First Tank Ever...... 14g Biocube

[Guest Dynamo]

So my friend finally got me to take the plunge and buy my first tank, a 14g Oceanic Biocube. I figured I should start up a thread on my tank to help get some ideas about what to put in it and what mods I should make to it.

 

So far this is what I've done.

 

SATURDAY

-14G Biocube

-20lbs Sand

-Red Sea Salt

 

Purchased the tank on Saturday along with 20lbs of sand and all the little things. By Saturday night I had my water mixed (1.024 Salinity) and my sand in the tank. My friend suggested that the first thing to do would be to clean the sand. We put a backpack filter on to the tank with a 100 micron filter and stirred up the sand. This is to get all the little sand particles out of the bed so they don't blow up into the water

 

SUNDAY

-15lbs Live Rock

-MJ1200

-25W Heater

-4 snails

-1 hermit

 

On Sunday we went out and picked up some Live Rock from Bimmer, along with a couple smaller necessities. I have to give a shout out to her as she gave me some great pieces to get my tank started with. We also picked up a MJ1200 to increase my flow and started on my CC. When I got home I added the Live Rock, upgraded the pump, put the heater in, added about a gallon of live water from my friend's tank, and dropped in my CC (after slowly introducing them to the tank). I worked on a little reefscaping and that was it.

 

WHAT TO DO NEXT?

 

So I figure there are a couple of things that I need to do next. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

 

1. LR Rubble - I need to break up one of the pieces of LR and add it to the first chamber in the back of the tank. I took out the bioballs and figured that LR would be much better in their place.

 

2. Stabilize the Tempature - I am buying a digital heater and a thermometer to monitor the temp in my tank.

 

3. Auto Top Off - I have a float valve, so now I just need to set up some RO/DI water and a pump below my tank to get this going.

 

4. STOCK THE TANK!! - So I'm still trying to figure out what will go in the tank, though there is a couple of things that I've settled on.

-Pistle Shrimp/Goby: I already bought a pistle shrimp who is chilling in my friend's tank until mine has cycled and is ready to go. The sand bed is deep enough for him to have a good time. Now I need to figure out a goby to pair with him.

-Clowns: I am thinking about picking up a pair of Picasso Clowns for the tank.

-Firefish? Depending on how my tank matures I may end up adding a firefish, though I will be sure to take it slow and not add him until it has been up for a while and the tank is ready.

-Frogspawn/BTA: I am probably going to let the clowns host in a frogspawn first. Once the tank is established and good to go I'll probably be on the look out for a BTA for the clowns. Either rose or green BTA, it depends on what I see and when the tank is ready.

-Softies: I'll probably get some Zoas, mushrooms, Ricordia to fill out the tank. I'll have to hang out at a couple of stores to figure out what I want. I don't need to rush into anything and since it is a small tank I just want to put in a couple of cool softies.

 

 

FUTURE MODS?

 

There are a couple of mods that I'd like to do to my tank, though I'm still researching them and trying to figure out the best way to do it.

 

A. FUGE - I'd like to mod the back of my tank to be a mini fuge. I'll probably have to increase the flow between the first and second portion on the back side of the tank. Then I'll need to add a light to the back of the tank for the cheato or whatever I put back there.

 

B. LIGHTING - I was thinking about adding another PC light to the hood to double the light output. I'm going to keep searching the threads for any info about 14g BC mods. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions about this or knows any good threads.

 

 

PICTURES:

 

I know the first thing people are going to ask for are some pictures. I'll post them to the thread as soon as i can.

Edited September 17, 2007 by Dynamo

[zotzer]

Congratulations! Isn't it fun??!!!

 

Check out www.nano-reef.com for ideas on modding the biocube, and www.nanotuners.com for lighting ideas (although they seemed a tad pricey when I thought I'd go the nano route, you can get great mod ideas)

 

As for the Picassos...LOVE THEM! Be careful though. I have a. percs as well, and they are among the more picky of the bunch as to what they will host in. BTA isn't a natural host, although it's been known to happen. Percs tend to like the tougher-to-keep 'nems.

 

If you find some nice, bright, local ricordea, let us all know. I'm eager to get some too, but I want FAB!

 

Keep us posted (pics are always good! hint hint....)

Tracy

[treesprite]

Congrats on the new tank. Remember, take your time, let the tank fully cycle before you add any fish or corals.

 

Now, if you live in the area, you need to join WAMAS!

[jason the filter freak]

Who'da thunk a lil box o water could be so much fun?

[treesprite]

Who'da thunk a lil box o water could be so much fun?

 

ummm......

[Guest Dynamo]

So today I was able to stabilize the temp in the tank by adding

 

Finnex 50W Heater

Coralife Thermometer

 

I also pulled the MJ1200 and went back to the stock pump since my temps were too high. I may go back to the MJ1200 or change to the MJ900. If I do the nanotuner's lighting mod then I may put the MJ1200 back in with a hydro-flo

 

So now I should have my temp under control I can look to start stocking the tank. I did add a pistole shrimp to my tank. He immediately went under the sand and I haven't seen him since. I'm sure all my rock will be rearranged from his digging come tomorrow.

 

For this weekend I am looking to add one fish to the tank and maybe a frogspawn and some softies. I'm thinking about get either a Clown or a goby. I may also look into setting up my auto top-off system.

 

I checked out nano-reef and got some ideas about future Mods. I'm thinking about going with the nanotuners 3.24 lighting mod eventually. As for the back of the tank I am thinking about putting LR rubble in the second chamber with some cheato on top. Though I still have to figure out my lighting mod for the cheato.

 

I don't have camera, so I'll have to borrow one so I can get some pictures put up on my tank.

[treesprite]

Honestly in my personal opinion, it's too soon to put fish in the tank becuase it's only been up less than a week.

[Nitro Junkie]

I dont see anything in your post about water test. Has your tank cycled (not likely in less than week) ? I know its fun and exciting but you shouldn't be adding live stock to an uncycled tank. It could end up killing off livestock and wasting your $$$.

[bprinehart]

I dont see anything in your post about water test. Has your tank cycled (not likely in less than week) ? I know its fun and exciting but you shouldn't be adding live stock to an uncycled tank. It could end up killing off livestock and wasting your $$$.

 

EDIT: Nitro after reading this post, I realized it could possibly be taken as being contrary to what you said, that is not my intent, I am in agreement with you here

 

I think alot of it depends on the quality of the live rock you put in to begin with. Not saying that he won't experience a cycle, in fact it might be a compressed cycle, for example a friend of mine had his biocube up and started stocking in a week when he transfered the rock and sand from his established 180. But definitely take is slow this is mistake most people make when starting out, your wallet and your livestock with thank you. Everytime you add a critter, you need to give the bacteria in the tank time to adjust to the new bioload. You probably have a decent amount already if you got your rock from a well established tank like Bemmer's, but you still need to let it mature and grow to the proper density for the amount of rock in the particular volume of water. Also, if you don't have one, get yourself a master test kit, especially when you are first starting out, things can go south in a hurry if you don't have one.

 

For your fuge light, my friend used one of the mini CF lights in a clip on desk lamp after he scraped the paint off the back of the glass. His chaeto and caluerpa do very well in there.

 

Just my .02, and the pistol / goby combo is awesome.

Edited September 22, 2007 by bprinehart

[bprinehart]

Also, I would caution against keeping a BTA in a 14 gallon. They can grow to over 12" naturally, and are pretty sensitive to changes in water quality.

Edited September 21, 2007 by bprinehart