Noobie Member and Tank owner

[dallasflyfisher]

I am new to Marine tanks and a new member to the club. I have purchased a BioCube 29, my goal is to have some Bubble Tips and Clowns for my young children to enjoy and show off to there friends. I have been curing live rock in the tank for a little over a week. I was told to remove the foam filter and the carbon filter completely from the tank as these tend to cause more harm then good.


Here is more of the advice I was given by a (Marine Only LFS)

1. Replace Bioballs with LR Rubble, he only had a couple of handfuls, not enough to fill the center chamber. This creates 2 issues.
a. A lot of noise (waterfall sound)
b. Tiny bubbles in the tank.
c. If I should add more rubble, do I get cured or uncured? Who has more rubble in the area?

The rest of the advice from the LFS

2. Get water ready to SG 1.026 and 78deg (done)

3 Add LR and wait until Ammonia drops (Live Rock Added Ammonia drop hasn't happened yet but I don't expect to see a drop until it is at least 2 weeks old or more)

4. Algae will grow at this point when this begins to happen turn off lights for a few days to kill off algae.

5. Bring in water for test and we'll make adjustments in preparation for livestock.

6. Add livestock.



So my questions as a noobie are.
1. Do I fill the chamber with more rubble? or is there a better solution (not really wanting to try to make a fuge back there just yet)
2. Would you recommend some other solution?
3 How to I rid the tank of small particulate matter?
4. Do you recommend brushing the live rock or let it work itself out naturally since I am in no rush to add livestock.
5. Is the LFS on the right track? I have spoken to a few people and he is pretty well respected in the area, I just don't want to put his name out there for people to flame.
6. There are tons of recommended options for tank cleaners, what would you all suggest for a Biocube29 reef setup.

I know there is a lot here, so I appreciate any advice you all could pass along. Thank you and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

[psteeleb]

Overall the advice is very sound

I'd add the carbon back to the system once it's up and running

As for rock rubble - it doesn't have to be live, save some money and find some base rock and break it up, this will help with the noise and bubbles

The bio balls and sponge will help in the ammonia cycle but become what are known as nitrate factories, so in the long run its better not to use them in mixed reef setups.

Here is a great read on what to expect on the many cycles a tank goes through
http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=23791

 

[psteeleb]

@dallasflyfisher wrote:

1) yes
2) Not sure what your asking unless just in general, if so I think the path outlined is good
3) Small particulate mater is generally not an issue as long as you don't overfeed. You will get what is know as detritus, this will settle in corners and in and around your rock work. Best to stir it up a little bit and try to suck it out when you do water changes. Your clean up crew should help keep it to a minimum.
4) Brushing live rock, if it's from a existing system (or cured) Not needed and I would recommend against it. If you ordered it you will have extreme die off and it would be best to brush as much off as possible, especially dead or dieing sponges.
5) Clean up crews are mostly made up of what people like to see as part of their mini-ecosystem. Almost everyone goes with some snails, and most people get some hermits but they can be a menace. I’d probably go with a small conch, one or two Mexican turbo snails, some cernith snails, a harlequin brittle star, a emerald crab and a couple blue leg hermits. Don't add them all at once but as the food chain can support them.

good luck and keep us posted - start a build log and take some pics

 

[tradosz]

When tank is ready and you're set on having "Nemos," suggest tank raised clowns. They are usually more hardy and are not susceptible to many of the diseases that are found with wild caught clowns. There are members that are currently raising them.

 

[Guest]

nemos for the kids :roll: i used that excuse to we know you you want themm

 

[bdare]

I've actually been doing a lot of reading over at Nano-reef.com. The new line of thinking is to remove the rubble from the back chambers. You will have enough live rock in your display to provide all the biological filtration you will need.

The rock in the back becomes a place for deitrus to collect and becomes more of a problem then it helps...

I say shave off the covering on the back. Find a small florecent light and grow some chaeto in the back...

Also, I have a bio cube 8. I belive the top of the second chamber came with a black plastic tray. You can put filter floss on there to catch debris. I replace mine once a week.

Also, there are lots of mods you can do to increase the flow on these tanks. I trimmed the wall from chamber 1 to chamber 2 to allow more flow. I believe there is just a small gap by default. Make it straigth across.

Then, replace the stock pump with a MJ of some sort. I don't know what the 29 comes with, but I have a MJ 900 in my Biocube 8. Put a Hydro on the return for random flow.

Ben

 

[nano_thomas]

You have the same system I have. Here is my tank log: http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=37891

The suggestions I received that helped me the most are:

1- Put your LR Rubble in mesh media bags. The 4" X 10" bag is what I put my rubble into and it fits perfectly into Chamber 2. Makes it easier to clean when you can pull all the rock out in 20 seconds! Take that top tray the water flows over out and throw away or save for a later mod.

2- Get a smaller mesh bag- the 2" X 4" one and put Carbon in it 2/3 full. Fill the remaining space with Poly Fiber pillow stuffing (From Hancock or JoAnn Fabric, etc.) and tie the bag shut. The carbon you can change out as often as you want (I do it every 2 weeks on waterchange day) and with the poly fiber on top you can change that out even easier- I change that every 2-4 days.

(Put this in the spot where your sponge is with the stuffing on top)

3- Widen the gap from Chamber 1 to Chamber 2 that the waterfall falls over. Widen it about 1/4"

4- Don't worry about the Min/Max line on the side of your tank. It's really only used for 2 things: 1- Don't go below Min because it will cause your pump to blow bubbles which is bad and 2- the max is really only used as measurement to show you how much evaporation has occurred.

So what I do is fill up my tank where the water in Chamber 3 is is right at the very top of the Min/Max Water Line Viewing Pane. Having more water in your tank fills up Chamber 2 and nearly silences the waterfall yet still maintains good flow.

5- Put a bag of Chemi-Pure on top of your bag of LR Rubble in C2. Oh and remove that tray that sits in the bottom of C2. It will give you more room. If you do this though you should have your LR in a mesh bag so small pieces don't get sucked into your pump. Also, don't pull out your sponge or bag of carbon from that nook in C3 without first turning off your pump. It will help keep your pump from sucking up all that debris.

6- This is tricky, but if you want to hide your heater you can push really hard downward and remove the bottom tray in Chamber 1. This will give you enough room to put your 50w heater in there.

7- Clean-up Crew: I chose to go with about 5 Nassarus Snails, 10 Black Magarita Snails, and 3 small Red Leg Hermits. Oh and 1 Tongan Fighting Conch. They keep my sand and rock super clean. I have about 40# LR and 30# of LS

If you have any more questions or want to know about how to turn the second chamber into a refugium don't hesitate to ask.

 

[dallasflyfisher]

Those are some good tips and a few I haven't seen I appreciate your taking the time to type it all out for me!!