First saltwater tank, 29 gallon Biocube

cdrewferd · Nov 30, 2011

Hey guys. I'm new here and this is my first saltwater tank. Actually, it's my first aquarium ever. I've always thought that saltwater would be funner and more interesting as you can do all the different corals and fish. I looked on craigslist around my area and was able to find a nice Biocube 29 gallon with 20lbs of rock, sand, clown, colorful wrasse, bubble anemone, and some hermits and snails. Bought the setup for $200.

Once I got it home I set it up in my bedroom for now as I need to build a stand to put it where my wife wants it. Initially it just looked like this:

Today I added a few more rocks and redid the scape to make it look like this:

I also added a small zoa frag for my first coral:

Couple of questions for you guys.

1. What do you think of the scape, I should have plenty of room for corals.
2. Is there any way that I can get the zoas off of the plug that they came with? I would prefer to put them on the flatter rock in the front middle of the tank.
3. Is my powerhead placement good? It's in the front left corner. It's a Koralia nano 425 gph.

I've got the media rack and fuge rack on order from inTank. also have the submersible LED and media in that order as well. I'll try to update this build as I go. Hopefully I can start on the stand before I get the urge to add anything else.

Glad I was able to find a local forum and I look forward to learning from you all.

Wicked Color · Nov 30, 2011

Welcome! You can cut or break the rock and glue the zoas where ever you want them, watch the DBTC (dont break the chain)!!

KhensuRa · Nov 30, 2011

That looks like a keys island frag rock. With any and all plugs you can cut, saw, and even break them. I have 29 gallon bio cube as well and if you have any questions feel free to ask any of us here.

I like the rock work, tank looks open and not cluttered. As for the pump placement, at this time you can put it just about anywhere as any flow is good. Once you get more corals you might need to change the placement. I have mine on the back right side of the tank, as well as an extra pump on the back left. Like Aaron said watch the DBTC threads as that will help you get a start on some nice corals for the tank.

Cake_Boss · Nov 30, 2011

cdrewferd;126797 said:

Welcome, inserted my comments after your questions. How long have you had your tank up and running. Did you do water tests? Not trying to imply anything, just covering some bases.

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cdrewferd · Nov 30, 2011

The tank was said to be up and running for a month before I bought it. I've had it a week. Had the water checked twice. First time all looked good but the salinity was high. Took out about 2 gallons and added in about 3.5 of RO and now the salinity is good. Second test showed the ph was low. Got some stuff to bring that up and will have it tested in another day or so.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am watching the DBTC threads and am actually going to pick up a Kenya tree frag from one of those threads tonight.

What would you guys suggest I purchase first?

1. LED retro kit from RapidLED
2. RO/DI and salt so I can do my own water changes?

I'm kinda leaning towards the LED upgrade. I'd like to be able to put anything I want into this tank so upgraded lights will have to come at some point. Might as well do them in the beginning and not have a bunch of corals ticked that I changed the lighting they were used to. On the other hand not have to pay $5 a week for pre mixed saltwater would be nice. Not sure if it would be better to just get my own salt and buy RO water from the LFS since it's like half the price.

andyrm66 · Nov 30, 2011

If it were me, the best purchases and most needed were:
Hospital Tank Setup
RO/DI Unit
Refractometer
Salt (duh)
Alk Test kit

With out basics like correct salinity, it wont matter what kind of lights you put over it, things won't be happy. You need to build a good foundation. That foundation is good water, mixed correctly. The RO/DI gives you the good water, the refractometer gives you the right salinity. Then, you have the basics, and can look at the other things corals, and fish to a lesser extent, need.

If it were me starting all over again (like when I had my first Bioucbe). I would start by treating every single fish with either hyposalinity or Cupermine in a hospital tank. Fast forward 3 years, I now have a 100 gallon rimless tank and hundreds of dollars in live stock, and NOW Im treating every fish for ick, and leaving my DT fallow for a few months. Once done, none fish items (corals, crabs, snails, etc will be in QT for 4-8 weeks). This will also help to keep bugs and other unwanted pests of your $$ corals in the display tank. Had I got setup the right way from the get go, it would have been sooooo much more cost effective and less stressful on me and the fish. I know theres probably a ton of people here that dont QT or treat new fish and will STRONGLY disagree with me, and thats fine and that works for them. It worked for me for years, until one day it didnt. Sort of like sex with out a condom, may work for a long time until, well you know the rest. I dont want to be a debbie downer, but thats my best advice. Here is a thread where we discussed it in more detail and you can see some differing opinions. What works for one, may not work for others. Read through this whole thing, and if you want more info, Id be glad to provide it. For me anyway, when I first started out, I wish I would have had this info:
http://www.marinecolorado.org/forum...ass-my-fish-must-see-me-as-the-angel-of-death

cdrewferd · Nov 30, 2011

andyrm66, thanks for the reply. I'll work on piecing together what you listed. You make a good point about a good foundation for the fish. I'm getting a frag or two through the DBTC threads, but may stop after that for a while so I can get the other supplies in line.

