New LED Biocube 32 - Whitish Water and High Temp

[diecast9]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to reefing. Just got my first tank (LED Biocube 32g) earlier this month (Oct 2 or so). My setup is as follows:

Chamber 1 - Aquaticlife Internal Mini Protein Skimmer 115 (8 watts)
Chamber 2 - Filter Floss, 500 ml of Matrix
Chamber 3 - Stock pump (appx 24 watts), 200ml of Matrix Carbon, 200ml of PhosGuard (in a bag on top of the pump)
Display Tank - 2 Hydor Koralia nano 425 (4 Watts each), Kobalt Neo Heater 100W

I have sooo many questions, feel like a new parent, but I will try to narrow it down to keep everyone sane.

Its been now about 1.5 weeks since I first started cycling my tank with a dead shrimp. I made a terrible mistake of adding too much shrimp in the tank in fear that there would not be enough ammonia last week, and as a result, I think my tank was extremely high in Nitrates. Not sure if this is the cause, but I started noticing that my water wasn't crystal clear (more whitish) and with some small white dots floating around the top. After some reading, thought it might be a Bacteria bloom.

Any recommendations on what I should do to clear this up? Not sure if I should invest in a UV sterilizer or additional filter media at this point.

Secondly, as you guys can see on my daily journal. After adding my second powerhead to the tank yesterday, the tank's temperature rose to 82 degrees. Is this safe in the long run? I set the water heater at 78 degrees since I heard that may be the best target for nano reef tanks. Anyway, not sure why the temperature rose, the powerhead is only 4 watts. Anyone can offer suggestions?

 

[Scurvy Dawg]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to reefing. Just got my first tank (LED Biocube 32g) earlier this month (Oct 2 or so). My setup is as follows:

Chamber 1 - Aquaticlife Internal Mini Protein Skimmer 115 (8 watts)
Chamber 2 - Filter Floss, 500 ml of Matrix
Chamber 3 - Stock pump (appx 24 watts), 200ml of Matrix Carbon, 200ml of PhosGuard (in a bag on top of the pump)
Display Tank - 2 Hydor Koralia nano 425 (4 Watts each), Kobalt Neo Heater 100W

I have sooo many questions, feel like a new parent, but I will try to narrow it down to keep everyone sane.

Its been now about 1.5 weeks since I first started cycling my tank with a dead shrimp. I made a terrible mistake of adding too much shrimp in the tank in fear that there would not be enough ammonia last week, and as a result, I think my tank was extremely high in Nitrates. Not sure if this is the cause, but I started noticing that my water wasn't crystal clear (more whitish) and with some small white dots floating around the top. After some reading, thought it might be a Bacteria bloom.

Any recommendations on what I should do to clear this up? Not sure if I should invest in a UV sterilizer or additional filter media at this point.

Secondly, as you guys can see on my daily journal. After adding my second powerhead to the tank yesterday, the tank's temperature rose to 82 degrees. Is this safe in the long run? I set the water heater at 78 degrees since I heard that may be the best target for nano reef tanks. Anyway, not sure why the temperature rose, the powerhead is only 4 watts. Anyone can offer suggestions?

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I've never had a bacteria bloom so I can't really confirm that that is the case with you. Just looking at your pic, it doesn't look bad to me.

I would do a few more water changes until the water clears up, and this will also lower your nitrates. I would also change out your filter floss every other day until it clears up.

UV filters are over-rated in my book.

Looking at your log, I think you're close to being cycled. Your ammonia only spiked at 1 ppm, so I don't think you overdid the shrimp.

You might have added the hermits a little too early, but you might as well keep them in there now.

If it were me, I would ghost feed fish food (crabs will appreciate it) for a few more weeks to make sure you are really cycled before I added any fish. You shouldn't really see any ammonia spikes or nitrite spikes any more if you really are cycled.


What temp do you keep your house at?

I have the Biocube 32 also and my temp seems to creep up to 80 also after the lights have been on all day. 80 is not the end of world and my fish and corals don't seem to mind it. I know it was an issue with the previous version of the biocube, but I was hoping the new LED version would have fixed it.

 

[diecast9]

Thanks scurvy dawg! How much would you recommend ghost feeding? Is a small pinch of flakes a day enough? My home temperature is around 73 degrees plus or minus 2 degrees fluctuation at max.

Turned off the stock pump and slowly noticed the temp creeping down. Not sure if it's a strong sign I should get a new pump. Heard the cobalt mj900 is discontinued. Just not sure whether 82 degrees is sustainable in the long run

 

[DavidGraves]

Does the rear door open up on the 32. Some people have left that opened and placed a fan blowing on it. Evaporation will increase those so you either have to top off with RO more or install an ATO.


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[Cmarnold22]

How did you get the Aquaticlife 115 to fit in chamber 1 of the LED biocube 32?