OP
OP
MECOMI
Active Member
While the RSM S500 gets a good amount of attention on my blog. The Biocube 32 gets most of my husbandry at home. There seems to be some truth being provided when people say to start with the biggest tank you can afford. The startup on a bigger tank can certainly be overwhelming for the first six months or so for a beginner but once it finds a groove the overall husbandry will dwindle.
What I have found as a major factor in this information is, A. The filtration system can be more robust and B. The bigger environment allows you to have utility fish that take some of the work out of your hands. More tangs, blennies, wrasse, and gobies will do the work for you between algae management, pest management, and sand management.
A real-world example would be my Golden Head Sleeper Goby, Blue Cheeks. Blue Cheeks was one of the first fish I bought for the RSM S500. Long before the tank matured he was busy cleaning my sand. My wife and family absolutely loved watching him work. After three years of rearranging my sand bed he sadly passed away. This came as a shock because it was showing no signs of disease, had a full belly, and was eating normally. Within 24 hours he was gone and was removed right away. The only noticeable damage on his right gill was a red spot but its hard to say if that was the cause.
Once Blue Cheeks past, the sand bed began to change. For three years I have not had to stir, blow, or vacuum the sand bed and it remained white and healthy. Within a month the sand started to show signs of algae and detritus build up. And sure enough I am back in the tank working through the extra husbandry to keep the sand bed white and healthy.
I still have a half year of pictures to get through before his passing to remain true to my timeline, so please enjoy the remaining pics of Blue Cheeks, he was one heck of a fish!
Depending on how you look at your husbandry the work that must be done can be a chore or labor of love. I choose the latter. So even though I spend extra time on the BC32, I feel more connected to it. Part of this could be due to it being my first reef but I digress.
The BC32 has one utility fish, a small aiptasia eating filefish. After my rigorous cleaning of the rocks with hydrogen peroxide somehow or another the aiptasia returned. I ended up having this guy in the tank for about six months because once the aiptasia were gone it turned to my Paly’s, so he had to go!
Bonus pic of the day, a mouth brooding father…
Later days,
B-Kind
What I have found as a major factor in this information is, A. The filtration system can be more robust and B. The bigger environment allows you to have utility fish that take some of the work out of your hands. More tangs, blennies, wrasse, and gobies will do the work for you between algae management, pest management, and sand management.
A real-world example would be my Golden Head Sleeper Goby, Blue Cheeks. Blue Cheeks was one of the first fish I bought for the RSM S500. Long before the tank matured he was busy cleaning my sand. My wife and family absolutely loved watching him work. After three years of rearranging my sand bed he sadly passed away. This came as a shock because it was showing no signs of disease, had a full belly, and was eating normally. Within 24 hours he was gone and was removed right away. The only noticeable damage on his right gill was a red spot but its hard to say if that was the cause.
Once Blue Cheeks past, the sand bed began to change. For three years I have not had to stir, blow, or vacuum the sand bed and it remained white and healthy. Within a month the sand started to show signs of algae and detritus build up. And sure enough I am back in the tank working through the extra husbandry to keep the sand bed white and healthy.
I still have a half year of pictures to get through before his passing to remain true to my timeline, so please enjoy the remaining pics of Blue Cheeks, he was one heck of a fish!
Depending on how you look at your husbandry the work that must be done can be a chore or labor of love. I choose the latter. So even though I spend extra time on the BC32, I feel more connected to it. Part of this could be due to it being my first reef but I digress.
The BC32 has one utility fish, a small aiptasia eating filefish. After my rigorous cleaning of the rocks with hydrogen peroxide somehow or another the aiptasia returned. I ended up having this guy in the tank for about six months because once the aiptasia were gone it turned to my Paly’s, so he had to go!
Bonus pic of the day, a mouth brooding father…
Later days,
B-Kind
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