Dual 32 Gal LED Biocubes

[dfos00]

After years of keeping a 50 gal FOWLR tank, I recently decided to make my first attempt at reef keeping.  First I tried to convince my wife to go with a bigger tank but eventually compromised on getting 2 32 gal biocubes.  Part of the reason for the Biocubes is that we have a cat.  Without a solid top , she would probably either in the tank or trying to catch the fish.  The tanks are for my living room and will go on each end of the couch.  The 50 gal tank is currently at one end of the room with 2 residents that will be making there way into the Biocubes: a royal gramma and a maroon clown. I have had them both for about 5 years.  About a month and a half ago, I got the first biocube and set it up.  

Set up

LED Biocube 

InTank media basket 

InTank Refugium Basket

Fluval 150 W heater

hydor Koralia pump gph

Innovative Marine ChaetoMax Refugium LED Light

 

 I set the tank up using Bimini Pink live sand and live rock from my 50 gallon tank.

Here is the initial layout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After cycling I got a cleaner shrimp, the beginning of my cuc with snails and blue leg hermits and a few coral

 ricordia florida

small colony of orange zoa

 toadstool leather 

 duncan 

 

 

I have been having some algae issues, some of which may have come from my live rock and some may be from the corals.

 

[dfos00]

I have some chaeto in the refugium with the light on at night 

I have move the duncan to above the center cave where the Shrimp hangs out.

 

I was suppose to get 2 fish this week and a pistol shrimp.  They were ordered for my by a LFS.  I got the blue neon goby and a tiger pistol shrimp.

But the yellow watchman goby did not seem to make it through shipping very well.  I went to pick him up and I am not sure if he was going to survive.  the store said they would try to get me another one.  I also picked up a small frag of GSP.  I am trying to decide what to do with it.  I either plan to mount it on the back wall or put in a small rock to make an Island. I like it look but I do not want it taking over.

 

[dfos00]

I had not seen my neon goby for a few days . Today I checked the filter chamber.  There he was. I cleaned out the chamber and returned the goby to the main tank.  I also ordered an InTank fish saver. hopefully that will help but the goby is small so I may need to do something else too.

[dfos00]

Today I decided to add a small rock to serve as my GSP island.  Here is the current layout/ plan for the tank

The current plan has a GSP Island in the center. A Zoa rock on the left currently with 1 small colony of orange zoas but I plan to add other colors, a region for mushrooms on the lower left (currently have a greenish florida ricordia).  There is a duncan in the center over a cave and a toadstool leather at the top.  My current thoughts are to adds maybe another couple of soft corals and some LPS.  Ihave a bit of a vertical wall on the right.  I was thinking of maybe blastos for there but an mot sure.  I would also like to add maybe some hammer or frogspawn and some acans and/or candy canes. a Photosynthetic gorgonian could also be interesting.  I am open to suggestions.  Also the powerhead is currently at the top right near the front but if there are any suggestions that would be good.

 

The tiger pistol made an appearance today.

[DaJMasta]

Nice shrimp!  That tiger pistol is pretty big, do you know if they get any bigger?

[dfos00]

They get up to about 2 inches so I think that it is close to full size

[dfos00]

I got some new livestock and some pictures today so time for an update. 

I got 2 mushrooms from @therootcause a red mushroom and a ricordea florida.  They are on the sand for now but I plan to move them to the rooms near my other mushroom.  I think they will bring some nice color variations.

[dfos00]

I also got a yellow watchman goby. I should have checked him out better at the store as he has some fin damage but his color is good and He seems to be swimming around well.  Hopefully he pairs up with the tiger pistol shrimp.

 

My Duncan and leather (toadstool) seem to be happy. and the cleaner shrimp goes everywhere.  

[dfos00]

Here is my GSP.  I hope they take over this rock and I keep them contained.

 

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by dfos00

[dfos00]

I am starting to get together stuff for Biocube number 2.  I have the stand and the InTank media and refugium baskets.  The tank comes on Thursday but will not go up for a couple weeks.  I am working on the stocking plan.

