First Reef Tank. 32 Gallons. Need Advice.

steveschuerger

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Why did you do maintain in a small reef? I'm thinking about doing it and could use some advice .
Loaded with lots and lots of live copepods for a few months. Then added a couple bottles of pods once a month for maintenance. Fortunately she she seems to have started eating frozen pods and such. I don’t necessarily target feed but mix it with the frozen that the other fish get. My corals seem to appreciate the pods too. I am moving up to an IM 60SR Nuvo Pro in the next few weeks, so more room for a stable pod population.
 
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I agree and that is it's great appeal. If it was going to be my only tank I would have goien for it and made the necessary modifications to make it a good tank. The issues with head and modifications with the hood on knocked it off my list though.

Been doing a lot of research, and you can fit the same amount of fish in both, just have to think more laterally with the Biocube and get fish that spend time in different water levels.

Always planned on only getting 4-6 fish for this tank anyway.
 
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I see that you've already bought your stuff, but I'd like to pitch in and say that Long tank(Flex) gives you alot more useable space than cube tank for the same volume of water.

Yes, the cover and back chambers of fluval flex is a massive pain in the butt, but once you figured it out, the benefits of longer tank are apparent. More horizontal space means you can fit more rocks, corals while inverts and fishes have more useable space, I've found that fishes use horizontal space much and generally spend way less time in the upper water column where less rock cover is present.

This . One other thing, not mentioned is territory space. Many fish have discreet territory preferences. And the longer tank will make it more likely there won’t be deathmatches if you get fish that disagree with each other. I’ve got clowns, a yellow tail damsel and splendid Dottyback (as well as few others including a mandarin) in the 30 long that I have. Couldn't do that in a cube probably. Some eye candy below. 14D7D6FF-1D20-42DC-85DD-59B74D565312.jpeg
I agree and that is it's great appeal. If it was going to be my only tank I would have gone for it and made the necessary modifications to make it a good tank. The issues with heat and modifications with the hood on knocked it off my list though.



Been doing a lot of research, and you can fit the same amount of fish in both, just have to think more laterally with the Biocube and get fish that spend time in different water levels.



Always planned on only getting 4-6 fish for this tank anyway.
 

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Powerhead* (spinning fan) you can spend a lot or a little, I bought an mp10 noisy and hated it spent 1/10 price on a Sicce voyager ($32 vs $350) love the thing ultra quiet works great.
Skimmer isn’t a must have but fires help to remove excess nutrients. Heaters are another all work, prob need a 150-200w one thing I’ve learned in this hobby you pay for the name, but the name isn’t always the best
I love mp10 for the back up battery. It can keep your tank going for 75 hours with power outage. It only works with the eco tech marine battery backup.
 

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So so so excited!

Put in the order for all of this today:

-Biocube 32 Gallon
-8x Nature's Ocean Live Nutri-Seawater
-InTank Media Basket
-Poly Filter Floss Pad 4 X 8"
-Chemi Pure Blue Nano - 5 Pack
-Marine Pure High Performance Biofilter Media GEMS (3.2 oz)
-MCP Test Kit Marine Master Care - Red Sea
-Salinity Refractometer

Petco:
6x Live Rock
20lb Live sand

Petco is my only option for Live Rock & Sand and they only have two dry live rocks in stock currently. The rest I have to buy from their tanks already covered with critters.

Going to buy the protein skimmer, powerhead, and heater in the next paycheck.

Going to let it run with the listed gear for 6-8 weeks, measuring parameters every day to see how the cycle is going. If it stays steady for 4 weeks I might add fish early.

Thoughts?

Going to be a good start for a few years then after that it will become a solid quarantine tank for something bigger and more custome.
I know how excited you are. I started my reef 7 years ago using only petco live rock from their systems, never had any issues and skipped the cycle process because of the live rock I still have today.

But add your fish slowly and monitor the ammonia daily, I never had ammonia build up but still check it for the sake of your pets. Start with the clownfish for the first 2 weeks, if ammonia is zero add another fish repeat.

Take care, go slow and have fun.
Anthony
 

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Hi there and welcome the salty way. My first tank was the 16 gal BioCube. Nice little tank(it now is a pea puffer tank). As far as your equipment list goes I’d say not to bother with the skimmer. For a tank that size weekly water changes should be enough, unless you’re planning on stocking it extra full with livestock. And at least 30 lbs live rock as it’s your biological filter so to speak. Get a biologic starter like Dr. Tims One and Only or Seachem Stability. It’ll help seed the aquarium with bacteria and shorten your cycle.
I would get a small skimmer mainly for oxygen/gas exchange. I have my skimmer in the sump and I have the skimmate draining into the filter basket to catch the large particles and release the nutrient rich water back into the system.
 

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Dr. Tims/Seachem Stability. Got it!

Knew there was some kind of starter fluid I probably should put into the tank.

Glad the protein skimmer is on the back burner for now.

Thanks for the advice!
I would still get a small skimmer mainly for oxygen/gas exchange. I have my skimmer in the sump and I have the skimmate draining into the filter basket to catch the large particles and release the nutrient rich water back into the system, if you can do it this way.
 
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I know how excited you are. I started my reef 7 years ago using only petco live rock from their systems, never had any issues and skipped the cycle process because of the live rock I still have today.

But add your fish slowly and monitor the ammonia daily, I never had ammonia build up but still check it for the sake of your pets. Start with the clownfish for the first 2 weeks, if ammonia is zero add another fish repeat.

Take care, go slow and have fun.
Anthony

I would get a small skimmer mainly for oxygen/gas exchange. I have my skimmer in the sump and I have the skimmate draining into the filter basket to catch the large particles and release the nutrient rich water back into the system.

