Neglected Biocube

[WhatTheFish]

Hey everyone I'm new here. And a complete newb..
First I want to say I'm thankful for this fourm and for the amount of information!
Heres the situation.
I am purchasing a used and neglected biocube 16 gallons. It has some mushrooms in it. I would like a collective response and opinions on what to do. This will be my first salt tank and intend for it to be a softie.
Please let me know what you would do if you were to get this tank.
Thank you for any response or recommendations.
Also it is an older coralife will have to get new bulbs but have consider having an open top and investing in a better light.

 

[Reefer5640]

Definitely dirty but certainly salvageable. If your plan is to have an up and running tank so you don’t have to wait for it to cycle then there’s some things to keep in mind while moving a tank. If you’re wanting to start fresh (which I assume you’re not since you’re planning to keep the mushrooms) then I’d throw the sand out, dry out the rock, clean the tank obviously, acid wash the rock and start fresh. Take the mushrooms to the lfs for store credit or sell to another Reefer or ask someone to hold them for a few months. Starting fresh would be the safest way to go to ensure you’re not inheriting this other persons problems. You don’t want to start the hobby with an uphill battle.

On the other hand it “looks” salvageable for sure. To move the tank I’d take a tub for the rock, use tank water to keep wet, you can throw the mushrooms in with the rock just keep them submerged in water. Throw the sand away, never use used sand. Ditch the rest of the tank water, never use old tank water to fill the tank in it’s new location. Clean the tank and all that.

When setting it up clean the rock off as much as you can, remove as much sponge as you can and rinse the rocks off really well to remove as much detritus as possible. Then acclimate the rock and mushrooms to new salt water. Use new, clean, dry sand. Replace all mechanical filtration for new. Getting new water up to temp will help the transition go smoother for the mushroom and other inhabitants but as long as it’s room temp the heater should warm the water up fast enough to not be a huge concern. Then I’d test multiple times a day for the next two to three days for nitrates, phosphates, ammonia, pH, & Temp. After a couple days of stabilization. I’d do a follow up test for alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, pH, salinity, nitrates, phosphates, & Temp. If everything seems stable your probably good to add some more softies. Personally I run ich eradicated systems rather than ich management systems. It’s extra work and time but definitely worth it in the long run. With that being said I’d finish stocking the tank with the coral and inverts that you want and then let the tank run a fallow period (76 days with no fish) If you haven’t looked into ich here’s a good video



If you’re not wanting to go to that extent typically fish that reside in nano and pico tanks can tolerate ich pretty well anyway but some don’t... If you do want to go that route then you can still buy your fish around 6 weeks after the tank is running. They’ll be going through the QT process while the remainder of the fallow period finishes up. Then add fish accordingly to aggression. add one to two fish at a time. Test for nitrates for a few days. If they aren’t climbing then you’re good to add another. A 16 gal tank you’re not going to have more than 2-4 fish anyway...

I’d upgrade the lights to LED’s personally but you could T5’s if that’s your preference. But honestly if you’re just doing a softy tank those PC bulbs will provide enough light for now and you could upgrade later. I’d get new bulbs though if you’re going to stick with the PC’s. And one last thought, I’d replace the heater and the power head. Both are vital and both fail too often. If nothing else just replace the heater... Anyway that’s how I’d go about it. Hope that helps and gives you some food for thought. Best of luck and welcome to the hobby and R2R!!

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Definitely dirty but certainly salvageable. If your plan is to have an up and running tank so you don’t have to wait for it to cycle then there’s some things to keep in mind while moving a tank. If you’re wanting to start fresh (which I assume you’re not since you’re planning to keep the mushrooms) then I’d throw the sand out, dry out the rock, clean the tank obviously, acid wash the rock and start fresh. Take the mushrooms to the lfs for store credit or sell to another Reefer or ask someone to hold them for a few months. Starting fresh would be the safest way to go to ensure you’re not inheriting this other persons problems. You don’t want to start the hobby with an uphill battle.

On the other hand it “looks” salvageable for sure. To move the tank I’d take a tub for the rock, use tank water to keep wet, you can throw the mushrooms in with the rock just keep them submerged in water. Throw the sand away, never use used sand. Ditch the rest of the tank water, never use old tank water to fill the tank in it’s new location. Clean the tank and all that.

When setting it up clean the rock off as much as you can, remove as much sponge as you can and rinse the rocks off really well to remove as much detritus as possible. Then acclimate the rock and mushrooms to new salt water. Use new, clean, dry sand. Replace all mechanical filtration for new. Getting new water up to temp will help the transition go smoother for the mushroom and other inhabitants but as long as it’s room temp the heater should warm the water up fast enough to not be a huge concern. Then I’d test multiple times a day for the next two to three days for nitrates, phosphates, ammonia, pH, & Temp. After a couple days of stabilization. I’d do a follow up test for alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, pH, salinity, nitrates, phosphates, & Temp. If everything seems stable your probably good to add some more softies. Personally I run ich eradicated systems rather than ich management systems. It’s extra work and time but definitely worth it in the long run. With that being said I’d finish stocking the tank with the coral and inverts that you want and then let the tank run a fallow period (76 days with no fish) If you haven’t looked into ich here’s a good video



If you’re not wanting to go to that extent typically fish that reside in nano and pico tanks can tolerate ich pretty well anyway but some don’t... If you do want to go that route then you can still buy your fish around 6 weeks after the tank is running. They’ll be going through the QT process while the remainder of the fallow period finishes up. Then add fish accordingly to aggression. add one to two fish at a time. Test for nitrates for a few days. If they aren’t climbing then you’re good to add another. A 16 gal tank you’re not going to have more than 2-4 fish anyway...

