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Thread: Biocube - HELP!!! :)

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    Biocube - HELP!!! :)

    My 29 biocube in it's second week of cycling. I'm having a friend help me out in setting it up. I am using 20 lbs. of live sand and aroung 16 lbs. of live rock ( I need a lot more right?) I have the stock pump and filtration system running except for a few sheets of pureflo filter pads by coralife (50 micron) which I added right before the filter cartridge and attached (rubberband) to the blue filter in chanber three. I have just the stock bio balls running and initially set it up with RO/DI water. I have two powerheads running but I have no idea in which directioin I should point them,... HELP. To kick start the cycling process I used "Neutrafin cycle"and added two big mexican turbo snails on the second day of cycling. I also got some used gravel (very little though) from the local pet store to help out. I have done NO water changes yet because I heard this delays the cycle. I've just refilled the evaporated water with tap water and added instant ocean sea salt. I recently noticed a BUNCH of what seem to be amphipods on the live rock and a few days ago I started seeing a ton of little white specs (they move around) on my crystal and especially on the algea that grows on the glass. what could those be? I am awaiting my protein skimmer to arrive in the mail any minute now so I'll have that up and running pretty soon. I am running several tests and here are the results as of last week...

    ^ S.G = 1.023 / 30 ppm
    ^ ammonia = 0
    ^ nitrite = 0
    ^ nitrate = 10 ppm
    ^ Ph. = 8.0
    ^ temp. = 76 F./ 24 C.
    ^ Calcium = 340 ppm
    ^ Kh = 161.1 ppm
    ^ Phosphate = 0.5 ppm.

    I plan on setting it up as a reef tank in 1-2 weeks. It's my FIRST tank so please let me know what you think,,,

    Also... what is the deal with the blue sponge chamber three (bubble diffuser) is it really a nitrate factory or can it be fixed with weekly rinsing in water?

    ANY SUGGESTIONS WILL BE APPRECIATED .... THANKS!!!

    THanks!

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    HERE'S MY TANK ON YOUTUBE....

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    Our Brotha Down Unda
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    oh so close bud, your not to far off the money for a newbie.

    Actually i'll be honest with you, That's prob the best start-up from someone green yet!

    Firstly, as long as you dont go crazy on the animals aka squeezing in as many as you can, & combine that with a common sense feeding & water change routines, then i believe that may be enough. You can alway add alittle more later if you believe its warranted. Right now, you have a great centre piece, plenty of swimming space for your future fish ( and lets face it, not a huge wad of water, so its better to be generous in this area as much as you can)

    Remove your bioballs is your planing on having coral. Its best to do it now whilst your still in initial cycle. we will explain this reasoning along the way ok.

    I cant help you with design aspects, as im unfamiliar with the unit, however im sure your American counter parts can assist on the internal & any modifications there-after!

    Orsome, you used RO/DI water on start up, then went & $%^$ed it up by adding tap on your top off...lol Stay the course.... RO/DI water is premium, & so shall be your tank if you continue to use it. Its free from impurities (in an ideal world) and will allow you to avoid some of the tears down the track if you know what im saying.

    More importantly welcome to the club bud, bit rude, forgot the intro's ....jellyman, offspring, offspring... jellyman!

    Where did your seeded gravel come from exactly, the stores DT, or their run of the mill selling tanks?

    Ive never heard of nutrifin product before, however as a universal rule of our hobby now, we dont add live anything to the tanks any more bud, not through the cycle period. Its like me throwing you into the Jew gas chambers to kick start it. Not very nice considering its a toxic environment that hits in waves.

    As far as your powerheads, they look fine where they are. Its too early to move them, unless they are kicking up some major sand. Your future animals will dictate there placement ok.

    That will do from me. others can throw in their 2 cents now..lol



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    Assistant Moderator rayme07's Avatar
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    Hi Marcos Welcome to TR.

    I agree with V, if you can I would take those turbo snails back to the LFS while your tank finishes cycling. Great looking tank by the way.


    Quote Originally Posted by V View Post
    Its like me throwing you into the Jew gas chambers to kick start it. Not very nice considering its a toxic environment that hits in waves.
    Wow very harsh comparison V.
    Ray or Raymond
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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Hi Marco and to TR.

    The rule of thumb is 1 - 1.5 lbs of rock per gallon of water. I agree with the advice to take the snails back to the LFS. It is unnecessary to subject them to the toxic environment. In addition, the snails usually sold as Mexican turbo snails come from cooler water are don't live long at reef temperatures.

