Biocube Reboot - Deep Sand Bed experiment

[Dos Ocho]

Greetings all. My Biocube 29 was my first reef tank that i started back in January '17. It was my learning tank and looked really good for a while. But, due to a series of events and mistakes, it fell victim to a horrible outbreak of Dinoflagellats that i just couldn't beat. Decided to pull the plug and try again. I was able to save a lot of my corals and after a rough dipping process, put some of the frags into my big 40 long setup ad they are doing quite well in their new home. I have a couple others in a frag tank, but the Dinos followed them into that tank, so i am using that one as an experiment to better understand how to kill these little buggers for the future. Gonna try Dino-X, but that's neither here nor there. On to the reboot.

My specs are as follows:

Tank: Coralife Biocube 29
Lighting: Rapid LED retrofit kit, full spectrum with Storm Controller
Biological filtration: Marinepure media buried under a 4 inch Deep Sand Bed. ~.5 - 1 lb Dry Rock, ~10 lbs KP Aquatics Live Rock, ~2 lbs GCE Live Sand, column of 5 2in MarinePure blocks in Chamber 1, a few small bags of Matix media in chamber 2, Refugium in Chamber 2
Other filtration: In Tank, LLC Media Rack with filter floss, BRS Rox carbon, and BRS GFO
Circulation: Stock return pump, Vortech MP-10
Heater: 150W Neotherm Heater
Other equipment: Tunze ATO

My goal for this tank is much different from before. Since this was my first tank, i packed it with rock. Although the shape turned out well, it was still essentially a massive rock with minimal sand bed exposure. This time, i want a more minimal look with more open sand space.

Going with a smaller amount of rock, i am worried about filtration. After a lot of research, i decided to try a Deep Sand Bed not only for filtration, but for the sand anemone i want to eventually get (narrowed it down to a Long Tentacle Anemone or Sebae Anemone). I was able to save my 2 black Clownfish and would like to see them bond with and be hosted by an anemone.

Besides the anemone, i plan on a couple Peppermint Shrimp i saved, some macros, and a couple soft corals from my frag tank if i can defeat the Dinos. I have a small zoa frag, a paly, a pipe organ coral, and a small frag of Styloconiella. I am hoping all will make the cut and get transferred to the new cube.

I started with about 6lbs of Fiji mud as my base. I used it in my 40 long setup extensively and like the stuff. I put a 8x8x1 MarinePure plate in the mud, along with a couple of the 2in cubes i had laying around. I added a small amount of Fiji Pink sand i had leftover from the 40, then a bunch of special grade sand as a top off.

Starting tonight, i will fill up the tank and get it circulating. I have 2 small rocks i put in my 40 sump a month ago that i will add to help start the cycle. I usually cycle my tanks with some shrimp or a block of old frozen cod i keep for my sump crabs.

After it cycles, i plan on adding 2 - 3 lbs of live sand from Gulf Coast Ecosystems. I have bought a lot of macros from them before and really like their stuff, customer service, and packaging. Once I add that, i'll let it simmer for a week or so and make sure all my levels looks good. Then, I'll get the live rock from KP Aquatics and fire the lights up. I'll probably stick with smaller snails as my CUC and transfer some Stomatellas from my 40 long setup. They are neat little guys and breed like rabbits. I have some other large Cerith and Astrea snails i can add from my 40 if need be.

After the live rock is in and my levels looks good, the clowns and shrimp will go in. Then will be kind of a boring wait with a sparse tank while things stabilize enough for an anemone. Hoping to be ready by around October. I will try to add my corals and I LOVE macroalgae so i anticipate some reds and greens going in while i wait. After the anemone goes in, sit back and enjoy (and hope he lives and doesn't die and nuke the tank, of course!)

Comments and advice are always welcome. Wish me luck!!!

 

[ihavecrabs]

Following along! looks interesting.

My suggestion is to test your nitrates and phosphates regularly and keep them in acceptable range for your coral type, never letting either of them bottom out and keeping them in an acceptable ratio. Many have seen great success defeating dino outbreaks doing so (me included).

 

[Dos Ocho]

Following along! looks interesting.

My suggestion is to test your nitrates and phosphates regularly and keep them in acceptable range for your coral type, never letting either of them bottom out and keeping them in an acceptable ratio. Many have seen great success defeating dino outbreaks doing so (me included).

