New, Info Needed

[Nuclear]

Im currently cycling a Biocube 32. Live sand, base rock, no skimner, no chaeto. I have the InTank media rack and currently using just filter floss on top. After the cycle, Most reccomendations are to use filter floss, chemipure elite and Purigen. However, after lots of research it looks like filter floss is good, Purigen is split, while it may help some, it’s not really needed, but use it if you want to. Lastly, that chemipure elite would strip all phosphates and corals need some phosphates to thrive. So don’t use Chemipure Elite till phosphates get too high, which may never happen.

Am I right on this? How much phosphates would be too high? If used, once phosphates are lowered you would remove GFO? Would adding Coral naturally lower phosphates?


My plan is 2 clowns, cuc and corals.

Just trying to get my ducks in a row.

 

[ksfulk]

After the cycle, Most reccomendations are to use filter floss, chemipure elite and Purigen. However, after lots of research it looks like filter floss is good, Purigen is split, while it may help some, it’s not really needed, but use it if you want to. Lastly, that chemipure elite would strip all phosphates and corals need some phosphates to thrive. So don’t use Chemipure Elite till phosphates get too high, which may never happen.

Am I right on this? How much phosphates would be too high? If used, once phosphates are lowered you would remove GFO? Would adding Coral naturally lower phosphates?

It really depends on what you want to do with your tank, as not every tank needs all of the things that are available in the hobby.

Filter floss is a good idea, as it mechanically removes particulates from the water column, and if changed frequently enough can maintain relatively low nutrient levels in the tank, as it removes things before they break down. I would recommend this.

Chemipure Elite: this is a gfo/carbon analog and meant to remove phosphate and some impurities in the water. This can help remove tannins and other things that can discolor the water. I run carbon instead of this, but I see no harm in running a small amount to remove those organic compounds that can make water discolored or murky. It can be agressive, so starting with a lower level that needed is advisable.

Purigen: This removes nitrates and ammonia, not phosphates, according to the item description - so if you arent running any type of media or refugium, this will help remove some of the access nitrates from the breakdown of foods and waste.

This trio of products is a good front to take a crack at a tank where there is limited room for equipment and other items. They work well in bags as well, so thats why theyve been recommended for you. However, I would say that it is almost entirely going to depend on your livestock. If you were to only have two clowns, perform regular water changes and keep primarily soft corals and some LPS, you likely wont need ALL of these things, or would only have to run them periodically. If you plan on overstocking, not performing regular water changes, and/or want to keep hard corals that tend to prefer lower nutrient level ecosystems, it would be prudent to use these items, as they have a well demonstrated track record.

Without supporting equipment and/or a regular water change schedule, it can be difficult to maintain stability in a small tank while encouraging growth at first. Figure out your livestock and then plan accordingly from there is the best advice I could give.

 

[Maacc]

Use chemipure blue, it has carbon gfo and purigen together. It is unlikely with the appropriate sized bag, no skimmer and no fuge that you will strip the water if you are feeding 2-3x per day small amounts

 

[Nuclear]

It really depends on what you want to do with your tank, as not every tank needs all of the things that are available in the hobby.

Filter floss is a good idea, as it mechanically removes particulates from the water column, and if changed frequently enough can maintain relatively low nutrient levels in the tank, as it removes things before they break down. I would recommend this.

Chemipure Elite: this is a gfo/carbon analog and meant to remove phosphate and some impurities in the water. This can help remove tannins and other things that can discolor the water. I run carbon instead of this, but I see no harm in running a small amount to remove those organic compounds that can make water discolored or murky. It can be agressive, so starting with a lower level that needed is advisable.

Purigen: This removes nitrates and ammonia, not phosphates, according to the item description - so if you arent running any type of media or refugium, this will help remove some of the access nitrates from the breakdown of foods and waste.

This trio of products is a good front to take a crack at a tank where there is limited room for equipment and other items. They work well in bags as well, so thats why theyve been recommended for you. However, I would say that it is almost entirely going to depend on your livestock. If you were to only have two clowns, perform regular water changes and keep primarily soft corals and some LPS, you likely wont need ALL of these things, or would only have to run them periodically. If you plan on overstocking, not performing regular water changes, and/or want to keep hard corals that tend to prefer lower nutrient level ecosystems, it would be prudent to use these items, as they have a well demonstrated track record.

Without supporting equipment and/or a regular water change schedule, it can be difficult to maintain stability in a small tank while encouraging growth at first. Figure out your livestock and then plan accordingly from there is the best advice I could give.

Thank you!
I won’t be overstocking. This is my learning tank. First aquarium ever. At 41 what took me so long huh? Aside from the 2 clowns and small cuc, the coral is what draws me in. That’s my main focus.

