Advice Needed. 14 Gallon Biocube.

[biocube14]

I'm a complete newb in keeping a reef tank. I kept FOWLR before but this was a long long time ago. I was given this 14 gallon biocube.

I started this tank approx 2 weeks ago. My friend gave me the live rock, live sand, water, corals and a few inhabitants to start.

Are you guys able to tell me what kind of corals these are and will they do ok in the stock compact flo lighting for now? On the overhang, I glued in the coral and it went side ways after. Will it be ok in this position or it has to be upright?

Current stock:
2 clownfish
1 fire fish
1 fire shrimp
1 peppermint shrimp
5 blue leg hermits
2 snails

I was planning to sell the peppermint and get a small clown goby or watchman goby?

Everyone seems happy so far. I will continue to perform water change once a week at 10-15%.
Also planning to add in more cured live rock and add more corals throughout the next few weeks.

Any other input would be greatly appreciated. I've been reading a lot on the web but lots of mixed info. Just want some advice to get me through the first few weeks.

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[biocube14]

Also whats best to fill my rear chamber/filtration with? So far it has floss in chamber 1, bioballs and floss in chamber 2. I made a DIY drip tray for chamber 2 and will be making a media basket for it today as well.

i was thinking of replacing the bioballs to some smaller pcs of live rock instead. necessary to do so?

[JmeJReefer]

Lose bio balls. Chemipure elite or purigen in a media basket works fine. There are several mods for a bio cube that have proven effective.

[JmeJReefer]

A little more live rock wouldn't hurt as it acts as a filtration method on its own. I've upgraded the pump as well.
Sweet little setup tho!

[biocube14]

Awesome thanks for the input. I'll take out the bioballs and add in some small pieces of crush coral in compartment 2 along with some purigen or chemipure

[pinkreef]

Go for the chemipure elite unless you have a skimmer, i have heavily planted
mine and to a 5 gal water change weekly. i seem to have a good balance with that. ps you have a jumper i notice, it will jump from the display to compartment two thru an opening even when the lid is closed. put something at the back of your display to prevent this (i am doing that after work today because my blenny jumped over yesterday) good luck, barb

[biocube14]

I have since taken out the bioballs and added live rock rubble/new sponge and purigen in compartment 2.

Also went to the LFS to "look around" and ended up buying a piece of live rock for the back wall of the tank for more coral placements.

Also since your post, I've put this plastic strip to prevent my fire fish from jumping into the back chambers!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/incnk/photo_zps285d15cd.jpg

[biocube14]

I was only able to find purigen yesterday. Mixing purigen and chemipure is ok? Maybe I can add that in chamber 2 as well

[biocube14]

This is what the tank looks like as of today. I'm thinking I need a little more live rock for the back wall.

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[HaZRaTTy]

You need some color!!!!!!! I would of highly suggested getting rid of the bio balls as well good choice.

Rockwork is all to your liking and you will find yourself mixing and re stacking and adding and removing for quite some time.

I'm not sure what type of light you have but it looks like you have a Kenya tree or maybe colt. Do some research on your light on the tank.

Also take a look at some of the hardy easier corals. Frogspawn, Hammer, Trumpet(Candy Cane) They will add some color and are easy to keep happy!




Sorry I see that you have recently just set up your tank, have you seen any type of cycle or did you cycle before adding livestock? how are your water param's

[biocube14]

I have the stock compact flo bulbs in there.

Tank was already setup for some time when i took over. Just drained the water, saved it and refilled at my place. Most of the livestock already came with the tank. Just playing with the filtration and upgrading a few things on the tank. Next will be the lighting.

I'm planning to add in more corals. The frags that i have now were given to me. I agree I need some colour!

[HaZRaTTy]

There is tonnes and tonnes of modding for the lighting system in these units.... When youre done welcome to the LED world :D

[pinkreef]

your solution to fish jumping over looks good. did you use a piece of heavy plastic?

[hfp75]

I'd use Purigen.... Not both.

Ditch the bio balls / sponges / foam

Crushed coral & live rock is good back there

Filter floss in chamber 1 and change it every 10 days or so. It's not supposed to be brown and yucky.

Simple is good

It's a fun hobby but don't get too cought up with trinkets and gimmicks. Go slow with things... Good things happen slow & bad things happen fast.

[biocube14]

Still haven't completely decided on the light just yet. If I upgrade in a few months time to a larger tank, I rather spend the money on the lighting on that new tank than this current one! I will go LED for sure!

The plastic strip is from a glass top that I have sitting around. Works great!

Ok all live rock rubble and the bag of purigen in chamber 2 then. chamber 1 will be floss that i will change frequently.

I will slow things down from this point onwards!

[hfp75]

T5 HO & CF are Tried n true....

LEDs are expensive and the technology changes fast id wait...

[JmeJReefer]

The LED route is costly at first, but pays out in the long run. Customizable, controllable, specific wavelengths, less heat, last up to 10yrs, was a seller for me. The pc flouresent light is a good start.

