Neglected 29 Gallon Biocube Build (Rebuild?)

Cooper32803

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Alright so I have been using this “Coronacation” from work to try and fix up my seriously neglected Biocube. I have replaced the hood with the new Biocube good with LED lights (and probably will upgrade the lights again in the future when I take off the lid eventually), replaced the return pump with a Sicce Syncra Silent, 2 new Hydor Koralia 425s (one on each side so I can get a Wavemaker eventually) and a new refugium light in the back (JBJ Nanolight). I am currently in the process of getting my water parameters back in check (the only thing still a little high is Nitrates at about 30-35). I am also building a new cabinet for the tank as well as moving it from my bedroom into my dining room where it can be seen more.

The only pictures I currently have is of the tank now (don’t judge lol) and the frame of the cabinet I am currently building. I am planning on replacing the 10 year old powder fine sand bed with Fiji Pink (I want something courser so it doesn’t fly around as much but will still be adequate for sand sifters). I will also be switching up the rock work including cutting some rock to make my box of rocks look more natural and to create shelf area for corals.

The survivors of the neglect are one clownfish and one Nassarius snail (I think I have a few baby Cerith snails that hitch hiked with new Chaeto I put in the refugium).

I’m currently running ReefSpec Carbon, Chemipure Elite and Denitrate in my inTank media rack. I also have added ceramic biological media by 2 Little Fishes in both my overflow with my heater and near my return pump since I will be removing some live rock.

Any advice and suggestions are welcome since I think I have lost all knowledge of reefing from nearly 10 years ago when I started this hobby.

Pictures below for reference and I will add more to the thread as progress is made :)

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Ron Reefman

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Hey, as long as you are having fun, it looks good! ;)
 
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Cooper32803

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Just a small update. My cabinet is finished and I’m planning on the big move/sand bed change/re-doing the rock work tomorrow. Here are some pics of the new cabinet for now cuz I know we all love pictures lol

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Cooper32803

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Another small update. I have the tank set back up with most of my live rock and a few new pieces, maybe about 20% of my old tank water and new Fiji Pink live sand. I set up a 5 gallon Fluval Spec as a quarantine tank that I’m using for my 10 yr old clownfish and a 5 gallon bucket with old sand, a heater and circulation pump for my nassarius snail to live in while I watch the Biocube and see if it’s going to cycle. I have dosed both tanks with Turbo to hopefully lessen the cycle and have been keeping ammonia non toxic with Prime in my quarantine tank as well as water changes. I have taken some of the ammonia water from the quarantine and replaced some water in the Biocube with it to feed the bacteria. How will I know if I skipped the cycle on my tank by using the old live rock and filter media? In the Biocube the test I read today said 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and maybe 2-3 Nitrates. Could those Nitrates be from the old water still?

534301CE-69D0-4DB5-BB68-6B42615AAC05.jpeg
 

revhtree

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Another small update. I have the tank set back up with most of my live rock and a few new pieces, maybe about 20% of my old tank water and new Fiji Pink live sand. I set up a 5 gallon Fluval Spec as a quarantine tank that I’m using for my 10 yr old clownfish and a 5 gallon bucket with old sand, a heater and circulation pump for my nassarius snail to live in while I watch the Biocube and see if it’s going to cycle. I have dosed both tanks with Turbo to hopefully lessen the cycle and have been keeping ammonia non toxic with Prime in my quarantine tank as well as water changes. I have taken some of the ammonia water from the quarantine and replaced some water in the Biocube with it to feed the bacteria. How will I know if I skipped the cycle on my tank by using the old live rock and filter media? In the Biocube the test I read today said 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and maybe 2-3 Nitrates. Could those Nitrates be from the old water still?

534301CE-69D0-4DB5-BB68-6B42615AAC05.jpeg

Reboot!! Yes me too, kinda! Refocusing!

Come on man let's make them awesome!
 
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Cooper32803

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Reboot!! Yes me too, kinda! Refocusing!

Come on man let's make them awesome!
Yay Reboots! Lol

I’m hoping my cycle was super short or non existent since it was an established tank for about 10 years. I have some gorgeous corals I bought at a LFS waiting for me :D
 
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We have life in the Cube!! I got a small DaVinci clown (named Leo of course!) today so that when my 10 yr old Ocellaris clown gets put back in his newly renovated Biocube home, hopefully they will pair up. I also got some of my CUC (4 Red Leg Hermits, 3 Trochus snails, a fighting conch and I reintroduced Gary the Nassarius snail from his own quarantine). I also was able to add the corals I had bought in the LRO live sale from the 4th of July on here. That Black Panther Torch is fire! Also the Utter Chaos Zoa was one of my grails and it even came with a baby growing on the side already! I’m so excited to finally get some life in the tank after working hard to get the tank back in order!

