My 29 Biocube

[EliteReefs]

took a new pic of my new biocube tongiht i thought i would share. tank still has a long way to go but for only being about 2 months old i think it is coming along very well. i have pics from start till now if anyone is interested. used my crappy pocket cam for the pic in a hurry but it gets the point across

 

[Mr. Prototype]

That thing is sick! Congrats!

 

[revhtree]

Looks awesome! I love the black clowns.

 

[EliteReefs]

Looks awesome! I love the black clowns.

duncans look nice in there huh? thanks again

 

[Fishhead Junkie]

What's your secret to getting all the coraline algae to grow in your tank? You did say only 2 months old right? My 29BC has been up and running for over 1.5 years and I don't have any.

What kind of salt are you using, what chemicals are you adding, have you made any mods to it like pump/lighting etc etc?

I just swapped my tank around over a week ago, took out all the livestock and corals, removed the old rock and replaced it with nice fiji rock and swapped out the crushed coral for a nice shallow sand bed. Tank looks so much better now and I just started using Reef Crystals salt on Monday. I was orginally using premixed saltwater from my LFS and I believe they were using Crystal Sea salt which I've heard is pretty good but after 1.5 years...you would think I would have some purple in my tank. I had a tuxedo urchin which I've heard will eat coraline but I would think I would have seen a little bit at least.

I'll have to post some pics of my tank. I even modded out the center chamber by removing the bio balls, replaced with rubble rock and then some chaeto and added lighting for it to grow, replaced the stock pump with a maxijet 1200 with 2 koralias in the tank for good flow.

Steve

 

[EliteReefs]

thanks

well to be honest i dont really have any secret. matter a fact i have never had a problem with getting good coralline growth even with my first tank 10+ years ago.
i mix my own water and i used my own blend of salt. i use a 50/50 blend of instand oceanic select and tropic marine pro. i find one has good Ca but another has better trace so when i mix the two i have always loved my readings. i go for a gaol af around 350-400 Ca at the least which i think really helps with the coraline growth

and yes this tank was set up at mid april. the rock i used was from the sumps of my large tanks. as you can see it was almost all white and became covered rather quickly.

the only mods i have done are added a few power heads and i put in the 150 HQI retro from nanocustoms. other then that the only thing i do is water changes once a week.

this is what it looked like the day i set it up.

 

[Fishhead Junkie]

I'm impressed. Very nice looking. Isn't 350-400 for Ca kind of on the low side? I wish there was a way to tell depending on which corals, how much Ca they actually use up on a daily basis.

What kind of test kits are you using? I need to get a good one I can trust. I hear so many different opinions on it..."oh, just test of magnesium/hardness, alkalinity" etc etc...dont worry about ammonia and nitrates, never know who to believe.

I think I'll go take another look at your tank again before I sign off...

Steve

 

[EliteReefs]

that is about the lowest you want your ca. for for test kits i use salifert

 

[Fishhead Junkie]

that is about the lowest you want your ca. for for test kits i use salifert

That test kit brand name is being thrown around quite a bit lately. Many people say they are the shizzznet. Why do they have to cost like $25 for just 1 kind of test kit??

If I were to buy a couple kits...which 2 kits would you consider to be the most important to have right off the bat...Magnesium and Calcium??

Steve

 

[EliteReefs]

They cost that much because they are lab grade kits and have very accurate results.

I would say Ca is a good start but Magnesium is not really needed very often at all. there is a prime relationship between the two but in general you only need to test for it if you find a problem with your Ca. proper water changes with a good salt will make this a non issue most of the time. All it does is binds the Ca in your water to allow it to remain available for your corals and coralline. BUT if you’re doing water changes like stated above you will be replacing trace elements such as Ca and magnesium faster then your coral will use them anyways.

Start with testing your Ca first to see if it is even a problem.

BTW do you have any coralline? dont forget that it must first be in your system before it will grow. it will not just start on its own. soon enough you will wish you did not have any. I love it on my rocks but it seems to grow on just about anything

 

[johnr2604]

Very nice biocube. How is the heat with that retro? what are you doing to cool it? I have a 70w retro and my tank runs 81 deg with the light on. I have thought about switching to a 150w but I'm scared LOL.

 

[EliteReefs]

Very nice biocube. How is the heat with that retro? what are you doing to cool it? I have a 70w retro and my tank runs 81 deg with the light on. I have thought about switching to a 150w but I'm scared LOL.

thats the same temp i am running and i am doing nothing other then the upgraded fans for the kit. i run at 81 during the say right now and down to 79 at night. i find that to be a perfect temp

 

[racermike27]

Very nice tank!! Looks really good.

 

[Fishhead Junkie]

Got any new pics of your tank Elite? I still don't have any coraline algae growing in my tank, even with the new salt I am using. I see a couple spots on the back but they look more green than purple. Maybe it's the lighting..you upgraded yours right? I am still running with the stock lighting.

I'll have to post a new pic of mine soon, I can't seem to get the water to clear up. It always looks stuff is being kicked up into the water but my koralia's aren't hitting the bottom stirring up the sand, any suggestions??

Steve

 

[oceanparadise1]

the current could be hitting the walls then kicking up sand

 

[EliteReefs]

sure i got tons of pics. i will post when i get home from the office.

I have add 10-5 more corals since the last pics and i think I have added all i can add at this point. thats the problem i have with nanos. they fill up to dang fast lol.

as for corline it is a tuff call. lighting does matter and yes i have upgraded to the nanocustoms 150 halide. BUT i had all the coraline growth in these pics well before the upgrade. if you recall this tank was only a few weeks old in those pics.

what sort of Ca readings do you have?

 

[oceanparadise1]

Have u tried purple up? i have heard mixed reviews about it thou, some love it some say it doesn nothing.

 

[EliteReefs]

Have u tried purple up? i have heard mixed reviews about it thou, some love it some say it doesn nothing.

good stuff but all it really is is a calcium suppliment. i does work however

 

[oceanparadise1]

cool, ive always wondered that, bc on reef central there where 2 threads, one was post stuff that work and the other thread was stuff that didnt work and it showed up in both LOL