29 gallon biocube

[Love2reef193]

Hi everyone.p! I'm so excited to have finally join a group where people help out each other and share ideas.

I have a 29 gallon Biocube. This is what I have in it. (I started my tank in December 2014.

InTank Supplies

water pad filter
Purigen
Phosguard
Chemi Pure Elite
28lbs live rock

Water Test

pH (8.2-8.4)
Nitrite (0ppm)
Nitrate (5ppm)
Ammonia (0ppm)

Corals

Daisy Polyp
Green Star Polyp
Pulsing Xenia- Purple
Pulsing Xenia- Pink
Kenya Tree Coral
Mushrooms (3)
Toadstool
Green Flower Pot Coral
Hammer Coral
Torch Coral
Purple Zoanthid
Radio Active Dragon Zoa
Eagle Eye Zoanthid
Pink/Green Alveopora
Black Sun Coral
Acropora
White Pipe Organ Coral
Bubble Tip Anemone(BIG)
Bubble Tip Anemone
Green Pagoda Cup
Candy Cane Coral

Inverts
Hermit Crabs
Snails
Shrimp

Livestock
Clownfish (2)
Yellow Tail Damsel
Royal Dottyback Basslet
Six Line Wrasse

Now, I'm having a tough time... My dottyback is I think too aggressive for my tank I think... I really want a mandarin fish and a yellow watchmen goby... Is my tank too full?

I hope you are able to see the pictures I have posted...

Any suggestions of what I should do... Maybe take away or add..

[FishWrangler]

Yes, your tank is too full...but so is mine and everyone is happy. You must be running a skimmer and/or dosing something with that bio load and stats?

I'd get rid of the damsel and dotty back for sure, both can be aggressive. Don't get a mandarin, your tank can not support it. Watchman goby will do well after you get the other fish out of the tank, he'll stick to the bottom and no one will bother him.

Great looking BC!

[ReefWreak]

They're both too aggressive, so I would trade them both in, but your tank looks great, and as long as they get together currently, they're both nice fishes to have, you probably just shouldn't add anything else.

[BarryV]

Very nice tank. Do you have a photo of your Black Sun Coral?
Barry

[soulpatch]

Dont do a mandarin unless you are also planning on setting up a good size pod production tank.

As for your current fish pull them out as both are agressive and will only get worse as they age.

[Love2reef193]

Thank you everyone for the advise! I literally had to move all of my live rock to catch the dottyback and damsel so my tank looks a little different as I can't replicate the setup before... I will be trading both in tomorrow at my lfs and plan to get the

watchman goby

Would it be okay if I also got a fire fish?

I had one at the beginning but it died and the hermits were eating it when I woke up... (This happened in like April) I didn't know what happened to it.. Then another fish store told me it was probably between the dottyback And damsel.

I love the different colors these fish offer. I can't get a bigger tank but would it be still too much or just enough with the

2 clownfish
Skunk shrimp
Sixline wrasse

And the two possible fish I'd be getting?.. Or how about even a flame angel?!! Instead of the other two?.. Thoughts.. Opinions?


I love that people truly help each other out here and want people to thrive with their tanks!

[Love2reef193]

Originally Posted by FishWrangler

Yes, your tank is too full...but so is mine and everyone is happy. You must be running a skimmer and/or dosing something with that bio load and stats?

I'd get rid of the damsel and dotty back for sure, both can be aggressive. Don't get a mandarin, your tank can not support it. Watchman goby will do well after you get the other fish out of the tank, he'll stick to the bottom and no one will bother him.

Great looking BC!

Yea I have whatever products the biocube has to offer.

I have the

Coralife protein skimmer
Coralife mini uv sterilizer

[soulpatch]

You will want to look into upgrading that skimmer. It really doesnt do that great of a job especially since your bioload is pretty high.

You need to be wary about the flame angel too. Many have been fine with it but a biocube is a bit small and as such it tends to show aggression for many. You might be lucky or you might not.

