Hello I wanted to introduce myself and get to know the r2r community better.

[little_ocean_treasures]

Until your nitrites start getting down near 0 I'd stick with the every other day light feeding. I don't have a protein skimmer on my 14 or 29 gallon. Wish I did though. I do have one on my 40 breeder and love it...so do the corals. I once had a good one on my 29 gallon and the corals were so much happier than they are now without one (but the 40 breeder is using it now). lol I know you'll see mixed reviews whether to have a skimmer or not. I've seen gorgeous tanks that didn't have one. But I personally have tried both in the 29 gallon Biocube and definitely prefer having one...and I do religious 15%-20% water changes weekly in every tank. I still prefer having a skimmer along with the weekly water changes. I just don't like the cheap protein skimmer at all that comes with the Biocube...unless they are different than they were 4 years ago. I tried using it and the wooden air stone got gross after like 2 months and I felt that skimmer was doing more harm than good in the tank.

 

[jhast0n]

Okay so levels are doing really good. I am doing water changes ever 3 days. Not sure if that's too much. What's your thoughts? Tonight my husband and I tried to use that "hold fast" to place some of my corals because my Halloween crab has found it amusing to throw them off the rocks during the night. So I'm really disappointed in the hold fast, I played with the putty like the directions said and it just didn't want to stick to the plug, which my husband dremeled for me to break up the checker board look. After placing it in the tank for 10 mins I could still wiggle the plug. At this point I feel like I really wasted my money on the stuff. I keep telling myself well it worked on the internet, but what doesn't? So any advice you have on that is greatly welcomed. I was given two corals today so I dipped them in Reef Dip Coral Disinfectant by Seachem. It seems like the reviews on it is 50/50, so fingers crossed. I was a little concerned because we saw 3 little things swimming in the water when we dipped them. Is there a better dip out there? But I realized tonight this saltwater tank hobby is a bit stressful, I'm very concerned to add things that may have hitchhikers and them getting into my tank. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the online places with a bit higher prices, does that mean I'll get better quality w/o hitchhikers or is there always going to be that chance? Okay had to vent thanks for listening and any advice you pass along!

 

[jhast0n]

Hello out there~

I'm new to this hobby and so far, I am LOVING it. It's like art in motion. Okay so I'm reaching out to see if there is someone out there that can help me understand my BioCube lighting. My husband bought it off a guy and the guy didn't have any information or papers on it. My questions are, there are 4 switches/buttons on top, my far left operates my LEDlight, the 2nd so far doesn't do anything, the 3rd runs the actnic and fans, and the 4th the farthest to the right runs my daylight bulbs. So what is the 2nd switch/button for? And when it comes to lighting, I had to order replacement bulbs for the actnic and daylight and have been running off of my LED lights which my corals have seem to be loving. So which lights should I run together, if any? and how long would your recommend running them? Is it okay to just run the LED's on their own? Thanks in advance for the help and advice!

 

[little_ocean_treasures]

Hope things are going good with your tank.

How much is your water changes every 3 days? Like what percentage? Under 10% would be fine, though it may not be necessary changing it that often if things are becoming more stable. I usually do about 10% a week and that seems fine for my tanks. But find what works for yours and stay there...ALWAYS. lol As far as the "hold fast" I'm not too sure what that is. For gluing corals and rocks I use the Ecotech coral glue and love it. I have very little complaints about it at all. I've tried using plain old super glue before using the ECG and it never worked close to as good. I do have some putty but I rarely EVER use it. I hear that the chemicals can have a reaction with your skin if you do not wear gloves when mixing and using it. So be careful with that if you use it fairly often.

For a coral dip I use Coral RX and have been very happy with it. I tend to use it a little stronger dose than recommended since the recommended dose doesn't really due much to pests I've found. The corals don't seem to mind but the pests do. lol But it doesn't seem to kill the pests. They just seem really weak and limp from the Coral RX. But whatever gets them loose from the frags is fine with me. And there is no guarantee at all that you won't get unwanted hitchhikers...ever. Even from clean and healthy tanks. Something could be dormant or hiding in those tanks as well. You should always quarantine anything new for at least 30 days. Something I need to do too. I have a healthy new clean 5 gallon tank I've had running for almost 3 months. It just has little pods , a couple brittle stars and collonista snails, and some cheato in the back with lights on at night. Used dry rock and sand to start it and a tiny piece of live rock to get it going. I've added no corals or fish yet, but bought some marcoalgae online for it a couple weeks ago...I got a stupid little Aptasia from the marcoalgae. In my clean pest free tank!! Grrr lol So anything from anywhere can have nasty unwanted hitchhikers.

And as far as your light, I think you have a different model than mine. I only have 2 switches on my cover. So that one I can not help you with.

 

[jhast0n]

Hello! How have you been doing? It seems like the moment I feel that I have the tank figured out, it proves me wrong. On my water changes, I change a gallon and half, once a week. But lately my Ph has dropped from 8.02 down to 7.8-8.0 range and my nitrates were at 0 for a long time and now they are hovering around 20, so not sure whats going on with it. I'm debating on doing on water changes maybe twice a week. I am doing feedings every other day. Within the last month I added a diamond goby to the tank and he's pretty entertaining to watch, but I have realized since I put in him the tank that it is now his tank and he moves and does what he wants in it. And thanks for the heads up on the glue. I've just added it to the shopping list. I am pretty sure the putty (holdfast) was a waste of money but this hobby seems to be a learn as you go hobby. Let me ask you, whats your opinion on how many fish would be okay for my tank (14 gal biocube)? It was great to hear from you again, I hope you had a great Easter!