    The bacteria in a bottle can not take the place of a real cycle and doesn't give you a stable tank. I would also ditch the bioballs if you want a reef tank. I don't have anything in the sump area of my nano except for the return pump, heater and a bag with a few TBS of carbon. The carbon is changed weekly. In order to avoid growing nitrifing bacteria on the sponges and filter cartridges you would need to change/wash them frequently, possible even daily.
    Carmie


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    Master Reefer saxman's Avatar
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    as mentioned, there's not really a magic bullet for cycling a tank...yes, depending on the circumstances, you can have a tank that "short-cycles", but it's not something you can really count on.

    that being said...at this point, the only thing you need to be testing for is NH3, once you see that spike, look for NO2. as the NO2 drops, you should see your NO3 begin to come up (which it appears to be doing, so you're close as V mentioned). a new tank is in turmoil, so your pH will be all over the place, depending on what your tank is up to at the time. i just mentioned all this so you can save some time and reagents.

    are you feeding the tank to cycle it? hopefully you are (you'd be surprised at how many folks don't do this). for your tank to be cycled, it will need to handle a "normal feeding" for the inhabitants without spiking for very long.

    another thing...a cycled tank is not a MATURE tank, so do heed the warnings to be patient and go slowly. this is especially true if you plan on keeping corals and inverts. stock SLOWLY, as adding too many specimens at once can crash the tank.

    this is how we feed our cycling tanx (those are chunks of raw seafood in the bag):



    the little tag is an ammonia alert tag so we know when we see the first spike and can keep a running tab on the NH3 level. for a BC 29, a single piece of table shrimp is a good start for the cycle.

    it sounds like you're on the right track.

    welcome to the obsession, and HTH
    Greg

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    Thanks for the great reply! you're right the tap water was a bad idea.. good thing it was only a little bit... but still, I wont be doing that again...

    thanks again!

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    Also, I did feed the tanks for about the first week but not by the method saxman described, instead I just added a bit of flakes... lol :/

    Today I received my protein skimmer... Should I be running my skimmer during the rest of the cycle??

    V - thanks again for your input... why wont the bioballs work for a reef tank?

    Rayme07 - I'll give the snails to my friend who has a much more established tank (1 1/2 years old) then, I'll add them back in a few weeks...

    Cameijo... thanks and one question... why remove the bioballs for a reef tank? I will start removing them little by little but I was just curious to know why I cant have them there for a reef.... and also, what should i put in instead??

    Saxman... Great advice bud.. thanks!

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    The short answer is bio-balls stop the biological filtration at nitrate which then tends to build up in the tank. Nitrate in moderation is not a problem for fish but corals don't tolerate it well. Let me recommend this article http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/co...hat-cycle.html for a more in depth explanation.
    Carmie


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    There's nothing stopping you from using them, in the same token a free flowing shoe would populate just the same, Its just real-estate moulded in a way to allow max water contact whilst min detritus build-ups.

    Its biggest drawn back, its alittle toooo efficient , so you need to have equal to or greater than zones for anaerobic bacteria to do its thing there-after, & unfortunately, space is a luxury for most & time to achieve these oxygen low or oxygen free zones doesn't happen over night! It can sometimes take months depending on the means.


    Ray, yeah, prob alittle harsh, but it cuts straight to the point!



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    Quote Originally Posted by V View Post
    Ray, yeah, prob alittle harsh, but it cuts straight to the point!
    Yes that is true.
    Ray or Raymond
    There is no elevator to success in marine tanks. You have to take the stairs.


    Raymond's 30 gallon tank
    Raymond's 60 gallon tank


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    i like your tag idea sax



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    You've got a good start going there!! I'm looking forward to the future stocking of it!

    I have a BC29 as well and I lost the bioballs right off the bat, got rid of the blue sponge and I only run a poly filter pad in the first chamber (cut to fit) and purigen & chemipure in the second. I only cycled mine using live rock and live sand and left it for a month running.

    Slowly take out your bioballs since you've had them in there already with your cycle starting. Just a few every day. Once they are out completely you can ignore the water level marks on the side and increase it quite a bit. However I haven't filled mine totally because I find it helps keeping the flow going.

    Some people turn the back of the BC into a refugium with a small light and chaeto to help reduce nitrates, there are also several media holders online you can purchase or make yourself. I couldn't' see on your video but also widen the opening going from chamber 1 to 2 (just cut it out with a utility knife) and that will help increase your flow .

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