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Thread: Oceanic biocube 29 gallon

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    Oceanic biocube 29 gallon

    Hello guys, I am new on the forum. This is my very first post. I recently purchased a 29 gallon Oceanic biocube. So far, I cut some of the plastic behind the filter for more flow. I upgraded the pump to a Rio 6HF. Got a heater hiding in the pump chamber, thermometer with a probe. I invested in a RO system to clean my water and im using Instant Ocean sea salt.

    I found a guy in Florida that was selling live rock from his established 8 year old tank. He had thousands of lbs and said rock of that quality would retail for about $12 a lb. I paid $4 a lb and got 40 lbs. Some of it i took a hammer too making rubble and its in the 2nd chamber with just 2 layers of bioballs on top. The sand is 50 lbs of fiji live white sand which made about a 3.5 inch sand bed. How does all of that sound so far?

    Next, for lighting..I have a question that I hope doesnt sound dumb..but do I turn the daylight and actinic lights on at the same time..or at seperate times..how about the moon light l.e.d's? If anyone can give me a basic rundown on when I should be operating what lights that would help a lot. Because right now im thinking its either daylight for a certain amount of hours and then actinic for a certain amount...or either daylight and actinic for a certain amount and then moon lights at night. THANKS ALL

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    Master Reefer poppin_fresh's Avatar
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    Sounds like you are on the right track all the way around.

    Most people start the actinics a short while before the main lights so as not to startle everything in the tank every day. They may also do the reverse at night to ramp the lighting back down. You will want to run the actinics along with the daylights for the best color rendering. I would shoot for the main lights to be on about 10 hours a day with an hour of actinic before and after for 12 hours total.

    You can have the moonlights come on any time you wish as they dont really do anything for the tank. They are more for our viewing pleasure. They dont need to run all night either, I wouldn't bother keeping them on much after you've gone to bed.

    Ohhh and WELCOME!
    I have Attention Defic...HEY LOOK, A FISH!

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    my VHO actinics come on at 9am, halides come on at 12 noon, halides off at 8pm, and actinics off at 11pm. HTH
    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    thanks guys... the tanks been running about 2 weeks..todays test readings show
    salinity- 1.023
    ph-8.0
    nitrite-5.0 ppm or more
    ammonia-.025 ppm
    calcium- 350 ppm
    phosphate- 0 mg
    nitrate 110 mg or more

    I know the calcium needs to go up..same with Ph

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    everything alse needs to be at 0 before adding anything (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate)
    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    Here are some pics so far.










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    Master Reefer poppin_fresh's Avatar
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    You're off to a great start. Two things...

    1. Your PH is fine, leave it alone. Tinkering with it could cause problems
    2. Dont worry about the calcium yet. Unless you have corals that need it (you dont yet) 350 is perfecty acceptable.

    Many people think they have to dive in and start dosing this and that right from the start. The problem is that if you dont know what you are doing you will do more harm than good. Sometimes its best to LEAVE IT ALONE.
    I have Attention Defic...HEY LOOK, A FISH!

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    ^^^ what he said ^^^
    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    IM wondering what that is on the live rock in the 4th pic..anyone help me out identifying?

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    looks like a dead coral skeleton, maybe a favia sp.
    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    Insightful Reefer R. Deschain's Avatar
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    Are you refering to the hairy looking things on the left? My guess: probably some dead or dying stuff that's decaying and fueling your cycle.


    "Human subtelty will never devise an invention more beautiful,
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    no, 4th pic to the right. These live rocks came from an established tank of 8 years. The guy lives in Florida and has like 3 550 gallon tanks of live rock thats been established..but I think hes down to around 350 lbs of live rock he had thousands of lbs.

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    i was talking about this ...

    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    yeah, thats what I was talking about. I knew that you knew what I was talking about.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    hi rockstar and to TR!

    I would recommend that you pull the bioballs right now. You have plenty of LR and they will serve no purpose except to build nitrates. How big did you leave the pieces of rock in the back? Also I might not start right off with a 12 hour lighting cycle. Most tanks go through an initial algae bloom and IMO starting out with 12 hours of light just extends that period. I doubt you can skip the algae bloom but you can try to manage it.
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    most pieces of the live rock in the back are golf ball sized. and a few are almost tennis sized.....its 2 layers of bio balls..probably 3 to 4 handfuls on top.....it quieted down the waterfall effect

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    i would also remove the bioballs and replace them with more LR rubble.
    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    Insightful Reefer R. Deschain's Avatar
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    Sorry, miscounted the pictures


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    Quote Originally Posted by lReef lKeeper View Post
    i would also remove the bioballs and replace them with more LR rubble.
    So even just the few small handfuls on top arent good to have?

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    nope, if they are not submerged in water with an insane amount of flow ... they will always produce nitrates.
    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    ok..thanks..wasnt sure about that...I only did that to quiet down the waterfall affect....Im thinking of getting some filter floss also to put on top of the live rock in that area.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Just be sure to not let detritus build up in the floss.
    Carmie


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    well the floss is there to catch all of that right? and I should just clean it out every so often right? I dont know..im not familiar with it..ive just tried to read what some others have done as well. What are the best suggestions for the back of the 29 biocube..like i said..I cust some plastic from first chamber to allow better flow..the filter is still in place...mostly the live rock i hammered into smaller pieces in 2nd chamber....probably going to wind up getting the cr3 skimmer also. and 3rd chamber just has the upgraded pump and heater.

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    Curious Reefer Plasticreefer's Avatar
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    i have an oceanic, goodbuy, the skimmer i also have, it works great. i agree that you really should pull out all the bio balls...
    Paper or Plastic?

    PlasticReefer

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    You would want to change the filter floss probably every 2 or 3 days. What happens is that aerobic (oxygen loving) nitrifing bacteria starts building up on the floss, the detritus feeds the bacteria and, doing their job, the bacteria go to work to break it down into nitrate. This is the same thing that happens with bio-balls. Fish can tolerate some nitrate but corals can't. Luckily, in the bottom of DSB's and deep in your LR other anaerobic (without oxygen) de-nitrifing bacteria take the nitrate and break it down in to harmless nitrogen gas.
    Carmie


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