Jeff721

Yeah, I marked a line on the little window/gauge. Topping off with RO/DI. Monday after top-off it was 1,024, then today 1.026 before top-off. However, Saturday to Moday was a jump from 1.025 to 1.030. Odd. But then again, maybe I aught to get a refractometer instead of the floating arm hydrometer.

Just tested my water in the tank. Is it ok to use API freshwater master kit for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? If so, Ammonia is .5ppm, nitrite is 0, and nitrate looks to be between 0 and 5ppm. I am having a problem with evaporation and salinity though. How far is too far of a swing? When I start out, the salinity/specific gravity is 1.024-1.025, 2 days later it goes to 1.026-1.030, how unhealthy is that for livestock? Will I be able to keep anything alive?

Thanks, the powerhead on the lower right isn't actually running, I just had it in when i was seeing home much flow would kick up too much crap. Turned out i needed the outlet space and can't run it anyway. I may see if I can make due without the koralia too since I could use another outlet really and it is so visually unappealing.

Thanks guys. Tank is not done cycling. Only set it up on Friday, trying to be patient. I can't wait to get corals in there - but I will wait for the sake of their health. Flooddc, the green stands are about .5 - 1mm thick. They are also branched together, multiple pieces like a tree branch. I will try to get a better pic, thanks for the attempt to ID.

Thanks!

Link to my homemade stand: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/56336-diy-biocube-14-stand-pic-heavy/ And my tank journal: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/56337-just-starting-out-biocube-14-pic-heavy/ I appreciate any input and advice. Thanks.

Thanks Neto, you've got a great tank going. I think I would liek to go a little taller on the left and center. Pic 1 and pic 2 are the same scape, one is seated, one is standing, respectively.

My hardware: 14 gallon tank - roughly 10 gallons of water volume Filtration - 2 sheets of filter matting, one in the far right chamber, one in the center - In Tank media basket, in the center chamber, under the filter matt, currently filled with bio-balls - hope to add chaeto in one slot Flow - Koralia nano circulator - maxi-jet 900 powerhead pump replaced stock pump Heat - deep blue 150 watt heater Lighting - 3x 24watt PC - 1x 10,000K, 1x 50/50, 1x Actintic Fans within the lighting system edit: also have a JBJ Nano-glo LED fuge light My stocking plans: Easy corals - you tell me. I was looking at LPS and Zoas, don't know which of the species of each. Remember, I'm a newb. Livestock - 1x firefish, neon, or clown goby. 1x occelaris or percular clownfish. Maybe a blue-claw hermit crab. What other clean-up-crew should I look at? I plan on feeding every other day. 10% water change per week. There will be no skimmer on this tank.

I was able to pick up a Biocube 14 with a bunch of extras for pretty cheap recently. I decided that this would be my first soiré into saltwater. I wanted to keep things relatively cheap to allow for more money to be spent on livestock and unexpected expenses. Also, ulitimately if I do fail at this and decide to walk away, I won't be hurting too much. As of Friday the 16th this tank was up and running. Took a while to get the stand built, maybe 3 days. I posted about it here: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/56336-diy-biocube-14-stand-pic-heavy/ This weekend I went to 4 shops and found live rock, salt, sand, and advice. Tropic Lagoon, Congressional Aquariums, Pristin Aquariums, and Roozen's Garden Center. I ended up with about 10-12 pounds of live rock, 15 pounds of Reef Crystals salt, and enough RO/DI water to fill the tank and do a water change/top off. Initial setup: Haven't stopped rearranging the live rock yet. I think I need a couple more pounds worth. I am pretty picky about the pieces that I choose since it's such a small system - but I admit I don't always know what to look for. I picked up one piece with a little green algae by mistake (roozen's - bad lighting, but by far the cheapest for rock). I also have some sort of green growth on one of my rocks that I would like someone to try to ID: Top-center of the pic.

When I was staining the front, I realized that I had the perfect thing to use as a door handle, a fossilized shell that I got at a rock and mineral show a couple of years ago. I purchased the cheaped brushed nickel cabinet handle I could get, ground it to the best shape and gorilla glued the shell to it. Turned out pretty good. I know it looks metal, but it is stone, trust me. The closure system is one of those magnetic push to lock and push to release spring loaded units. All told, this whole thing cost around $40-ish to build. Minus the shell.

So then I moved on to the finishing stage. I painted the sides, top and back; and decided that I wanted to stain/whitewash the front. The inside got 2 heavy coats of white for light reflectivity and waterproofing in case I want to add a sump or something crazy later. Example of the stain: The stained panels got 2 coats of polyurethane. The painted portions, 2 coats of "black". I went back and edged everything after these photos were taken.

I was able to pick up a Biocube 14 for cheap recently. So one thing that the setup was missing was a stand. I decided to make my own. I started with a half sheet of 1/2" plywood. Through careful planning and ingenuity I was able to cut all of the pieces I would need from this sheet. Here are the cutouts. There was VERY little left of the board left after I got everything cut. I sat the tank onto the top and bottom pieces and traced the perimeter to get and accurate base, then attacked them with the jigsaw and sander. Took some fanagling but I was able to use a 90 degree clamp and more ingenuity to put it together with wood screws and glue where appropriate. I typically overbuild things, but this I wanted to be a little nicer, like a cabinet rather than a "rustic" shelf system. All of the screws were countersunk so that I could paint over them. I planned to paint this all along, so I didn't pay much attention to hiding the fasteners. This one shows the door panel in place, but not attached. With the tank on for fitting.

Thanks for the welcomes folks. I am going to start a thread soon on my tank, like today-ish. I am in Accokeek specifically.

I guess what i meant to say is it's only a matter of time. I can't resist getting involved.

Thanks! I almot certainly will, just a matter of when. I already belong to two other fish clubs in the area. I should have done it before blowing my paycheck on live rock :D

Hello everyone. Thanks for offering this site, I have already learned quite a bit through lurking over the past couple of weeks. I was a long-time dreamer about marine aquariums, that was when it was out of my league financially and all tanks had to be 50 gallons or larger with a protien skimmer and metal halides. While I understand that those things can be helpful; I better understand that they are no longer hard-and-fast rules. Just tonight I set up my first marine tank, a biocube 14 that I picked up used. It was upgraded by the previous owner it would seem. Additional PC bulb, fans, inTank bits, LED 'fuge light, and a maxi-jet 900 powerhead pump. But oddly no stand, so that was my first project and priority. I will post pics of that in the next couple days. As I hope my story will tell, I am a DIY-er at heart. My hopes for my tank are to have a nano reef to include easy/hardy corals, a goby, a crab, a shrimp, and hopefully a percula clown. I may have to reevaluate my stocking though. In my tank now I have about 7 pounds of live rock, 3-ish pounds of lace rock base, 10 lbs of caribisea reef sand, and a dust cloud .