Return to Hobby with a Biocube 14

[Jet]

Hello everyone -

I'm originally from Southern California and have had several nano reefs in the past. It was a fairly simple hobby as I had access to free filtered ocean water from a university marine biology department.

Fast forward seven years (and eight winters) I'm getting back into the hobby. I let my excitement get the best of me when I saw a Oceanic Biocube 14 on Craigslist a few weeks ago for $100. I had planned on the 29 just for ease of maintenance but I jumped the gun and bought the 14.

I'm interested in keeping softies and LPS. I plan on doing weekly water change of 3-5 gallons. I get pre mixed salt and RO water from Natural Pet & Fish in Oak Park. I had a very short cycle, two weeks, as I kept the bioballs, live rock and 1/2 the water when I bought/moved the tank. There is one Percula Clown and one large Engineer Goby that came with the tank. I've got about 20lbs of live rock and 3/4" Aragonite sand bed. Current CUC is 2-Turbo and 1-Astrea Snails, 1-Scarlet and 3-Algae Eating Hermits. Last weekend I bought five polyp zoas and five Ricordia Florida from Reefwise.

I'd like to keep maintenance as simple as possible. I'm overwhelmed with all the information, opinions and experiences I read on internet forums. So much of it is contradictory but I understand that each system is unique. I'd like to upgrade the lighting with the Ecoxotic kit in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I'd like to better understand the options for filter mods. I'd like to keep it as clean (read: uncluttered) as possible. Preferably with everything kept within the Biocube.

1) How important is it that I test the water? I don't have a test kit but the folks at Natural Pet & Fish test for me every week. It's a simple strip test. I'm doing 3-5 gallon water change every week.

2) Why do some folks get a media basket (floss, purigen and chemipure)? Doesn't live rock rubble and carbon do the same?

3) I've upgrade the pump to a Rio 800. I'm condsidering adding the Koralia 425 for additional flow but only when I need to. What is the benefit to addtional flow? Is this for certain types of coral or just to keep the water moving through the rock?

4) How will I know a skimmer is needed? Again, I don't want to do anything unless it's necessary and helpful.

I'd appreciate any information you're willing to share.

~ Jet

 

[pensiveone]

Welcome Jet! I'm fairly new here myself, but this group has been a great asset to a nubie like me! I'm sure you will get some answers to your questions soon. Enjoy!

 

[Neebles]

What all does your pet store test for? Depending on if you run into issues, you may want/need specific tests run that your shop may not have. Just a thought.

 

[cet98]

I live right near OPNP&F....where are you located?....oh, and Welcome

 

[Twitch]

1) How important is it that I test the water? I don't have a test kit but the folks at Natural Pet & Fish test for me every week. It's a simple strip test. I'm doing 3-5 gallon water change every week.

2) Why do some folks get a media basket (floss, purigen and chemipure)? Doesn't live rock rubble and carbon do the same?

3) I've upgrade the pump to a Rio 800. I'm condsidering adding the Koralia 425 for additional flow but only when I need to. What is the benefit to addtional flow? Is this for certain types of coral or just to keep the water moving through the rock?

4) How will I know a skimmer is needed? Again, I don't want to do anything unless it's necessary and helpful.

I'd appreciate any information you're willing to share.

~ Jet

First off welcome to CR and back to the hobby.... They always come back, myself included.

As for your questions....

1. With a small BC14 and water changes of 3-5g a week I wouldnt worry about being tested all the time once the system is stable. Your corals will let you know if anything is way off. Big algae growth, Corals not doing too well, any funkey smelling water could mean trouble but again with WC weekly you shouldnt have any issues if you dont feed real heavy.

2. I ditched my media basket on my old BC14 and BC29 and did the fuge mod instead. Take everything out of the middle chamber then scrape a small square of the paint off the back of the tank on the outside maybe 5in x 5in, find a cheapo led fuge light off ebay and velcro it to shine through the window you made, add some rock rubble and cheato in the middle chamber the light will shine through and you have an instant fuge. Then I would pick up a canister of chempure elite and throw it in the chamber that the overflow flows into (chamber1). That in my opinion from the bc14 and bc29 I have owned made a world of difference far more than the media basket ever did.

3. The BC has some dead spots in the water columb and adding a power head will help keep the water flowing and keep junk from getting stuck in the rockwork causing issues down the road. I would add one now they are cheap for the low flow you will need. No need to create a wave pool just some easy gentle flow all around the tank. And yes the corals will be happier with a bit more flow. Some do extreamly well when givin a ton of flow some dont. So when you get a coral find out what it likes and place it where it needs to be.

4. I have had many salt water tanks and I have never ran a skimmer but I do do water changes every 2 weeks. In my BC's I did 5g weekly wc and everything lived happy I kept all kinds of hard to keep stuff like clams, sponges, sps with no skimmer so it can be done.

Here is a pic of my BC29 before the move to my 60 cube



And here is a pic of my 60g before I tore it down.



And here is my current tank that I just set up in Jan.



All these systems run/ran skimmerless for a very long time. Just ask Lil BamBam he was always amazed with my tanks as I never dose anything and I never ran a skimmer. I believe people put too much into this hobby keep it simple and do not miss water changes.

Just my .02 cents and good luck with your setup

 

[Siebo]

No need for a skimmer. There are many ways to skin this cat. Media basket w/ floss, chemipure and purigen seem to be the popular trio. I run a MB w floss, purigen and k1 in my bio14. Twitches option is great as well. If you use floss change it often min once per week twice is better. The key is the 3-5g WC per week. IMO if you stick to those WC's twitches way would be the best and cheapest route. Just know you must do weekly WC's. If you think you will get lazy choose a different option like I did.

 

[Twitch]

No need for a skimmer. There are many ways to skin this cat. Media basket w/ floss, chemipure and purigen seem to be the popular trio. I run a MB w floss, purigen and k1 in my bio14. Twitches option is great as well. If you use floss change it often min once per week twice is better. The key is the 3-5g WC per week. IMO if you stick to those WC's twitches way would be the best and cheapest route. Just know you must do weekly WC's. If you think you will get lazy choose a different option like I did.

+++1 to that if you are going to be lazy. If you can WC all the time then you will be fine. I did miss one here and there but 99% of the time I made my WC every sunday.

 

[tinman]

Thats what exactly im doing soo far ..

i put the salt for mix on saturday first thing after i wake up
and change the water (5-6 gallons ) on a 29 biocube every sunday first thing after i wakeup ..

so far its been holding good, my phosphates ranged between 0.03 and 0.08 and nitrates range between 0.2- 1.0 over the week ..

i have skimmer and it pulls dark skimmate but i really think of it just as aerating the water so as keep the ph stable.

i have filter floss and the biocube filter catridges that i rinse the first week and change the second week.

its kinda hard work but once you get used to it it doesnt really feel that bad haha .. Who said reefing is easy

 

[tinman]

oh and forgot to add .. MATCH YOUR ALK with the changing water and the water in the tank ..

 

[Jet]

Consistent weekly water change is probably the easiest for me. And it doesn't take much time. I'll order the Koralia 425 this week.

Really appreciate your replies.

 

[Twitch]

Jet look into the fuge mod it will be a real benifet to the system if you can do wc weekly. and best of all its cheap only a cheap light, some cheato, and a razor blade to do it required

 

[Jet]

I am definitely planning on the fuge mod. The back of my cube is clear glass so it seems made for it. Think I may need a handful more small snails/hermits of some sort. Last weekend I added one Scarlet and three pea sized hermits to the two Turbo and one Astrea snails but there's still quite a bit of crud on the rock and algae on the glass. Hopefully adding the Koralia will remove some of the crud. I've been feeding the two fish frozen mysis every third day - not very much - one cube lasted almost four weeks.

 

[Jet]

My little BioCube has been running and stable for just under two months. I've gone slow in adding easier to keep corals to the two fish (True Perc, 5" Engineer Goby) that came with the tank. I've added three Rics which are doing fine, I suppose. They're not melting or fading so I assume they're fine. I've also got a couple of different types of zoas/palys - only one seem to not be so happy and 2 of 3 polyps are closed most of the time, the others are showing new polyp growth, slowly but surely. I've also got a small toadstool and finger leather - these are very happy and plump and they're polyps extended most of the time.

I've an LED retrofit from Nanobox that will be completed and installed tonight.

With the fragswap tomorrow, I'd like to take the opportunity to add a couple more corals but wanted others input and experiences before deciding which. I'd like to add a euphyillia and really have no preference between Frogspawn, Hammer or Torch. Is one easier to care for? Also, I like Acans. Are they difficult to care for? Would I need to supplement with calcium/alk for these two species? Would I need to start any supplements immediately?

 

[Jet]

!!And PS... I'm already considering an upgrade to larger tank later this year. Those 40 Breeders are beauts!

 

[jamesw]

I would think an Engineer goby would be too big and destructive for a 14, but I might be biased since I hate those bastards.

 

[Pufferpunk]

My Engineer goby is well over a foot long!

 

[Jet]

Yeah, he's far too big for this tank. I've been trying to re-home him for a few weeks without any luck. I'll be upgrading to a 40 or 60 gallon by end of year and if I've still got him, he'll go in there. He's not overly destructive but does like to move sand around and sometimes he buries the sand dwelling zoas and acans. I feel bad for him for being in there but there's not much I can do about it.

I suspect he'll just grow into the new tank when it's ready.