I have an amazing wife. For Christmas 2021 she got me a Coralife LED BioCube 32 gallon AIO with the specially made stand.
Assembly was fairly easy, using standard tools.
After assembly of the stand, I wiped the tank on the inside with a wet cloth and performed a test installation. We'll have to install some curtains on those windows for sure.
I bought some dry “live” rocks, about 40 lbs worth. Too much for my little 32 gal, as it turned out. 20-25 lbs would have been enough. I would have liked a little more diversity in sizes and shapes. I've since learned there's no such thing as dry "live" rock. It's just dry rock.
I measured and drew the outline of the bottom of my tank on a piece of cardboard. Useful when trying to figure out how to aquascape all this rock.
First attempt. May not leave much room for the livestock to swim and frolic. Also: I think I need some tank-safe epoxy and superglue.
Aquascaping, take two. This time with epoxy, superglue, and latex gloves. The gloves proved useless. The sharp rocks quickly tore them to shreds. Next time I'll use heavier gloves.
The end result. Not the most elegant or innovative aquascape. But hey, this is a learning process, right?
Filling the BuiCube and making a mess. Rocks in first, then sand, then water.
I didn't mix my own saltwater, instead I purchased it from Chewy. Probably more expensive than mixing my own, but I didn't have a RO/DI system at the time. And yeah, one of the containers split open and leaked as the delivery driver heaved it on top of the pile.
All done filling the BioCube 32. Cloudy, with a chance of corals (eventually). Going to let it sit for a while. And yes, I’m leaving the lights off for now.
Less than 24 hours later and the water has cleared up a lot. Time to break out the chemistry set.
Dosed the tank with Dr. Tim’s. Now we wait.
Day 1 of testing the water. Salinity: 1.026, pH: 8.0, ammonia: 0.25 ppm. About the salinity: Skip the cheap plastic hydrometer and get a proper refractometer right away.
Finally got my RO/DI system and am making my first batch of RO/DI water. It’s pretty slow going. Yeah, the empty saltwater container says "Do not reuse," but what can I say? I'm a rule-breaker.
Time to automate! I went back and forth, but ended up getting this puppy. Love all the inputs and the flexibility. The build quality seems rock solid, the device feels heavy in my hand. And it doesn't hurt that it's IP65 rated.
A little over two weeks later, I got Zaphod, my first Zoa. I was way too excited by this. Please excuse the newbie.
Got a Purple-headed Firefish at around the same time. Gloria seemed happy and ate well, until I got a couple of Clowns a month later. After that, Gloria simply disappeared. Knowing what I know now, I'll never buy another Clown without observing it (or them) at the LFS first. Poor Gloria.
To be continued...
Assembly was fairly easy, using standard tools.
After assembly of the stand, I wiped the tank on the inside with a wet cloth and performed a test installation. We'll have to install some curtains on those windows for sure.
I bought some dry “live” rocks, about 40 lbs worth. Too much for my little 32 gal, as it turned out. 20-25 lbs would have been enough. I would have liked a little more diversity in sizes and shapes. I've since learned there's no such thing as dry "live" rock. It's just dry rock.
I measured and drew the outline of the bottom of my tank on a piece of cardboard. Useful when trying to figure out how to aquascape all this rock.
First attempt. May not leave much room for the livestock to swim and frolic. Also: I think I need some tank-safe epoxy and superglue.
Aquascaping, take two. This time with epoxy, superglue, and latex gloves. The gloves proved useless. The sharp rocks quickly tore them to shreds. Next time I'll use heavier gloves.
The end result. Not the most elegant or innovative aquascape. But hey, this is a learning process, right?
Filling the BuiCube and making a mess. Rocks in first, then sand, then water.
I didn't mix my own saltwater, instead I purchased it from Chewy. Probably more expensive than mixing my own, but I didn't have a RO/DI system at the time. And yeah, one of the containers split open and leaked as the delivery driver heaved it on top of the pile.
All done filling the BioCube 32. Cloudy, with a chance of corals (eventually). Going to let it sit for a while. And yes, I’m leaving the lights off for now.
Less than 24 hours later and the water has cleared up a lot. Time to break out the chemistry set.
Dosed the tank with Dr. Tim’s. Now we wait.
Day 1 of testing the water. Salinity: 1.026, pH: 8.0, ammonia: 0.25 ppm. About the salinity: Skip the cheap plastic hydrometer and get a proper refractometer right away.
Finally got my RO/DI system and am making my first batch of RO/DI water. It’s pretty slow going. Yeah, the empty saltwater container says "Do not reuse," but what can I say? I'm a rule-breaker.
Time to automate! I went back and forth, but ended up getting this puppy. Love all the inputs and the flexibility. The build quality seems rock solid, the device feels heavy in my hand. And it doesn't hurt that it's IP65 rated.
A little over two weeks later, I got Zaphod, my first Zoa. I was way too excited by this. Please excuse the newbie.
Got a Purple-headed Firefish at around the same time. Gloria seemed happy and ate well, until I got a couple of Clowns a month later. After that, Gloria simply disappeared. Knowing what I know now, I'll never buy another Clown without observing it (or them) at the LFS first. Poor Gloria.
To be continued...
