Kickyfeet's build-off competition entry

[kickyfeet]

And here we go!

The tank I will be using is an Oceanic Biocube 32 gallon my neighbor gave to me last year. I'm going to keep this tank softy/LPS. For fish I know I at least want a green clown goby. I've never owned one so this is a good excuse to get one . The tank didn't come with a stand but luckily I found a stand online that was made for this tank. I'll be running it open top since the lid that comes with the tank won't fit my blackbox LED.

The tank, light, and 1k gyre were used equipment I had around the house. I found some reefrock 2.0 at Reefkoi corals in their liverock bin already curing. I used the rock in my main display and I like how it aged colorwise. I purchased about a month ago and the rock has been curing at home in a trash can. I chose bimini pink for my sand because I like the variety of grain size.

My water is heating up in a 30 gallon trash can and I'll be picking up some salt tomorrow to mix. I'll be posting the setup pics tomorrow!

Equipment list:
Used Oceanic 32 gallon biocube $100
26 pounds of live rock acquired at reefkoi $52 at $2/pound
40 pounds of CaribSea Bimini pink live sand $60
Used blackbox 165w LED w/ wifi $75
Light bracket $100
Used Tunze ATO $100
Fritz RPM blue box salt $60
Used Aqueon 150w preset heater $10
GFCI $20
Coralife Skimmer: $30
Organix FX Filter Media: $25
Used Koralia Nano: $5
Turkey Baster: $5


Livestock:
Tailspot Blenny: $23
Zoa Frag: $20
Zoa Frag: $20
Ricordia: $20
Ricordia: $30
10 Astrea Snails: $20
5 Nassarius Snails: $10
Galaxea: $20
Green Mushroom: $20
Kenya Tree: $20
Leather: $20
10 Trochus Snail (w/2 Mexican Turbo free): $30

Total $865

View attachment 14569

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

Good start! Can not wait to see what happens


Sent from my iPhone using MASC - Marine Aquarium Society of Colorado

 

[kickyfeet]

Got it up and running today! I purchased a box of Fritz RPM salt today. With an estimated 5 gallon water changes every month this will last me well over a year. I recommend cleaning aquariums with a vinegar/water solution before using. This tank had been setup previously to hold some livestock temporarily and was stored inside the house so I didn't feel a need to clean this time.

First things first, make sure it's level and 2.5 inches away from the wall. My stand was not level at all but it was an easy fix with shims under the back two "legs".
Started with:
View attachment 14595

Ended with this:
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After adding sand, rock and water the tank settled level.

 

[kickyfeet]

Filling it up

Before putting anything in the tank I cut a foot long piece of PVC into 12, 1 inch pieces. My sand bed will be about 2 inches deep so these pvc stands will be about half way down the bed. I used super glue to glue to the bottom of the tank and positioned them in the rough idea I had for an aquascape. The pvc pips will keep the rock elevated above the sand and give structure to the aquascape. Any livestock that tends to burrow in the substrate will be able to do so without causing any collapse.
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I rarely give too much planning into aquascaping and just kinda go with the flow. I may change it once or twice before loading with livestock. I ended up using an extra 2 pounds of rock on top of the 24 I originally purchased for the project.
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Holy scratches!! I did lean some rock on the back but made sure to keep a channel open for flow all the way around the rock.
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I'll post some pics of the tank when the water is clear
View attachment 14602

 

[kchristensen8064]

Looking good!

 

[kickyfeet]

I dropped some thawed fish food in the tank today to start the cycle. The water is still a little clowdy but I don't have any filter media to catch all of it.

My to do for this week:
Cut a plexi glass cover for the filter chambers. I set this up right next to my desk and I had to turn the tank off during some conference calls it was so loud.
Decide what kind of filter media I want for the aquarium

View attachment 14603

Looking good!

Thanks man!

 

[Balz3352]

Looks great. Hey when you add the top use polycarbonate not acrylic/plexy acrylic swells and bows whereas polycarbonate won't

 

[kickyfeet]

Looks great. Hey when you add the top use polycarbonate not acrylic/plexy acrylic swells and bows whereas polycarbonate won't

Thank you! I'm on the fence about covering the entire top but I definitely want to cut a strip to cover the filter area and sagging would really bug me. I don't have A/C in my house and I'm going to be counting on evaporation to keep the tank cool.

 

[Balz3352]

Thank you! I'm on the fence about covering the entire top but I definitely want to cut a strip to cover the filter area and sagging would really bug me. I don't have A/C in my house and I'm going to be counting on evaporation to keep the tank cool.

Just realized it's a biocube..... Fill it up more.!!have water in 2 right chambers just below the left chamber
That should quiet it down quite a bit

 

[SynDen]

All your images are showing up broken for me. They were there when you first posted them but don't show up now. How are you posting the images? direct upload, or hosting them somewhere and linking to them?