Personally I have my clowns, sixline, and then I added a court jester goby and a tail spot blenny for added life and activity in the tank. The tailspot has to be my favorite. He comes to whereever I am in the tank and will even sit in my hand to feed if the cleaner shrimp isnt there first...

[Love2reef193]

Any idea what kind of skimmer I should be looking into? I don't have a sump so it has to fit in the biocube with the lid! The ones I've seen online are huge and for sumps

Also, I got rid of my dottyback and damsel. Now I just have the 2 clown, wrasse, and shrimp.


I really want small peaceful fish for the tank... Any ideas on that?

[soulpatch]

Plenty fit. Marine depot has a video.

Tunze 9001 aquaticlife and more

[ReefWreak]

Originally Posted by Love2reef193

Any idea what kind of skimmer I should be looking into? I don't have a sump so it has to fit in the biocube with the lid! The ones I've seen online are huge and for sumps

Also, I got rid of my dottyback and damsel. Now I just have the 2 clown, wrasse, and shrimp.


I really want small peaceful fish for the tank... Any ideas on that?

The wrasse may cause trouble, but you could always add a small friendly fish, like a firefish or a hector goby?

[Love2reef193]

Originally Posted by soulpatch

Plenty fit. Marine depot has a video.

Tunze 9001 aquaticlife and more

Okay cool I'll def look into it! Which one works best? Or are they like all the same?

[Love2reef193]

Originally Posted by ReefWreak

The wrasse may cause trouble, but you could always add a small friendly fish, like a firefish or a hector goby?

I was thinking someone along these lines... I'm not sure what "magic number" it is to have in a tank like mine.

Yellow watchman goby
Catalina Goby
Harptail Blenny (I really want this fish... It looks really awesome)
Tail Spot Blenny
Purple Fire Fish

[ReefWreak]

I would say maybe 4-5 would be the magic number of fishes, and if on the high side of that number, just make sure they're peaceful and/or occupy different portions of the reef environment (plantivores, bottom dwellers, grazers, etc.).

I love the Catalina's colors, but it looks like they're a cooler water species, so while they'll be okay in our tanks, apparently it's not an ideal environment.

Any of those blennies sound like they'll be fine. They are similar to the goby in that they can perch and are bottom dwelling (so I wouldn't put them together with gobies, though it depends on which one and whether the blenny does end up living on the bottom or in the upper rocks/corals). You can't go wrong with the harptail. It gets a little bigger than the others, but I wouldn't worry too much about it if you have 4-5 fishes.

"magic number" of fish in a tank doesn't have a right answer. It used to be an inch per gallon, inch per 3 gallons, inch per 5 gallons, etc, but I don't love that either. It's really more about compatibility of fishes and the bioload that the tank ecosystem can handle (i.e. high nutrient soft coral tank, FOWLR, SPS coral tank, etc).

Start a tank thread to document your process and decisions, and we can provide organized feedback that way too!

[Love2reef193]

Originally Posted by ReefWreak

I would say maybe 4-5 would be the magic number of fishes, and if on the high side of that number, just make sure they're peaceful and/or occupy different portions of the reef environment (plantivores, bottom dwellers, grazers, etc.).

I love the Catalina's colors, but it looks like they're a cooler water species, so while they'll be okay in our tanks, apparently it's not an ideal environment.

Any of those blennies sound like they'll be fine. They are similar to the goby in that they can perch and are bottom dwelling (so I wouldn't put them together with gobies, though it depends on which one and whether the blenny does end up living on the bottom or in the upper rocks/corals). You can't go wrong with the harptail. It gets a little bigger than the others, but I wouldn't worry too much about it if you have 4-5 fishes.

"magic number" of fish in a tank doesn't have a right answer. It used to be an inch per gallon, inch per 3 gallons, inch per 5 gallons, etc, but I don't love that either. It's really more about compatibility of fishes and the bioload that the tank ecosystem can handle (i.e. high nutrient soft coral tank, FOWLR, SPS coral tank, etc).

Start a tank thread to document your process and decisions, and we can provide organized feedback that way too!

Wow, okay cool. Thanks for letting me know. Okay so I won't get the Catalina because I wouldn't want to give it that kind of environment then.