Thank you! I hope to not see them again. I was able to stop them in my bigger 40 long setup. I actually transferred them from the 40 into the Biocube on a piece of Macroalgae by mistake before i knew what i was dealing with. I blacked out the 40 for 3 days, dosed peroxide, added some KP Aquatics live rock, pods and phyto, and increased feeding. One of those things or a combination of all of them along with a much larger water volume beat the Dinos into submission. All my macros were able to suck up excess nutrients and i did not have a major hair algae outbreak (did see some though, but all algae is welcome in that tank, in moderation of course!) Haven't seen them since, and this was about 3 months ago.

I did the same to the Biocube, but something was out of whack chemistry-wise because the Dinos just overran the tank quickly. I'm just glad i was able to save what i could. I was considering doing different treatments, but i was putting my inhabitants thru hell and switched focus to salvaging what i could to avoid a major die off and total tank crash.

On a side note, i dosed my frag tank with the first round of Dino X last night. Removed carbon filtration and shortened the light cycle to 6 hours like instructed. Seeing a lot of the strings turning white today already. Corals seem unaffected. A good sign for sure.

 

[Dos Ocho]

Nothing too exciting going on, but the tank is filled and running and the cycle has begun. The water smelled horrible the first couple days and i had a lot of ammonia. Some from the fish i put in, and i'm sure all the stuff i couldn't scrape off from the old setup started to rot as well. The smell is getting better and I'm seeing Nitrites now so the bacteria is doing its job. Added the rest of the dry sand i bought the other night to give me a good 4 inch bed. Worried about sand blowing around once i finally fire up the MP-10, but i will lower its settings a bit to create a calmer current than last time.

Changed up my plan a bit and think I'm gonna get some stuff from Indo-Pacific Sea Farms. I think they will have a lot more stuff to get the sand bed going, plus some macros for my display and fuge. Once the initial cycle is finished, i'll place my order and get going. Plan on firing up the lights after the IPSF order mainly to get the diatom bloom out of the way before the live rock. My clowns and shrimp are doing well in their temporary tank, patiently waiting to go home! So......moving along.

My Dino X experiment is progressing in my frag tank. Lot of the strings are still turning white and I'm seeing barely any air bubbles from them. I need to take a toothbrush to the tank and start siphoning out as much as i can when i get some time. The dinos definitely seem to be struggling and the corals still look good. They say its about a 10 day process and i'm on Day 6. I'll be interested to see if they try to come back after removal. So far, this seems to be a fairly effective treatment. More to come.....

 

[Dos Ocho]

The initial cycle is complete! Doing a water change tonight and fired up the lights. I have an order from Indo Pacific coming Saturday. A couple macros, but mostly some critters to help kick start the sand bed. Getting a few snails too so hoping the lights trigger the Diatom bloom so they have something to eat. I have algae pellets too in the meantime.
I’ll probably get my live rock towards the end of next week or early the following week, then put the clowns back in.

I took down my frag tank over the weekend. Dino X damaged the Dinos, but they mounted a comeback so I pulled the plug. Was able to re-dip a couple corals and put them in the 40. They are doing well. So, overall I was able to save almost all my corals from the cube and the frags are living again in a new and hopefully more stable home. Not too bad for my first tank disaster!!

 

[Dos Ocho]

Received and added my Indo Pacific Sea Farms order today! I did their 9 item mix and match, so lots of stuff. Let's see.... wonder mud, live sand, pods, bristle worms, snails, chaeto, caulerpa, and some really neat yellow gracilaria that i added to my 40 sump. The hermits were really cool, black and white striped. Don't want them in my cube though, so i fished all but 1 out of there and sent them to my 40 sump to duke it out with the rest of my crabs. I'll grab the last one and send him away as well in a day or two. The bristle worms all dove into the sand immediately. I also added a "treated" Cerith snail from my old setup. He burrowed into the sand bed right away as well. Hoping the sand bed begins the process of coming alive over the next couple months.

All the stuff came very well packaged and alive, so i'll add them to my list of great vendors. There was some sea lettuce and red gracilaria in a lot of the bags that i dropped in too. I'll probably move it, but for now it tumbles around in the tank. Very soothing!! I broke up a sinking algae tab to hopefully keep everything fed until the diatom/algae blooms start. Gonna let the system simmer for a week, then get some live rock from KP Aquatics and put my clowns back in!

