qwertymo13
Member
Hello all!
I started this tank around June of this year. I chose the Biocube due to it being compact (I live in an apartment) and because I got a pretty good deal on it from Beyond the Reef.
For modifications to the tank, I removed the false floor to the 1st and 2nd chamber, took out all the bioballs, and replaced the stock return pump with a MJ 900. I bought an inTank media rack so I can run filter floss (1st chamber), Purigen (2nd chamber), and Chemi Pure Elite (3rd chamber).
For lighting, I wanted to give reefing a try, so I knew I needed to upgrade the stock PCs. I decided to get a retrofit kit from Steve's LED because the reviews were positive. The kit comes as a complete package that will provide me with enough lighting to keep almost anything. I did have to do some modification to the hood to get the kit to fit inside. I went with the standard configuration of 9 RB and 6 Neutral White. In retrospect, I would have gone with less RB, because my tank is really blue under these LEDs.
For biological filters, I have about 15 lbs. or LR and about 15 lbs. of LS. I got the LR from Aquapros which had these man-made LR painted with purple/red paint to look like it was covered in coralline. The LR was cured, and relatively cheap for cured LR. I was expecting a minimum of 3 weeks to get my tank cycled, but amazingly, it took less than a week before all my parameters were at nil. I couldn't believe it myself, and had my water tested at multiple places to make sure. After I was certain the tank was stable, I bought some CuC from Reef Cleaners. I ordered 10 Dwarf Cerith Snails, 3 Nerite Snails, 5 Cerith Snails for my CuC. What I got was, and I'm not joking, somewhere close to 100 Dwarf Ceriths. I stopped counting after 50 and ended up giving most of them away.
Anyways, flash forward to now. I have a mixed reef with mostly SPS and Zoanthids, and a few LPS. They are all frags at the moment, so nothing spectacular. I am still learning more and more about this hobby, but luckily, I haven't lost anything yet. I've found that the online reefing community (especially CR) helps me avoid many of the mistakes that I would have normally made, so thanks CR!
Sorry for the bad photos.
View attachment 19280
First Setup.
View attachment 19281
Added Water.
View attachment 19282
Water cleared after a few hours.
View attachment 19283
Cleanup crew.
View attachment 19284
More Cleanup crew.
View attachment 19285
More more Cleanup crew. I wasn't joking, there was a ton that came with it when I only ordered 10.
View attachment 19286
LED with Neutral White only
View attachment 19287
LED with Royal Blue only
View attachment 19288
Current tank view
View attachment 19289
LPS.
View attachment 19290
SPS.
View attachment 19291
More SPS.
View attachment 19292
More SPS.
View attachment 19293
Some of my Zoanthids.
Stuff I have:
LPS
Tyree Green Leather
Toxic Green Torch
Purple-Tip Frogspawn
SPS
ORA Pink Polyp Montipora Capricornis
ORA Ponape Birdnest
ORA Joe the Coral
Garf Bonsai
Purple Polyp Birdnest
Pink Polyp Birdnest
Deep Blue Australian Acropora
Teal Australian Acropora
Bali Green Slimer
Misc. Acropora
Green Polyp Acropora (I think it’s a Stylophora or Pocillopora)
Zoanthids
Sunny Ds
God of War
Utter Chaos
PZ Salted Agave
007 Golden Eye
Radioactive Dragon Eye
Purpleberry Fantasy
Wobbegong WoW!
Valentine’s Day Massacre
Tub’s Blue
Scrambled Eggs
Watermelon WoW!
Misc. Pastel Yellow Zoanthids colony
Misc. Zoanthids colony with a few Red Eagle Eye polyp
Misc. Zoanthids
Other
Bangai Cardinal
Hi-Fin Goby
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
CuC
Thanks for looking, I hope to chat and learn more from each and every one of you here on CR!
Tsun
I started this tank around June of this year. I chose the Biocube due to it being compact (I live in an apartment) and because I got a pretty good deal on it from Beyond the Reef.
For modifications to the tank, I removed the false floor to the 1st and 2nd chamber, took out all the bioballs, and replaced the stock return pump with a MJ 900. I bought an inTank media rack so I can run filter floss (1st chamber), Purigen (2nd chamber), and Chemi Pure Elite (3rd chamber).
For lighting, I wanted to give reefing a try, so I knew I needed to upgrade the stock PCs. I decided to get a retrofit kit from Steve's LED because the reviews were positive. The kit comes as a complete package that will provide me with enough lighting to keep almost anything. I did have to do some modification to the hood to get the kit to fit inside. I went with the standard configuration of 9 RB and 6 Neutral White. In retrospect, I would have gone with less RB, because my tank is really blue under these LEDs.
For biological filters, I have about 15 lbs. or LR and about 15 lbs. of LS. I got the LR from Aquapros which had these man-made LR painted with purple/red paint to look like it was covered in coralline. The LR was cured, and relatively cheap for cured LR. I was expecting a minimum of 3 weeks to get my tank cycled, but amazingly, it took less than a week before all my parameters were at nil. I couldn't believe it myself, and had my water tested at multiple places to make sure. After I was certain the tank was stable, I bought some CuC from Reef Cleaners. I ordered 10 Dwarf Cerith Snails, 3 Nerite Snails, 5 Cerith Snails for my CuC. What I got was, and I'm not joking, somewhere close to 100 Dwarf Ceriths. I stopped counting after 50 and ended up giving most of them away.
Anyways, flash forward to now. I have a mixed reef with mostly SPS and Zoanthids, and a few LPS. They are all frags at the moment, so nothing spectacular. I am still learning more and more about this hobby, but luckily, I haven't lost anything yet. I've found that the online reefing community (especially CR) helps me avoid many of the mistakes that I would have normally made, so thanks CR!
Sorry for the bad photos.
View attachment 19280
First Setup.
View attachment 19281
Added Water.
View attachment 19282
Water cleared after a few hours.
View attachment 19283
Cleanup crew.
View attachment 19284
More Cleanup crew.
View attachment 19285
More more Cleanup crew. I wasn't joking, there was a ton that came with it when I only ordered 10.
View attachment 19286
LED with Neutral White only
View attachment 19287
LED with Royal Blue only
View attachment 19288
Current tank view
View attachment 19289
LPS.
View attachment 19290
SPS.
View attachment 19291
More SPS.
View attachment 19292
More SPS.
View attachment 19293
Some of my Zoanthids.
Stuff I have:
LPS
Tyree Green Leather
Toxic Green Torch
Purple-Tip Frogspawn
SPS
ORA Pink Polyp Montipora Capricornis
ORA Ponape Birdnest
ORA Joe the Coral
Garf Bonsai
Purple Polyp Birdnest
Pink Polyp Birdnest
Deep Blue Australian Acropora
Teal Australian Acropora
Bali Green Slimer
Misc. Acropora
Green Polyp Acropora (I think it’s a Stylophora or Pocillopora)
Zoanthids
Sunny Ds
God of War
Utter Chaos
PZ Salted Agave
007 Golden Eye
Radioactive Dragon Eye
Purpleberry Fantasy
Wobbegong WoW!
Valentine’s Day Massacre
Tub’s Blue
Scrambled Eggs
Watermelon WoW!
Misc. Pastel Yellow Zoanthids colony
Misc. Zoanthids colony with a few Red Eagle Eye polyp
Misc. Zoanthids
Other
Bangai Cardinal
Hi-Fin Goby
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
CuC
Thanks for looking, I hope to chat and learn more from each and every one of you here on CR!
Tsun