New Biocube Cycling. Need Opinions.

Mercury492 · Mar 31, 2015

Hello Everyone.. I set up a brand new 29 gal biocube 7 days ago. I used 2 bags of CaribSea 20lb Bahama Oolite. (Close to 40lbs total) 30.1 lbs of live rock from my LFS. Filled with RO water. I have the inTank media filter running with only the filter pads at this time.. (I plan on using Chemi Pure Elite, and Purigen eventually). Also I have the inTank refugium basket which is currently empty. I have still in the box the Coralife skimmer) My temp is running about 79 degrees. Salinity is it 1.021ish and I am trying to raise slowly. I have 1 Hydor Koralia Nano 425 Circulation Pump.

Yesterday (day 6), I used the API saltwater master test kit, and came up with the following.

8.0 PH
Between 0 and 0.25 Ammonia (the highest it went was 1.0ppm cycling with a good size shrimp)
0 Nitrite
10ppm Nitrate (this has dropped from about 15ppm in 48 hours)

My question is. Is this about where I should be at? The shrimp has blown up into a nasty jelly ball and is now almost gone. Should I consider a water change? Or possibly adding a bit more shrimp? I am not seeing really any signs of diatom, and no algae.

I have also found there are probably a hundred or more hydroids attached to the rock from the LFS. They are very small. (about the size of an ink mark if you dipped a pen on a piece of paper). Any advise on these guys would be appreciated.

SeahorseKeeper · Mar 31, 2015

I would start to ghost feed the tank the amount that you would anticipate feeding your first additions and then monitor the ammonia daily. If you see an ammonia reading, the tank is still cycling. Continue this until the ammonia does not spike up.

GreatWhiteTang · Apr 1, 2015

Ghost feed.. When it maintains 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite.. And under 30.nitrate ide say it's done.. Do a small water change to lower nitrate at that point and then add cuc and skimmer

saltyphish · Apr 1, 2015

+ this and be patient. Good luck

SeahorseKeeper said:
I would start to ghost feed the tank the amount that you would anticipate feeding your first additions and then monitor the ammonia daily. If you see an ammonia reading, the tank is still cycling. Continue this until the ammonia does not spike up.

glb · Apr 1, 2015

GreatWhiteTang said:
Ghost feed.. When it maintains 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite.. And under 30.nitrate ide say it's done.. Do a small water change to lower nitrate at that point and then add cuc and skimmer

Agreed. You need to keep the ammonia coming so your biofilter is strong enough to hold when you add livestock.

VicD81 · Apr 1, 2015

If you have the coralife skimmer with the airstone I would suggest you take it back to the store and use that money for a better one. In the long run it will cost you more (replacement airstones) and it is not as effective as a needle wheel. There are a couple options. Tunze, Aquaticlife and hydor to name a few.

pdiehm · Apr 1, 2015

I'm getting a biocube 29. Will be looking at the Hydor Slim Skim Nano for the tank. May be something you want to explore.

Up2no6ood · Apr 1, 2015

I like dosing straight ammonia, speeds up the process and I can control how much the tank has.

VicD81 · Apr 1, 2015

Oh forgot to add about the refugium. That might be a waste of time in a biocube, especially given the amount of space in the basket. If and when you get coraline algae on the back glass it will be a pain to clean due to the space. I suggest as a form of nutient control keep with your water changes and maybe think about a media reactor like the Innovative Marine MiniMax All in one reactor. I dont know personally about it but looks nice. Ive got the CPR tumbler which i do not recommend for use in the rear chamber of a biocube. They are such a pain in the buns to adjust flow.

If you are adamant on doing the fuge I got a JBJ Nano Glo i could sell you. :thumb: