Bought a Biocube 14

[stepheng]

Hello all,

I know this has probably been gone over countless times, but I'm taking the saltwater plunge and will get my Biocube 14 sometime next week.

My plan it to keep it stock for now, but have read that the bio balls should be replaced with rubble. Where do I get this rubble? Also, how should I setup the tank for its initial cycle? The coral images from the members here are awesome, but I don't know if I can run any corals at all with my stock setup...

I'm very excited :yay:but so many questions to figure out before I add a single drop of water to the tank....any help would be appreciated.

Stephen

 

[ralph atl]

Welcome!

 

[kr561]

i have a 12 gallon nano tank,already established,fully stocked,with sand and live rock,please let me know if you are interested

 

[coolsurf]

You will hear plenty of arguments concerning not to use bioballs and genuinely, they are pretty correct. Live rubble IMHO is more the way to go. On the flip side, some marine biologist I know all encourage the use of some bio balls...not all. I have an Aquapod 24 (similar to a cube) which I do use minimal but some bioballs in. I also use Matrix which helps keep the natural bacteria in it. The pain with bioballs is you need to clean them every so often..live rubble you do not.

I really suggest from my experience, go with the live rubble.

 

[dakota9]

BioCube 14 here........

It's neutured....... No bioballs

In the center chamber I'm running (.......too much!)

Live Rock Rubble
Seachem Matrix
Seachem Matrix Carbon
Seachem Purigen

And above the removable grated lid I cut to fit a piece of 50 micron filter cloth to remove all the big stuff to insure my media stays pretty clean....

FYI, my chamber on the right houses the BioCube Skimmer, heater, temp prob, and grounding prob...... Not one more thing will fit in there.

Currently, I'm trying to figure out how to run a UV Sterilizer in the chamber to the left that currently only house the return pump and a blue sponge.

(I know, thats a lot of crap back there, but my water clarity is to die for!)

My last set-up was a 65g with a 20g sump. This nano stuff is still all new to me!

 

[mustangcaleb]

i have a 29g biocube and i very rarely run filter pad in the first chamber, but i do occassionally do it. also run my heater in the first chamber, but in the second chamber i have a softball sized wad of chaeto. under the chaeto is a bag of chemipure elite. theres nothing in the last chamber but the return pump. my tank does have small spots of algae here and there but its only 2 months old and i was feeding flake food when it got setup. but now i feed frozen food and have a small submersible light on the chaeto and everything is getting cleaner by the day.

 

[coolsurf]

BioCube 14 here........

It's neutured....... No bioballs

In the center chamber I'm running (.......too much!)

Live Rock Rubble
Seachem Matrix
Seachem Matrix Carbon
Seachem Purigen

quote]
Your not the only one running too much...I'm running Matrix, Purigen, Carbon and Phosban along with a few bioballs for style points!!!! :up:

 

[mustangcaleb]

lol, i have a bag of purigen to go in mine also but was told it wont do anything that the chemi pure elite isnt already doing. but i want to put a skimmer on my cube next.

 

[stepheng]

coolsurf;315678 wrote:

BioCube 14 here........

It's neutured....... No bioballs

In the center chamber I'm running (.......too much!)

Live Rock Rubble
Seachem Matrix
Seachem Matrix Carbon
Seachem Purigen

quote]
Your not the only one running too much...I'm running Matrix, Purigen, Carbon and Phosban along with a few bioballs for style points!!!! :up:

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Seachem products. I have modded my Eclipse filter to include a bag of Purigen and replaced the Biowheel with a small bag of Matrix. It does wonders balancing all of the waste my GF produce.

So I can use it in the Biocube? That sounds great, would I mix the matrix with rubble?

Also, speaking of rock, can someone please explain how I fuse the rocks together in the tank...which I assume I will be doing early on.

Thanks for all of the great feedback, keep it coming!

 

[dakota9]

......balancing all of the waste my GF produce

GF= Girl Friend?

What does GF stand for?