Ideally I really do want the two fish.. the Hardtail blenny and probably the watchman goby... which one do you think I should get first to see how they are in the tank...

I just tested my tank a couple days after letting the dotty back and damsel as a trade in and things are looking good. I did do a water change because its part of my weekly water change but here are my results:

pH (8.3)
Nitrite (0ppm)
Nitrate (0ppm)
Ammonia (0ppm)

[ReefWreak]

If you really wanted to do something fancy, you can try finding a YWG + Pistol shrimp pair and then try introducing them to a visible spot in your tank. It's a really unique relationship that they share, if you haven't seen it before. The YWG acts as the eyes for the pistol shrimp who has terrible vision. The pistol shrimp keeps one antenna on the fish, and digs out the cave for the two of them to live in, and when the YWG scurries into the cave, they both go in and hide, then when he goes back out again, the shrimp goes back to work.

A "neat" bonus of having a YWG. You probably need to buy them paired first, as I think it's less likely for them to work together if you have them separated.

Do some reading into it first though and make sure you're okay with having a pistol shrimp in your tank. They do have the ability to stun/kill fishes, so it's a consideration.

Even if you don't get a pair, YWGs are friendly, hardy fishes that many people really enjoy, so you can't go wrong.

If you really are going to try both the blenny and goby in the tank together, and want to minimize aggression, then you should buy them both at the same time so neither has the opportunity to establish themselves.

I would do a quick search too just to see more examples. I found this

And here is a google search ready to go.

[Love2reef193]

Okay, I got the YWG!

[Love2reef193]

Hey guys, sorry for not posting in a long time. Many things have happened to my tank since last time. I got a Duncan coral, things really started to grow. Unfortunately, my YWG did not make it. But everything else is ok. I also got a bi colored blenny for the tank, and it's doing well. My torch coral split, now I have 3 heads.

[jeemann99]

what lights are you using?

[Love2reef193]

I am currently using current USA true lumen LEDs. I'm considering big time to upgrade my lighting once again and switch to the Ai prime, but I still want the hood on the tank, so I was thinking of making a hole on the hood and mounting it that way.


This is the link to the lighting I currently have.
http://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-...triplight-kit/

I also bought the current USA remote to control my lighting.

[jeemann99]

thanks. if you decide to sell your lumens let me know

[Chibils]

Originally Posted by Love2reef193

I am currently using current USA true lumen LEDs. I'm considering big time to upgrade my lighting once again and switch to the Ai prime, but I still want the hood on the tank, so I was thinking of making a hole on the hood and mounting it that way.


This is the link to the lighting I currently have.
http://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-...triplight-kit/

I also bought the current USA remote to control my lighting.

Rapidled and Steve's LEDs both make kits that fit into the hood without any cutting or anything, but I don't know how much work it takes to install.

[Love2reef193]

yea, if I do decide to sell it, and go with the other idea Ill let you know.

[Love2reef193]

its just I think that those retrofit kits are too expensive. I am looking to save a little, the AI Prime comes with the remote app, and is included in the $199, where as Steve's LEDs is separate, and cost a lot more if you tried to get a better lighting controller, and more colors of LEDs.

[homer1475]

In my opinion, LED's are one of those things in this hobby that you get what you pay for. If your looking to retrofit the biocube hood, and keep the hood intact, I can't say enough about RapidLED's superior customer service. If your unsure what you need, just shoot them an email and it will be answered quite promptly and with all the stuff you will need, as well as any other questions you have, even post sale. H*ll I emailed them nearly 6 months after I bought my kit and still got an answer within an hour. That alone is worth the bump in price IMO. If you don't mind taking your top off(the biocube that is ), there are certainly more options that are cheaper(AI Prime, Kessil, etc, etc), but will not fit with the hood on, or even if you try to fit them within the hood they will be too close to the water to be effective, or you'll end up with the spotlight effect.

If your looking to save some coin, stay with the compact T5's. Unless you start to go the SPS route, they will do you fine for softies and most LPS's as long as you change them out with fresh bulbs at least every 6 to 8 months.