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

All your images are showing up broken for me. They were there when you first posted them but don't show up now. How are you posting the images? direct upload, or hosting them somewhere and linking to them?

Same for me.


Sent from my iPhone using MASC - Marine Aquarium Society of Colorado

 

[kickyfeet]

Same for me.


Sent from my iPhone using MASC - Marine Aquarium Society of Colorado

Thanks for letting me know! I went through and attached them again instead of external link. Let me know if they are showing up again.

I purchased a Red Sea ammonia test kit and some filter material. Cycle is well on its way. After 15 minutes the kit read .4 mg/L. I will probably test again after the weekend for any changes.
View attachment 14604

The filter pad I purchased has helped with the noise and definitely cleared up the water in the tank. I cut one strip for the first chamber. I found it caused a little too much flow restriction but backing it away from the divider helped. I'm not too worried as the biocube has an emergency overflow to the middle chamber but I didn't want to risk it. Before the project started I found a used InTank acrylic media container. For now it's holding a bit of filter pad in the top and slowing down the water as it falls from the first chamber to the second. It's an awkward size as well being too big for the first chamber and too small for the second. I might have to get creative with it

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[kickyfeet]

Just realized it's a biocube..... Fill it up more.!!have water in 2 right chambers just below the left chamber
That should quiet it down quite a bit

I found a pic online of 2 baskets in the second chamber, one is wider than the other. I may end up attempting to make another one to fill up the space.

 

[Balz3352]

I found a pic online of 2 baskets in the second chamber, one is wider than the other. I may end up attempting to make another one to fill up the space.

Yeah I have 2 in mine. I'd still raise water up. If I remember I can try to get a pic where I keep my waterline in mine

 

[kickyfeet]

Hey ya'll!

Well it certainly has been interesting. The 1k gyre I sold to myself for this tank stopped working after the first day and my light started making a humming sound when the white channel. I was messing with the white channel level and eventually I heard a pop and now no more white! That's how it goes with used equipment I guess. I may get a Jebao RW4 as a replacement.

I purchased a GFCI for the tank. The GFCI outlet replacements are easy to install if you are comfortable with electrical work. For this project I purchased a plugin GFCI that doesn't require any modification to the outlet. USE GFCI ANY TIME WATER AND ELECTRICAL ARE MIXED. I have heard of GFCI tripping easily but in my experience I have never had an issue with one and the benefits outweigh any risk.

Yeah I have 2 in mine. I'd still raise water up. If I remember I can try to get a pic where I keep my waterline in mine

A pic of your filtration would be really helpful! The water line is as high as it will go but like I said I have nothing in the back middle chamber so the water is falling about 6 inches.

I haven't run another ammonia test but may test later tonight or tomorrow. I need to get a hold of a nitrite test kit and may pickup an API nitrite test kit. I do not recommend API but since I will only test for Nitrite a few times I'll get a cheap API kit.

I snagged a pic of some diatoms developing on the sand. For anyone following this thread and starting up a tank this can be completely normal and in this case is probably caused by high nitrates.
View attachment 14674

 

[kickyfeet]

Well this escalated quickly. My diatom bloom turned into a wonderful coating of cyano. I am still testing ammonia in the tank so I’m going to let the algae a cyano consume as much nutrients as possible before changing out some water and siphoning out the cyano for physical export.

I know what you’re talking about Bal3352. I was really sticking to the “max water line” on the left side of the tank and I saw another bio cube with the water all the way to the top in the back chambers. My tank is much quieter now haha. Curious why they want the water line so low and if that will effect filtration.

 

[Balz3352]

Well this escalated quickly. My diatom bloom turned into a wonderful coating of cyano. I am still testing ammonia in the tank so I’m going to let the algae a cyano consume as much nutrients as possible before changing out some water and siphoning out the cyano for physical export.

I know what you’re talking about Bal3352. I was really sticking to the “max water line” on the left side of the tank and I saw another bio cube with the water all the way to the top in the back chambers. My tank is much quieter now haha. Curious why they want the water line so low and if that will effect filtration.

I completely forgot to send you the pic my bad I essentially made my own Intank filter

 

[kickyfeet]

I completely forgot to send you the pic my bad I essentially made my own Intank filter

Thanks man! What do you use for filter media? The cyano is actually disappearing which is great but the water is super cloudy and I have a film on top of the water. I'm trying to decide if buying a cheap protein skimmer is worth it or trying filter media bags the entire year.

 

[Balz3352]

Umm I used to use filter loss then carbon then chemipure elite.
Now it's plumbed to my big tank so water is easier to keep

 

[JuanGutz]

Tank is still young so hopefully these issues will go away with some time!