74A6DA4B-FA49-4B87-8A88-84BBC0184A43.jpeg F32A6B7C-ABB9-43BA-A1A1-4CCDFB1E519E.jpeg 40462387-1118-4C80-90EC-9662848EF0A1.jpeg 26110244-1ACA-4259-A0D2-8265AEE21C58.jpeg
 
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Cooper32803

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So I’m just thinking for the future what I would want to add to the cube and I def want a sand sifter goby of some sort. Does anyone have any experience with sealing the back of the Biocube hood where the powerhead cords run to the back to still allow the cords to run, but not be such a big area for any possible jumpers? I have plans to eventually take the hood off and use an AI Prime light with an acrylic lid of some sort, but I may want to get the goby before all that. Any advice is appreciated :)
 

revhtree

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We have life in the Cube!! I got a small DaVinci clown (named Leo of course!) today so that when my 10 yr old Ocellaris clown gets put back in his newly renovated Biocube home, hopefully they will pair up. I also got some of my CUC (4 Red Leg Hermits, 3 Trochus snails, a fighting conch and I reintroduced Gary the Nassarius snail from his own quarantine). I also was able to add the corals I had bought in the LRO live sale from the 4th of July on here. That Black Panther Torch is fire! Also the Utter Chaos Zoa was one of my grails and it even came with a baby growing on the side already! I’m so excited to finally get some life in the tank after working hard to get the tank back in order!

74A6DA4B-FA49-4B87-8A88-84BBC0184A43.jpeg F32A6B7C-ABB9-43BA-A1A1-4CCDFB1E519E.jpeg 40462387-1118-4C80-90EC-9662848EF0A1.jpeg 26110244-1ACA-4259-A0D2-8265AEE21C58.jpeg

YAY for life! HA!
 
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Cooper32803

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Just an update on some stocking I have done. I added some corals that are just gorgeous after the World Wide Corals live sale. I also added a Mexican turbo snail, two Orange Cat Eye snails and a lettuce nudibranch. I thought I lost a hermit the other day, but it looks like one just molted. Phew!

My 10 year old Ocellaris Clown that has been chilling in a 5 gallon observation tank will be joining my DaVinci clown in the tank tomorrow. Yay!

I am trying to get my nitrates up a tiny bit by feeding Benereef for a few days in a row because my Utter Chaos still doesn’t want to open up all the way (however It does have a new baby head growing and possibly another).

I have been dosing AB+ and Alk because my alk seems to be a little low (7.3).

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for circulation pump guards for Hydor Koralia 425s. I don’t want Romaine (my nudibranch) to get a haircut should he get up to them.

Also, when it comes to fragging, how to you frag something, like Zoas, if they are on a rock at the base of your rock structure and can’t take all the rock out of the tank? Curious for future reference cuz my Krakatoa has already sprouted a baby and I wouldn’t hate knowing how to frag it when it comes time.

Pics below cuz who doesn’t love pics of things (sorry for pic quality, I need a better phone lol)

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Cooper32803

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I’m trying to learn how to take better pictures using the orange filter lens I got off amazon... so here are a few more pics of things for your pic viewing pleasure lol

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Cooper32803

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So it’s been a little over a week since putting the Duncan in my tank and I noticed the other day when tong feeding it a piece of freeze dried krill that two more heads are starting to form! Yay! Also the baby snail I found as a hitchhiker when I got my first corals in the tank less than a month ago has already tripled in size at least! Something must be going well in my tank :)

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Cooper32803

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New update! My original 10 year old Ocellaris clown is out of my 5 gallon observation tank and in my Biocube in an Eshopps Tanklimate Box (I am erring on the side of caution with my small DaVinci clown that has been in the Biocube for about a month now). How long should the larger clown be in the acclimation box? I haven’t seen any aggression and the smaller DaVinci clown has been by the acclimation box since I have had the older clown in it for about a day and a half now. I’m also curious to get ideas for my next livestock purchase. I have the observation tank still going with a lettuce nudibranch, 2 Trochus snails and a small pincushion urchin to help combat the hair algae and then a couple frags of corals to grow them out before adding them to the main tank so I’m ready to quarantine my next livestock addition. My quarantine tank is a Fluval Spec V with a couple pieces of live rock and bare bottom that I cut a piece of acrylic to fit on top just in case of any jumpers. I’m thinking I would like some kind of Goby, a Blenny, a cardinal or two and maybe a chill wrasse of some kind. I’m looking for additions that have interesting color as well as a function in the tank somehow. And if I could keep to tank bred fish, that would be a bonus for me. Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated!
 
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Cooper32803

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If you ever feel like upgrading the lights this could be useful:
I am thinking of eventually replacing the hood with a custom acrylic lid and putting an AI Prime HD or something similar over it since my tank is the Oceanic tank and the lid I bought doesn’t fit exactly since it was made for the Coralife tanks. I would keep the hood to use for times I might be away from the tank like vacations and what not.
 

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If you check out ORA home page you can see all of the stuff they have bred successfully. A nice wrasse with a lot of color is a pink streaked wrasse. If you want some more blues the springers damsel fits the bill for nano tanks and along with the wrasse could make for some good pest control. Bicolor look a lot nicer than their counterparts and may graze on algae if you get lucky. My favorite gobies are sand sifters, they come in all sorts of colors and can pair with pistol shrimps or with others of their same species. I would check out the yasha goby for a show stopper.
 

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If it’s the 29 biocube, I love cherub angels!! Not many people seem to have them and mine paired with my clowns much Luke how my clowns paired with each other! They’re all best buddies and I think my female clown actually prefers my cherub over the male clown! Love it in my 20 peninsula.

geometric hawks are great and won’t break the bank, mine perches all the time and I love him. Longnose hawks are cool too. Be careful with ornamental shrimp though!

a lot of gobies would be very happy in here a yasha/pistol would be my choice but some of the fatter gobies (clowns, coral crouchers) would also make great additions!

as far as wrasses go, I’d do a possum/ pink streaked :)

love your tank makeover! I’m doing one myself rn
 
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