16 gallon biocube

[Mordie101]

So i started my first saltwater aquarium in July. I have debated on doing this but hey why not. R2R has helped me a lot in the short time and maybe doing this will help others and maybe me too!

So i have a biocube 16g. Nothing to special. I have always loved tropical fish and now that I’ve got the money to do it i wanted to give it a go. My apartment only allows me to have this big of a tank.. so if it al works out in a year or so I’m gonna upgrade to a much larger tank!


Over the next few days I’ll be adding pictures and explaining my trials with the tank so far and what I’ve done and the success I’ve had!

Got everything from the store to set up the tank. It’s an all in one tank so i didn’t really have to do any plumbing or any extras upfront.

Added my aqua scape with some live rock i picked up from lfs and Fiji pink live sand! I’ve got roughly 15–17lbs of live rock in the tank and roughly 2 inches of sand. Little less across the hole tank.

So i added my water and of course it was cloudy. I also added some turbo start 9000 bacteria to help cycle the tank. I’d watched some videos and people cycled tanks in days and i thought it’d be a great idea with how impatient i am...

Left tank alone for about 24 hours and it was cleared up!

My lfs told me that they’d test my water whenever and of course impatient me had seen people water test complete in a couple days gave it three almost four days and i went to the store.

Well they told me my water tested great and the cycle had been completed. So of course what do you do with a brand new bowl of water? Add fish and coral!!

First coral was a torch! Love to watch this guy just flow in the tank.

I picked up 2 black ice clown fish! Named them Bonnie and Clyde smith!
So Mr. and Mrs. Smith are still to this day battling it out to see who is actually the Mrs. but if you’ll look close at the front fish you’ll see the “sideburns” of who i call Clyde!

I know this has been a long post but if i get a little feed back or anyone wants to see the rest let me know! Happy reefing and maybe you’ll all enjoy the small bit and give me a reason to keep on!

 

[Crabs McJones]

Following along I really like the biocubes. I'm considering getting my daughter the 32 someday. Congrats
If this is going o be your build thread would you like this moved to the member tanks forum?

 

[Mordie101]

Following along I really like the biocubes. I'm considering getting my daughter the 32 someday. Congrats

Thanks! You’ve helped a pretty good amount for this tank through different threads and such so that’s cool! Maybe i can help with some of the downsides I’ve found with the biocube. Loving the hobby so far though!

 

[Mordie101]

Well I’ll keep it going a little more.

So i picked up a fire blood shrimp a couple days after introducing the fish to add to my clean up crew. In the tank are 2 nassarius snails and 5 astrea snails.

I also picked up an emerald crab!

About 4-5 days go by and i found the emerald crab dead.. i went back to the lfs and saw a few dead in the tank so wrote it down as bad acclimation on both our parts or maybe a distributor error. Sad about my first loss we moved on.



I started realizing that i was having a tough time cooking the tank off. So i went and bought a small box fan and set it behind the tank openings to help cool if off. Works like a champ. I like to keep my tank around 79 degrees Fahrenheit.


I also picked up a small live stream security camera because i had some reward points at Best Buy. Let’s me and my girlfriend view my tank from my phone from anywhere! Love it. It’s the TP- Link Kasa Cam.

Started battling a pretty good batch of diatoms. I feed both pellets and a frozen food. I switch them out often. The frozen food is emerald entree. I try to strain the food and pieces to help with nutrients in the tank. Fish and shrimp loved it.

I added a bag of clear fx pro!

I also bought a coralife protein skimmer. Very disappointed. My thoughts were it’s made by the same company for the tank so it’s gotta work with it. Well i was wrong. Should’ve listened to the reviews... take it from me. Don’t buy it. I used it for 3 weeks and it didn’t last long.

Next i added this green finger leather. Sold to me as such by my lfs. Came home and it looked horrible but at the store it looked great. Thankfully after a day or so of lower light and blowing off its molting layer it decided to come out!

My next fish was a beautiful 6 line wrasse. I’d won a raffle at a store at won a Tito’s hand made vodka hat. Why you ask? Well idk that’s just what they had haha. So the day i got the fish i won my first raffle so I had to name it Tito’s! Picked him up and he looked great! After adding him to the tank the Smiths (my clowns) really weren’t aggressive at all. They were interested of course so he hid in the rocks but was out and swimming with them within hours.

This was my tank and i was very happy! Everyone seemed great and happy! My shrimp molted successfully and the corals were doing well/getting better. The fish seemed great.

I added a Hydor power head 425gph to give the tank some more flow and also help with the diatoms! The fish love it and and it helped a lot with my diatom issue.



While doing a water change and cleaning of the tank right after i took this picture, disaster struck.. will update more tomorrow!

 

[jaegers_reef]

Looking good! There are always bumps in the beginning. What is your filter setup?

 

[Mordie101]

Looking good! There are always bumps in the beginning. What is your filter setup?