I also started some filtration. Nothing too major, just some GAC and filter floss. The chaeto went it the fuge and i have my lights connected and ready to shine overnight. I'm excited to see this cube come back to life. Gonna try my best to keep it alive and healthy this time.

 

[NY_Caveman]

This is really coming along nicely. I was also very satisfied with my recent IPSF.com order (Worms, Amphipods, Ministars). I have good live rock, but the more the merrier when it comes to biodiversity. I cannot wait to see what you get from KP. Most of the examples I have seen were impressive.

 

[Dos Ocho]

I bought 10 lbs a few months ago for my 40 system and it was fantastic! Decided to place the order for my cube today and it should be here Friday!

 

[Dos Ocho]

KP only ships Monday and Tuesday, I my rock came in yesterday. Very happy with the quality and how the scape turned out. Still has that minimal look with open sand that I wanted.
The rock has a bit of dictoya algae, neomersis (I think), and several other spots of random red and green macros. Of course ever piece was caked in purple, orange, and red corraline as well.
Had 2 hitchhiker crabs and an urchin which all went into the 40 sump. Waiting to see what else emerges from the rock!
The dry rock is getting a brown tint so the diatoms are coming. I’ll adjust my snail population accordingly.
Hooked up my MP-10 and am running it on a very low tidal swell mode for now (around 20% power). That will also be adjusted over time.
Tonight will be the fun process of moving my clowns and peps back into the cube. After that, I’ll just let the system run until I’m ready for a nem. Keep going back and forth with which one I want. Now I’m thinking of just getting a Bubble Tip. I have an anemone guard coming for my MP-10, so a mobile nem prone to splitting and moving may not be a problem. I have plenty of time to think about it though!

So far, so good with this reboot.

 

[Pntbll687]

Do you plan on vacuuming the top layer of sand at all?

My dsb gets very dirty looking after 6 months, so I just vacuum the top inch or so.

 

[Dos Ocho]

Do you plan on vacuuming the top layer of sand at all?

My dsb gets very dirty looking after 6 months, so I just vacuum the top inch or so.

I’m gonna see how it evolves. I’m hoping to get enough sand sifting snails (Cerith, Nassarius, etc...) to take care of that. Just have to see how dirty it gets. I’m only gonna have my 2 clowns and a nem or two in here, so there won’t be a lot of crud generated.

I don’t have a DSB in my 40 system, but it is around 2-2.5 inches deep and the snails and worms keep it pretty clean. The top gets a bit dirty but I occasionally spot check a few areas with a siphon during water changes and barely any clouds of gunk come up from the bed.

 

[NY_Caveman]

KP only ships Monday and Tuesday, I my rock came in yesterday. Very happy with the quality and how the scape turned out. Still has that minimal look with open sand that I wanted.
The rock has a bit of dictoya algae, neomersis (I think), and several other spots of random red and green macros. Of course ever piece was caked in purple, orange, and red corraline as well.
Had 2 hitchhiker crabs and an urchin which all went into the 40 sump. Waiting to see what else emerges from the rock!
The dry rock is getting a brown tint so the diatoms are coming. I’ll adjust my snail population accordingly.
Hooked up my MP-10 and am running it on a very low tidal swell mode for now (around 20% power). That will also be adjusted over time.
Tonight will be the fun process of moving my clowns and peps back into the cube. After that, I’ll just let the system run until I’m ready for a nem. Keep going back and forth with which one I want. Now I’m thinking of just getting a Bubble Tip. I have an anemone guard coming for my MP-10, so a mobile nem prone to splitting and moving may not be a problem. I have plenty of time to think about it though!

So far, so good with this reboot.

Nice rock! My favorite part of this hobby is new rock and watching what comes out. I am still seeing new life six weeks later.

 

[Dos Ocho]

Quick update, all is well so far. Did have a scare though. Shortly after the live rock was put in, I started to see air bubbles everywhere and a brown, stringy slime on my caulerpa and a couple other spots.
My heart sank into my stomach thinking the Dinos we’re back already. I started adding phytoplankton and a bit more food. Something definitely stabilized over the weekend because it all went away. There is still some gunk on the macros, but no air bubbles and the pods and snails are working on it.
So maybe it was dinos, maybe extremely active diatoms, maybe something else all together. Whatever it was, it’s calming down.
I’ve added some more snails, and the green algae tint is starting to appear on my dry rock. So, looking good so far and it’s nice to have my clowns and Pep shrimps back.