Question though, do you QT coral frags as well? How would I setup a QT tank if I want to use it for both corals and fish?

andyrm66 · Nov 30, 2011

As of now, yes they get qt. If its a fish, gets treated. Any other wet item, QT'ed. From what I've gathered, Cupermine wont "ruin" a tank like copper will. It stays in the watter, though it will still attach to calcuium rock. So in my Hospital tank, there isnt sand or LR. I will run cuprsorb (SP) when done with coper. Then after the fish are back in the DT, I will still run carbon as it absorbs cupermine as well, then qt any new coral or CUC purchases. If you didnt want to worry about the cupermine, you could use hypo for the fish, and only fish. Then simply QT for inverts and corals. I wasnt 100% on hypo, so I went cupermine, we will see how that turns out for corals in about 8-10 weeks.

cdrewferd · Nov 30, 2011

Great, thanks for all the info.

On a side note, I just found this worm in my tank.

Is this a problem? Do I need to get rid of it?

Drew

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Cake_Boss · Nov 30, 2011

Pretty crappy pic, but looks like a bristle worm. IMO, they're great scavengers. Do a search on this site for them, some don't like them because they're creepy.

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cdrewferd · Nov 30, 2011

Sorry about the pic, it's from my iPhone. Couldn't find the better camera and didn't want to wait to long to take the pic.

Thanks for the possible id. When I feed tomorrow I'll try to have the better camera on hand in case it comes out again.

Drew

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KhensuRa · Nov 30, 2011

Most likely it is a bristle worm and is good the tank.

Cake_Boss · Nov 30, 2011

cdrewferd;126923 said:

Just joking about pic quality, unless you're Brent, I'm not picky.

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ShelbyJK500 · Dec 1, 2011

Welcome...and I personally think the RO unit is the best item to have. If you have an issue and need a water change in a hurry, there's nothing like having it on hand, or at least the ability to get some in short order. This is particularly ideal for when Murphy's Law strikes and you have an emergency on a holiday or some other time where LFS's aren't open or something. Just my .02.

I'm not a fan of bristleworms myself, but they have positives and negatives, tons of debate on those creatures. I was mostly concerned when I got clams, as I'd heard they will eat clams through their foot. Anyhow, I usually leave small ones alone and pull out any large ones. Just my personal habit though.

My first saltwater was a 29g Nano...and I LOVE it...let me know if you need anything.

cdrewferd · Dec 1, 2011

Thanks for the feedback on the worm. I'll leave them for now, at least until they become pests or destroy things.

I'm going to look into getting an RO unit soon. Just have to convice the wife we need it. Which one would you guys go with:

http://www.airwaterice.com/product/1MMDI/Mighty-Mite-50GPD-with-DI-Added.html - 3 stage 50 GPD mini unit

http://www.airwaterice.com/product/1TYPHOON/Typhoon-5-stage-RODI-Reefkeeper-75-GPD.html - 5 stage 75 GPD

the Mighty Mite is tempting because of price, but the Typhoon is only $40 more so if it's worth the money then I'll do what I can to get it.

Walter White · Dec 1, 2011

I have a 28g nano cube as my first tank as well. I agree with everything else that was said. I would however caution that you take things slow. There are allot of great and wonderfully generous people here. Before you know it you'll have coral opportunities flying at from all directions. Be careful not to go to fast or add too much at one time. It can be very hard to not take a free coral and basic logic says "why not its free". Trust me I speak from experience avoid adding too much to fast.

I like the rock work work not overdone like mine.

Just my 2 cents for what its worth.

Cake_Boss · Dec 1, 2011

cdrewferd;127006 said:

Honestly I like the Kold Ster-il units, not really price friendly but you can use them as drinking water as well.... right from the tap

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Walter White · Dec 1, 2011

I may have a 90 gpd spectrapure 4 stage with dual tds coming available soon thinking probably somewhere in the $40-50 range. PM me when you are ready and perhaps we can work something out im in no hurry to sell it so its not going anywhere so do some research then decide.

andyrm66 · Dec 1, 2011

I have the 5 stage from AirWaterIce with a handheld TDS meter and love it. Had it since I had my first Biocube. Great Unit. If you can work out a deal Kalgra, that would be a great bet too.

Metalsniper · Dec 1, 2011

When looking into a ro /di remember that we now have air,water, ice as a vendor and we get a 10% discount.

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