Periette's 14g Biocube (for now!!!)

[Periette]

Hi everyone. I've not yet introduced myself but my name is Tricia and I'm also a member of nano-reef.com, Reef Central (yeah, I know but good information via searching through Google) and CMAS. I had a 125g in a previous life but had to break it down due to a work move. I recently set up an Oceanic Biocube 14g (modded) and got bitten big time by the zoa bug so that is my main focus with a little LPS and a couple other softies for good measure. Only one fish so he can live comfortably - Jean Claude, the oscellaris clownfish - and a handful of blue hermits, nasarrius snails, one orange turbo (other kicked it), one emerald crab and a peppermint shrimp that needs to eat my lone aptasia before it turns into more! Anyway, here are some shots of my tank while it's up. I'm getting my new 25g Cadlights next Thursday (yay!) so will be upgrading next Saturday, hopefully.

FTS:

Blue rics:

Indonesian feather duster:

New additions: AOG, PPE (brand new so not fully opened), red zoas and golden/orange zoas:

More pics in the next post...

 

[Periette]

Last two pics:

Not sure of the name but they're really pretty:

My faves right now - Sunsets:

 

[fishes2889]

:welcome:

and looks like a great setup!

Steve

 

[JGoslee]

Welcome to Club-Zoa! You have a great looking tank.

 

[AVALover5498]

Welcome!


-Chris-

 

[Smarsh]

Welcome, welcome are you going to the Social at Scales tomorrow night?

Sandy

 

[Periette]

Welcome, welcome are you going to the Social at Scales tomorrow night?

Sandy

Thanks, everyone! Sandy, no, unfortunately as I have to head to NY for a work conference (again) - this has been a hell hole month for travel. However, I do plan on getting to the frag swap in March and hopefully, will have some goodies by then.

Right now, I'm researching setting up a frag/prop tank but will likely keep it from 10-20 gallons.

 

[Azurel]

Tank looks great and welcome to club-zoa.

 

[JGoslee]

What are the stock lights that come on the biocube?

 

[Periette]

Thanks, Azurel! JGoslee, the stock lights are 48w PCs (one actinic, one 10k) - I added the nanocustoms mod to include one more actinic/daylight though in hindsight, I should've just done another 10k. However, it's a big improvement.

With my new tank, it will be 150w HQI and I'm changing the 20k to a 14k Phoenix MH bulb so will layer 4 sheets of screen over the tank and remove one per week to acclimate everything to the big increase. I'm hoping my colors will be popping and I'm changing my sand to Carib Sea's Indo Pacific black/pink mix w/either Tahitian Moon or Sea Chem's Gray Substrate mixed in 50/50 for a darker look.

 

[JGoslee]

So you are going to have 3 pc's and a 150watt mh over the biocube?

 

[Periette]

So you are going to have 3 pc's and a 150watt mh over the biocube?

Nope. It will be 2-24w actinics w/1-150w 14k Phoenix MH over the new Cadlights 25g that I'm upgrading to next weekend. The tank comes w/a 20k bulb so I'll have that as backup but I've heard great things about the Phoenix for growth and coloration so that's why I'm switching it out.

 

[JGoslee]

Im confused. Are you talking about two differant tanks or just one?

 

[Periette]

Im confused. Are you talking about two differant tanks or just one?

Two different tanks, sorry for the confusion. The one pictured in this thread is my Oceanic BC 14g. I'm upgrading to the Cadlights 25g next weekend and that has the 150w MH w/2-24w actinics. My current tank is 72w total - half of which is actinic.

 

[JGoslee]

Are you going to keep the 14gal bio setup?

 

[Periette]

Are you going to keep the 14gal bio setup?

No, I'm going to sell it - most likely to a fellow CMAS member who purchased a coral from me - but that's still tentative. Then, I'm going to set up a 10-20 gallon prop/frag tank and put a lighting fixture on it that is the same as what will be on the new Cadlights tank so coloration/growth will be similar.

 

[Periette]

OMG! I am so frustrated! I was supposed to receive my Cadlights stand/HQI light fixture YESTERDAY - so I called for a tracking # and Eddie tells me that they couldn't ship out (yesterday) due to 4 degree weather....I'm like, yeah, but it was supposed to be here TODAY...and what does the weather have to do with it? It's not alive! So, supposedly, it's going out Monday and he's supposed to call with the tracking #. I will be calling, though, given the track record. This has pushed my upgrade back twice and I'm fairly p'd off, as you might surmise.

The 25g is all set up, though, as I did get that finally. I have more rock sittin in it and figured I'd run a leak/equipment test. No leaks, thankfully. I did put a Sunpod 24" 150w HQI on it that I bought for my frag tank, which will be a 15g high. I replaced the bulb with a Phoenix 14k, and it is bright white - really, really makes a difference and is very pretty.

I installed a CPR Bak-Pak 2R behind chamber #1 and it sits partially in chamber #2 (the pump does). It's running like a champ and has already pulled 3/4" of skimmate. I'll do a water change later today on the tank, as well, since nitrates were 10 (no biggie but keeping the schedule going). The rock was already cured when I put it in. The middle back is the refugium and I've got some live rock rubble, chaeto and some purple/blue algae in there right now. The Cadlight fuge light is pretty long so I'm considering replacing it with a clip on light to save to space. I also installed a two-fan unit to help keep the temps down but am awaiting my thermometers so not sure what it actually is right now but nothing's in there yet so it's okay (not above 82-84, I'm sure) and I haven't had the extra fan running yet. The Sunpod seems to run fairly cool and efficient. I've put my hand under it when it's been on and it is not hot at all so the internal fans seem to do a good job.

All in all, I will be very happy when I get the stand so I actually use my new tank for the display because I both need more space and am getting super impatient.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Any update on your tank?