I’ve seen a small critter in one of the rocks. Looks like a small mantis shrimp possibly? The rocks are also covered in tiny feather dusters that are now starting to open up.

Gonna be boring for a while until I feel I’m ready for some nems. Now I’m thinking Bubble Tip May be the way to go. I might add a couple rock or mini carpet nems first. We’ll see.

 

[Dos Ocho]

Good morning all!! A few changes recently. The Dinos (or whatever they are) are still coming and going. They seemed heaviest on the red gracilaria so i removed it. It is not bad by any means, but it is there. Boo.

I made a few new additions. Got 50-ish dwarf ceriths from KP Aquatics. Also got some algae; 2 mermaid fans, 1 rooted halimeda, and 1 pine cone plant (Rhipocephalus, i believe) . I also decided to get a white-striped Rock Flower Anemone. I figured it would be the canary-in-the-coal-mine to see if my system is stable enough for nems. It's only been a couple days, but he is settling in nicely. My 2 peppermint shrimp attacked him relentlessly the first night. Knocked him off the rock and pinned him in the corner just ripping at him bad. So they had to go. I banished them to the sump of my 40 gallon where they can fight with the crabs and worms for the rest of their lives. They seem OK in there, and i'm not mad. They are just doing what nature designed them to do i suppose.

So, all in all things are going well. I've been adding phytoplankton regularly and am seeing an explosion in pods. There was a bloom last night. Around 10pm the tank looked like it was snowing! Pods floating everywhere!! I'm seeing a few bristleworms crawling around and some other smaller worms here and there. Hoping the deep sand bed is starting to come to life.

I'm gonna let things sit for another month and see where i am at. I have all but decided on a Bubble Tip Anemone now for my centerpiece. They seem to be the easiest and safest bet to get a large nem for my clowns. Plus my LFS always has good specimens in stock so that is a plus. Still not 100% decided, but that is where i am heavily leaning now. I just don't think my tank will be able to fit a Sebae or LTA for the life of the animal and i do not want to upgrade to a bigger tank.

One last thing, decided to pick up an anemone guard for my MP10 in anticipation of a BTA. Got it from a dude in the UK. Took a while to get here, but i like it! It is big for sure, but well made and the MP10 fits in there like a glove. It does get covered in gunk a lot easier than the MP10, so a weekly cleaning will probably be necessary going forward.

That's about it for now. Enjoy the pix!

 

[Dos Ocho]

Been a month and not too much to report. A couple developments though:

1. I had some kind of nutrient drop off i think. Had a bunch of Caulerpa in the display dissolve and the chaeto in the fuge started to fade away. I noticed the dinos were mostly in the fuge so i made the call to go cryptic. I pulled as much of the fuge algae as i could, added some rubble and Matrix media, and cut a piece of sponge from my 40 system, put it in and shut the lights off. Gonna run the fuge dark and hope to get a good sponge population in there. The system does not seem to be bothered by the change and most importantly, the Dinos are pretty much 100% gone. Now i know they are still in there and always will be, but i think i beat them back into the water column. I also did a 3 day blackout 2 weeks ago which knocked a bunch out as well. They were never bad, but too much for my liking.
One thing that is frustrating and fascinating with reef tanks is we are dealing with some life that has existed on this planet for billions of years. I suppose you don't survive as a species for that long by being easy to kill or control. As much as i hate dinos and the damage they do, they are interesting....

2. My rock nem. He looks great, expanding fully and all that. I moved him from the sand to a rock and thought he was all nestled in and staying put. The current was hitting him from an odd angle one morning and i noticed he never attached to the rock and was flopping about. In fact, i don't think he ever attached to anything since i added him, sand or otherwise. I moved him into a rock cove and added a few rubble pieces, essentially making a bowl for him to rest in. He still has not attached, but fully expands during the day, eats a bit of food floating around, poops, and otherwise looks good. Not sure what is going on. The peppermint shrimp attacked him pretty bad the first night, so maybe that has something to do with it? Not too concerned since he looks good otherwise, and hoping he finds his footing some day. May take a while.

3. Macroalgae. The caulerpa had a big die off, but still quite a bit there and it is growing in spots. The mermaid fans and rooted halimeda is doing quite well. I have a bunch of neomeris coming out of the rock, some other halimeda, a few spots of red turf algae, and some dictoya as well. I love it all so I'm very happy about that. Had a few tufts of green hair algae a few weeks ago, but the snails and pods must have wiped that out because it is all gone. I have some coraline algae forming on the back wall, so i think stability is happening.