Fish

Pair of Ocellaris Clowns

Yellow Neon Goby or Sharknose Goby (wife loves neon gobies)

Possible a trio of pajama cardinals or fire fish but I am not sure

tailspot blenny

 

I would kind of like to do an anemone and/or rock flower anemone but I was wondering how they will do in a biocube.  If I go with an anemone I would like to get it in before i do too much coral.  I am open to recommendations.

Thanks 

[dfos00]

This watchman goby and the pistol shrimp paired up by the day after introduction.  They appear to have an extensive burrow under the large rock on the right with at least 4 or more entrances.

 

The pistol shrimp is a lot braver now.  It has been venturing out and collecting things for the burrow like shells and chunks.  I saw it snip off some algae and bring it into the den.  The only problem was that it tried to drag my red mushroom away.  I managed to see it happening and saved the mushroom and glue it in place.  I also moved the powerhead/  The mushrooms seem much happier today.

[dfos00]

Over the weekend I added a few more things to the tanks, a royal gramma I have had for a 5 years and a few zoas.  The royal gramma evicted the cleaner shrimp from the cave but everyone seems to have settled in well.  The Shrimp now hangs out in the back of the tank.  The pistol shrimp seems to have extended his burrow to be under both of the large rocks at the base of the structure.  THe GSP appears about to spread from the plug onto it rock.  The toadstool appears to be getting bigger and the duncan is opening.  I have been having hair algae issues but my Nitrates and Phosphates have been testing as 0.  I don't know if I need to dose some . I have been hoping that as I add the fish and increase the feeding I will see a little increase but so far nothing.   

[dfos00]

I have a big update, several more coral and some new inhabitants.  I got to meet some club members, @menglish and @lynn.reef.nerd.  Last Tuesday I pick up some corals generously given to me by @menglish, a large orange Ricordea Yuma and a frag of orange oxide zoas.

They both seem to be adapting well to the tank.

 

[dfos00]

Over the Weekend I stopped by @lynn.reef.nerdto pick up a couple of hammer frags and came home with 2 hammer frags, a 24K lepto, and some kind of monti (maybe a sunset monti).  The hammers and lepto are currently on my frag rack and the monti is on the sandbed while they adapt and I figure out the best place to try them.

Here is my current tank set up.

I am thinks of putting the hammers on the right and maybe trying the lepto on the back wall.  I am open to suggestions especially for the monti

[dfos00]

I also introduced 2 more inhabitants, a maroon clown (top right of overview image) I have had for about 5 years and a red tuxedo urchin to help with the hair algae.  my Nitrates and phosphates read as 0.  I am keeping up with the water changes but hopefully the urchin helps clear up some of the algae. 

 

I am not planning to add any more fish as this point.  I hope to let the tanks settle for a while and I will be taking down the 50 gallon tank (48" x 12" x 18") and setting up the other Biocube soon.  If anyone is interested I will likely post the tank and stand later.

 

[menglish]

I am liking the way you have scaped the tank.

You will have to get your hands in there and pull that hair algae out and use a tooth brush to scrub the rock, feed less and use GFO if you are not already.  You can even feed every other day to get nutrients under control.  I have a 16G biocube with 2 clowns and a watchman goby and i feed them 2x per week. (I am only in the lab Thr-Sat so they eat then) they are doing well.

[dfos00]

Thanks for the advice.  I have been working on it.

[dfos00]

Just a couple of update. I have been working to pull some of the hair algae and the urchin seems to have helped.  I moved the hammers into position on the right side and I attached the lepto to the back wall.  I still not sure what to do with the monti but I have been seeing new green polyps show up on it.  Here is the tank now.

 

Any suggestions on monti placement?

 

[dfos00]

I finished taking done my old 50 gallon long tank so that means Biocube 2 can be set up.  So far the stand is up and the tank is out of the box.  I will update as that tank starts coming together.  I would kind of like that tank to be an anemone tank.  Maybe a RBTA and a couple rock flower anemones.  We will see.  I am still deciding on the powerhead for that tanks and trying to figure out if I will have enough light.