Seriously, I wouldn't mix anything with the rubble, as eventually, everything but the rubble will need to be replaced. I buy my media all prebagged. Ounce by ounce it costs alil more, but so much easier....

Epoxy putty is the way you "fuse" rocks together....... research it. The stuff at home depot is the same at pet stores, just a different color and half the price

 

[stepheng]

Dakota9;315733 wrote: ......balancing all of the waste my GF produce

GF= Girl Friend?

What does GF stand for?

Seriously, I wouldn't mix anything with the rubble, as eventually, everything but the rubble will need to be replaced. I buy my media all prebagged. Ounce by ounce it costs alil more, but so much easier....

Epoxy putty is the way you "fuse" rocks together....... research it. The stuff at home depot is the same at pet stores, just a different color and half the price

GF=Goldfish....my Oranda and Red FanTail.

No joke on the Hope Depot Epoxy huh? In a hobby where treated tap water is a no-no, I would have never dreamed that it was OK to use the standard 2-tube epoxy...I guess I figured salt water would break it down over time.

So the plan in my head:
- Check Tank for leaks and any issues
- Get some rubble and get the filteration setup
- Get the right amount of carribean sand (20lbs?)
- Fill the tank with SW from the LFS
- Let it cycle for a week or so while I work on the LR
- ..........

That's about all I got at the moment. And please feel free to recommend additional steps or correct mistakes as needed.

 

[coolsurf]

I agree, don't mix. It'll be a real pain in the tail when you have to replace. Like Dakota9 mentioned. The prebagged stuff is easy to work with. If you feel ambitious, you can buy in bulk and bag your own but I like the prebagged stuff better except for my carbon. I do that myself.

 

[smoothie]

Post in the wtb section for the rubble. Maybe you can find someone local or meet someone at the next meeting.

 

[dakota9]

As little rubble as you need, you could just break up one big (well, not huge) piece of live rock.

Not the two-part epoxy paste, but the puddy that comes in a lil roll. Break off a piece, knead it for a minute or so, until it turns white, then use it?

 

[stepheng]

Dakota9;315935 wrote:
Not the two-part epoxy paste, but the puddy that comes in a lil roll. Break off a piece, knead it for a minute or so, until it turns white, then use it?

This stuff?
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100648874&N=10000003+502487+90401">http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100648874&N=10000003+502487+90401</a>

Very interesting....I'm going to try and find a link or two where someone with more experience than me goes through the process, less I use the wrong thing and kill everything in the tank.

 

[stepheng]

Quick Update...

Bought 12 lbs of Live Rock from Creation Reef and Aquatics, along with 10 gal of salwater, a 20lb bag of Caribbean sand, etc. Rock is resting nicely in a 30gal cooler filled with saltwater.

UPS Delivered the Biocube today. I was like a kid a Christmas...opened it up and there is a HUGE spider crack on the left side of the tank. :doh:

Boxed it back up and contacted the seller, who is sending a replacement out immediately, and the broken one is going back to the UPS Store.

Add a few more days to get my first sw tank up and running....

 

[kr561]

ouch...bummer man,i'd put a spidercrack on the delivery mans head,lol

 

[kr561]

you should look into a metal halide pendant or the "disco ball"..ive seen them for $150...check out ebay?

 

[stepheng]

Got the Biocube 14 setup last night, and a couple of pics are attached. It's a standard setup, with the exception that I've replaced the bioballs with rubble.

A couple of questions I've got at this point:
- My temps are hanging around 70F, which means I need I heater (I think). Any recommendations.
- How should I run the lights? Do I run them both together (Actinic and 10,000k, 24w) during the day? Do I run them separate?

Thanks for the help!
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[1percula]

I have had a 14 for 2 yrs now. Not a bad tank for a beginner. You should leave both lights on. I place mine a on Coralife timer which has day and night settings.

Addiitonally, I would pull the filter and go with the skimmer that they have. I think it costs around $30 but it does a fair job. I removed some of the bio balls out of the center piece in the rear placed a packet of Chemi-pure Elite in it.

I does a great job of keeping the water clear. You might also want to place a small wave pump in the system to get better flow.