So after trying the protein skimmer i put the stock filter back in chamber 1. In chamber 2 i have some DIY sponges (dish cleaning sponges from the dollar store) in level 1. In level 2 i have the bag of clear fx pro. Empty level three. There’s a small sponge in the bottom of the divider of section two and three. In three i just have the pump! I’ve been debating adding bioballs or a small about of media. But i test and have no nitrites nitrates or ammonia. My ph is 8.0-8.2. Still hav issues with diatoms but i am going to address that probably tomorrow!

 

[jaegers_reef]

So after trying the protein skimmer i put the stock filter back in chamber 1. In chamber 2 i have some DIY sponges (dish cleaning sponges from the dollar store) in level 1. In level 2 i have the bag of clear fx pro. Empty level three. There’s a small sponge in the bottom of the divider of section two and three. In three i just have the pump! I’ve been debating adding bioballs or a small about of media. But i test and have no nitrites nitrates or ammonia. My ph is 8.0-8.2. Still hav issues with diatoms but i am going to address that probably tomorrow!

What is P04 at?

 

[Mordie101]

What is P04 at?

Funny story.. so i was under the impression i didn’t have t test for phosphates or calcium because i didn’t have SPS corals. Boy was i wrong. So i go to buy a master reef test kit which will test for those and a few more and the last one they have a bottle is busted in it so i wasn’t gonna buy it like that.. have had to wait a couple days for them to get a new shipment in and they are supposed to let me know! Hopefully gonna get it soon to test! I have another theory concerning calcium/phosphate in the tank. I’m gonna continue more tomorrow afternoon!

 

[jaegers_reef]

Funny story.. so i was under the impression i didn’t have t test for phosphates or calcium because i didn’t have SPS corals. Boy was i wrong. So i go to buy a master reef test kit which will test for those and a few more and the last one they have a bottle is busted in it so i wasn’t gonna buy it like that.. have had to wait a couple days for them to get a new shipment in and they are supposed to let me know! Hopefully gonna get it soon to test! I have another theory concerning calcium/phosphate in the tank. I’m gonna continue more tomorrow afternoon!

Im just wondering if maybe those dollar store sponges could be leeching phosphate or something.

 

[Mordie101]

Im just wondering if maybe those dollar store sponges could be leeching phosphate or something.

So these are the little guys i use. I put two of them in the top section and the water runs over them. I change them out about every two weeks!

 

[Mordie101]

Pt. 3 of tank story



So i took the picture of my tank admiring my little piece of the ocean and the little i had done in a short time and began to scrub my glass with my magnetic cleaner i picked up. Then disaster struck.

I noticed my tank had a crack. Now some say that it’s not a crack and it can’t be so on and so forth. I had many back and forth conversations with corlalife customer service reps. I hadn’t dropped it and i hadn’t ever really noticed it but i couldn’t imagine how i could have done it. So i called my lfs and coralife and we tried to see if it was just silicone. Countless times scraping with box cutters and knives or finger nails. Nothing got it off. I had myself and my girlfriend try to scratch it off with a box cutter blade for a good hour or so. Nothing.


I’d posted to R2R for any remedies for a cracked tank and as you all know it’s shot. So i did what i could and talked with my lfs and was able to get a new tank for free.

So i bought some Lowe’s paint buckets. Cleaned them good, recruited my girlfriend for help and in we went.

I got the fish an inverts secure in the bucket and the corals in another. I siphoned the water out and got each piece of live rock out in the buckets as well. After getting it almost completely drained we were able to move the 1/4 filled tank to the floor and the empty new tank onto the stand.

Set up the live rock again and started scooping sand into the new tank with solo cups. After getting all i could in the new tank i started with water. I took about 1/2 of the old water and put it back in and tried to treat it like a large water change and added new. Got the tank about 3/4 filled up and added my corals back to my live rock and the fish and inverts.

Got all my equipment set back up then filled the rest of the tank.

Success.

I let the tank settle the rest of the night and in the morning everything looked back to normal.


About 2 days later. Mind you it’s been 4 days since i got my 6 line wrasse Tito’s.. another disaster hits.

If you’ll look close you can see the white specks on his side. Was determined to be fluke and of course i don’t QT and neither does my LFS.. so i rushed back to the LFS and picked up something to treat the tank with.

This was said to be a general cure all additive.. twice a day for two-three weeks to prevent spreading. It doesn’t have copper so my shrimp (Jacques) was safe.

A few hours after getting back from the store with the medicine i saw him dead.. my first fish death. It was pretty sad because there was nothing i could do that late in the predicament.. now to worry about the Smiths..


Well right at two weeks and i had seen no further fluke or any other sickness i decided it was good enough.. ( that and i had to leave for a business trip for 4 days) once you start the cycle you’re not supposed to miss a day so i cut it off at 2 weeks.

Come back from my trip and everyone was great thankfully.

Another two weeks go by and the lfs said i could start buying corals/fish again. So of course i did haha.

