Biocube Mixed Reef Shenanigans!

[about76gnomes]

Hey everyone! Finally getting back into the hobby after being out of it for about 8 years. My last tank was a 150g reef tank that I unfortuantely got rid of. Now that I've got 2 little ones and have always enjoyed the hobby, I figured getting back into it would be something they would enjoy as well!

For Christmas I got them a Biocube 16 as it's small and easy for them to enjoy and it also serves as a fairly simple introduction back into the hobby for me.

The current setup is just some simple dry rock, live sand, a jebao ow-10, hygger 200w heater in chamber 3 with the return pump, an intank media chamber in chamber 2 running filter floss, chemipure elite, Purigen, and Matrix in that order top to bottom. Using the stock carbon filter in chamber 1 as well because carbon can't hurt.

I set it up in January and let it cycle with the lights off until this Wednesday when I did the first water change and waited for it to settle and then introduced an ocellaris female and a midnight male! So far they've been doing great and have been very lively, eating fine, and overall seem happy as they're adjusting.

I wanted to start this thread to introduce myself and track my progress as well as share it with you guys - any input, tips, etc. is always appreciate as I've been out of the hobby for so long that a lot seems to have changed for the better!

Here are some pics to start off, I apologize the FTS is still cloudy as it was settling after the first water change but I forgot to take one after it cleared up!

 

[blaxsun]

Have your clowns started biting you yet? Ah, fond memories...

 

[about76gnomes]

Have your clowns started biting you yet? Ah, fond memories...

Haha! No not yet, they're still a little shy when I'm around and they hide behind the rocks at the back of the tank. I stuck my hand in last night to adjust the return nozzle and they were terrified! I'm sure eventually they'll start nipping like little puppies, they seem to have a ton of personality.

Quick video of the homies, they're inseparable.

 

[about76gnomes]

Future plans are to eventually start assembling a CUC, possibly next week, and doing some more monitoring.

Will start considering slowly adding some easy corals in the near term and possibly a BTA or some other nem for the clowns to hopefully host. Then figuring out what other fish I want to add, possibly 2, but it depends on how the tank does after the addition of a third.

I'm open to any recommendations for CUC members, coral, fish, anything and everything. This also serves as an exercise in patience for me. I am notoriously impatient and impulsive and hate waiting, but with such a small tank I told myself I would take my time and slowly build up and monitor to see how everything does.

Water changes will be weekly ranging between 2.5-5 gallons.

Water parameters as of Wednesday and yesterday were:

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrites - 0ppm
Nitrates - 5ppm
pH - 8.0
Salinity - 1.025 SG

Temp is set to 79*F.

I will most likely test water every other day in the near term and eventually switch to weekly prior to my water changes.

 

[rmorris_14]

Welcome back to the hobby! Following along.

Here is a helpful thread I used to pick out some of my clean up crew.

Choosing Cleanup Crew Critters.

Choosing Cleanup Crew Critters. Cleanup Crew. Tank Janitors. Tank Cleaners. Functionally, it means the same thing to every hobbyist…. inverts added to your tank to keep it nice and sparkly. It’s a necessity (Well, not an absolute necessity) Everyone has one. But, if you ask those people what...

www.reef2reef.com

Slow and steady is the way.

 

[about76gnomes]

Welcome back to the hobby! Following along.

Here is a helpful thread I used to pick out some of my clean up crew.

Choosing Cleanup Crew Critters.

Choosing Cleanup Crew Critters. Cleanup Crew. Tank Janitors. Tank Cleaners. Functionally, it means the same thing to every hobbyist…. inverts added to your tank to keep it nice and sparkly. It’s a necessity (Well, not an absolute necessity) Everyone has one. But, if you ask those people what...

www.reef2reef.com

Slow and steady is the way.

Yes, sensei! I think I will be okay with slow and steady, I don't know if I can handle upsetting the littles ones if I crash the tank or kill something off simply because I was impatient haha.

That's a great read and provided some awesome insight, much appreciated!

I will post updates here regularly as I progress as well.

 

[about76gnomes]

Managed to get my first FTS last night with everything all cleared up! I hate how barren it looks, I can't wait to start getting come colors in there.

I'm thinking next week I'll start introducing a CUC and maybe one or two small softies after my water change and checking parameters. Any recommendations?