Oh I definitely plan on letting it cycle for weeks before I add any fish.

Also I still plan on getting the protein skimmer, just going to have to wait till next paycheck.
 

anthonygf

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Oh I definitely plan on letting it cycle for weeks before I add any fish.

Also I still plan on getting the protein skimmer, just going to have to wait till next paycheck.
I bet if you add live rock and a fish you will most likely not go through the cycle. But it is still a good idea to wait and check for ammonia before you add fish. I first started with a 46 gallon bowfront, bought a few pounds of live rock and 2 clowns. I still have them today, 7 years old fat and happy.
 
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Well folks I did it. Finally pulled the trigger. Got the 32 Gal Biocube and now it's up and running.

Really could not have done this without this boards members amazing advice.

It's in that dusty sandy phase right now, but definitely plan on posting my aquascape once it clears up.

Used 8 Liverocks from petco cause that was really my only options on love rock. They had all kinds of critters on them. Hope I didn't kill them in transport or setting up the tank. Found some vermetid snails on the undersides of the rock I bought and smashed the ones I saw to the base. Hopefully a few weeks with no food, kills off the rest.

Used 20lbs of live sand

Lastly I only ended up using 22 gallons of the 35 Gallons of Nutriwater I bought and it is filled to the brim!

Is that normal?

Really didn't feel like I added a ton of sand or liverock.

I will start a thread on my journey into developing this tank, just wanted to say the ball is officially rolling and to personally thank you all

PXL_20220625_011443511.jpg
 
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anthonygf

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Well folks I did it. Finally pulled the trigger. Got the 32 Gal Biocube and now it's up and running.

Really could not have done this without this boards members amazing advice.

It's in that dusty sandy phase right now, but definitely plan on posting my aquascape once it clears up.

Used 8 Liverocks from petco cause that was really my only options on love rock. They had all kinds of critters on them. Hope I didn't kill them in transport or setting up the tank. Found some vermetid snails on the undersides of the rock I bought and smashed the ones I saw to the base. Hopefully a few weeks with no food, kills off the rest.

Used 20lbs of live sand

Lastly I only ended up using 22 gallons of the 35 Gallons of Nutriwater I bought and it is filled to the brim!

Is that normal?

Really didn't feel like I added a ton of sand or liverock.

I will start a thread on my journey into developing this tank, just wanted to say the ball is officially rolling and to personally thank you all

PXL_20220625_011443511.jpg
How high is your water level? You do not want it too high, you will have water movement from the wave maker and will splash over the brim.
 

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You guys ever notice the photo they use for the 32 Biocube? It shows 11 good size fish that was most likely just placed on the photo and not actually in the tank. Makes the tank look bigger. lol Is that a Hippo Tang?
 
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Here are my parameters after 24 hours:

Salinity: 1.025

PH: 7.6-7.8

Alkalinity: 8.5-9

Ammonia: 0.2

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: <2

Temp is hanging around 78-81F

So my water seems soft. How do I bump up my PH to that 8+ level?

I also don't like that ammonia number, but I guess it's expected with all of the die off from organisms on the live coral.

Have a bottle of Tims on the way. Running filter floss/Chemipure blue/ biocubes in the basket. Going to get replaced with the Intank basket when it arrives. Took the sponge out.

So where do I go from here?

What numbers do I want to see consistently before I add fish?

This good? Bad?

There are a lot of critters alive in there. Bristle Worms, Pods, tiny fan worm.
 

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adittam

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Looks great!
I would suggest “ghost feeding” a little fish food each day before you add fish. Then you will have some organics for your bacteria to break down, and you can add fish as soon as you get a measurable nitrate level (I don’t think that will take very long since you’re starting with live rock and adding bottled bacteria also). That means your bacteria are doing what they should be. Add fish 1 or 2 at a time, waiting at least a week or two between fish to give the nitrifying bacteria a chance to multiply to keep up with their waste.
 
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Looks great!
I would suggest “ghost feeding” a little fish food each day before you add fish. Then you will have some organics for your bacteria to break down, and you can add fish as soon as you get a measurable nitrate level (I don’t think that will take very long since you’re starting with live rock and adding bottled bacteria also). That means your bacteria are doing what they should be. Add fish 1 or 2 at a time, waiting at least a week or two between fish to give the nitrifying bacteria a chance to multiply to keep up with their waste.
Well I already have measurable nitrates. Is the amonia level anything to be concerned about? I know the goal is 0. Is that low of PH ok?

I am going to be adding an algea waffer a couple times a week to at least keep the critters that are currently in there alive.
 

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Well I already have measurable nitrates. Is the amonia level anything to be concerned about? I know the goal is 0. Is that low of PH ok?

I am going to be adding an algea waffer a couple times a week to at least keep the critters that are currently in there alive.
What test kits are you using?
 

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Well I already have measurable nitrates. Is the amonia level anything to be concerned about? I know the goal is 0. Is that low of PH ok?

I am going to be adding an algea waffer a couple times a week to at least keep the critters that are currently in there alive.
<2 is pretty much nothing for nitrates. Once they get up around 5, you’re in business. You want ammonia to be zero, but there’s a little margin of error at the bottom end of some of those colorimic test kits. I’m not familiar with Red Sea, though.
 
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<2 is pretty much nothing for nitrates. Once they get up around 5, you’re in business. You want ammonia to be zero, but there’s a little margin of error at the bottom end of some of those colorimic test kits. I’m not familiar with Red Sea, though.
Do you have a good suggestion for more accurate/efficient test kit? Honestly felt kind of stupid playing high school chemistry for about an hour taking all of those measurements. Like there should have been a better way.
 

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