This was the haul! First pictures of them all. They looked great in the store and i was interested in getting a variety of corals to add to my tank.

Got everything situated into the tank and they looked great to me.


So it’d been just about a month since i had to swap tanks and Tito’s had died. Finally got the temperature situation under control with my fan and the diatoms were looking better. Then once again. Disaster struck. Beginner mistakes can be lethal and i learned the hard way.. will update more later in the day!

 

[eb_reef]

What coral is this?

 

[Mordie101]

What coral is this?

A neon green galexia i will post updated pics in a couple days

 

[Mordie101]

Pt.4



Well i told you all that beginner mistakes can be lethal.. well they are. Jacques (my shrimp) after being the first invert i added other than snails, died.. after posting a video of what was happening it was determined that it was either a salinity swing that did it or troubles molting..

Dumb me never bought a refractometer.. i just always had my LFS test my water’s salinity..

Needless to say i bought one very quickly after.. rookie mistake with my topping off the tank.

So i decided to look into an ATO system.

So i ordered a tunze nano ato after some research from BRS and i waited!

While i waited i picked up some zoas!

I also looking into getting another invert that i thought was fascinating! A fighting conch!

He has made huge progress in cleaning up my sand bed from left over food or diatoms or just normal sand sifting stuff. Absolutely would recommend these guys to anyone.

Couple days go by and my ATO comes in!

So i but it open and wash everything out and go to assembling and putting it in tank.

So downsides of biocube so far include over heating and limited space. Hardly any room for an ATO.

So i decided to put my ATO float switch in the third chamber with my return pump that way i can look at it using the Min. an Max level guide.

Let me tell you something. Pain. In. The. Butt.

After getting it i was ready to try it out. Well it worked but I’d read about siphoning problems if the hose got into the tank.


Up to date as of today.

So I’m at work on shift and such and i go to my 9:00 break and look at my camera. I’m absolutely stunned at what i see. Hate i didn’t take a picture on camera.

What i saw was a tank that was 3/4 full.

WHERE DID THE WATER GO?!?!?!

I had to pull some strings but i rushed home burst through to door and saw this.

Lo and behold i find that the hose of my ATO had fallen into the water and created a siphon. Just like i had tried to prevent.

I had to act fast because not only was i away from work with someone covering but there was some water in my floor and i had no idea how long the fish had been without a steady flow of oxygen.

I check the tank every morning at 5:30am when i leave for work. It was now 9:30 ish..

Found the water. Siphon achieved..

The water had leaked out of the holes i made for my hoses.. there was about a gallon or two on the floor..

Quickly cleaned that up as to not damage the hard wood and began filling the tank back up..

When i left at 9:45-50 my tank looked as above.

I was on edge alllllll day wondering if some snails had been above water too long or my fish became too stressed. Thankfully everyone’s okay.

I’ll post some coral pictures to show any growth in them and that’s my adventure so far! Been a rocky road but I’m trying to keep learning and very glad i got some hardy fish [emoji28].. just want them to finish pairing so they will stop fighting now.

 

[Mordie101]

So here’s a full tank update! My torch coral is huge now and my plate coral is one of my favorites.

I have some videos on my Instagram of the tank, not too many but a few if anyone wants to see just PM me!

I will try to post updates often and take any advice anyone is willing to give!

Looking into adding a firefish for my final fish! Anyone have any other suggestions or concerns?

I’m waiting for a test kit to test my phosphates and calcium levels also gonna be updating soon on that.





#reefsquad #newreefer #newthread #firstbuildthread #firsttank #biocube16 #coralife #coral #invert #clownfish #welcometoR2R #welcome #R2Rnoob #noobreefer

 

[Flippers4pups]

Looking very good!

 

[Mordie101]

Looking very good!

Thanks!

 

[dbl]

Oh the trials and tribulations of having a tank. Thanks for sharing and detailing the journey this far.

If you would like, I could move this over to the members tank forum to serve as your build thread. A build thread is a great way to track and share your progress. It is a lot of fun to look back in a year or four and see how it all started. Just let me know if you'd like it moved over.

 

[Mordie101]

Oh the trials and tribulations of having a tank. Thanks for sharing and detailing the journey this far.

If you would like, I could move this over to the members tank forum to serve as your build thread. A build thread is a great way to track and share your progress. It is a lot of fun to look back in a year or four and see how it all started. Just let me know if you'd like it moved over.

Ohh that’d be great! I wasn’t sure where to “start” my story even though I’m pretty late.. haha so i chose here since I’m still pretty new.. that’d be great and I’d really appreciate it!

 

[dbl]

Ohh that’d be great! I wasn’t sure where to “start” my story even though I’m pretty late.. haha so i chose here since I’m still pretty new.. that’d be great and I’d really appreciate it!

No worries...it's been moved over to the members tank forum. Now you can click the link below and follow the instructions to get yourself a fancy Build Thread Contributor banner.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/youre-in-trouble-and-in-danger.317089/