Newbie here with the 29g biocube... help

[kellynguyen]

Hiii... i am new to this too, and i just set up my 29g biocube, it has live sand in it, live rock (cured) and ofcourse water which i bought premixed from my lfs.... everything seems normal i guess... but everything i've read says that you are supposed to have spikes of ammonia , nitrates, nitrites and mine are not that high, they are more like normal i dont know if is due to the rocks being cured or what... am i doing something wrong??

And how about temp is 82 F too hight?? or should i try to keep it lowered? ohhh and my spfg is 1.022 too low?? or average? mmmm.... ohhh and my ph is like around 8.1-8.4, I have a red sea test kit, is that a good one? or is there something better than that? ...
im pretty sure everyone is familiar the biocube, i took out all the bioballs out and put in there live rock, should i also put sand in that chamber?

Thank you all for all your help

[Nano Nana]

How long ago did you set it up? It takes a couple weeks for everything to stablize even with cured LR.
My nanos don't get above 80 which is where i prefer. Your salinty should be 1.025 to 1.026 if you want inverts, serpent star and such later on.
I don't know about that test kit I get the the Salifert tests. Each is sold individually and they are more $ but I think worth it.
If you have not got one yet you might want to invest in a refractometer MUCH more accurate than a hydrometer.
I put the LR rubble in the back but you don't want sand back there IMO.
Good luck and happy reefing

[kellynguyen]

great that answer a lot for me... i set up my tank 4 days ago.... but i forgot something else... what about with water changes? should i do it like reagular mantainance for an stablished aquarium? and to raise my salinity? mix more salt and perform a water change correct?

[kellynguyen]

Nano Nana, thank you very very very much for your help

[Nano Nana]

You don't want to do regular water changes until your cycle is done. But since you want to raise salinty then best to do that now since you are only 4 days in.
The most important thing to do in this hobby and the hardest is to have patience. It is no fun watching a tank of water and rock but it must be done if you want long term good results.
I have 5 nanos and love them, lots of people try to say go bigger but for me the smaller tanks appeal to me. I have a 8 gal, 12, 14 ,24 and a 30 gal.
In small tanks you have to be more careful, there is not a lot of room for error because it is such a small water volume but well worth it in IMO.
Just remember to take it slow and ask questions before not after.
About the time the tank looks awful with brown diatoms then its time to look at a clean up crew. You want to let them do their job for a week or two without adding any fish. Adding fish too soon is the downfall of most small tanks. You have to make sure that the bio load is added slowly so that it doesn't crash your tank.

[Nano Nana]

Oh, and your more than welcome for the help. I love this hobby and will answer any questions if I'm sure I know the answer. If I don't know I say I don't. No one has all the answers in this hobby. It's a wonderful learning experience for everyone. By the way are you using tap water or RO? When I first started I used treated tap water not believing all the hype about RO water but all the stuff is true RO water will give you much better results.

[kellynguyen]

Ohhh ok... but you know... it may sound funny but even thou there is no fish in there i love it... its sooo beatiful, i too have 5 other fish tanks but they are fresh water, i have a 55g, 20g, 10g, and then 3 fish bowls with bettas hanging on the wall; ohh and a 72g bow front but that one is empty im not ready for it that would be later on salt water too...

Talking about my baby now (29g biocube hehe) it only has only like 18lbs of live rock do you think I should add more.. it seems like it needs more tunnels, I will see if I can take some pics tonight and post them maybe you can have a better idea of how things are looking on this side

[kellynguyen]

Well for this tank this is only 29g i actually went to the LFS and bought mixed salt water a little pricey but i was too scare to try to mix it my self... i would defenetly do it my self from now on.. and i do want to buy an RO/DI system... i was told to check at lowes will see if they have it.. or do you know where can i get it? i know online but it was a little pricey..

[dosequis4]

I also picked up a 29g biocube a couple months ago.

I just buy my RO/DI water from the LFS for 40 cents a gallon and mix my salt in with it. I bought a 5 gallon rubber maid plastic mop bucket, made sure it was all cleaned up, and just mix it in there. I have another 5 gallon bucket that I siphon water out too. To me, it makes it easier because i take out 5 gallons and make 5 gallons.

I just do a 5 gallon water change per week, and at 40 cents a gallon its only 2 bucks. I figure 8 bucks a month isn't bad. It is just one less trip to the fast food place.

Anyway, mixing salt is not to hard. Some brands of salt will say on the bucket or package "x amount of salt per gallon to reach 1.024sg". The first time i ever mixed it, i just added some, waited for it to clear up, tested, added more until i got it right.

For your very first time if you have a 5 gallon bucket, only fill it up to like 3 or 4 gallons. That way if you put to much salt in you can add more water to bring the levels down.

[kellynguyen]

ohh ok... so i will try that this weekend... and maybe add more live rock... does any one think that it would be better to buy it from LFS or internet?

[FishyLover]

I got my Ro off ebay about $140. I got ro water for a long from the LFS, but that got old so I finally got one.
Now my water is down to 10 from my TDS meter.

[FishyLover]

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-6-stage-100-...QQcmdZViewItem

there is one site off ebay if that helps.

[kellynguyen]

cool thanx fishylover... i'll probably end up getting that RO/DI, and save some money in the long run...

[kellynguyen]

Another question, my sand is starting to turn brown, am i supposed to introduce a clean up crew yet,? or am i supposed to wait for the algae to kick in and then bring in the snails and all that?
And also, when i bought my LR, i notice i have some tiny little corals, shoul i start feeding them? and what ? also... i noticed some fuzzy little white stuff on my rocks... its kind of weird and very hard to try to make out what it really is... it doesnt move or anything... mmmm....

[ENraged]

Yup you are already in your cycle and as you have used the same set up i did Cured Rock with LFS Salterwater .
I never had a spike just the the "brown" cycle and that was it.
i added my clean up crew once i had a nice layer of brown over my rocks and just as it started to move to my sand.
Post up some pictures of your hitchhiker corals and the "fussy white stuff" I am sure someone would be able to tell you if feeding was needed and if the fuzzy stuff is ok.

[kellynguyen]

OK this are not the best pictures i really hope someone can make them out, specially the little tiny things in there, except that i couldnt get a pic of the fuzzy little things in my aquarium
this is what my aquarium looks like so far with the LR



here you can see a tiny little brank of something white... cant tell what it is... if is even anything...

its on the left side on top of the rock... sorry i tried to write on the pic or try to circle it, but i dont know how..

and here is the on that i think is a coral, is very small, green, and round with tiny little orange dots in it, its very hard to see it, but i hope it works, its on the far left side round.



thank you

[kellynguyen]