I’d upgrade the lights to LED’s personally but you could T5’s if that’s your preference. But honestly if you’re just doing a softy tank those PC bulbs will provide enough light for now and you could upgrade later. I’d get new bulbs though if you’re going to stick with the PC’s. And one last thought, I’d replace the heater and the power head. Both are vital and both fail too often. If nothing else just replace the heater... Anyway that’s how I’d go about it. Hope that helps and gives you some food for thought. Best of luck and welcome to the hobby and R2R!!

I actually disagree with alot of this advice...
Pull the tank apart, keep everything in the old saltwater for transport. Rinse the old sand really well with fresh water until the water runs clear, scrub the tank clean with vinegar, and put it all back together. I would not try to clean the rocks and you can use some of the old water if you want but all new is good too.

I've had a coralife 16g before, they are nice little tanks but the power compact lights have got to go!

 

[Reefer5640]

Everyone does things their own way. There’s more than way to skin this cat that’s for sure. What I can say though is that in my experience I’ve moved quite a few tanks and yes you can use old sand using the above mentioned method. A lot of people do it. But the times I’ve used old water and old sand I’ve always fought phosphate issues. I’ve even had an entire tank crash due to nitrate spikes. Definitely use the tank water for transport though. Dry sand is cheap. Not worth the risk in my opinion. But I do agree, if you can swing it I’d ditch the PC lighting for sure.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Very true, many ways to do this successfully

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I will say that the old sand in that tank is not any older than the bag of "new" sand at the lfs. Both are dirty and need rinsed imo. And as far as the rock goes im a live rock guy and would never recommend killing off years of beneficial bacteria growth.

 

[WhatTheFish]

Thank you all for your responses. There seems to be many different variables to how things can be done. At this point I'm not quite sure on which direction I will be going. I appreciate all of your responses! As far as stocking goes I plan to get some clowns but not sure of what else to stock. Hopefully I will be picking the tank up later today or tomorrow still awaiting for response. I am also doing heaps of research alongside thank you!

 

[Reefer5640]

Gobies are good nano fish, or you could do pipe fish or seahorses (they are more advanced for sure)

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Ya definately clownfish and a blenny or maybe a goby, pistol shrimp pair!

 

[CindyKz]

Pink streaked wrasse are good nano tank fish and they eat some pests.

If it were me, I would keep the rock and mushrooms, toss the old sand replace with new (sand is cheap and rinsing it is a pain, and if you don't do it thoroughly enough it can cause issues). Take off the lid - which is easy - and put an AI Prime or similar LED over it. Make a screen top to prevent jumpers.

There is potential for a pretty tank there! I love my softie tank

ETA: if funds are an issue you could use the current lights for the time being.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looks like a Petco tank !!!
I would do a 4-5 day blackout or turn off whites, and add some snails after blackout (4- turbo, astrea, trocus, nassarius and about 8 blue leg hermit after blackout)
Liquid vibrant would also work well on clean up - Just dose at 80% of recommended on bottle.

 

[Reefer5640]

Looks like a Petco tank !!!
I would do a 4-5 day blackout or turn off whites, and add some snails after blackout (4- turbo, astrea, trocus, nassarius and about 8 blue leg hermit after blackout)
Liquid vibrant would also work well on clean up - Just dose at 80% of recommended on bottle.

+1 on vibrant for sure and the lower dose. Vibrant is something everyone should have. That stuff is a life saver. Works miracles. Although I’m curious what the need for the blackout would be? I generally stay away from them unless last resort but that’s on an up and running fully stocked tank so I can see taking advantage of the window of opportunity.

 

[vetteguy53081]

+1 on vibrant for sure and the lower dose. Vibrant is something everyone should have. That stuff is a life saver. Works miracles. Although I’m curious what the need for the blackout would be? I generally stay away from them unless last resort but that’s on an up and running fully stocked tank so I can see taking advantage of the window of opportunity.

white light/bright light is a requirement and fuel source for algae. Blackout takes away the sources reducing its ability to thrive

 

[Reefer5640]

white light/bright light is a requirement and fuel source for algae. Blackout takes away the sources reducing its ability to thrive

Oh yeah I know that, I just didn’t think there was a huge algae issue to deal with in the first place to warrant such measures and in my opinion blackouts are pretty aggressive and usually only work with certain types of algae’s/issues anyway. I tend to use blackouts as a last resort. So I was just curious to know, not what blackouts are for but more what you saw with the tank that made you feel a black out was necessary? Being that there really isn’t much algae I was curious if you knew of another benefit to using blackouts in this scenario

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Did the person you bought it from tell you why they were getting out of the hobby? Like a lot of people mentioned I'd be worried about getting the reason they got out of the hobby. I bought a 32 gallon Biocube on FB and it has been a great beginner tank for me. I think the biggest thing to know is that this hobby takes time, work and patience. The tank itself looks good, that power head looks too big for the set up though to be honest.

Adding to everyone else, vinegar for the tank and get citric acid for your mechanical parts. Vinegar can corrode your pumps.

I would caution, you will be limited on the livestock you can get in that. I actually bought a 16 gallon before the 32, and didnt realize that limitation. Additionally, I would second the thought of the Pink Streaked Wrasse. I love mine, beautiful coloration, eats pests and can survive in a smaller tank.