4. Other critters. I have several fan worms on the rocks. The bristle worms are doing well and becoming braver and more noticeable, even during the day. I have TONS of pods. The tank is crawling with them! Couldn't be happier about that! All sorts of sizes too. Every inch of the display is teaming with them and i think they are a big part of controlling the dinos and pest algae. I feed pretty heavy and still dose a bit of phyto daily to keep their numbers up. Good, good, good......

5. The clowns. They are glued to the back wall like they were before. They have dug out little holes in the sand to rest in, and are generally doing well. I was removing some dying caulerpa the other night and took a bite from one of them. Feisty little buggers...


So, i guess more going on than i thought! I am going to do a small water change tomorrow and it will be the first in a month. Nervous about triggering a dino bloom so i'm only going to do a 2.5 gallon change (i usually do almost 5). I'd like to keep my water change cycle aligned with my 40 system and just do it once a month. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

It may by pushing things, but i'm gonna get a Bubble Tip Anemone next Friday. Most likely going with LiveAquaria. I think my system is ready. Fingers crossed.

As always, enjoy the pix!

 

[Dos Ocho]

Picked up a BTA from LiveAquaria last Friday. Just a plain green fella. Put him in where i wanted him. He attached, expanded a bit, then proceeded to move behind one of my big rocks that night of course. Grrrrrrrr............. He expands and contracts and seems to be OK. I fed him directly for the first time this Friday, and that seemed to trigger interest in the Clowns. Now, they are playing in him and are starting to bond with the nem!! Unfortunately, the 2 fight a bit to get into the nem. I really wish he'd move into the open because i think he's almost big enough to host both of them. But these are living things and do not always do what we want. I'm just gonna leave him be and see what happens.

The RFA is still not attaching to anything, so i moved him into the back corner and put some rubble rock barriers around him to keep him put. He eats, expands, and otherwise looks healthy so I'm not too worried. Hoping he will heal in time.

The Dinos are still there and come and go depending on the day. Not really worried. No snails are dying so maybe its just something i have to live with for a while.

The most fascinating thing about this tank is at night. There are so many pods crawling around the rocks and sand seem to pulsate with movement. Got a lot of strange worms that are all over at night, and the bristles move in and out of the sand constantly. I see a lot of worm tubes starting to drive into the deep sand bed, and am seeing a lot of different colors appearing at various depths, so hoping the bed is starting to activate slowly.

So all in all, it may look a bit bare, but I'm happy with how things are progressing for sure.

 

[Katrina71]

They both look pretty happy back there!

 

[ihavecrabs]

Picked up a BTA from LiveAquaria last Friday. Just a plain green fella. Put him in where i wanted him. He attached, expanded a bit, then proceeded to move behind one of my big rocks that night of course. Grrrrrrrr............. He expands and contracts and seems to be OK. I fed him directly for the first time this Friday, and that seemed to trigger interest in the Clowns. Now, they are playing in him and are starting to bond with the nem!! Unfortunately, the 2 fight a bit to get into the nem. I really wish he'd move into the open because i think he's almost big enough to host both of them. But these are living things and do not always do what we want. I'm just gonna leave him be and see what happens.

The RFA is still not attaching to anything, so i moved him into the back corner and put some rubble rock barriers around him to keep him put. He eats, expands, and otherwise looks healthy so I'm not too worried. Hoping he will heal in time.

The Dinos are still there and come and go depending on the day. Not really worried. No snails are dying so maybe its just something i have to live with for a while.

The most fascinating thing about this tank is at night. There are so many pods crawling around the rocks and sand seem to pulsate with movement. Got a lot of strange worms that are all over at night, and the bristles move in and out of the sand constantly. I see a lot of worm tubes starting to drive into the deep sand bed, and am seeing a lot of different colors appearing at various depths, so hoping the bed is starting to activate slowly.

So all in all, it may look a bit bare, but I'm happy with how things are progressing for sure.

Glad the clowns found the bta! My clowns still doesn't know what one is... it has been a year and a half!

 

[Dos Ocho]

It is amusing to see them interact. One clown is definitely more dominant with nem time, but the other one makes it in there too. The one hovers above the nem, then dives in and wiggles around! Now i hope they don't "love it to death", but so far, so good. Hoping the nem stays healthy, grows and splits and eventually will be enough nems for them both to be happy.