Beginner BioCube16!

Simon Reefing · Apr 19, 2022

rmorris_14 · Apr 19, 2022

prattosphere said:
Anyone know what kind of hermit crab this is?

Looks like a blue leg hermit… seriously not being snarky. That’s what they are called :winking-face:

rmorris_14 · Apr 19, 2022

prattosphere said:
Hey all! I broke up a few big pieces of my Marco rock over the weekend and started the scape. Over the last 2 evenings, I used epoxy and BSI gel glue to fix the scape together. I used small pieces of Marco rock to hide the grey epoxy. I picked up the entire scape tonight and couldn’t believe that it held together! Here’s the final product! I’ve got enough clearance on the sides and back to clean. I plan to pick up salt water, copepods, & some live rock tomorrow and GET THAT CYCLE STARTED! Let me know what you think!

In order to put my 100W heater in the water overflow chamber, I made 2 modifications to the tank. I removed the plastic divider in the water overflow chamber (press down hard on tray with pliers and it should dislodge), and I peaked off the black film so that I could see the light from the heater. You can also add a skimmer to this chamber after removing the plastic divider.

I’d be really interested to see what your back chambers look like after your modifications if you can get some decent photos of.

prattosphere · Apr 20, 2022

Here’s a link to the video explaining what I modified and Heres a picture of the final product. You can still fit the carbon filter cartridge in the overflow even with the vertical divider removed. I removed the rack in the middle chamber and just added live rock as my filter media. The tray in the middle chamber can still fit above the media without the rack.

BioCube16 Water Overflow Modification

youtube.com

LordNeb · Apr 21, 2022

I did that same modification in my biocube to fit the heater and it's been working great. I never thought about trying to fit the filter cartridge back in after I did that though, I left the media rack in and have bio floss on the top and a bag of carbon in the rack. I also cut/broke the top of the divider from the over flow so more water can go into the middle chamber instead of just what flows out of the corner.

prattosphere · Apr 21, 2022

LordNeb said:
I did that same modification in my biocube to fit the heater and it's been working great. I never thought about trying to fit the filter cartridge back in after I did that though, I left the media rack in and have bio floss on the top and a bag of carbon in the rack. I also cut/broke the top of the divider from the over flow so more water can go into the middle chamber instead of just what flows out of the corner.

Nice! A manager at SaltwaterAquarium.com has a BioCube16 and he told me about the mod because he uses an EHEIM 100W as well. He also said that he kept the cartridge in. It’s working fine for now for me and gives me more room for live rock in the middle chamber.

I’m cycling the tank now with some live rock & hitchhikers that are super fun to watch! I have 2 stomatella snails & a blue-legged hermit. Wondering if I need to supplement their limited algae diet with seaweed

rmorris_14 · Apr 21, 2022

prattosphere said:
Nice! A manager at SaltwaterAquarium.com has a BioCube16 and he told me about the mod because he uses an EHEIM 100W as well. He also said that he kept the cartridge in. It’s working fine for now for me and gives me more room for live rock in the middle chamber.

I’m cycling the tank now with some live rock & hitchhikers that are super fun to watch! I have 2 stomatella snails & a blue-legged hermit. Wondering if I need to supplement their limited algae diet with seaweed

Hikari make sinking algae pellets that my hermits seam to like :). I just break off little pieces.

HIKARI Algae Wafers Fish Food, 8.8-oz bag - Chewy.com

Buy Hikari Algae Wafers Fish Food, 8.8-oz bag at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

prattosphere · Apr 21, 2022

Cleaned the glass- so I’m posting some new pics. Cycle is moving along! Yesterday, I was at 0.15 Ammonia & 50 Nitrates.

prattosphere · Apr 21, 2022

rmorris_14 said:
Hikari make sinking algae pellets that my hermits seam to like :). I just break off little pieces.

HIKARI Algae Wafers Fish Food, 8.8-oz bag - Chewy.com

Buy Hikari Algae Wafers Fish Food, 8.8-oz bag at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

How would I know if he’s hungry?

rmorris_14 · Apr 21, 2022

prattosphere said:
How would I know if he’s hungry?

With there being almost no food source, I would guess he is hungry. I would give him something at the very least 2 X week. I try to feed mine every two to three days when I put them in the new tank. I alternated between the sinking wafers ( a little bit goes a long way- if it is just the one hermit, a very small piece will work), and some frozen food I had for my fish.

prattosphere · Apr 21, 2022

rmorris_14 said:
With there being almost no food source, I would guess he is hungry. I would give him something at the very least 2 X week. I try to feed mine every two to three days when I put them in the new tank. I alternated between the sinking wafers ( a little bit goes a long way- if it is just the one hermit, a very small piece will work), and some frozen food I had for my fish.

I’ll try feeding him something today, thanks!