It's Biocube 32 Time

[catnipthyme]

Hello, fishy friends! I am dipping my toes into the magical world of saltwater after a decade of keeping freshwater tanks, and thought it would be delightful to have a place to track my tank's progress.

I found a used Biocube 32 at a local fish store and knew it was The Tank for me. Why? The lid can support a cat, and I don't trust my four-legged companions to not jump in for a swim. I prefer the look of rimless peninsula-style tanks, but I wanted my first soiree into reefs to be cat-safe. Safe for my cats, and safe from my cats. It sat in my garage for several months before I finally got it upstairs.

Below is the tank just after being filled:

It probably would have been a better idea to start with fresh substrate and hardscape, but I decided to get rock and sand that was from already cycled tanks. It definitely sped up the process, and things seemed to have stabilized in just a few weeks. I haven't seen any unpleasant hitch-hikers, yet, but who knows what creepy crawlies are hiding in those crevices. Please disregard how mucky the outside of the tank is; I spaced on wiping off the smudges and dust before taking photos somehow.

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The First Inhabitants:

• One firefish goby. (He is enjoying all the little caves, but is respectfully keeping out of the shrimps' lair.)
• Two peppermint shrimp. (I can't recall what type of shrimp they are for sure. They look similar to peppermint shrimps, at least.)
• One green star polyp clump. (It was very sad in the photo, since I had just gotten it out of the bag.)
• One spiny star astrea snail. (I have never had a snail that moves at such a leisurely pace. I thought it was dead the first two days.)
• One nassarius snail. (I have not seen him since he burrowed into the sand.)
• One dwarf blue leg hermit crab that snuck in with the coral. I swear this is the smallest crab in the history of crabs. (Not seriously, but it is a really small guy. I found the shell left in a bag I was about to throw away, and put it in my hand to see if anything was in there. Tiny yellow specs that I thought were mites swarmed out of the shell and properly freaked me out for a moment before I noticed that they were attached to legs. It was so silly that I have to share the tale.)

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I went out today to get water and came home with a few new little dudes:

• One mushroom on a cool-looking rock. (It nestles into the liverock SO NICELY, it was Meant To Be.)
• Three dwarf blue leg hermit crabs. (I got the smallest ones I could find so they wouldn't bully the original crab.)
• One astrea turbo snail. (Word on the street is these move faster than the spiny ones.)
• One nerite snail. (I didn't mean to get more than one more snail, but I had never seen one with this cool marble-y blue color and I was weak.)

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The Fish Goal:

• One firefish.
• One Banggai cardinalfish.
• One pink-streaked wrasse.
• Two Panamic barnacle blennies.

I have been advised against keeping five fish in the tank, but I can't figure out which fish to leave out. I suppose I could only get one barnacle blenny, but let's be real: these little guys are the reason I am getting into saltwater, so I want several of the goobers.

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I shall continue to post pics of my tank's development, and appreciate any insight or advice people may have to offer. The tank is unmodified so far, but I ordered some grate covers to keep my wee blennies out of the filter, and will be looking at other possible mods. I would like to be able to get some chaeto growing in the back -- I gotta look into that. I also really need a small iso tank. But yes. Baby's first reef tank!

 

[kevgib67]

Very exciting, congratulations! I had my Biocube 32g set up for over four years before I shut it down earlier this year due to an upgrade. I’ll share my build thread link in hopes it can help you out.

Thread 'Biocube 32g build'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/biocube-32g-build.906813/

 

[overhead]

Biocubes are fun, I started one in March. It has been an adventure so far. I had to ditch the top because I like to keep my house warm in the summertime and it was getting too hot, otherwise I would have kept it. I decided on four total fish in my Biocube, two clowfish, Royal Gramma and Yellow Watchman Goby. That being said I have lots of snails, crabs, shrimp, etc. Personally, I would not do anymore than four. I have enough trouble keeping the fish from messing with each other with four fish, but that could just be my luck with fish personalities. Good luck with your Biocube.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I was going to be the first one to say, "Congratulations!" But someone beat me to it by seconds.