- Joined
- Sep 25, 2022
- Messages
- 12
- Reaction score
- 63
- Review score
- +0 /0 /-0
- Location
- United States of America
My first build !
Im new to reef keeping but grew up with my dad keeping a 150 gal for many years.
I was given a biocube 14 for free and decided to jump in and give reef keeping a try!
Id like this build log to be somewhat of an online journal of sorts to be a history of the tanks life and evolution.
My tank is now 3.5 weeks old.
Live sand, dry rock, and API Quickstart was added 10/02/22.
![Rock and sand.jpg Rock and sand.jpg](https://test.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2806/2806093-c91e82a49a3208f572678a6bd5b9de28.jpg)
A few days later my ammonia and nitrite were at 0ppm and Nitrate was about 10 ppm. Figured I was ready to add a single clown and hope the tank continued to cycle. At this same time (On advice from my LFS) I also added two blue legged hermits, a scarlet hermit, a trochus snail and a nassarius snail. About a week later the trochus snail died and i removed quickly to avoid an ammonia spike. I believe the snail didn't have enough food as there wasn't really any algae at this point. The other CUC seemed to be doing fine though.
At this point, I wasn't very happy with how hot the lighting was so i opted to remove the stock lights from the Biocube and retrofit a Fuval Nano into the lid of the biocube.
![led in place.jpg led in place.jpg](https://test.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2806/2806092-d35e339183fc8434f0e6c93a4b709520.jpg)
Check out my short DIY thread on how that took place.
Fast forward a few weeks and I decided to try adding some corals, a local reef keeper sold me a few great pieces of GSP for $10. Within 24hrs it was open and looking awesome!
![Added GSP.jpg Added GSP.jpg](https://test.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2806/2806090-acd1d00ab2ac00b78c2ea7f435554682.jpg)
(Note the brown that i suspect is Diatoms, all gone as of 10/27/22)
This boosted my confidence and so i took advantage of a weekend sale at the LFS and got three frags for $23:
A "Wam-N-Watermelon" Zoanthid (Yellow and Pink 13 polyps)
A "Ruby Rain" Zoanthid (Blue and Orange ~22 polyps)
A "Candy Apple" palythoa (Green and Red)
Right after feeding the corals some frozen food. Still working on getting better pictures with my iphone.
![Tank from front.jpg Tank from front.jpg](https://test.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2806/2806094-4d74f064d9bf447a4c42f08bba0fc57f.jpg)
Full view of the front of the tank with the softies all opened up.
Tank is doing well, Ammonia and nitrite are now down to 0 after hovering around 0.5ppm for a week and a half.
I'm looking to add another fish either this weekend or sometime next week. Probably a yellow clown Goby or royal gamma.
I love to come home from work and check out whats going on in my little bit of ocean.
Ive seen at least one brittle star baby hitchhiker and a couple bristle worms and maybe an Asterina start with only three legs.
Seems like even at only a few weeks in there is so much life !
Next time I update ill have some more tank mates to share !
Im new to reef keeping but grew up with my dad keeping a 150 gal for many years.
I was given a biocube 14 for free and decided to jump in and give reef keeping a try!
Id like this build log to be somewhat of an online journal of sorts to be a history of the tanks life and evolution.
My tank is now 3.5 weeks old.
Live sand, dry rock, and API Quickstart was added 10/02/22.
![Rock and sand.jpg Rock and sand.jpg](https://test.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2806/2806093-c91e82a49a3208f572678a6bd5b9de28.jpg)
A few days later my ammonia and nitrite were at 0ppm and Nitrate was about 10 ppm. Figured I was ready to add a single clown and hope the tank continued to cycle. At this same time (On advice from my LFS) I also added two blue legged hermits, a scarlet hermit, a trochus snail and a nassarius snail. About a week later the trochus snail died and i removed quickly to avoid an ammonia spike. I believe the snail didn't have enough food as there wasn't really any algae at this point. The other CUC seemed to be doing fine though.
At this point, I wasn't very happy with how hot the lighting was so i opted to remove the stock lights from the Biocube and retrofit a Fuval Nano into the lid of the biocube.
![led in place.jpg led in place.jpg](https://test.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2806/2806092-d35e339183fc8434f0e6c93a4b709520.jpg)
Check out my short DIY thread on how that took place.
Fast forward a few weeks and I decided to try adding some corals, a local reef keeper sold me a few great pieces of GSP for $10. Within 24hrs it was open and looking awesome!
![Added GSP.jpg Added GSP.jpg](https://test.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2806/2806090-acd1d00ab2ac00b78c2ea7f435554682.jpg)
(Note the brown that i suspect is Diatoms, all gone as of 10/27/22)
This boosted my confidence and so i took advantage of a weekend sale at the LFS and got three frags for $23:
A "Wam-N-Watermelon" Zoanthid (Yellow and Pink 13 polyps)
A "Ruby Rain" Zoanthid (Blue and Orange ~22 polyps)
A "Candy Apple" palythoa (Green and Red)
![Added zoas and paly.jpg Added zoas and paly.jpg](https://test.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2806/2806091-c7e5b922d245ddd15c8a1a48dd047540.jpg)
Right after feeding the corals some frozen food. Still working on getting better pictures with my iphone.
![Tank from front.jpg Tank from front.jpg](https://test.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2806/2806094-4d74f064d9bf447a4c42f08bba0fc57f.jpg)
Full view of the front of the tank with the softies all opened up.
Tank is doing well, Ammonia and nitrite are now down to 0 after hovering around 0.5ppm for a week and a half.
I'm looking to add another fish either this weekend or sometime next week. Probably a yellow clown Goby or royal gamma.
I love to come home from work and check out whats going on in my little bit of ocean.
Ive seen at least one brittle star baby hitchhiker and a couple bristle worms and maybe an Asterina start with only three legs.
Seems like even at only a few weeks in there is so much life !
Next time I update ill have some more tank mates to share !