Custom 29g Biocube Rebirth!

_Lucky · 06/30/2014, 10:18 PM

Hi all, my name is Wes and I'm new to the forum. I've made use of many threads in this forum so I figured I'd register and start to contribute back.

I just recently moved into a new home and I finally had enough space to set up my 29g custom biocube again. Years ago my tank was set up and ran beautifully. I had numerous LSP and SPS corals, a blenny, two true perc clowns, zoas etc.. But when I moved out and left for college I sold all of my livestock and broke down the tank.

I managed to keep all of my equipment, as well as roughly 25 lbs. of what used to be live rock. Since I decided to reuse the LR when I set my tank up, I acid bathed all of the old LR to ensure they were sterile and ready to be recurred. I'll attach a before and after photo of one of the LR pieces I treated below.

Before:

After:

I started aquascapping and decided that I wanted more LR to create the look and feel I desired, so I added an additional 12 lbs. of LR that I purchased from my LFS. For the sand bed I ended up getting black volcanic live sand, and added 20 lbs. (Photos Below, taken before corals were added)

Below is a list of my current Livestock:

2x Snowflake Clowns
1x Neon Dottyback
1x Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
2x Emerald Crabs
3x Blue Leg Crabs

1x Frogspawn Coral (Medium Frag)
1x Candy Cane Coral (Med. Frag)
1x Pulsing Xenia (Med. Frag)
1x Birds Nest (Small Frag)
Refugium with Macro Algae

Of Course all of this was added after my tank was fully cycled, and my water parameters were 0ppm and stable. I added the cleaner crew, waited a week, then added the dottyback, then waited another week and added the two clowns. The coral was added over the course of a few weeks after the clowns were added.

Below is a list of the current equipment in my tank:

Stock 29g Biocube return pump
CPR R2+ Backpack Protein Skimmer
Aqua 15w UV Sterilizer (using MaxiJet 600 as pump, roughly 70-85gph after head loss)
Hydor Koralia Powerhead (240gph)
Orbit Marine LED's (18-445nm/18-460nm, 27-12,000K/9-8,000K)
Clip on LED lamp for Refugium

Please let me know what you think! I would appreciate your opinion on Livestock/equipment/aquascaping, and I'm open to constructive criticism. I will take more pics of my other corals, and custom equipment setup later tonight and I'll upload then asap.

Bergenholtz · 06/30/2014, 11:13 PM

Happy Birthday to the Biocube!
Looking good!!

_Lucky · 07/01/2014, 12:57 AM

Thanks! I tried to take more pics tonight, but my corals are closed up for the night so I'll take some tomorrow morning.

_Lucky · 07/01/2014, 07:51 PM

UPDATE: Here are the most recent pictures of my tank showing all of the corals mentioned above!

Pulsing Xenia and Birds Nest Frag:

Kryptonite Candy Cane:

Let me know what you think!

G_Sanab922 · 07/02/2014, 07:50 AM

Welcome!

Nice pieces! Big piece of Xenia.. That Candy cane though, love the colors those things have. Great choices. Like your scape as well.

How do you like that black sand?

_Lucky · 07/02/2014, 02:28 PM

Yeah the candy cane is one of my favorites. Here are some more pics! I just got a Frag of GSP and they thew in a Frag of branching GSP for free because we found it hiding under the egg crate in the frag tank at the LFS and the polyps wouldn't open up, but after 2 days they are open and look great!

Carpet GSP Frag:

Branching GSP Frag:

_Lucky · 07/02/2014, 02:39 PM

LUPDATE: Here are some pics of the custom mods I've done to my Biocube!

Orbit LED Lighting:

CPR R2+ Backpack Protein Skimmer:

3 Stage inTank filter with refugium (Top-to-Bottom: Filter Floss, Nitrate Filter, Biofilter media):

UV Sterilizer (powered by Maxijet 600):

The UV sterolizer was a quick temp. set up until I find a better way to position it.

Thanks for viewing! Please let me know what you think!

G_Sanab922 · 07/02/2014, 02:55 PM

Very nice!

_Lucky · 07/02/2014, 04:04 PM

Thank you G_sanab!

UPDATE: Here are the pics of my custom Biocube mods.

I removed the false bottom from the middle compartment and added an inTank 3 Stage filter. The 1st stage is filter floss, followed by a Nitrate filter, and the Biofilter media. Next to this I have a small refugium with macro algae.

Orbit LED Lighting System:

CPR R2+ Backpack Protein Skimmer:

inTank 3 Stage filter and refugium:

UV Sterilizer (15w at 70-80gph using MaxiJet 600):

AdamNC · 07/03/2014, 05:52 PM

How's that Neon Dottyback treating your shrimp and crabs? I had one years back but seemed to kill any shrimp I put in the tank. Would love to get another but I also want a few shrimp to add latter. I guess if you keep him well fed he should be ok.

_Lucky · 07/03/2014, 06:18 PM

Hey Adam, my neon dotty back is actually very peaceful! He is a bit older as he was a trade in at my LFS, not sure if age impacts their temperament though. I do feed my fish very well, and he eats heartily every meal.

