32 gallon Biocube

[webmanny]

Hi everyone,

I'm starting a 32 gallons Biocube with DIY hood light and fuge light. I plan on having LPS corals and following the Triton method after the BRS ULM segment.

Here are some pictures of where I am so far. More to come.
Fuge light:

Hood light:

ATO reservoir:

Return pump:

Skimmer:

Hood light controller and temp controller for fans:

Current rock work:

 

[Dsnakes]

Very nice. Can't wait to see some more of it. What type of rock is that?

I wish I was a bit more DIY inclined.

 

[webmanny]

Thank you. I have no idea on the rock type. I got it from a friend who was shutting down his tank and cleaned it with bleach, vinegar and kept it in water with prime to dechlorinate it.

I hope to get to do some more next week and maybe get it wet.

 

[webmanny]

Changed the rock work a bit to make it a bit more stable and a bit lower. I want the fish to have more room to swim and grow.

What do you guys think? The first or the second?

First:

Second:

 

[Dsnakes]

Looks good. Adds a bit more depth as well

 

[webmanny]

Sweet. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[webmanny]

Finally got water in the tank. The cycle begins.

 

[Heavysledz]

how is your tank doing? is the tank cycled yet?

 

[webmanny]

Yes. The cycle finished yesterday. I added a Damsel to the tank today just to make sure everything is in check. Once I'm happy with everything, I'll start getting a few corals.

I have to say, I've never done a cycle with ammonia before, but this has been the fastest cycle I've ever seen. It took just 19 days to do the full cycle and what is even better, my Nitrates are under 20. Every other tank I have cycled with a piece of shrimp or live rock, has taken longer and I always end up with an insane amount of Nitrates in the tank.

I highly recommend this method to anyone.

 

[Heavysledz]

Yes. The cycle finished yesterday. I added a Damsel to the tank today just to make sure everything is in check. Once I'm happy with everything, I'll start getting a few corals.

I have to say, I've never done a cycle with ammonia before, but this has been the fastest cycle I've ever seen. It took just 19 days to do the full cycle and what is even better, my Nitrates are under 20. Every other tank I have cycled with a piece of shrimp or live rock, has taken longer and I always end up with an insane amount of Nitrates in the tank.

I highly recommend this method to anyone.

can you elaborate on what you did to cycle it so quickly? I am simply using AquaVitro SEED and adding 1/2 of a frozen cube of mysis shrimp each day (starting on day 5 of my cycle along with 5 small hermit crabs). I am now on day 9 and have .25 to .50 ppm of ammonia, zero Nitrites and about 2-3ppm of Nitrates.

 

[webmanny]

I'd be happy to explain it. First, there was nothing alive in my tank, but the sand. The rocks were dry rocks and I had no fish food, fish or crabs. I simply got the product pictured below from my LFS (you can get it on eBay too) and started dosing the tank.

The process is simple:
1- you add 4-5 drops of ammonia per gallon of system water
2- raise the tank temperature to about 82 degrees.
3- you start to measure ammonia daily
4- when the level goes down to zero, you dose again (never get it to more than 5ppm)
5- after about a week, start measuring Nitrite
6- once you start to see Nitrites, reduce dosing to 2-3 drops per gallon. This is to keep the first stage bacteria alive.
7- keep doing this until your Nitrite goes back down.

In your case, it may still be a bit late to get the same results, since you started a different method. You can still try this, but your Nitrates will be much higher at the end and you will need to do a large water change to bring them down.

Good luck with your tank.

This is what I got.

 

[Heavysledz]

thanks...I appreciate the information.

 

[webmanny]

Update. First corals went in yesterday. They look happy so far. Parameters are in check. I'll hook up the doser this weekend and start the Triton method. More to come.

 

[Heavysledz]

looks great and the corals look happy.....interested to hear how the Triton method pans out....

 

[webmanny]

So far everything looks good. The only issues I'm having is with the Chaeto in the fuge. Because of the way things flow, the Chaeto is mostly starting at the bottom of the chamber and not getting enough light and it is getting pulled into the display. Any ideas?

Here are some new shots of the corals.

 

[Heavysledz]

are you running the sponge filter between chamber 2 and 3? Unless you have a rack like the inTank fuge basket that lifts the Cheato up off of the bottom, it will likely get pulled into the return pump unless you run a sponge filter. But it is best to get it up off of the bottom above the location where the water flows into chamber 3.

 

[webmanny]

I do not have the fuge basket, but I can DIY one today. As far as the sponge goes, I do not run any sponge as I want to cut down on maintenance on this tank and that is just one more thing to clean. I wish this flowed the opposite way, that way the chaeto would get pulled to the top instead of the bottom.

I will try the fuge basket and see how that goes. Thank you for your response.

 

[Heavysledz]

you bet....raising up the Chaeto should stop it from getting into chamber 3 and into the DT.

 

[webmanny]

Hey guys. A quick update, I got lucky and found someone who was selling a set of intank baskets for my Biocube and got them at a really good price. Not the Chaeto is elevated and I also have some room to put filter media.

I also got a few corals that I was looking for. Here are some pictures. Thank you all for all your help.

 

[Heavysledz]

look like they are nice and healthy