New Bio Cube 29 Gallon Reef Project

C

cimdxb2

Premium Member
Ok, been sucking info out of this group for weeks now and decided that it was time to post my project so that others can learn from my ingnorance.

Well first a couple of pix of where I am at:


147741BC29START2.jpg


147741BC29START1.jpg


I have had the tank for about 2 weeks now and there is about 10 lbs of live cured rock.

I have ordered the 144K light upgrade, the saphire skimmer, and the 350 gallon pump.

I also punched out the plate in the bottom of chamber 1 and threw the heater in there.

So to date I have:

2 clowns
1 Green Chromis
4 snails

I am waiting for the tank to cycle and then plan on adding more LR (would like to get up to 30 lbs total)

Thoughts/comments?

Thanks all!

Dave
 
if you get new LR after your current tank is cycled, woulnd't you have to repeat the process of having the new rock to be cycled in the tank again?
 
The plan of attack (working w/Scott's Pet Shop, Westchester, IL) is to let the tank cycle as is (approx in about 2.5 weeks). Then add more LR (probably another 10 lbs.)

I think at that point I am going to add a shrimp and maybe another fish.

I think after that I am going to wait a couple weeks to let that change take effect. At the same time I am going to take out the bio balls and install the skimmer.

Then maybe wait another week and add the last 10 lbs.

Any advice on this plan would be awesome.

I really am liking this hobby so far

:cool:
 
i think that you adding the rock in at different times it is gonna cause you numbers to go out of wack and you will still have some mini cycles.. with that being said it is really gonna stress out your fish and inhabitants. i would do all the rock at one time and let someone hold your fish for you to make sure your numbers dont go crazy. wait a week maybe two and your all done. put the fish back in. its a lot less stress and headache that way. if your numbers stay the same then u can just put the fish in earlier but i can almost guarantee you that your parameters r gonna jump each time..
thats just my 2 cents though and that is really not too much..
 
From what I am reading I think the Souleman is correct. Unfortunately I don't have anywhere else to put my fish. I am going to try to make change as gradual as I can. So far my numbers are very good. Nitrates are about 5, but it is early. As best I can, I want to try to balance the advice here w/my LFS.

Hopefully I can get through all of this....

Thanks for the tip!

Dave
 
I think Souleman is correct. Another way to do it is to have your
lfs cure your rock for you. He sold you the fish, he should cure the rock. Or you could cure it your self in a plastic bucket.
Good Luck.
 
The rock I bought and will be buying is cured. The confusion lies in this....will the addition of "Cured" live rock create another cycle?

I am up for the debate on the skimmer...the ? is taking out the bio balls w/only 10 lbs. of LR ok? Only 3 one inch fish and four snails atm.

PH = 7.8, Amonia = 0, Nitrites =3, Nitrates = 5, Temp = 80, Salinity = 1.021

I know the salinity is lower than it should be. Just got the RO/DI unit and will be mixing some new salt water tonight. Never did that before, so that should be interesting!

Sooooooooooooooooo much to learn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blast so far though:o
 
Make sure you let your new saltwater circulate in the bucket for up to 24 hours, at least overnight, to allow the salt to fully dissolve and balance the concentration, don't just pour it into the tank as soon as you can't see it anymore. Also be careful how concentrated you make the salt if you are tyring to bring you salt up, don't try to do it all in one waterchange. Made that mistake myself a few years ago.

When the pet store tells you the rock is cured, ask them how long they have had it in their tanks. Just because they say it is cured doesn't mean it is. I wouldn't believe/expect rock from the LFS to be "cured" unless it has been IN THEIR TANKS for at least two weeks. When they get it, it often arrives in sealed plastic bags very moiste and damp but with little or no standing water. They don't want to pay to ship water if they can get away with it.

I ran my 29 gallon FWLR with 20 lbs of live rock with only two powerheads, no filtration, and 3 or 4 fish for a little while but found that my fish were dying fairly regularly. I added the skimmer and have had no problems since. I think it takes a lot of live rock and a very large volume of water to support several fish (even if they are 1" or so), or a smaller volume of water and some very old, very live live rock. Just one man's opinion.
 
Ok, So far I have the RO/DI unit (Typhoon III) going directly into a 8 gallon rubber maid container. So I am guessing I want to keep that container "pure". It has the float attached to it to stop the feed from the Typhoon unit.

Are you saying I need to have another rubber maid container that has some "circulation"? Like a pump that moves the water around for 24 hours?

As soon as I get the skimmer I will put it in place of the bio balls. I will also replace the pump. Maybe I can use the old pump to circulate the water in the staging area for making new salt water?

By the way, what does the acronym FWLR mean? I guess I should know this...but oh well.

The LFS I go to has a very good rep. I will ask them how long they cure LR for. My guess is they do it the correct way (but assuming w/this hobby seems to lead to tank death!)

Thanks for the salt water mixing tips! Also found out that is kind of a messy job. I am sure I will get better at it along the way.

I think I am going to get the next round of LR sooner than later. Just to get this part of the process over and to not stress out my fish for weeks on end.

Dave
 
I only mix as much saltwater as I am likely to use at one time. After playing with it over several months I learned exactly how much salt I need to fill the 5 gallon jug I use. I almost don't need to test it to get to the right density (but I still do anyway).

If you are going to use the 8 gallon container just for fresh water then yes, you will need a second container to actually mix the salt in with the water and you should allow it to mix in the second container for about 24 hours, then test it and adjust as necessary (adding more salt or more water).

If you are going to add salt to your original 8 gallon container and then only use part of it, and then let you RO/DI filter top it off then you will need to make an educated guess at how much salt you need and then add it. Then you will need to test every 24 hours to see if you need to add a little more fresh to get the balance or a little more salt. You cannot test immediatly, it will give a false reading. After several days or adding one or the other you will eventually get to your perfect salinity.

I suggest using two containers, it is much much easier. Besides, then you have a reserve of fresh water to top off your tank.
 
ok, made some changes today.

Swapped out the 250 pump for the 350. The project went very smooth.

Took out the bio balls per everyone's request. Man there are a ton of them!

Dropped the Saphire skimmer in. That was pretty easy to do. Never had a skimmer before, so not sure if it is working yet. I do see some foam trying to make its way to the trap, so I guess its working.

Took out a gallon of the 1.021 and added a gallon of RO 1.033. Then after the skimmer added about another gallon of RO 1.033. I am trying to slowly raise the salinity to 1.024. The salinity now reads 1.022.

I took a look at my LR and it doesn't look the same anymore. It is slowly turning white color. Almost like a pure white. Does this mean the LR is dieing? This makes me concerned because I just took the bio balls out.

Thoughts?

Dave
 
You need to slow down and let the tank cycle and become stable before adding all these fish. They probably feel like they are in hell right now. If your LFS is good as you say it is, I would bring them the fish and ask them to hold them for a few weeks. Then add all the cured LR you want, wait for it to cycle and take the fish back.

Are you testing you water for ammonia/nitrates/nitrites?
 
Well I can ask them about taking the fish back. Not sure the environment is "hell" at the moment. Here are the stats:

Salinity = 1.022, Ph=8.2, NH3=0, NO2=0, and NO3=0

I am still confused why the LR is turning white (dieing?). I was going to get more LR to compensate for taking out the bio balls. Maybe this logic was flawed.

Open to more ideas here. I plan on adding the light upgrade kit, maybe that will help the environment....sigh...

Dave
 
Ok, added the light kit. Wasn't as easy as I thought (was missing some hardware). After a while I figured it all out. Took about 4 hours to complete. I was surprized that the overall brightness isn't that much different. Now I have 2 blue lights, a white light and a 50/50.

Also, the skimmer is kicking butt. Can't get over how much crud that thing is picking up.

Went to the LFS and picked up about 15 Lbs of "Cured" live rock. We took our time smelling the rocks pieces for the more cured than others. My goodness, that stuff can smell really really bad.

Picked up a couple small crabs and one more snail to help the cleanup. Now time to leave the tank alone.

Got the salinity up to 1.023 :)

Going to do a round of testing tomorrow to make sure everything is ok w/the new rock additions.

Well here are some updated picks...

147741bc29-2-11-07-pix2.jpg


And...

147741bc29-2-11-07-pix1.jpg


Thanks again for the ideas/feedback....

Dave
 
the live rock will get the color back. After a few months you will have a lot of coraline algae and the rock will get its red color again. so you have 25 lbs live rock so far right? It looks like your tank could use some more. When you add more rock, try to work at one corner a time so the fish won't get stressed too much.

I am also grudgingly thinking about getting a Bio cube 29( really want a bigger tank like red sea 34 but its too high and I am on a budget). Can you tell me how wide is the tank from front to back. Also how much did it cost you for the skimmer and light upgrade? And where did u get it from? Can you provide me with a closer look of the inside of the hood? I want to see if I can do the light mod myself.

About your light not being bright enough. Maybe you need to add a daylight bulb (10000K not 6700K) instead of one of the actinic. Also the bulb quality depends on the manufacturer. JBJ and corallife are great. There is a cheaper manufacturer too but forgot the name. Let me see if I can find out. What kind of bulb does it originally come with? What kind of stand are you using?
 
I do have 25 lgbs total.

The tank is a total of 20 inches from front to back. 4 of that though is for the chambers. So it is 16 inches to the back wall.

The lighting upgrade and skimmer was about $300. Very pleased with both upgrades. URL is http://www.nanotuners.com/

After going through the lighting upgrade (even with the kit) I would avoid trying to do it w/o a kit. I am guessing you might save maybe 1/2 the money, but in the end, may just mess up your whole hood. There is a thread on this site that has the step by step pictures. Maybe someone can find it. I tried, but didn't have luck.

I am fine w/my lighting now.

I bought the stand w/the cube. The cost was about $200. Comes with glass doors and the profile is exactly that of the bottom of the BC.

Best of luck if you go w/a BIO29. Oh, I should also mention that I upgraded to the 350 pump (cost about $20).

PM me if you need more info.....glad I can actually provide info then suck it up all the time!

I will update pix soon of the tank. Got a couple of corals and a cleaner shrimp last week. So far so good!

Dave
 
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