 

[Nuclear]

Use chemipure blue, it has carbon gfo and purigen together. It is unlikely with the appropriate sized bag, no skimmer and no fuge that you will strip the water if you are feeding 2-3x per day small amounts

And here I thought feeding fish was once every other day... should I feed them once day? Twice a day?

 

[Nuclear]

@Maacc I was looking at the Blue to. Thank you.

 

[Super Fly]

And here I thought feeding fish was once every other day... should I feed them once day? Twice a day?

it depends how much maintenance work u want to do. The more u feed, the more nutrient is being added to tank resulting in more filtration requirment (i.e. nutrient export). If ur filtration can handle the nutrient load, then 2x/day feeding is ok. Also, pls keep in mind the smaller the tank, the less forgiving it is when it comes to tank husbandry.

 

[Maacc]

You can do once every other and the fish will survive, to thrive and be in breeding condition feeding more is better, if it is just 2 clowns then it would be a very small amount of food. With a small tank a very small amount, as in they eat it all in 30 seconds is what you are shooting for.
Take what you are thinking and probably cut the portion in half.
I would also recommend something like lrs or rods, high quality nutrient dense frozen over pellet or flake food.

 

[Retro Reefer]

In my Biocube I just run floss on the top and change it every few days, Chemipure Blue and bioballs in the bottom chamber, sometimes if I think it’s needed I will run poly filter for short periods.. tank has been running 2.5 years with no real effort or major issues..

 

[Nuclear]

@Retro Reefer

Wow! That’s a very nice tank! Well done!

So, since I have the InTank media basket, there’s like half of chamber 2 that’s vacant. I could run filter floss top of basket, bag of chemipure blue second shelf, then I could put some marine pure spheres in a mesh media bag next to the InTank rack. How does that setup sound? That would also leave the 3rd shelf free in the media basket if I needed to add something else periodically.

 

[Retro Reefer]

@Retro Reefer

Wow! That’s a very nice tank! Well done!

So, since I have the InTank media basket, there’s like half of chamber 2 that’s vacant. I could run filter floss top of basket, bag of chemipure blue second shelf, then I could put some marine pure spheres in a mesh media bag next to the InTank rack. How does that setup sound? That would also leave the 3rd shelf free in the media basket if I needed to add something else periodically.

That sounds perfect.. I didn’t do the media rack which would probably be much more efficient directing water through your filter media, mine is a pretty large open area with some bio balls in the bottom and media bag on top of those.. the water just cascades down across that chamber and may or may not pass through my chemipure.. thanks for the compliments on my tank, it’s been the easiest system to maintain that I have ever had.. at this point it’s really overgrown everything was started with tiny frags but I’m setting up a 40 gallon breeder now and will be transferring everything over at some point.

 

[Nuclear]

That sounds perfect.. I didn’t do the media rack which would probably be much more efficient directing water through your filter media, mine is a pretty large open area with some bio balls in the bottom and media bag on top of those.. the water just cascades down across that chamber and may or may not pass through my chemipure.. thanks for the compliments on my tank, it’s been the easiest system to maintain that I have ever had.. at this point it’s really overgrown everything was started with tiny frags but I’m setting up a 40 gallon breeder now and will be transferring everything over at some point.

Nice! This is my first aquarium ever! I’m excited to get it going and learn a lot about the hobby. My goal is to move into about a 150 gallon at some point later. The Biocube just seemed like the best system to learn on. Plus the “overgrown” tanks like yours are inspiring! I’m looking forward to the processes ahead!

 

[Retro Reefer]

I think you made a good choice the Biocube is a excellent starter tank.. the only thing I have done to mine was upgrade the lighting to a nanobox retrofit LED system, a little pricey but worth every penny.. I have had reefs since the 80’s and my Biocube has been the smoothest running of them all, the only downside is the small size , I have really been stifled by the lack of space and should have planned better with my initial stocking and used less rock.. I’ve already pulled a bunch of stuff out and filled another nano and I have given away and thrown out a bunch more.

This is how it started late 2015..

 

[Nuclear]

Thanks! I’m still trying to decide if I even wanna venture into sps in this tank. May just be softies and lps. Which case stick lights should be fine for most. A lot of what I like falls into this category. Still trying to plan out what to put high on the rock. Can’t find to many options besides a Kenya tree. Though some say, some acropora can be grown under stock lights, top of rock. That garf purple bonsai is nice...

 

[Retro Reefer]

The main reason for the light upgrade was for my clam.. I would skip the sp’s for now they are a pain, softy and lp’s are a good choice just be careful some softy’s like Kenya trees can grow out of control once established, they are like weeds in your garden to save some headache do lots of research on anything your thinking about putting in the tank.