroxide on the algae and scrub it off. You can soak a cotton ball and put it right on it, then scrub with a toothbrush or something. Then rinse rock in clean water. You will get very experienced with algae management with a nano.

I think I liked the cave aquascape better, but it's purely what you like! As long as it's not causing dead spots and you can get in to clean the glass, it's what you like. I tend not to like piles of rock, and I love caves.

Biocube algae magnet. Well, I scratched my 29 with one of these by inadvertently trapping a shard of aragonite gravel between it and the glass. So be careful there. The BC glass scratches easier than my other tanks, not sure if that's a real thing or just me. The curved edge of the BC algae scraper is supposed to make it so you can get the curved parts of the glass but it's not super great at that. I use a scraper or an old credit card (after all, it bought the tank once!) and just a pad for cleaning the glass now.

One last random thought: you can stick the temp probe in the back chambers so you don't have to look at it.

Tank looks good, you're going to have lots of fun!

Thanks for all your input! I'll be ready with a net to catch all that powerhead gunk.

I also have been kind of tinkering with what water level I want, so that probably accounts for the slight swings. I think I've dialed in my level now and my refractometer is reading 1.025 or slightly higher consistently from when I wake up, to when I return from work. This is with two-three top offs a day with RO water.

Good to know about that green "thing", I'm going to scrub them off the rocks as I see them, I would hate for a nuisance algae to be a problem so soon! But better now than when I have anything in the tank, I suppose.

The aquascape is never perfect! :deadhorse1: I think I've rearranged it a couple times now only to return to how it is in the pictures. I think I have a couple more adjustments and then I'll be good.

 

[klimfish]

Alright folks, another update! I cleaned off the powerheads, bought some "reef putty", and whipped out the hammer. After some thorough aqua-scaping, I completed my first water change. Here are some pictures of the new rock work.









As you can see, there is A LOT of green algae..





However, this should all change after an order that was just received. More on that later, but here are some teaser shots...

 

[Kolkri]

Following.

 

[Idal305]

Looks good. I would move the aquascape off the back wall and leave a passage for flow behind them. If not you will have a lot of deritus build up back there.

Personally I liked your first aquascape best.

 

[Kolkri]

Is this tank still running? Any updates?