Was thinking maybe a Kenya Tree and a Hammer or Frogspawn?

 

[about76gnomes]

Weekly update!

Did my water change today and tested my water, all was well. Ammonia and Nitrites were 0, Nitrates were 5ppm, pH was 8.0, and salinity at 1.025.

Went out to the LFS today and picked up some coral and a Fire Shrimp. No snails or any other inverts yet because I don't really have much algae and I don't want to starve them out.

Fire shrimp will be good for now to help eat all the leftover food bits. I also picked up some handsome colorful friends and they livened up the tank big time! Can't wait for them all finish opening up!

Here's some pics and a quick video for you guys to enjoy!

PS - Can anyone give me the full scientific names for all the corals I got? Want to make sure I got them all correct. TIA!!

Also did a little organizing in the cabinet, but that's a little less exciting.

 

[Schumanistan]

Looks great, i like the rockscape! looks very natural!

 

[about76gnomes]

Looks great, i like the rockscape! looks very natural!

Thanks! I tried to keep it as simple as possible, and everyone in the tank seems to enjoy it so that's all that matters.

Now if only my clowns would come hang out in the front of the tank... buncha weirdos

 

[rmorris_14]

the one best thing I have purchased for my biocube was this switchboard. You have to take the doors off and have a steady hand when screwing it in during the mount but hands down it’s so nice when needing to do maintenance and feedings. I can’t image my biocube without it
ADJ Products PC-100A AC POWER STRIP

 

[about76gnomes]

the one best thing I have purchased for my biocube was this switchboard. You have to take the doors off and have a steady hand when screwing it in during the mount but hands down it’s so nice when needing to do maintenance and feedings. I can’t image my biocube without it
ADJ Products PC-100A AC POWER STRIP

Lookin good!

It looks like you have a 32, I'm jealous of your extra real estate both in the tank and the cabinet haha. I ended up getting a powerstrip similar to yours with individual switches for each outlet and I velcro'd it to the side which has worked well for me so far. Easy access and it isn't in the way.

 

[about76gnomes]

Is it bad I set up an old Wyze cam in front of the tank so I could monitor everything while at work? Hahaha.

 

[rmorris_14]

Is it bad I set up an old Wyze cam in front of the tank so I could monitor everything while at work? Hahaha.

No way!! I got one for while we were on vacation but I enjoyed using it even when I wasn’t on vacation.

 

[about76gnomes]

No way!! I got one for while we were on vacation but I enjoyed using it even when I wasn’t on vacation.

I'm sure it'll wear off eventually, but for now I find myself mindlessly staring at it for periods at a time when I should be working

I may eventually hook it up to my desktop and set it up to stream 24/7 on Youtube or something and share the link on here. Would be neat, I think!

 

[about76gnomes]

Just noticed something, and it may very well be nothing, but there seem to be 2 branches (circled in red in the picture) of the hammer kinda drooping down. Wondering if it's normal, caused by the flow, or if there should be any concern? Sweepers maybe?

He looks fluffy and happy as could be, so I'm assuming nothing to worry about but input would be appreciated!

 

[Goaway]

hammer kinda drooping down. Wondering if it's normal, caused by the flow, or if there should be any concern? Sweepers maybe

Most likely sweepers. I see no issues with it. From the picture.

 

[about76gnomes]

Monday photo update! All the fish are still happy, although they seem to have gotten comfortable on the back side of the tank, but that's okay. The corals all look happy still and my fire shrimp molted!! Threw me for a loop yesterday morning when I thought it cloned itself!

Also, it looks like my ugly stage has officially started, so that's always a treat haha.

I noticed a cool colored zoa growing on the very tip of the zoa colony rock, so that was neat.

Quick photo update!

 

[bstodds15]

How has your algae been? Using dry rock you might run into some issues with nuisance algae down the road. Don't get discouraged when it happens!

 

[about76gnomes]

How has your algae been? Using dry rock you might run into some issues with nuisance algae down the road. Don't get discouraged when it happens!

Algae has been nonexistant until the last couple days with what looks like some diatoms starting.

I set up the tank mid-January and let it cycle for about 3 months with nothing in it and no filter media to try and cure the dry rock and minimize algae issues. So far so good.