[dfos00]

My duncan has not been opening so I move it a bit further away.  Here is the current view of the tank.

[dfos00]

I also started the second biocube.  I still need to get a powerhead for it. But here is the layout.

I am hoping to eventually get RBTA at the top.  the 2 Rocks at the top of the arch have lots of pores and crevasses,

 

[dfos00]

I have been seeing growth in most of the corals in Biocube 1.  The duncan has the bud of a second head.  The GSP has started growing on the rock.  I ham seeing more polyps of the different zoas.  They are starting to grow off the plugs.  The Lepto and monti are showing tissue growth but haven't quite moved onto other surfaces yet.  The hammers and candy cane care expanding well.

 

Biocube 2 has its first inhabitants, a super nasserius snail, an astrea snail and a pair of occellaris clowns.  I have added a wavemaker, an GPH eFlux wavepump.   I am running it in surge mode at 70% power with a 30 second cycle.

[dfos00]

I added a couple of items to Biocube 1, a Green clown goby and a feather duster.  The new duncan head is getting big enough for a picture.  the GSP is starting to spread on the rocks.  the Monti appears to have started growing on the rocks.  The tanks parameters have been good and I a working on the algae.

[dfos00]

Biocube 2 has also gotten some additions.  I added a fire shrimp and some snails for the cuc.  

 

Here are the clownfish I added about a week ago.

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I added a few more fish today, a tailspot blenny and a pair of firefish.  I has seen the blenny a few times and got a picture but the firefish are hiding.

 I got  RBTA from @Myst3ry_sea earlier this week and it seems to be settling in well.  The clowns have not seemed to discover it yet but hopefully they will soon.  I know it may be early for a nem but I wanted to get it settled before I got corals.  I did get a few corals today : an acan , a favia and some green candy canes.  They will sit on the frag rack for a few days and then I will move them into place.

[dfos00]

It has been a while so I thought it would be a good time for some updates.

Biocube 1

I recently finished off a battle with Bryopsis.  The tank is looking good.

  

The GSP has just about covered its Island.  My Zoa Rock is mainly orange oxide and rainbow infusion from local reefers.  I had  a few other types but my urchin kept pulling them off the rocks and they got lost.    My orange yuma and red discosoma mushrooms have been going well there are about 4-5 yumas but tthe color has change to a more yellowish color likely due to the biocube lights.  the Red mushroom has gotten about 4 inches across and has about 5 offspring in the area.  My duncan has gone from 1 head to about 5.  the Toadstool leather has gotten much bigger.  The hammers has recently started to get growing.  The green hammer heads are in the process of splitting and there are about 6-7 heads forming.  The gold teal hammer is starting to split but is only about 3 heads right now.  My fascination favia is starting yo encrust on the rockwork in the center.  the leptoseris has started encrusting on the back wall .  Since the bryopsis was eliminated everything has been growing better.  For fish, the are only 3 fish now :the clownfish, the royal gramma, and the yellow watchman goby.  The gramma is a bit of a bully.  He goes after the clown on occasion and I think he stress out the neon goby until he disappeared.

 

Biocube 2 

This has become the nem tank with 1 RBTA and 7 rock flower anemone.

 

I have a few corals but they have not done much.  There is a nice acan on one side and the galaxia colony kind of near the RBTA.  I have 2 kinds on Gorgonians in the back, a purple wispy willow and a orange knobby gorgonian.  The fish are all doing well.  I have a pair of clowns, 2 orange firefish, a tailspot blenny and a yellow neon goby.  I also have a fire shrimp, an emerald crab and a porcelain anemone crab.  The anemone crab  lives in the RBTA.  The clowns have started to hang out around and underneath it when it expands each day but they haven't kicked out the crab.  I am hoping the RBTA will split.  I am currently fighting bubble algae and aptasia in this tank.  I have been using aptasia X but I haven't gotten ahead of them yet.

Here is a closer look at some of the rock flowers.  tonight when I came down, it looks like they have started spawning as 2 or 3 have kind of formed into bowl shapes and has released some white cloudy substance.