[biocube14]

Heading to the LFS now to check out some LED lights lol.

In the meantime I fixed the cover for the overflow. Getting a few more frags today from a friend and I think that is it for the time being!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/incnk/photo_zps2942054e.jpg

[pinkreef]

that looks nice and tidy, im going to make mine this weekend

[biocube14]

New update from today. Added some more frags from a friend. Also, thanks a lot Scott for some frags and live rock rubble!!!

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[biocube14]

Ok. Caved in and bought my LED fixture today. From Frank Aq.LED.

Its a zetlight nano touch. Very pleased with the multiple light settings and best of all great customer service. Finally got rid of all those wires in the back of the tank from the stock CF system. Just 1 wire with this unit lol. I'm amazed.

Lighting on the highest and lowest settings.

Sorry for the bad pics with my phone. I'll use my SLR next time. Now to add nicer corals!

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[biocube14]

2 more updated pics. Added a few more corals since the last update. Added a hammer, frogspawn, candy cane and bubble.

So far so good. I hope I'll be able to keep these alive. Any suggestions on placement would be great! I read online that they like mid to low fow so i directed my powerhead to the left wall of the tank and the return is now pointed to the top, front center of the tank.

Also read that people had success without adding additives to the tank. Any tips for these corals would be great!


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[pinkreef]

The candy and will probably like it higher up but you can wait and see. The more it expands the happier it is. If it never expands move higher Ps your tank is looking great !

[biocube14]

Thanks for the kind words! I will move the candy up top tomorrow.

I also moved the brain coral to the bottom right. I wonder if placing the brain on the sand is ok. I noticed the frogspawn was touching the brain and it wasn't opening up on one side. It is ok now since I placed him on the sand bed. Will it be happy with lower lighting?

Next up on the list are a open brain coral and maybe a flowerpot. Wanting to get some red in the tank.

[pinkreef]

I have tried 3 flower pots with no luck. Green are most common but some are hard to keep. The reds are hardiest I've heard. You can get aquacultured ones now. More pricey but more likely to live. How are you finding your eater temp with your new lights?

[biocube14]

Oh hard to keep huh? I better not since I'm just starting out. Maybe when I upgrade I will try one.

Lights are good. doesn't heat up the water at all. I like them and my corals seem like they do as well! Only time will tell. I hope they will thrive in my current setting.

[toytech]

Everything looks good , that light is nice very even colors . Regular water changes will keep all your levels in check , no need for additives . There are some red encrusting flowerpots (goniopora ) that people are having good success with but they do like higher light .

[biocube14]

Ok no additives it is! Better for my wallet that way lol

Here are a few more pictures with my iphone. The bubble has finally expanded a lot more. Seems to be a lot happier after I moved it away from the frogspawn. It is now on the sand bed with medium flow. The hammer and frogspawn are both doing their thing, opening up to their max everyday.

Next up, a trip to the LFS to get 1 or 2 more pieces. Perhaps a brain for the sand and ?

This is starting to getting addicting/dangerous

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[hfp75]

how about your sand I see the diatoms/red slime... you need snails man....

1-Nassarius (8) & Cerith (10)
2-Bumble Bee Snails (6)
3-Turbo snails (1 & maybe 1 more for 2 if he isn't doing enough)
4-Sand Star @ 24g you can get a small one.
5-Hermits - Dwarf (really small x10) and one size bigger (6)

If you have a 14g I go with the above numbers.

or you'll forever have issues.... get those before more coral.

[biocube14]

Its a relatively new setup still. Around a month only I believe.

I added some snails already.2 of them. Anything else I can do or have to wait until the tank is older for these to disappear on its own?

Thanks!

[hfp75]

You need the stuff I mentioned....

Go get it

If you done take care of your sand it'll be the death trap... It needs to be moving and active and right now yours isnt

[pinkreef]

looking good! a plate will be nice as you have room for it they come in a variety of colours and lengths of tentacles. i saw a beautiful light green one on the weekend with 1-1/2" tentacles. really pretty

[tang daddy]

My suggestion would be 5 blue leg hermits and one round snail not turbo. That should be good enough for your 14g, you don't need 35 inverts for a small tank as they will add alot of bioload on your system. The hermits will stir up the sand in time. Coming along great tho otherwise.

I would not get a flower pot until your tank is more mature, the flowerpots need to be fed regularly and in a small tank like yours feeding it can foul the water easy. If you want some reds get a lava mushroom or red brain.

[biocube14]

Thanks for your advice!

I have 5 blue leg hermit crabs and trochus snails. 5 and 2 that I picked up from JL 2 weeks ago. They stir the sand a bit but not enough I don't think lol.

I will be picking up a brain coral tomorrow to add some red to the tank.

Gradually researching as to what else I can do with this little setup.

[oyf709]

great to see your tank coming along nicely with the light =)