Neon dotty backs do love to have a bunch of caves, tunnels etc. to swim through and retreat to, and my aquascape provides this environment so he is very happy

06/30/2014, 10:18 PM	#1
_Lucky Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 9	Custom 29g Biocube Rebirth! Hi all, my name is Wes and I'm new to the forum. I've made use of many threads in this forum so I figured I'd register and start to contribute back. I just recently moved into a new home and I finally had enough space to set up my 29g custom biocube again. Years ago my tank was set up and ran beautifully. I had numerous LSP and SPS corals, a blenny, two true perc clowns, zoas etc.. But when I moved out and left for college I sold all of my livestock and broke down the tank. I managed to keep all of my equipment, as well as roughly 25 lbs. of what used to be live rock. Since I decided to reuse the LR when I set my tank up, I acid bathed all of the old LR to ensure they were sterile and ready to be recurred. I'll attach a before and after photo of one of the LR pieces I treated below. Before: After: I started aquascapping and decided that I wanted more LR to create the look and feel I desired, so I added an additional 12 lbs. of LR that I purchased from my LFS. For the sand bed I ended up getting black volcanic live sand, and added 20 lbs. (Photos Below, taken before corals were added) Below is a list of my current Livestock: 2x Snowflake Clowns 1x Neon Dottyback 1x Skunk Cleaner Shrimp 2x Emerald Crabs 3x Blue Leg Crabs 1x Frogspawn Coral (Medium Frag) 1x Candy Cane Coral (Med. Frag) 1x Pulsing Xenia (Med. Frag) 1x Birds Nest (Small Frag) Refugium with Macro Algae Of Course all of this was added after my tank was fully cycled, and my water parameters were 0ppm and stable. I added the cleaner crew, waited a week, then added the dottyback, then waited another week and added the two clowns. The coral was added over the course of a few weeks after the clowns were added. Below is a list of the current equipment in my tank: Stock 29g Biocube return pump CPR R2+ Backpack Protein Skimmer Aqua 15w UV Sterilizer (using MaxiJet 600 as pump, roughly 70-85gph after head loss) Hydor Koralia Powerhead (240gph) Orbit Marine LED's (18-445nm/18-460nm, 27-12,000K/9-8,000K) Clip on LED lamp for Refugium Please let me know what you think! I would appreciate your opinion on Livestock/equipment/aquascaping, and I'm open to constructive criticism. I will take more pics of my other corals, and custom equipment setup later tonight and I'll upload then asap. Last edited by _Lucky; 06/30/2014 at 10:56 PM. Reason: Photos weren't displaying properly

07/01/2014, 07:51 PM	#4
_Lucky Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 9	UPDATE: Here are the most recent pictures of my tank showing all of the corals mentioned above! Pulsing Xenia and Birds Nest Frag: Kryptonite Candy Cane: Let me know what you think! Last edited by Dino; 07/02/2014 at 04:36 AM.

07/02/2014, 02:28 PM	#6
_Lucky Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 9	Yeah the candy cane is one of my favorites. Here are some more pics! I just got a Frag of GSP and they thew in a Frag of branching GSP for free because we found it hiding under the egg crate in the frag tank at the LFS and the polyps wouldn't open up, but after 2 days they are open and look great! Carpet GSP Frag: Branching GSP Frag: Last edited by _Lucky; 07/02/2014 at 02:40 PM.

07/02/2014, 02:39 PM	#7
_Lucky Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 9	LUPDATE: Here are some pics of the custom mods I've done to my Biocube! Orbit LED Lighting: CPR R2+ Backpack Protein Skimmer: 3 Stage inTank filter with refugium (Top-to-Bottom: Filter Floss, Nitrate Filter, Biofilter media): UV Sterilizer (powered by Maxijet 600): The UV sterolizer was a quick temp. set up until I find a better way to position it. Thanks for viewing! Please let me know what you think! Last edited by Dino; 07/03/2014 at 04:37 AM.

07/02/2014, 04:04 PM	#9
_Lucky Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 9	Thank you G_sanab! UPDATE: Here are the pics of my custom Biocube mods. I removed the false bottom from the middle compartment and added an inTank 3 Stage filter. The 1st stage is filter floss, followed by a Nitrate filter, and the Biofilter media. Next to this I have a small refugium with macro algae. Orbit LED Lighting System: CPR R2+ Backpack Protein Skimmer: inTank 3 Stage filter and refugium: UV Sterilizer (15w at 70-80gph using MaxiJet 600): Last edited by Dino; 07/03/2014 at 04:37 AM.

06/30/2014, 11:13 PM	#2
Bergenholtz Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Walnut Creek, CA Posts: 169	Happy Birthday to the Biocube! Looking good!!

07/01/2014, 12:57 AM	#3
_Lucky Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 9	Thanks! I tried to take more pics tonight, but my corals are closed up for the night so I'll take some tomorrow morning.

07/02/2014, 07:50 AM	#5
G_Sanab922 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Keys Posts: 1,392	Welcome! Nice pieces! Big piece of Xenia.. That Candy cane though, love the colors those things have. Great choices. Like your scape as well. How do you like that black sand?

07/02/2014, 02:55 PM	#8
G_Sanab922 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Keys Posts: 1,392	Very nice!

07/03/2014, 05:52 PM	#10
AdamNC Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Winston Salem, NC Posts: 849	How's that Neon Dottyback treating your shrimp and crabs? I had one years back but seemed to kill any shrimp I put in the tank. Would love to get another but I also want a few shrimp to add latter. I guess if you keep him well fed he should be ok.

07/03/2014, 06:18 PM	#11
_Lucky Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 9	Hey Adam, my neon dotty back is actually very peaceful! He is a bit older as he was a trade in at my LFS, not sure if age impacts their temperament though. I do feed my fish very well, and he eats heartily every meal. Neon dotty backs do love to have a bunch of caves, tunnels etc. to swim through and retreat to, and my aquascape provides this environment so he is very happy